Naropa University

Date: Aug 03 2018
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
Naropa is an accepting place but I do not find it challenging enough. The first semester was exciting, but by the second semester I found I wasn't being challenged enough, even though I was taking upper-division courses. I was also disappointed to find that a lot of the courses that are advertised on the online catalog where not available (such as Modernist literature and other literature courses). The summer writing program is what drew me in, but I found that due to the lack of stable faculty (lots of adjuncts that come and go), fall and winter semesters lacked what the summer program did and in a way, advertised the school to be.

I am strongly considering taking a leave of absence or withdrawing/ transferring. I can't imagine getting my Bachelor's degree from here and coming out feeling prepared professionally or for grad school. It's sad to me because I moved my entire life out here only to realize this school doesn't live up to how it's advertised and spoken about in a positive light. I expected some leniency due to the whole Buddhist, go with the flow thing, but even though I showed up to class every day and did all of my assignments, I saw a lot of students get away with a lot worse, including an occasion where someone fell asleep during an entire discussion in a class of less than 10 people. Since it's such a small school, a few other students may be engaged, but I noticed the majority are either apathetic or don't care. While what other people are up to should not phase me, it's difficult to be one of the few people who is attentive and engaged because there's so many other people who are just "asleep".

I'm not religious in any sense, but in general pretty open-minded about spirituality. I thought Naropa would be pretty secular, or at least more grounded in its Buddhist beliefs. Instead I found that a watered-down and westernized version of the religion is being thrown around in a way that feels plastic and ungrounded. A lot of the exercises in "mindfulness" and "community-building" are pretty darn corny, it almost felt like being in a really strange elementary school. I was technically "forced" to go along with all these silly antics where you look a classmate in the eyes while you tell them how you feel, since there's no real option to opt out of it without disturbing the atmosphere.

I don't regret coming here because taking some classes in the music program made me realize this might be a direction I could go in, but possibly in a place that is more challenging and equipped with better resources and stable faculty that isn't being underpaid.