CSU Stanislaus students and professors have just made it through their first week of the Spring 2024 semester, and a number of them have shared their varied aspirations and expectations for the new year.
Vanessa Soto (Senior, Sociology) is in her last semester and is feeling anxious to wrap up her degree and find fresh experiences outside of college.
“I’m looking forward to graduating, I’m looking forward to my internship to get that hands-on experience, and just like, taking it all in because I don’t really want to do my Master’s, so, gonna see what happens,” she said, “And if I do I’m gonna take a gap year and go somewhere else cause I need something new.”
Gerania Reyes (Senior, Creative Media) is also looking forward to graduating, and is using what time she has left in college figuring out what she wants to do after she leaves.
“I feel like this semester is going to be one of the best ones because, you know, I’m just almost there at the finish line,” she said.
Courtney Kirkland (Sophomore, Political Science) is excited to recruit people into her sorority, Phi Sigma Sigma, and is looking forward to her classes this semester.
“My favorite class I would have to say is Political Modern Theory,” she said, “Shoutout Machiavelli.”
Isaiah Sanchez (Public Health, Junior) is planning on becoming a physical therapist and he’s enjoying his classes along his path to graduation.
“My favorite class so far has to be biomechanics,” he said, “Mainly because I love math and trigonometry, so it’s going to be an interesting class.”
Abel Medina (History, Junior), meanwhile, is considering becoming either a history teacher or a historian, and appreciates the classes at Stan State that tackle relevant and urgent political issues and topics.
“The favorite class I’ve ever taken is Contemporary World Issues, it was like a philosophy class,” he said, “and I thought it was very interesting how it was focused mainly on equity and social issues in society of today.”
Stephanie Paterson is a full professor of English, the co-director of the Great Valley Writing Project, and coordinator of the Master of Arts in Writing Studies who’s been teaching at Stan State since 2001.
Dr. Paterson is looking forward to this semester the same as she’s looked forward to every semester since she began teaching at Stan State in 2001, being driven by her love of the classroom and its unpredictability.
“Really the great joy of teaching for me is my students,” she said, “I look forward to the surprises that occur in a classroom, all the things I can’t plan for, all the personalities, all the surprises in the writing that I get to read, all the surprises in the spontaneous writing we do in-class.”
