Hello everyone!
Congratulations on choosing the IDS program! I hope you get as much out of this degree as I have.
My name, as I am sure you have already read, is Amanda Anthony. I am a Senior at UCF (Go Knights!), and I am obviously in the IDS, or Interdisciplinary Studies Degree program. My 2 concentrations are Letters & Languages and Behavioral Sciences, and my Minor is in Judaic Studies. (In laymans terms I am interested in Linguistics, Anthropology, and Biblical Studies.)
My education/career goals are kind of unique I suppose, I say this because everyone tells me that. :) After I graduate UCF in December, I hope to be accepted to USF to obtain a degree in Library Science (To be a Librarian). After this I am hoping to attend Yale (Cross you fingers for me!) to obtain a PhD in Assyriology (which is, in short, the study of Mesopotamian cultures). If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will try to answer it asap!
To me the IDS degree is a godsend. I am able to narrow down the topics in which I am interested in and focus on the information that I feel will make me a well rounded student. I know that there are not that many degree programs that are tailored to my interests, however this one can be. As an IDS student I am able to choose what classes fit my interests. I think it is great that I can learn from so many varied students in this program and I have. I have worked with engineers, English majors, Philosophers, future politicians, and the list goes on.
I know I tend to be a little long winded so I will stop here for now. I look forward to your questions and insights! Again Congratulations on choosing the IDS degree!
Salut!
Amanda Anthony
P.S. Try one of these little quizzes and post your results as part of your comment! :)
http://www.tomorrowland.us/tlm/
(I am a Talent!)
or
http://www.matthewbarr.co.uk/superhero/
(I am Superman! Or woman, I prefer woman!)
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Hey everyone.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Rob Gregrich. As with everyone else, I am an Interdisciplinary Studies major. My areas of study are Arts and Behavioral an Social Sciences with a minor in Mathematics. Personally I have found it difficult to explain what an IDS degree is. Most of the time, when someone asks “What is that?” I answer, “the new Liberal Studies.” Most of the time that’s enough to settle the question. Though after taking the Cornerstone course, I realized how much I use and can use ideas and knowledge from one discipline in another. With the old Liberal Studies program, of which I was in before it was changed, I started using some of the knowledge I learned in one discipline in others. Now I am more aware of the potential and occasionally, when confronting a problem, seek out answers from my full body of knowledge, not just what is related to the discipline at hand.
Hello Cornerstone students. I am glad you have chosen a degree in interdisciplinary studies, its a ton-o-fun! Its great, you get to study, basically what you want, well, within your subject areas, which can be rather broad, and it is really beneficial, I think, to have some experieince in a number of differnet areas. When I was in high school, the one thing that a heard the most about former college students was that they ended up working in a field un-related to their degree. So, it helps to have some knowledge of several disciplines, and how that knowledge can be used to better any particular problem in the workforce.
ReplyDeleteI chose to study Behavioral and Social Sciences, along with Humantities. Specifically, I have taken classes in political science, and Florida History. I have a minor in Buisniess Administration, and a minor in Political Science Pre-Law. I really love the classes I have taken, and have always found ways to integrate knowledge from one discipline into knowledge from another.
The IDS degree is difficult to explain to others, like your parents...my father asks me what my major is at least once a month! But, I just say it is a liberal arts degree, focusing on poliical science and history.
The degree is great, I am really proud of what I have been able to accomplish through the degree and what I have learned. I encourage everyone to please ask me anything you want about the program or certain classes, or anything. I will certainly do my best to help in any way.
Hello All!! My name is Stephanie Hart and I am very excited that you have chosen the IDS major. I am a senior here at UCF and couldn't be more excited to graduate in December with the IDS degree. My concentrations are Bahavioral and Social Sciences and Hospitatlity. I have enjoyed each and every class I have taken in these areas and wouldn't change them at all. Although most have been challenging I have learned alot from them all.
ReplyDeleteMy minor is Health Sciences and this is really a passion of mine. Out of all the classes I have taken here at UCF, the health classes were my favorite. I hope to one day work in the health field with patients.
Congrats on choosing to pursue the IDS degree and hope you find it as exciting as I have. I hope to help you in your education in whatever you need!
Thank you, Group 8 "vets" for the warm and informative welcomes to me and the other newbies in the crowd!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I will bore you all with the details as we move on down this road together, but, for now, I will introduce myself as Gail Weinstein, a 54 year old woman, who returned to UCF this fall after a 26 year break.
As I suspected would happen when we opened our gmail accounts, I had forgotten about it (other than as a means to access our blog), and remembered only this morning to check the email account itself for messages. So, I am sorry for the delay in responding, but I am on board now!
My return to school meant I had to take a great amalgamation of credits from earlier majors of Psychology, Public Administration, Liberal Studies, Communications, and, as I seem to recall - even though it was the 70's, a few others to create something I could complete before my Social Security (I still expect to receive something), kicks in. That led to IDS and interest areas of Behavioral Science and Public Policy. Then, I sincerely didn't want to be the old geezer in class saying "Well, that make work in theory, but let me tell you about real life...", so an UCF advisor (not an IDS advisor) suggested Health Services Administration, as I could complete those courses all on-line.
I am okay with this, as I see the relationship between the three areas and think that a pretty strong career can be developed on the integration of the programs; but, at this moment, I am not passionate about it, as Stephanie Hart has said she is, and I wonder if I should "waste" any more time on something that does not excite me (I am open to all suggestions and nudges). Now, that I see how much flexibility there is within the IDS program, I may be making one more trip to the Registrar's Office to fill out yet another change of program request. I think my minor should be...hmmm, I'll have to get back to you on that!
I promise to try to keep my posts shorter(and the crowd says, Yeah!) but just now, I find I have so much to say!!! Visit my personal blog, thebi-focaledblogger.blogspot.com for more info on me and my passions. Oh, one more thing, my comments right now are defaulted to my blog name; I am working on a fix for this.
Gail Weinstein
Congrats on getting back in school! I think that is amazing that after 26 yeas you are completing your degree. My one not of advice would be, don't take classes (or degrees) that you are not excited about. It doesn't do you any good! Do something you find interesting.
ReplyDeleteAgain congrats and I look forward to "chatting" with you this semester!
-Amanda Anthony
Hi Everyone!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Leeron Franco (I'm a girl, I feel it's necessary to clarify that because the teacher referred to me as a boy in her announcement earlier haha). My two areas of study are Physical and Biomedical Sciences. I chose those two areas because I'm in the process of applying to Pharmacy schools and all the prerequisites fall into those two areas. My minor is Judaic Studies because I love learning about my people's history. Me being Jewish is a huge part of who I am today. I'm currently a senior hoping to graduate this upcoming May!
When people ask me what the IDS major is, I say it's the best major in the world. I was a Biology major before and realized Im not happy with my decision. I was forced to take classes I didn't find interesting to me and I didnt need them for Pharmacy school so I decided to switch to IDS. It is the major that gives the students the freedom to pick and choose whichever classes they wish to take. It is different for every student which it why I love it. The biggest advantage of being an IDS student is being able to study what you want. Taking classes that a student is already passionate about makes life more fun. The only disadvantage there is to the IDS major is that it isn't well known to grad schools and people in general.
PS. Thanks for the warm welcome Capstone students!! Im really excited about IDS!
Shanah Tovah, Leeron! My prayer for you is for peace and comfort (and lots of sweetness!) in the New Year.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHello everyone! I'm Joanna Goldonowicz and I was born and raised in Brandon, Florida--right outside of Tampa. I love to get involved and meet new people. On campus, I am involved with LEAD Scholars as a peer mentor and with Catholic Campus Ministries as a social chair. Working with children is a passion of mine and I am hoping to become an algebra teacher after I graduate. My Myers-Briggs type is ESFJ, so I have an extroverted, sensing, feeling, and judging personality. My passion for working and helping people is actually what led me to discover this major.
ReplyDeleteThis year, I am a sophomore at UCF. Coming here last fall, I was an "Engineering Undeclared" major. I had dual-enrolled at my community college in high school and came to UCF with 27 credits. Anticipating that I was going into engineering, I took College Algebra through Calculus II there. My first semester I took Calculus III, Physics, and an intro to engineering class and discovered my fall semester, that this wasn't what I wanted to be doing for the rest of my life. After I determined that I needed a degree that fit me more, I talked with a few advisors and found out about interdisciplinary studies.
I have been very happy so far with my choice of major--I love the well roundedness of it. My two subject areas are Communication and Education. Like Ben, I have a Mathematics minor. I am also getting my Math Ed minor am looking into the Leadership minor too! Overall, I am a pretty well balanced person and love to work with and help others! It's a pleasure to be corresponding and getting to know you all!
Joanna Goldonowicz
(I forgot to sign it before!)
You all sound like very interesting people and I am excited to get to know each of you and help you in your IDS major! I was very delighted to read all of your introductions and I am looking forward to starting the discussions up and learning! If there is anything you need help with I am more than happy to help you!
ReplyDeleteTo a great semester!
Stephanie Hart
Funny that my post (a Rosh Hashanah or New Year's greeting) would fall between Leeron's and Joanna's as it is not the first time I have found myself in the middle of an interfaith situation.....My mom was Catholic and my dad was Jewish!!! I love that they were so full of foresight to give us 8 kids foundations in both religions (along with enough guilt to keep us in line for life!) ...there really is a lot more in common than most people realize.
ReplyDeleteGail Weinstein
Leeron, Pharmacology is a great path! My Step-Father is a Pharmacy Supervisor for Publix and loves it. :) And don't worry about the name thing I get it too, although I don't quite understand it... In posts the names come up reversed ad my last name is Anthony, so I get a lot of "Sirs" and "Mr's". :)
ReplyDeleteJoanna, good luck in the Algebra! I was always terrible in Math, so I stuck with the Arts and Humanities :) The worst I get is some geometry there!
Welcome! I look forward to more posts!
Hello, my name is Jaime Pazos and I am a returning student. My areas in IDS are mathematics and behavioral sciences with a minor in math education. I probably initially choose this major as quicker route to graduation. Here I could use some of the credits I had earned years back. I do think I will getting more out of the program than a speedy degree, though. I believe in the superiority of a multifaceted education. When asked what I'm majoring in and I tell them "interdisciplinary studies", I'm met with a lot of blank stares. I used to have to then say: "it's apparently the new term for liberal arts". That would cause people to understand more. Now, however, I find myself defending it more. It is, after all, my education in question.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I took that first quiz that was recommended, I'm a talent according to it.
Well, in classic Gail fashion, I apparently missed the obvious and did not realize that this was actually our first blog assignment and not just a nice welcome! So, re-do...
ReplyDeleteMy name is Gail Weinstein and, at 54 years and 4 months, you might think that the answer to that aged-old question "What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?" would have been settled for me long ago. Uh, no...not as far as I know, at least! Or maybe, I've already been what I wanted to be...or maybe the real answer to what I (and maybe, you, too) want to be is a constant goal, rather than a specific point in time. Whatever the case, it is always a much tougher question as we get older than it was when we were asked for the first time around age 4 or 5.
I have had some wonderful experiences in my life, mostly due to the fact that I have always been surrounded by great mentors. (Note to Capstones: I have believed this and said this long before I knew that we would be in a mentor/mentoree relationship, so I am not just being nice ). I have had some great career successes and been given tremendous opportunities, I just didn’t have that piece of paper to maximize those opportunities.
Becoming unemployed earlier this year made me realize that, with about 10-15 years left in the workforce, I needed to find a path that would allow me to transform all of those wonderful experiences into the most economically rewarding decade in my life (so that the remaining years after retirement will permit a choice between high and low quality dog food for dinner). The lack of degree was definitely an obstacle (not to happiness, only to earning potential) for me.
Now, the only problem I have is that salary has never been a career determinant for me and I have to resolve my “do-gooder” instinct with a newly acquired money-loving attitude.
With a planned graduation date of December, 2010, I hope to use my IDS program pieces of Behavioral Sciences and Public Affairs (I erroneously called it Public Policy in an earlier post) and Health Services Administration to create a community education program for senior citizens to teach journaling skills using the e-portfolio format, to foster a new kind of legacy, the electronic life story. I will turn this into a money-making venture by writing multiple grants and raking in the government bucks!
Not too many people of my generation “get” the concept of Interdisciplinary Studies as an authentic career field. Their almost patronizing smiles when I talk about it makes me assume that they classify it as a degree program for indecisive people in life. I am continually describing it and will look forward to your help in finding a cohesive way to show its’ value beyond this conception. I have had some success, lately, in using the example of integrated work groups to describe the type of work interdisciplinarians will do. What are your thoughts on that?
My inventory results were “Talent” for Tomorrowland and “Professor X” for Superhero. I fully accept the talent assessment, though I had to dig deep into the web to get information about what the results…pretty fascinating study based on what led to the origins of the College Board and Educational Testing Service. I don’t anything about Marvel Comics and very little about superheroes, in general, so I will have to leave that judgment up to you.
I hope this, along with my earlier comments, gives you some insight into who I am and, again, I thank you for your welcomes and introductions.
Gail Weinstein
Hello Gail. Thank you for the introduction. You know, it is very difficult to find a balance between making money and enjoying your work. I have always had difficulty with that. I often take jobs that pay the most, but are not fulfilling. However, I do love stuff, sooo..... money is an important factor. I'm sorry if that sounded really self-centered, but I'm a materiel girl, living in a material world!
ReplyDeleteI must say, I really like your goal of creating the online journals for the elderly. I think that would turn out to be extremely helpful. With history as one of my focused fields of study, it is a bit frustrating to know that so many people die with their life's story, with so many wonderful and amazing pieces of history that many will never know about. Of course, some people keep written journals, but they are often lost, or many may not have the ability to write anymore, so the computer may be easier.
Whenever I describe the degree, I generally say I study multiple disciplines, the relationships between them, and how knowledge of the two can be applied to a job/problem/research topic etc. It is difficult to describe, but once you become involved in the degree, you know exactly what you are doing.
Benjamin DiBiase
Thanks Amanda! I'm excited to be going into teaching Algebra. There are quite a few of us math disciplines in this group--it's exciting! Gail, I admire how you are so dedicated to earning your degree. It takes a lot of ambition to start a new career.
ReplyDeleteAs far as explaining interdisciplinary studies to other people, I usually just start with the basics. I tell them that it's sort of a "build your own major," and is very versatile. The composition of the major is easy to explain. When describing what it entails, I say it has two main subject areas and then an unrelated minor. Which I find to be interesting, because they say it's unrelated, yet everything we learn in IDS is blended together to create a unique foundation of education. Since discovering this major, I have actually advocated for it. I have met a lot of undecided majors, and have told them they should look into IDS. Like Ben said though, it is hard to tell the relationships between your study areas and how everything gets compiled into a cohesive pool of knowledge. Hopefully, my definition of IDS will become clearer as the semester carries on.
Joanna Goldonowicz
I like both of those approaches, Ben and Joanna!
ReplyDeleteFor the last two decades, when someone asked what my degree was in, my standard response was "Limbo"...meaning the resting place for souls, not the dance! (You may have to be of a certain age to "get" either of those references...let me know if you need info ...)
Now, I can formulate a new answer!!!
By the way, Capstones...you are SO ahead of the game, I have talked with some folks who have not seen the first post from their mentors. Thanks for keeping us on track!!!
Gail Weinstein
Thanks Gail! I really see the benefits of the IDS program. We basically get to build our own major--which is amazing. This class is also a good networking tool, so that we can organize our work in a presentable manner. I agree that the capstone students seem on top of the game. We seem to have a good group, ready for lively discussions. Best of luck to you all!
ReplyDeleteJoanna Goldonowicz
Thanks for the sweet wishes Gail!! I hope you have a Shana tova too and your story is truly inspirational actually going back to school after a long break! I know people who dont want to go to grad school 2 years after they graduated from undergrad...Also reading these posts makes me happy I chose this major; everyone sounds so happy with their choosing of IDS. Everytime I meet a freshman I tell them about this major and how it just might be the best one out there because of the freedom it gives.
ReplyDeleteJoanna, you sound like such a determined woman! Im so jealous of the fact that you came to UCF with 27 credits! I wish I was that driven. Im in physics 2 now (not the engineering one though) and it's not that bad. I wish you luck with all your future classes!
ReplyDeleteLeeron Franco
Well seeing as how I'm late to the game I'll have to just say this blog looks more interesting than I'd thought it would be. I spent a good deal of last week both very busy and and a little concerned were this blog would lead and ultimately what purpose it would serve. I'm glad to see several of you are already getting something out of it. As time goes on I'm sure I will too.
ReplyDeleteJaime Pazos