On Thursday, October 28, 2021, I attended a Coffee Talk with Dr. Barco at Ponder Coffee in Park Library.

 

A friend who had previously attended a coffee talk with Dr. Barco told me about her experience and made me want to join one myself. She said that speaking with Dr. Barco can help understand the honors requirements and one’s academic future at CMU. Due to this reason, I and several of my other friends in honors decided to go to Ponder Coffee to speak with Dr. Barco

 

We arrived at Ponder and all sat down in the same general area, leaving a seat in the center of the group reserved for Dr. Barco. When she arrived, she asked how each one of our days and weeks were going and to briefly introduce our names to the others in case they didn’t already know. She then asked what each person in the group was studying and what they may wish to do with their studies. After getting a feel for the group she was conversing with, she simply opened up for questions, whether it be related to honors specifically, or regarding any other facet of academic life at CMU. We ended up discussing study abroad opportunities, honors requirements, and some opportunities for specific departments at Central. Once the conversation was over, Dr. Barco and I stayed after and spoke one-on-one about my academic plan and how I may wish to approach my upcoming years at CMU. 

 

I found over the talk that I really enjoyed listening to Dr. Barco speak. Her smaller group and one on one conversations were very different from her lectures that I had previously attended. She became far more personal than I would have imagined and she showed so much genuine interest in the goals and ambitions of the honors students. She also not only helped guide me by answering some of my questions, but also offered to speak later to discuss possible plans for classes to best suit my interests.