Berea College: Pros vs Cons (SENIOR YEAR)
Summary
TLDRIn this updated video, JC Brady reflects on their senior year at Berea College, sharing a comprehensive list of pros and cons compared to their freshman year's video. They discuss the challenges freshmen face, such as limited class selection, mandatory jobs, and strict rules, while highlighting the benefits of free tuition, diverse student body, and abundant resources. JC also touches on the college's unique aspects like wellness classes, swim tests, and the small-town environment, offering insights to prospective students.
Takeaways
- 🎓 The speaker is a senior at Berea College and is updating a previous video about the pros and cons of the college experience.
- 📚 Freshmen at Berea College do not have the freedom to choose their first set of classes and face challenges during registration due to seniority-based priority.
- 🏢 All students, including freshmen, are required to work on campus, but they do not have a choice in the type of job they receive, which can be frustrating.
- 🏋️♀️ Freshmen are mandated to take two wellness classes and pass a swim test, which the speaker found unnecessary and time-consuming.
- 🚗 Freshmen are not allowed to have a car on campus unless they live exceptionally far away, which can limit their freedom and opportunities to explore.
- 🍽 The dining options at Berea College are described as limited in variety, especially for vegetarians and vegans, and the food quality is not always satisfactory.
- 🏫 The small size of Berea city means students must travel to nearby cities for a more diverse range of activities and shopping options.
- 📈 The academic workload at Berea College is intense, and attendance is strictly monitored, which can be challenging for students adjusting to college life.
- 🌐 Berea College offers numerous free resources and services to students, including counseling, career development, and internship funding, which greatly enhance the educational experience.
- 🌱 The college emphasizes environmental sustainability, offering various programs and initiatives that promote eco-friendly living and learning.
- ❤️ The speaker expresses gratitude for the supportive community at Berea College, highlighting the diversity, free tuition, and the strong sense of camaraderie among students.
Q & A
Why does the speaker feel compelled to make an updated Berea College pros and cons video?
-The speaker feels compelled to make an updated Berea College pros and cons video because they are now a senior and have gained more insights and experiences since their freshman year when they made the original video.
What is one significant challenge freshmen face regarding class selection at Berea College?
-Freshmen at Berea College do not get to choose their first set of classes, and even during the spring semester registration, they have the lowest priority, often leaving them with limited options.
How does the speaker describe their freshman year job experience at Berea College?
-The speaker describes their freshman year job experience as challenging and isolating, having been assigned a janitorial position which they found repetitive and not enjoyable.
What is the requirement regarding car ownership for freshmen at Berea College?
-Freshmen at Berea College are not allowed to have a car on campus unless they live more than seven hours away from the school.
Why does the speaker mention the swim test as one of the cons of being a freshman at Berea College?
-The speaker mentions the swim test as a con because it is a random requirement that all freshmen must pass or else they have to enroll in beginner swimming classes.
What is the significance of Berea College being a labor college as mentioned in the script?
-Berea College being a labor college means that all students are required to have a job on campus, which is part of their educational experience and contributes to their work-study financial aid package.
How does the speaker feel about the academic workload at Berea College?
-The speaker initially found the academic workload at Berea College to be very challenging and intense, especially during their freshman year, but has learned to handle it better as a senior.
What is the policy regarding opposite sex visitation in freshman dorms at Berea College?
-Freshmen at Berea College could not have the opposite sex in their rooms during the first semester, but there is a possibility that this policy might change in the future.
What are some of the free resources available to students at Berea College according to the speaker?
-Some of the free resources available to students at Berea College include counseling services, career development, internship funding, writing resources, and various clubs and organizations.
How does the speaker view the diversity and inclusion at Berea College?
-The speaker views Berea College as being very diverse and inclusive, which has allowed them to learn about different religions, cultures, and perspectives, enriching their educational experience.
Outlines
🎓 College Life Reflections
The speaker, JC Brady, reflects on their college experience as a senior, noting the passage of time and the desire to update their freshman year video on Berea College's pros and cons. They plan to focus on the challenges faced by freshmen, such as limited class selection, job assignments, mandatory wellness classes, a swim test, and restrictions on having a car on campus. The speaker empathizes with the struggles of freshmen and intends to provide insights that could help prospective students and their parents.
🚫 Freshman Year Limitations
The speaker elaborates on the restrictions and challenges faced by freshmen at Berea College. These include the inability to choose one's first set of classes, job assignments without preference, mandatory wellness and swim classes, and prohibitions on having a car on campus. The speaker also touches on the limitations of job opportunities, with students only allowed to work on-campus jobs and not being able to hold a second job off-campus. The small size of Berea city and the strict workload of the college are also mentioned, along with the mandatory attendance policy for classes.
🤔 Debatable College Experiences
The speaker discusses aspects of Berea College that could be seen as either positive or negative, depending on individual perspectives. These include the close-knit community where everyone knows each other, which can be both comforting and embarrassing. The college's liberal arts education requires students to take a variety of perspectives and general studies courses, which can be both enriching and challenging. The speaker also mentions convocations, which were mandatory before the pandemic and varied in their appeal to students.
🌟 The Positives of Berea College
The speaker highlights the positive aspects of Berea College, starting with the free tuition for all students, which creates a diverse and understanding community. They mention the college's diversity, the abundance of free resources available to students, such as counseling and career development, and the funding for internships. The speaker also appreciates the college's emphasis on sustainability, the free gym and laundry facilities, and the affordable healthcare services. They share personal experiences with outstanding professors and the opportunity to engage in community service, concluding with an encouragement for prospective students to consider Berea College.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Berea College
💡Pros and Cons
💡Freshman Year
💡Work Program
💡Academic Intensity
💡Campus Life
💡Free Tuition
💡Diversity
💡Wellness Classes
💡Registration Priority
💡Environmental Sustainability
Highlights
Introduction to the updated Berea College pros and cons video by JC Brady
Mention of the time passed since the freshman year video and the growth experienced
Emphasis on the cons faced by freshmen, particularly the strict rules and regulations
Lack of class selection freedom for freshmen and the stress associated with it
Description of the class registration process favoring upperclassmen
Freshmen's inability to choose their on-campus job and the potential hardships
Requirement for freshmen to take two wellness classes and the perceived lack of value
Mandatory swim test for freshmen and its randomness
Prohibition of having a car on campus for freshmen, limiting their exploration
Restrictions on holding side jobs outside of campus jobs for freshmen
Intense workload and time management challenges faced by freshmen
Mandatory attendance in every class with strict penalties for absences
Restrictions on having the opposite sex in freshmen rooms
Debatable cons like the small community size and its impact on privacy
The requirement of diverse perspectives in the curriculum and its challenges
The hit-or-miss nature of convocations and their impact on students
Highlighting the pros of Berea College, starting with free tuition for all students
Diversity and exposure to various cultures and religions at Berea
Availability of free resources like counseling and career development
Opportunities for internships funded by the college and their benefits
Mention of clubs, culture, and the vibrant community at Berea
Writing resources and support provided by the library
CELTS program and its focus on community service and engagement
Outstanding professors and their role in student success
Free gym and wellness opportunities for students
Environmental sustainability initiatives and the eco-friendly focus
Free laundry services in the dorms as a perk for students
Accessible healthcare services with a sliding scale fee for students
Encouragement for prospective students to consider Berea College
Transcripts
hi everybody i hope you're doing super
well welcome back to my channel or if
you're new here hello my name is jc
brady and i
rarely make videos i like to do it but i
just haven't had like a lot of good
ideas
and time i guess but there's one i've
been wanting to make
um a lot of people on campus always come
up to me and they're like hey i
recognize you from youtube and i think
back and i'm like oh
i wish i would have added so much more
especially as a senior
and i'm referring to my berea college
pros and cons video that i made freshman
year so like i said i'm a senior i feel
like i know so much more than i ever
could have imagined i can't believe i'm
a senior still
time has
went by extremely slow and also
extremely fast at the same time
it's been a crazy ride and yeah i
thought i would just make an updated
break college pros and cons video
so for upcoming freshmen and parents and
you know everyone concerned
i hope this video can help you without
further ado let's get right into the
video so i'm gonna start out with the
cons um specifically the cons that deal
with freshman year in particular because
for some reason freshmen just have it so
rough like there's so many rules and
regulations that they have to like
follow and they don't get to say in
certain things and so yeah i just wanted
to start out with that so the first
thing that i can think of is
classes
you don't get to choose your first set
of classes
now you can come in and be like hey i
want to be a
biology major and they'll try to put you
in like classes that have to do with
biology so for example i came in as
pre-vet so i was in animal science and
chemistry at the same time
and that would have not i guess been my
first choice it was very hard i had no
idea what i was doing as a freshman
somehow i made it through but it was
very stressful to not be able to have a
say that first semester of what my
classes were going to be you know i kind
of just came in and had to deal with it
and i got through it but it's just a
little frustrating you know not being
able to choose what classes you want to
take and then also
when registration comes around spring
semester you can choose but seniors have
top priority
so
it goes like seniors one day and then
juniors the next day and then sophomores
and then freshmen are left with like
basically whatever's left which isn't a
lot you're always going to be able to
get into like the
freshman only classes of course because
it's only freshmen applying but even
then it's super stressful it's like the
hunger games almost like you're just
waiting to put your code in and hoping
that you got it before everyone else
and i'm sure that's how it is at other
schools too um i'm not for sure about
the seniors junior sophomores and
freshmen but
yeah as a freshman you just feel like
nothing works out
but as a senior now
i'm like yeah i love registering first
yeah this is awesome so
yeah i guess you win some you lose some
you also don't get to pick your job
freshman year brie college is a labor
college like you everyone on campus has
a job and it doesn't pay super well
there's five pay grades and you can
actually look up online what they are i
believe they start out at like five
dollars an hour so yeah when you come in
you don't get to say what job you want
now you can submit a resume they can
kind of fit you in where you have most
experience
i did not do that and i wish i would
have because i got stuck as a janitor
freshman year if you watched my first
video you know that so it was really
hard
um yeah my job was honestly one of the
hardest things i had to overcome here it
was miserable i didn't have a great time
with my boss it was just repetitive
cleaning i liked it because i was alone
and i could listen to music and call
family but it was very isolating and it
was just cleaning it felt meaningless
and
i'm thankful it happened i've definitely
grown and realized i can do a lot of
things and i'm stronger because of it
but it was very hard and i wish i could
have had a say in like what i kind of
wanted to do you know also as a freshman
you are required to take two wellness
classes which was kind of weird and felt
like a waste of time you just me i can't
remember if it's like once a week or
twice a week
and it's just like this really weird
like health
class
thing i don't know obviously i didn't
retain anything because i can't even
tell you what it's about
i think we just learned about like
healthy habits and like the body and
all that stuff but um that was really
weird as a freshman i definitely did not
want to be there and on top of that you
are required to take a swim test which
is also super random like you have to
pass a swim test or you have to be in
like beginner swimming classes
and i just think that's super weird i
passed but it was just like a super
weird i didn't understand why it was a
thing i think
they won i don't
yeah i don't even have a theory i don't
know
also as a freshman you cannot have a car
on campus
unless you live i think it's like seven
hours away then you're allowed but if
you just live four hours away like me
which is still super far you still can't
have a car which is super frustrating at
times because like being here all the
time 24 7 it gets tiring you know you
want to go out and explore
and go to different cities but unless
you have like upperclassmen friends or
take the shuttle that the college offers
like you're pretty much here speaking of
that berea itself is a super small city
like there's no shopping mall there's
not a movie theater there's not much
like that so we have like a walmart and
a few restaurants but besides that
you're going to be traveling to richmond
or lexington which is like 15 and 45
minutes away to really get like a true
city experience berea is like a super
small city another thing is when you do
have a job here you are not allowed to
have a side job anywhere else so you
can't like work at mcdonald's while
working here you're not allowed to have
a second job outside of the college
which is frustrating at times because
it's like i need money and i'm not
getting paid a lot here and we're all on
labor contracts so it's like you can
work 10 hours a week or 15 hours when i
know like other jobs i can be working
like 25 and getting paid way more but
that's just the college's rules i'm sure
it's because you know it's super intense
here the workload is crazy here and i'll
talk about that in a second i'm sure
that's why there's caution for it you
can get approved to have a secondary job
if like you have a reason now you can't
have a second job on campus they're
called like secondary positions and
they're usually like five hour positions
so that's a little bit of extra money
but you cannot search for a job
elsewhere like i mentioned earlier
classes are
very intense here as a senior i've
learned to handle it and i kind of
forget like how much it is yeah they
were really hard freshman year i didn't
have time to really do much i didn't
have time to hang with friends i had to
choose between like eating and doing
homework
and it was really hard to get used to i
don't think i actually got used to it
until maybe the second semester of
sophomore year like it was crazy and now
i'm thankful for because it does prepare
you for like upper graduate things like
master school um i maybe will go get my
masters and i'm not intimidated by it at
all but it is a little you know
frustrating for people who don't plan to
go do that and it might just feel like a
lot but i do think that you learn so
much here that you really have to
challenge yourself have to like
challenge your barriers and it really
pushes you to do great things and i am
happy for that but it was super hard and
a really hard thing to adjust to also
attendance is absolutely mandatory for
like every class pretty much every class
i've had has been like you can miss
like two classes but once you miss like
a third one you get points taken off of
your final grade so i know a lot of
colleges i've talked to a lot of my
friends and they're like yeah you don't
really have to go that's not the case
here teachers will absolutely know when
you're not in class and they will hold
it against you maybe there's a few that
won't but in my experience i've never
had a teacher like that i've had to go
to every single class finally i put this
one at the end it's because there might
be a change coming next semester next
year so originally freshmen could not
have like the opposite sex over into
their room so like i couldn't have a guy
over my guy friends couldn't have me
over and that was really frustrating as
a freshman it's only first semester but
it's like what the heck what are we
doing like why can't i have my guy
friends over in my room it makes no
sense and thankfully this semester um
the entire campus voted on changing
visitation hopefully by the time you get
here i believe it will be changed or
altered in some way and my final con and
it's gotten i think better since
freshman year i don't know the thing is
i went from
eating meat to being a vegetarian so
it's also still kind of hard now but i
do notice a lot more diversity in dining
but regardless it's not super great most
of the time it's hard to like find
sustenance sometimes in there it's
dining food it's free food so that's
awesome but it's not like super tasty
sometimes or i don't feel like there is
a lot of variety still for me as a
vegetarian so then i just think about
people that are vegan and i'm like oh my
god
like they have like one section and if
they don't like it then they're screwed
for the day basically it's pretty scary
but i think they're working on it and i
think they're making progress but yeah
it's dining food so i think that is all
of my cons um
i have some that are debatable like they
could be probably could be clients so i
guess i'll start with those so the first
one i thought of was that everyone knows
everyone which can be super cool because
it's close knit you know and you're
always going to run into your friends
and people that you know
but it can also be a pain when you just
want to like go out and you're dressed
like super weird because you're just
like so cold and you run into like
people you know and it's so embarrassing
yeah that's not fun um also i feel like
everybody knows everybody's business
here
it's pretty weird i kind of wish it was
bigger just so i wouldn't you know have
to deal with that but some people love
it some people love like a big family
um so yeah it's whatever you make of it
i guess another thing that's hit or miss
is that um to graduate here it's a
liberal arts college so you have a lot
of like perspectives and required
classes
so like you have a western history
perspective a religion perspective and
like all of these perspectives that you
have to meet on top of that
you have like all your gstr's which is
like you basically take like gstr 110
your freshman year in gstr 210 uh
usually your freshman year two the
second semester
and then gstr310 is foundations of
christianity but then you have to take a
religious perspective where
understandings of christianity doesn't
count so it's a little confusing
um i will say i've learned a lot of
really cool things because of this
perspective the arts perspective was
super cool
i took appalachian literature for that
one and it was so much fun i learned so
much about appalachia
and i read so much and it was such a
good time but like next semester i'm
having to take my practical reasoning
with quantitative emphasis and
i'm nervous because like it's math and
i'm a calm major so i'm a little
confused but i know it's to like have a
well-balanced education
so it's another one of those things
where it's like oh i don't want to do it
but also i'm thankful that i am you know
finally this one i put at the end
because since kovitz happened they've
not been required and i'm not for sure
like if we will go back to them
convocations used to be required here
they were seven a semester and they were
so hit or miss i mean it was rough like
sometimes you would go in and you'd hear
like a super cool one and then sometimes
you go in and you'd just be sitting
there for an hour listening to someone
talk
and you can't like be on your phone you
can't be reading you can't really do
anything during convocation you will
like get in trouble and get kicked out
it's basically just sitting there for an
hour and listening to a speaker and to
do seven of them every semester was
pretty tiring especially when most of
them were super boring there were some
really cool ones but i think overall i
would have preferred not to have
convocations but some people might love
them because they learned so much so
yeah it's definitely up to the person
and finally to the pros we finally made
it guys i will say i definitely have a
lot more pros and cons first and
foremost i think the coolest thing about
berea is that it is free tuition so no
one here pays tuition which is super
cool you have to meet
the
financial threshold so a lot of us our
families didn't make enough or we are
first generation college students coming
from families so that's really cool to
be in like an environment where everyone
kind of gets it you know like you never
feel
like embarrassed or like weird everyone
like has been through hard times and i
think it's a really cool place to like
get your education and like be with
people who get it it's also super
diverse at least from my viewpoint so i
come from a super small town in
tennessee so coming here i got to be
introduced to like all kinds of
religions and cultures you know there's
so many just different things going on
all the time and it's amazing coming
from a small town like i never would
have imagined there was so much and i
just love learning every day and seeing
you know how people live and what their
beliefs are it's really cool also so
many free resources for students i've
only wrote a few and i know i'm missing
some because there's so many so the
first one that really just helped me so
much was counseling so we get free
counseling as students and i've had a
really good experience
i know some people haven't but my
therapist
she actually left this year which is so
sad they really care for students i feel
like
at least in my experience and really
helped me through a lot of hard times
that i don't know what i would have done
without them so that was really cool
there's also like career development
which helps you
like figure out what major you might
like or figure out what job you might
want to do after your major and along
with them is like the office of
internships which helps you like figure
out maybe what you want to do for an
internship so berea college funds two
internships completely that's like
living arrangement like food everything
which is so cool i've never heard of
another college doing that so
basically like you are building your
resume like crazy here not only do you
have jobs on campus all the time but you
can do two internships and you leave
here with your four-year degree with so
much under your belt the hope is that
you will just flourish after college
which hopefully is what happens they
also help you with like preparing for
grad school they do mock interviews
there's like a funding that helps you
get professional clothing
so yeah there are so many resources here
to help students on top of that there's
so many clubs with so much culture and
it's just a really cool place like you
are just bound to get into something
here also there's writing resources in
the library that helps you with like
papers or getting a paper started i've
definitely had to use them a few times
because sometimes it's just hard to get
started or to finish a paper celts is a
really cool program here it's based on
helping the community so i know that
there's like adopt a grandparent habitat
for humanity i believe that they help
with that a little bit i did bria
buddies which is where i got paired with
a kid in the community and i believe
like every wednesday we would like eat
lunch and play for a little bit so it
was really fun and yeah it was a good
way to give back to the community since
covets happened i'm not for sure if
they're doing it but i'm hoping that
once you know we get through this
pandemic and everything's situated out
there we will go back to doing that i
hope that you get to experience that all
of my professors here have been like
outstandingly
awesome
so many of them have just become my best
friends or my leaders and mentors i know
like a few professors that my friends
have had that have not been good but
luckily for me i have had just the most
amazing experience with professors in
like school i think what helps me a lot
is before i apply for classes i go on
like rate my professor or things like
that and i check out reviews just to
make sure that like they seem like a
decent person but yeah i have just been
blessed with the best professors also we
have a gym on campus that's completely
free for students
we have
free yoga sometimes i believe like once
a week and this was pre-covered but
there were like free yoga classes that
you could go to and attend maybe it was
two times a week i don't know but they
were so awesome and also the local yoga
studio would offer yoga for like an
extreme discount for students i think i
paid like three bucks every time i went
to a session so yeah it was super cool
also something i really love about berea
college is that i feel like it's super
environmentally friendly it tries to be
so
everything at dining is composted and
also a lot of things from dining come
from our farm which is super awesome i
actually live in deep green known as the
eco-friendly dorm on campus the office
of sustainability which i work there
first semester they have all kinds of
events to promote sustainable ways of
living there's so many ways that you can
educate yourself about the environment
and ways to live so it's a super cool
learning environment another thing i
want to mention is that in the dorms we
actually have free laundry i know a lot
of colleges that don't offer free
laundry so yeah that's a pretty cool
perk to have as a college student the
final one and that doesn't mean it's
better or worse than the others but
in regards to like healthcare there is a
hospital on campus called white house
clinic and students get like a sliding
scale fee so that helps pay for like all
your medicine it gives you like a really
big discount or even free sometimes so
like we all get like free checkups if
you need like certain medications or
like a shot or something it can cost a
little bit but because of the sliding
scalfie it's reduced like dramatically
which is pretty cool so i never have to
worry about like being sick and having
to go to the doctor and having to fork
out a lot of money which is a huge
stress reliever so that's just a few of
the pros and cons i could think of as a
senior um i hope it's a little different
than my first video i hope you found it
super helpful
and yeah overall i would say if you're
feeling the call to come here you should
come here um i'll be here until next
december so december 2022. so yeah um if
you see me around feel free to say hi i
hope to see you around campus and i hope
that you have a good time at berea
college if you choose to come thanks for
watching guys
bye
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