There is so, so much to talk about here, and fortunately that's because I have a lot of positive things to say. Let me start with my experience in the English department.
Although I switched my major from telecommunications to creative writing at the end of freshman year, I wasn't very involved with the English department until I was a senior. There were two main reasons for this: firstly, I was involved in so many extracurriculars already that I didn't have time to get involved with the department or learn much about it. Secondly, my increased involvement specifically with a campus church led me to decide that I wanted to ultimately become paid staff with that church. So, how heavily involved I was with my major, much as I was growing to especially love poetry and occasionally read my own at readings, had little to do with my life plans and was of little concern.
Said life plans were entirely scrapped when, after nearly two years of intense questioning, I left Christianity and became an atheist right before the start of my senior year. I lost most of my social support system, as all of my close friends went to the church. But it also cleared my schedule -- so I finally had time to get involved in the English department my last year of school, and I am, pardon, so fucking glad I did.
My minimal participation in my major for three-fourths of my college career could have been used against me in the English department -- I could have not been given as many opportunities to be in positions of creative control and leadership, to read my work in front of new audiences (including a partially paid-for trip to read at the University of Alabama), to all-around be encouraged and supported by my English department peers and faculty. But I was, without reserve, and this is something for which I'll always be grateful -- especially since the amazing creative writing faculty that challenged and encouraged me so much my senior year gave me a new career goal: to teach undergraduate creative writing, and be as passionate and genuine toward my students as my professors have been toward me.
One of the bullet-point prompts for this section asks, "Do you spend time with professors outside of class?" and I can tell you, absolutely. And not just to talk school-ish things, though mine have always been willing to do so. My advanced non-fiction professor, Honors College thesis advisor, and a general wise mama-figure in my life took me out for coffee a few weeks ago and the first thing she asked me after initial hellos was how I was doing after a hard breakup. Another English department associate professor I get beers with regularly has become a surrogate big brother, and we talk about everything from mid-90s SNL sketches to how religious influence has played out in our lives. I could cite multiple other examples, but you get the idea. "Do professors know your name?" doesn't even touch the kind of community that exists in the English department.
And speaking of community, I think "community" is a more accurate word than "competitive," at least in my department. (Having once been a telecommunications major, Ball State's star department, I can tell you competitive tension definitely exists amongst various tcom organizations and the stripes of people within them.) One of the reasons it was so easy for me to get involved quickly was that my peers were enthusiastic about my presence; there is much more a sense of building each other up, both as writers and as people, than trying to become "the best." We generally know who the standouts are in the department, but there's not much in the way of envy or headbutting. We eat, drink, work, and live together. We like each other.
Picking a favorite class is pretty tough, as I've had some outstanding ones in both the English department and Honors College. Since I haven't talked about the Honors program yet though, I'll go ahead and do that.
First, I know a lot of people who decided not to do the Honors College although they had the credentials to get in, for a variety of reasons: mainly, 1) not knowing about the automatic half-tuition Presidential Scholarship (!), 2) not wanting to worry about doing an Honors thesis to graduate, and 3) not wanting to take classes with "Honors college kids." (A stereotype exists of Honors College kids as being "book smart" and obedient teachers' pets who can't think critically for themselves, lack basic social interaction skills, and don't possess the self-awareness to not take themselves so goddamn seriously and chill out. Unfortunately, this portrayal is often way more true than I like to think about.) Some of those people are happy they didn't, some wish they did. All in all, I'd say it's generally a better idea to be a part of the Honors College if you can, rather than not.
One, the professors are the sort that will meet with you outside of class for beers. They are generally down-to-earth yet quirky, intelligent people that are interesting to learn from and know.
Two, there are some really sweet Honors College-only colloquium classes about a lot of different things: fairy tales, Disney movies, and banned books, to name a few. Two colloqs I took, one over Italy and another photography, had non-required trips at the end of the semester to Rome, Florence, and Venice, and New York City, respectively, that were two of the best experiences I had in my time at Ball State. I don't remember exact figures, but both were pretty affordable -- definitely less expensive than a normal, independently planned vacation.
Three, the scholarship opportunities can be pretty sweet. I was named a Whitinger Scholar, one of ten the College selects from incoming freshmen each year. It's a full-ride scholarship that comes with a $1000 stipend to put toward an internship or some other educationally-relevant experience the College approves of. (I used mine to live in Nashville for six weeks while interning with an organization that rescues and rehabilitates child soldiers from Southeast Asia.) You don't have to live on campus to keep receiving the scholarship, so I put leftover money from the scholarship checks, after estimating costs for rent, groceries, extras, etc., into a high-interest savings account and graduated college this May with more money than what I came in with. The College offers some other scholarships as that pay just about as much, and provides a lot of resources for seeking graduate scholarships and fellowships as well. They love being able to say someone from their College received this-or-that award, and they love seeing smart kids get money.
As far as requirements go, I think they are largely fair though is one change I'd like to see made: more non-Western/non-white-male-centered history. As of now, the Honors College only requires one non-Western history course, and I don't believe the University Core requirements are any different. I think teaching history from a perspective not centered on only white men and their wars and possessions is an intellectually fair and needed thing in our society today, to further work against prejudices and make students aware of privileges and disadvantages that exist for themselves and others.
There seems to be a good balance between learning for learning's sake and more practical concerns. The Honors College loves its intellectualizing, but in no other department did I hear nearly as much about visiting the Career Center, building my resume, and generally doing everything I can to be a successful human being in "the real world."
We definitely have intellectual conversations outside the classroom -- philosophical talks over whiskey mixers on porches in summer is part of what set me on the path to becoming an atheist. But I have intelligent talks about books, music, politics, religion, and much else outside the classroom with my peers fairly often, especially with those I know from the English department. But smart, sociable, well-read people are liked people in pretty much any department at Ball State – and for that matter, everywhere else too, so making yourself into one is a pretty good move.