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When Lauren Peters received a letter last summer inviting her to join Dalton State’s new Honors Program, she initially said “no.”
“I was afraid I might be overwhelmed,” says Peters, who says she wanted to “get her feet wet” in her college classes before joining the Honors Program.
“But a friend who is in the program told me about it and how much fun it is, and I decided to join this semester,” says Peters, who plans to enter the field of secondary education and to teach art to high school students.
Peters got her feet wet during the fall, when she learned that she “really had to buckle down” to pull off the good grades she was used to making in high school. A “close call” on a biology test was a wake-up call of sorts.
“I learned to manage my study time more effectively. It seems like one of the biggest differences between high school and college is learning time management.”
Learning how to think objectively and critically is another important skill, she has found. Peters enjoys her Critical Thinking seminar, a required “first class” of the Honors Program, where she and several other students meet twice weekly with Program Director Dr. Barbara Murray to read timely essays and discuss current day events.
“We try to decide whether what we’re reading has a valid argument or not,” she says, noting that “it’s interesting to see how people’s personal beliefs influence their arguments.”
Peters also likes the “hands on” approach to the Honors Program, the “webfolios” each student creates during the course of the semester, and the field trips offered through the program.
“I’m taking 16 hours this semester, and I’ve applied to be a biology tutor, and it all takes a lot of time,” she says.
“Dalton State is a good foundation for me. I think that some people write it off because it’s close to home and smaller than a lot of the other schools. But I’ve found that everyone here is very friendly and willing to help. And I’ve made a lot of new friends. It’s been great so far.”
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