MU Honors Program

HONORS COMMUNITY

Honors is more than a curriculum. It is a community composed of motivated students, outstanding alumni, exemplary faculty and a dedicated staff working together to form a tight-knit community focused on success.

A key part of our student community are our Honors residence halls. Contrary to what you may think, at Miami the Honors halls are not the "nerd" dorms. In fact, they are the most requested halls on campus, and they are available to students for all four years! Why are they so popular? (This is an unofficial list) 1. Air conditioning 2. Guaranteed study partners 3. "Lively" intellectual and not-so-intellectual discussions with an incredible group of peers 4. Great in-hall programs with a healthy mix of cultural, intellectual, and social programming.

Are students in the Honors halls isolated from the rest of campus? Not at all. Although many of your life-long college friends will be from your first year residence hall, the last thing we would expect you to do is stay cooped up in your room! Our students take classes throughout the university and are very active in campus-wide intra murals, student activities, and other opportunities.

Related Links:

Honors & Scholars Advisory Board

Office of Residence Life

Living at Miami

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SPOTLIGHT ON CHRIS MACK

"Honors students might be more opinionated than others on campus. Through disagreements, I learned to stand up for what I believe while becoming open to viewing the world in a different way."

MY GOALS:
Entering Miami I had two distinct sets of goals, personal and professional.

Personal Goals: 1. Develop lifelong friendships 2. Overcome my shyness and develop an outgoing and confident personality 3. Take a leadership role in an extracurricular activity

Academic/Professional Goals: 1. Develop a strong foundation of business skills across multiple disciplines 2. Decide on a specific area of study and choose a major 3. Form lasting relationships with professors across various academic disciplines 4. Join an industry leading company following graduation from Miami

After four incredible years full of challenges, successes and failures, I can honestly say that I achieved all of the above mentioned goals. While they were not easy to achieve by any means, the academic rigor, personal attention and extracurricular activities at Miami enabled me to far surpass my expectations for personal and professional development.

HOW I'VE GROWN AT MIAMI:
Above all else, Miami enabled me to become a much more open and outgoing individual. Prior to attending Miami I can honestly classify myself as shy and at times close-minded. However stepping foot in Tappan Hall (the Honors residence hall) the first day of freshman year provided the impetus I needed to broaden my horizons. The homogenous middle class suburb of my youth was gone, and I was thrust into a global community full of differing ideologies and points of view. Quickly I realized that in order to excel in this new environment I would have to discard my previous fears and apprehensions.

Participating in numerous honors courses and experiences gave me the personal attention and confidence necessary to step out of my shell. Honors students might be more opinionated than others on campus. Through disagreements I learned to stand up for what I believe while becoming open to viewing the world in a different way. Each and every class from my freshman through senior year helped to perpetuate this change. The professors brought their own unique experiences into the classroom to help students to grow and mature in their thinking and interaction with their ever changing environment both in Oxford and the rest of the world.

CHANGING MY MIND:
I was not initially a supporter of the University Honors courses, but they probably played the most significant role in helping me to broaden my viewpoints and become accepting of others. Classes such as Disability Studies and German Folklore might not seem earth-shattering or overly important but these courses and the students in them continually challenged me to throw my prejudices to the side and see the world in a new light by understanding the challenges faced by people across the world. Far too often we only see the actions of others without understanding the underlying reasons or causes. It is through these honors course experiences that I learned how to take a step back and search for the underlying situations and circumstances, greatly expanding my knowledge of and compassion for those different from myself.