Category: General Information

Profs are People, too: A Profile of Dr. Sarah Walden

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Did you reserve your spot at BIC Cafe?! If not, here’s a little interview we conducted with Dr. Walden to help us all get to know her better.
1) Are you a morning person or a night owl?
I am most definitely a morning person. I love the quiet of the mornings, sitting still with a cup of coffee, or even the busy mornings when work is getting started and I can sit and write in the bustle of the BIC office. Call me old, but asking me to stay up late (I won’t even begin to tell you what constitutes “late” in my book) is a special sort of punishment.
2) What is your favorite food?
True to my state, I love Tex-Mex. Chips and salsa are the ultimate comfort food, and I love just about any combination of meat, cheese, and tortilla you can dream up. I also love just about anything with kale (I know it sounds either trendy or gross, but it is so good).
3) What is/was your favorite teaching moment?
I don’t know that I have a favorite teaching moment with a specific person or class—or it might be more accurate to say that there are too many to name here. But I can say that there are moments I look forward to every semester. I love hearing my students laugh—with me or even at me—because it means that they know that even when they are confused, stressed, tired, or all of the above, that they don’t have to take themselves too seriously. I love an intelligent, controversial debate, when I can tell we are really listening to one another and internalizing new ideas. I love that as useful as stasis theory is, I can never explain it correctly, and this just helps my students remember it more. In short, those truly BIC moments are my favorite teaching moments.
4) What are some of your hobbies?
My hobbies: I love to bake and cook. I will say I’m more of a rustic baker—I don’t like messing with icing cakes or frosting cookies. But I make a mean coffeecake. I love to read cookbooks, old and new. I am teaching myself to crochet. Of course I love to read, but I am also a huge fan of Netflix. (Can Netflix be a hobby?) I used to dance—ballet—and play the oboe, and I look forward to having the time to do those again. Pilates is the closest I get these days, and I enjoy this as well.
5) What type of music do you listen to?

Music. Well, let’s see—Can I just say Christmas music and be done with this question? Just kidding. I tend to use music to facilitate work, so some classic Whitney Houston (throwback to growing up in the 80s) got me through my Master’s thesis, Amy Winehouse and Adele got me through the Ph.D., and Sara Bareilles tends to be good background music for my current research. I also really love bluegrass; I love to sit on the deck in the late fall evenings and enjoy some music and good company—might be a groups of friends, or just my husband and son, but bluegrass always fits the bill.

6) If you hadn’t become a professor, what would you be doing now?

If I hadn’t become a professor, I think I would have enjoyed a career in public health. I love education, and I would really enjoy working to communicate medical information to a broad public.
7) Would you rather have an all-you-can-read library (with every book ever written in it) or an all-you-can-eat buffet with all of your favorite foods?
This might surprise people based on my food research, but I’d have to say I’d choose an all-you-can-read library, hands down. I love so many types of books—as long as the library came with plenty of built-in reading time, this would be a dream.

Finals Week: It’s the Most Miserable Time of the Year

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Finals are approaching! I don’t know why I’m using exclamation points! It’s not exciting! Ahhhh!

The good news is that there’s a designated study space just for BICers.

On Tuesday December 9th, Morrison 100 will be open from the morning until 7 p.m. (Another group has it at 7 p.m. Booooo.) After 7 p.m., Morrison 102 will be available until midnight.

On Wednesday December 10th, Morrison 100 will be open all day. Coffee and some snacks will be provided in Morrison 100 on both days.

I know, I know. It’s like you’ve died and gone to BIC heaven. Since I just know you’re going to take advantage of these fantastic resources, I’m going to go ahead and give you some pointers on what to do when you’re in Morrison, studying your life away for that 4.0.

1. Divvy Up the Work

The BIC is notorious for assigning copious amounts of hard-to-decipher-let-alone-understand texts. (I remember reading Aristotle’s On the Soul and being like whuuu….?)

My advice is to split up the readings among fellow BICers so you don’t have to personally reread each individual thing on the syllabus. Email one another the reviews/outlines you’ve each made. Studying hard is good, but studying smart is better—especially when you’re studying for a million different tests at one time.

2. Turn Off Your Phone

Or turn it on airplane mode, at least. I get it, studying can be such a bore, but you’re going to really regret scrolling Instagram so many times when the exam rolls around and you know nothing about Japanese imperialism. Tell your friends you’ll text them back later. Like, in a week when this hell is over.

3. Review Past Quizzes

You never know. Your profs could totally recycle some of those questions. (Hint: they do.)

4. Outline the Essays ON YOUR OWN

Not everyone will agree with me, but in my opinion it’s best to share notes and information with your classmates but then work on the essay alone. This way, you can really impress your professor with a unique thesis. Reading the same ideas over and over again gets boring—give your profs something really interesting and different to read!

5. Don’t Study With Your Crush

It’s not their fault they’re so cute, but know that their cuteness WILL distract you from memorizing the development of early Christianity.

Better to study with friends. Get coffee with your crush later—after you’ve aced your exam.

6. Ask Your Professors for Help

Their job is to educate you, so don’t feel ashamed to ask them questions if you don’t understand a concept. I used to bother each and every one of my BIC professors before finals, and they were all incredibly generous with their time and patient with me when I had my slow moments. (There were a lot of them…)

 

Yay study rooms! Yay finals! Yay Christmas! GODSPEED!

 

 

(Author: Ada Zhang)

Welcome to the QuickBIC blog!

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Hello BICers! How are you today? Caffeinated, I hope?

If you didn’t know already, the QuickBIC is now completely online. Sophomores and upperclassmen may recall that the QuickBIC used to be a paper newsletter that was distributed in large group every month.

Well, we have decided to leave the dark ages behind us and embrace this new thing called The Internet.

Moving the QuickBIC onto The Internet is a really great thing because now, you can read and re-read QuickBIC content whenever you want, wherever you want (as long as you’re near a computer or have a smart phone); you can sleep sound knowing you’re saving trees and being environmentally friendly (go green!); and you’re still getting to read top-quality editorial content. (Did I just flatter myself? Yes.)

In other words, don’t worry. This blog is not going to turn into a Tumblr filth hole of Kim Kardashian GIFs. Not under my watch.

If you’re not already, please follow the QuickBIC Facebook page. That way, you can instantly be notified when there’s a new post.

For freshman who aren’t really sure what this QuickBIC thing is, here’s a brief overview of what sort of content we put out:

  • Political columns – This is the BIC, so who would we even be if we didn’t stay plugged in to current events and talk about them.
  • Advice columns – Upperclassmen BICers have a lot of sage wisdom to offer.
  • Important BIC news – Get all the details on what BIC event is going on where. (But more importantly, know what free food is being provided.)
  • Humor columns – The  QuickBIC is all about that laughter.
  • Kim Kardashian GIFs – Just kidding.

Our content is 100% original, written by members of the BIC Leadership Council as well as the occasional outside contributor. If you wish to contribute an article, send a message to ada_zhang@baylor.edu to pitch an idea.

Last thing: give us a follow on Instagram (@quickbic) and double-tap our photos if you find them amusing.

Hope everyone’s midterm week is going swimmingly!

Godspeed.

 

(Author: Ada Zhang)