The Professor’s Road Trip – Saint Mary’s College

The Professor has landed about 20 miles east of San Francisco in the beautiful Moraga Valley at Saint Mary’s College. Founded in 1863, this private school was built upon the foundation of a Lasallian education, by Saint John Baptist de La Salle. Inscribed on a statue of La Salle in the center of campus is a great school motto: Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve.

Saint Mary’s believes in service.  Students provided more than 40,000 hours of community service to a variety of communities nationwide and worldwide. The College operates on a 4-1-4 academic calendar, which includes two four-month terms and one four-week term in January.  The short January term allows students to focus on one class, often outside of their major. This class often requires students to travel abroad, provide direct service and explore new ideas – it leads to great personal growth.

Students are never just a number at this college of 2800 undergrads. Saint Mary’s has the First Year Experience Program designed to assist freshmen with the transition from high school to college and ultimately on to successful post-college lives. As part of this program, freshmen are required to live on campus in one of the 13 residence halls.

At the center of Saint Mary’s curriculum is the Collegiate Seminar. All undergrads participate in this series of discussion-based classes that examine the big ideas of great thinkers.  Students not only get exposed to these incredible, world-altering ideas, but they also get to learn how to openly discuss ideas as well as listen. How can anything change if nobody is listening?

To find out more about St Mary’s application schedule, please visit their website at www.stmarys-ca.edu.