Tonight at the Rose café, Professor Schwarz from the English department gave a talk about his recent book “How to Succeed in College and Beyond.” In his talk he provided a broad summary of his advice for high school students up through college graduates, but I still gained many insights that are applicable to me as a sophomore.

One of his pieces of advice that especially resonated with me was the importance of choosing classes based primarily on the professors teaching them. In his opinion, the most important aspect of a class is whether the professor really cares about the students’ success and actively engages with them. He also recommended seeking out discussion-based classes whenever possible to optimize the opportunities to interact directly with professors and trying to build a close relationship with at least one professor per semester. My favorite classes at Cornell so far have definitely been the ones where I was able to get to know my professors, so this advice made a lot of sense to me.

As an American studies major I also was very interested in Professor Schwarz’s discussion of the importance of the humanities. He noted that the study of the humanities teaches students how to effectively read and analyze complex ideas and theories, and pointed out that these skills could be applied to multiple future occupations. In addition to these practical advantages, however, he also highlighted the joy that comes from engaging with these ideas in the midst of a diverse community of students and professors. As final papers and exams approach, I hope to be able to keep in mind the importance of this joy of learning.