By Emily Mathe

You may have heard about it—whether mentioned in one of the brochures mailed to you, or from a recruiter who showed up at your high school with a lot to say about scholarships and financial aid, or if you happened to see it mentioned on PUC’s website. Wherever and however it happened, it’s a fair bet at some point you encountered the term, “Honors Program,” without knowing what it meant.

So, what is the Honors Program at PUC? And, more importantly, why should you care about it? I asked myself the same questions before I came to PUC as a freshman, and now, four years later, I’m going to give you the best answers that I can. It’s my goal that after you finish reading this, you’ll consider becoming a part of PUC’s Honors Program!

1. The Course Load

Choosing to be in the Honors Program means plugging different courses into where many of your General Education classes used to be. Often, these courses are either Honors-only seminars, or “H-designated” courses that fulfill your graduate requirements. However, diminishing your course load doesn’t reduce your choices—there are plenty of options open for interesting classes: from physics, to creative writing, to Portuguese, to advanced computer science. Especially if you’re double majoring, you’ll want to seriously consider Honors. In my experience as a double major in English and communication, this program was one of the main reasons I stayed on track for graduation!

2. The Interdisciplinary Approach

The Honors Program isn’t just for students majoring in humanities like English or history. Often, the Honors cohort includes science majors, pre-med students, future engineers, pilots, and educators. I was attracted to the program because it ties my passion for writing and the English language to overarching themes in philosophy, politics, religion, and social criticism. The interdisciplinary approach is one of the unique aspects of the Program. You’ll learn how to find the connections between particle physics and Plato’s “Republic,” and you’ll broaden your own scholastic horizons in the process.

3. The Honors Project

Throughout your years at PUC, you’ll have a lot of papers that you just don’t want to write. So, during the second half of your graduation year (or earlier, if you’re on top of things), your reward is a project on a topic you’re passionate about. Finally, you get to study something meaningful to you! However, self-directed research can be tough, and depending on what you choose for your project, you’ll want to pair up with an advisor who can give you encouragement … as well as lighting the fire under you when those important deadlines start approaching.

4. The People

Everyone in the Program is there for a reason. Even though you may walk into your first class feeling intimidated by everyone else in the room, keep in mind they most likely feel the same way. After all, this is “Honors,” which means everyone is super-scary-smart, right? While intelligence is a common trait, it’s not the defining trait. Honors students are driven, passionate, and focused, but they are also people—students. Just like you. One of the best things about the Program is getting to build connections with others who share your interests. And yes, you might be able to do that in a 50-person lecture hall with a crowd of freshmen … but do you really want to make the job more difficult than it is already?!

By Andrea James

I was inspired to write this article about the Honors Program at PUC because of my indecisiveness about choosing my major. I’m constantly waffling about whether to change my major, add this or that minor, etc. The thing that ends up always restricting me is how long it would to take to study everything I’m interested in. There simply aren’t enough hours in a day, credits in a quarter, dollars in my bank account. From my conversations with other students, my dilemma is a common one. Well, the Honors Program is here to help!

If you are unaware, the Honors Program at PUC replaces the General Education requirements with an abridged curriculum that gives students space in their schedules and credit loads to pursue double majors, minors, or to customize electives to fit their personal goals. It is compatible with any major and makes applicants to graduate, medical, or law school programs more desirable.

The Honors Program is more compelling and important than ever in this increasingly interconnected and interdependent world where all sorts of things are frequently redefined and understood in new and different ways from diverse perspectives. The mindset that the Honors Program encourages in its students and the knowledge it teaches them is becoming more and more necessary as employers are increasingly looking for people with broad knowledge bases, rather than those who have learned one specific discipline. Creative thinking and adaptability are also highly desirable traits in the current job market, and the Honors Program here at PUC fosters them along with many more, making its students more desirable to employers and better able to understand the complicated reality of the world.

People don’t really take advantage of the seemingly infinite knowledge (admittedly a lot of which is faulty) constantly at our fingertips and the ability to connect with people from practically any culture, background, or discipline. Participating in the Honors Program gives you the skills to properly make use of all that is available to the modern individual.

Make the most of each year you’re in college and come out the other side with the skills necessary to thrive wherever you go in the course of your career. For more information on the Honors program and its requirements, visit puc.edu/honors.

Stay tuned to the blog and this Friday, hear from Honors student Emily Mathe, who shares why you might want to consider joining the Honors program!

Honors students enjoy their annual trip to Florence, Italy.