In my second to last day home, I am feeling pretty ordinary--definitely not as if I am about to fly half way around the world, live there for a few months, and commit to a language pledge that demands the elimination of English from my daily communications.
From reading the end-of-the-semester blog posts published by the fall ACC Yalies, I got a little bit nervous about the program because the reviews were not all that positive. The general complaints were that the ACC program was simultaneously too motherly and too unorganized/untrained. Another complaint was that the culture of the ACC and the very comfortable dorms didn't promote student interactions (this seemed like an odd attribution to me because comfortable dorms don't determine social interactions...people do). Lastly, I've heard that the program was so strict that the teachers didn't even like it, resulting in the resignation of a majority of the upper level teachers. Yikes.
On the other hand, I've recently "met" via internet my future suite mate to be. She seems cool, and I am very excited about meeting the other ACC students. I guess I'll have to take it upon myself to eliminate this comfortable dorm syndrome and make sure our group doesn't sink into it.
Hi, Joy:
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to your blog!
As for ACC, they had some leadership shuffling, and I'm hopeful they'll be back on target next term. Historically, ACC has been one of the Fellows' most-liked programs. I will say that, no matter what, every program has strengths and weaknesses, and one of the real keys to making the most of experiences like this is to know the territory and maximize it for yourself.
You're off to a great start by having read those reports.