First Year Seminar Program

First-Year Seminars/Wellness Program

FIRST-YEAR SEMINARS 2009-2010

The road to good health begins with self-responsibility.  At Colby College we are committed to promoting and enhancing the physical, interpersonal, emotional and spiritual wellness of all our students.  First-Year Seminars, offered throughout the year, focus on specific wellness topics to assist students in functioning optimally across all dimensions of their lives.  We focus on wellness as an active process that allows students to make positive choices in creating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

All Colby students must attend lectures and complete AlcoholEdu as part of the extended orientation called First-Year Seminars (FYS).  Meeting this graduation requirement, which is certified by the Health Center, does not earn academic credit.  Failure to meet this requirement will block your ability to register for courses and/or to graduate.

In order to register for classes for second semester (first year):

§   Students must have completed AlcoholEdu

In order to register for classes for second year:

§   First-year students must have attended four lectures in the first year and have completed AlcoholEdu.

§   Mid-year entrants must attend three lectures in addition to AlcoholEdu.

§   First-year students who begin the year in Spain or France must complete AlcoholEdu and attend three lectures by the end of the first year.

§   Transfer students have the first two semesters at Colby to attend four lectures, in addition to AlcoholEdu, which must be completed in the semester they arrive on campus.  If the student has taken AlcoholEdu at their previous institution, they must submit that information to the Health Center for verification.  No other online program may substitute for AlcoholEdu (My Student Body, etc.)

Your ID card must be scanned, at the end of each lecture, for you to receive credit.  If the lecture you attended does not display on your Distribution Checklist within one week, please see Patsy Stearns in the Registrar's Office, Eustis 201.

Fall 2009 Schedule

August 2009: AlcoholEdu for College

AlcoholEdu for College is a web-based alcohol prevention program used at more than 400 colleges and universities nationwide.  AlcoholEdu for College incorporates proven prevention strategies with essential, science-based alcohol education to educate students about the impact of alcohol on the mind and body.  Whether or not you drink, AlcoholEdu for College will empower you to make well-informed decisions about alcohol and help you better cope with the drinking behavior of your peers.

ALL PROGRAMS AT 7:00 p.m. IN PAGE COMMONS, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

Wednesday, September 2, 2009     Four Stages of Drinking– Mike Green PROGRAM BEGINS AT 8:00 p.m.
"Greeny" returns to Colby at the recommendation of previous students who highly valued his non-judgmental educational message that stresses:
-How to make responsible choices around drinking
-How to deal with peer pressure
-How to help a fellow teammate, classmate, or friend with a drinking problem
-How to set limits for yourself.

Introduction of Colby's alcohol program by substance abuse counselor
Rachel Henderson, M.R.C. and Colby grad Co-sponsored with Campus Life.

Monday, September 7, 2009  Sex and The Soul – Donna Freitas
Donna Freitas will talk with students about the sexual and spiritual lives of today's college students.  She will engage students in a conversation about how they are not comfortable with the prevalence of casual sex, and how they do want religion to speak about what they should do and who they should try to be - not just what they avoid doing.
Co-presented by Campus Life and sponsored by the Gerrish Lecture Fund.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009    Reorientation: Men, Women, Sex, Violence & Leadership – Daryl Fort
This Multimedia presentation will engage the first year class and other student leaders in an exploration of ways in which men and women can and should engage in the effort to end men's violence against women. The presentation will examine the ways in which certain systems of media, school, peer culture, gender roles and expectations around sex and alcohol contribute to sexism and violence on campus. It will also address ways in which we can all stand up and confront gender violence and abuse.
Co-sponsored with Athletic Department
PROGRAM BEGINS AT 7 p.m. AT THE FIELDHOUSE, ALL COMMUNITY LECTURE 

Friday, October 16, 2009    Sexually Speaking, Ask Dr. Ruth – Dr. Ruth Westheimer  
Dr. Ruth Westheimer, sex therapist, medical personality and author, a cultural icon in the 1980's. The Sister Wendy of sexuality, she ushered in the new age of freer, franker talk about sex on radio and television.
Co-sponsored with the Goldfarb Center
PROGRAM BEGINS AT 8 p.m., LORIMER CHAPEL, ALL COMMUNITY LECTURE

Tuesday, October 27, 2009     Engaging Differences
A diverse panel of Colby students moderated by Joe Atkins, Dean and Coordinator of multicultural student programs to discuss micro-aggressions and racial intensitivity on the Colby campus.

November, 2009 (TBA)    National Health Projections
Possible panel or speaker on national health projections with photographic display by Aleah Starr.
Co-sponsored with Goldfarb Center

January, 2010 (TBA)  Career Center Workshop
May choose any one workshop from menu of options for First Year Students.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010  AIDS, Love and the Secret of College Students – Scott Fried
Through this presentation, Scott seeks to increase HIV/AIDS awareness with the hope of reducing the rate of HIV infection. Scott's focus is on love and self-respect relative to growing up in the age of AIDS. This is Scott's seventh year at Colby due to positive student evaluations.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010  Kiesha Zollar
Keisha loves to laugh. However, there was a time period in her life when she couldn't laugh and a lot of things that happened to her weren't funny. Her stunning presentation discusses sexual abuse and depression and leaves a crucial mark on her audience.
Co-sponsored with Active Minds to reduce the stigma of mental illness.