We’ve talked about the professors; this one’s for the students.
The BIC would not be what it is without the BIC students, you guys.
My freshman friends have some unique BICers in their lives, their peer instructors and mentors.
These people have been where you are and navigated through it all successfully. What’s more, they’ve chosen to come back and help you.
This network of support has grown since my BIC beginning. When I was a freshman, three years ago, we had peer instructors in our World Cultures classes. Look at us now! World Cultures Peer Instructors, Rhetoric Peer Instructors, and BIC Mentors in your Examined Life classes. All of these people are reaching out to you. Take advantage of these people who have given their time to go to your classes. They have more to offer than academic help. They are invested in the BIC community and are ready to help you in this first semester in whatever way they can.
Beyond these lovely BICers, there are all of the other BIC students! One of the neat things about being in a program where we take classes over the years with a cohort is that we are all going through the same academic rigors at the same time. Are you stressing out about that next New York Times assignment? Chances are one of your BIC friends is feeling the same way. You will encounter obstacles in the BIC, but you will also have a community of people who understand what you are facing and will help you along the way.
One form that help comes in is study groups. Taking the same classes means having a built-in study group. All you have to do is find one group of BICers you work well with, and you can study for multiple classes, over the course of many years. Studying for exams may not be the most fun you have ever had, but when you do it with a group of people you know and perhaps grow to love, it becomes much more enjoyable.
After your freshman and sophomore years, massive BIC study groups become less essential, but by this time, you’ve found another benefit of your BIC friends. After all of those classes and late nights together, these people have become some of your close friends. You no longer need a common class to bring you together, you make the time to meet up with these students.
I met some of my closest friends in the BIC. Out of this group, I am the only one who is not a science major, which means that my friends and I do not randomly cross paths. (Nobody wanders from the BSB to Carroll Science, much less knows where Carroll Science is.) Yet after our years together in BIC classes and outside of them, these are the people who I find myself turning to when graduate school applications become just a little too overwhelming or when I want to plan a fun gathering.
That’s the beauty of the BIC. The people you meet along the way will stay with you long after you each fulfill your BIC requirements.
Kara Blomquist is a senior BIC student majoring in linguistics