It is no secret that Villanova students are a specific brand of overachievers. This lethal combination of ambition and anxiety is only compounded in the Villanova Honors Program.
It’s also no secret that honors students can get judged harshly, and that can fall on the program, too. College honors programs might seem cliquey to those on the outside, and they might even put too much pressure on their own students.
The Villanova Honors Program strives to create well-rounded, good and happy students. There is no pressure to be perfect. In fact, there are tools that will help any honors student who feels weighed down by the pressure of college or life in general.
Every freshman in the program gets the opportunity to participate in “Shaping a College Life,” a one-credit honors class organized and run by Dr. Anna Moreland, Director of the Honors Program, and Emmalee Moffitt Brown, Assistant Director of the Honors Program.
The Shaping initiative is the epitome of veritas, unitas and caritas. The honors program does an excellent job of uplifting its students and keeping the spirit of Villanova alive. It is not talked about nearly enough.
“Students arrive at Villanova over-prepared in a lot of ways,” Moreland said. “They’re super smart, their organizational and study skills are ridiculously strong, etc. But they arrive here underprepared to ask the foundational questions about who they are and whom they want to become.”
But what exactly is “Shaping A College Life?”
“I know the class is unusual, and it’s even a bit hard for me to explain to those who haven’t heard of it before given its interdisciplinary subject matter, student-led format, and blend of academics and community-building elements,” Brown said.
Each “Shaping” class is led by two upperclassmen who took “Shaping” their freshman year. Freshmen have the opportunity to learn everything from how to register for classes to how to deal with failure in this new environment to how to handle a breakup from people who were already in their shoes once.
In addition to the classroom aspect, each week the students are paired up and have to go on a “date” with one of their classmates. This is a great opportunity for the freshman to learn how to make friends and get out of their comfort zones.
“I think shaping made me much more comfortable,” sophomore Kyla Armistad said. “As someone who came from a decent distance away, I thought there was going to be more disconnect between me and some of my classmates at first, but shaping showed me that that was not necessarily true.”
Villanova students love completing a task, and in this scenario, the task is making a new friend. “Shaping a College Life” appeals to both the try-hard mentality, as well as the overwhelming fear that every freshman comes in with.
“Shaping a College Life” is a wonderful program, and it is one in which I am proud to have been a part. I think that the Honors Program does an excellent job of preparing its freshman for the most success, and it is not talked about nearly enough.
Don’t believe me? Good thing I’m not the only one who feels this way.
“I think ‘Shaping’ helped shaped my life, and my college experience would have been completely different without it,” sophomore Kaitlyn Walker said.
I know for a fact that was true because Walker met me in ‘Shaping.’ That would change anyone’s life.
“I think ‘Shaping’ set me up well for college as it allowed me to reflect on different things I was experiencing at college and talk with other students about how everything was going,” Walker said.
Shaping isn’t just about the freshmen, though. It benefits the facilitators, as well.
“I really love mentorship,” senior Bridget Duffy said. “It’s something I am very passionate about. I think it’s such a valuable relationship for both the mentor and the mentee.”
Duffy and her roommate Sarah Helstrom were my facilitators freshman year. While I love the entire “Shaping” program, I especially loved my facilitators and do not know where I would be without them.
“I decided to be a facilitator because I wanted to connect with first-year students and help them adjust to Villanova,” senior Sarah Helstrom, my other facilitator from freshman year, said. “I really loved my facilitators when I was a freshman and wanted to be like them for new students.”
Take “Shaping” if you can. Listen to your facilitators. Become a facilitator. Learn how to live your best life at Villanova and beyond and pass your tools to the next generation.
And spread the word about “Shaping,” because it does not get nearly enough credit.
