I was drawn to this book because I taught a first-year experience course to freshman during the last academic school year and will be starting again with a brand new class in a few weeks. These brand new college students were among the best and brightest at their high schools and are hand-picked to attend the Air Force Academy. Although they are among the best and the brightest entering college students, they nevertheless, are still young and inexperienced. In the weeks to come, I will blog about the experiences of one college anthropology instructor who decides to conduct research on college students by returning to college herself as a freshman (first-year student).
Since the college professor teaches anthropology (the study of human beings), it was quite natural for her to study the students within their own environment, as a student, rather than as the instructor. She decides to conduct a year-long ethnographic study of the students and live with them and experience their environment.
Her intent was a to provide a detailed and indepth description of their everyday life and practices.
After auditing a couple of classes for her own interest and education, the author discovered that she acted like a student and the other students treated her like a fellow student. The idea was born and this over-50 year old college professor returned to school to expeience life as a freshman college student all over again.
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