Student Profiles
Katherine Rollins
English; Supplemental Major in Art History
Class of 2009
Houston, TX
"Notre Dame was actually one of the larger schools that I considered in my college search. I had been looking at small liberal arts colleges, but I was encouraged to look into Notre Dame as well. When I visited the campus, the atmosphere and the people were so welcoming, and it was easy to see myself here. Though Notre Dame had all of the opportunities of a large university, the Honors Program provided a smaller and intellectually intense community that was very exciting to me as an applicant.
"During my freshman year, the Honors Program provided challenging classes and cultural opportunities that I might not have had access to otherwise. I had come from a small and academically intense high school, and the Honors Program provided a similar atmosphere in the midst of a larger university. Most of my classes were with a core group of students who quickly became friends as well as classmates. In our classes, the professors strove to ask the hard questions and make us think outside of the box when forming our conclusions.
"Professors at the top of their fields taught our courses, and the small classes allowed us to work closely with these professors and see how they approached their fields. It was not unusual for a discussion in one class to be carried over into another. For example, our seminar class read The Life of Galileo by Brecht at the beginning of the spring semester, and a few weeks later the same play came up in a discussion in our honors physics class.
"Additionally, the Honors Program alerted its students to opportunities on campus that we might otherwise miss, such as speakers, performances, or research opportunities. Our cultural horizons were broadened by trips to Canada and Chicago, and our intellectual horizons were stretched in the classrooms. Overall, I think that the Honors Program has done its best to open up as many doors as possible so that its students can get the best from the Notre Dame experience."
