Hello! My name is Michael Grasso. I am 23 years old and I am in the IDS program. I will be graduating this semester, as you know. I have three areas, Life and Biomedical Science, Physical Science , and Health Science. I started coming to UCF in summer of 2004. Most people have a blank look on there faces when you tell them about IDS, but there are plenty of ways to explain to them so there is no confusion. IDS is a way for all students to get a good look at three different areas and make a decision on what strikes your fancy towards the end. For example, it wasn't until I took Anatomy and physiology that I realized what I wanted to do with my life. I am going to be attending Palmer Chiropractic College this January. Some good things about IDS is again, you get to explore different areas in order to make a solid decision on what you really want to do. I cant really think of many disadvantages for IDS except for not liking any of your three areas. I think IDS is a great decision for all students an I'm glad that I choose it.
My name is John Zillmann I am a 27 year old graduating senior here at UCF. My IDS degree is focused in the areas of education and life/biomedical science. I have chosen my minors to be in health science and my 2nd in science education. When people ask me what IDS is I give them on of two answers. The first is, it’s a great degree program that allows students to choose a variety of things to study, and you don’t have to pick just on thing. This is a great advantage in my opinion because we IDS people find our selves with a well rounded education that stretches across as many areas as we like. The second explanation I give people is, its for people like me who have changed their major so many times that you already have enough credits to graduate and they all work together to give me an IDS degree. Personally I typically use the first explanation over the second. I have not yet found any disadvantage of having IDS as a major; the only possible one would be explaining it to everyone who asks what you’re majoring in. The advantages however, stretch as far as the eye can see. With IDS you get the opportunity to tailor fit your education to exactly what you want it to be. There are many different combinations that you could choose from to find a degree that you could use and enjoy earning.
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Hi John and Mike,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jenny Frisell and I am a junior here at UCF. I am an international student-athlete from Sweden. I came to UCF so that I could be able to pursue a B.S degree and also to be able to play tennis at the same time. My two main areas of study are Life & Biomedical Sciences and Behavioral Sciences. My minor is in Health Sciences. My goal after recieving my B.S degree in Interdisciplinary studies is to attend medical school.
To others, I explain my IDS major as a major that will give you a broad knowledge from different disciplines. You yourself, can come up with the course work you want to engage in. It is a major that is custom made for you and your interests. You can take any classes you want in the 3 main areas that you have chosen. It is pretty much a major with no boarders and will help you broaden your knowledge within different disciplines.
For me, my interdisciplinary education has been an advantage for me. I have explored several different disciplines of interests and attained knowledge from them as well. I would never have been able to do that with a traditional major. It will give me advantages in the future. I now can work in different areas, and do not need to be limited to only work within one field.
Mike - I read that you like to do watersports! I have tried windsurfing a couple of times, and it was pretty hard but a lot of fun. I love the ocean. I live just by the ocean at home in Sweden. I usually sail during summertime when i do not play golf or tennis.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, I think it is great that you want to start your own clothing company. Is it clothing for watersports?
John - One of my main areas is also life & Biomedical Sciences. I still have not taken any classes in that area yet. In spring I am taking BSC 2011 and ZOO 3733. Do you have any classes to recommend that you took in the Life and Biomedical sciences area?
ReplyDeleteJenny, My favorite class that I took in the Life/biomed area was BOT 3800. It was a fun interesting course that connected with everyday life, the foods we eat and use for various applications. It was an easy course, but you walk away feeling like you have gained a lot from the experience.
ReplyDeleteMy name is Andy Gaber, I'm from Miami, and I'm a senior here at UCF. After a couple semesters taking a variety of different classes I decided on choosing the Interdisciplinary Studies major after a friend of mine told me about it. I actually wanted to take a major like Interdisciplinary Studies but didn’t even know it existed until my friend informed me. Now I am taking Health and Criminal Justice as my areas of interest, and Business as my minor, and I am very happy to be able to study an assortment of topics instead of just one.
ReplyDeleteWhen I tell people that I am and Interdisciplinary Studies major they always ask me what that means. Then I continue to explain to people what and Interdisciplinary Studies major is by telling them that it is a major comprised of a couple of topics rolled into one. I let people know that I am able choose two main areas of interest and then choose a minor, so I get to study a variety of subjects during my college experience and not just focus on one single subject.
The advantage of an interdisciplinary education is that I am allowed to take multiple subjects instead of just one, and I can choose the subjects that interest me the most. I feel that taking more than one topic in college will help me acquire more of a well rounded education, because I am able to learn about things that could be completely unrelated, such as Health and Business, and not just focus on one area. That being said, a disadvantage of an interdisciplinary education could be that focusing on a variety of topics instead of just one will not able me to get the most information or knowledge out of a particular area. For example, someone who just majored in Criminal Justice will likely have more knowledge of that subject than myself because they based their entire undergraduate education on just Criminal Justice, and I focused on Health and Business in addition to Criminal Justice.
My name is Camilo Rendon I'm from Miami, and I'm currently a junior here at UCF. I play soccer for the UCF men's soccer team. My minor is in Health Sciences. I have always been fascinated with health especially being an athlete. My area of studies are buisness and behavioral sciences. My dream is to play professional soccer, but if that does not happen I would like to graduate and get my master.
ReplyDeleteWhen I tell people I'm and IDS major they look at me like if someone died. Then I get the same response everytime "What is that". I explain to them that i get to choose the things that interest me and combine them together to get experience in different subjects I enjoy. After that they want to become IDS majors.
The advantages of IDS students is that we get to be happy. I say that because we get to choose the things we would like to do. So instead of taking many unnecessary classes, we are in classes that we will enjoy. With that happeneing grades are not an issue. Also IDS gives us a variety of experience in not only one area of study but multiple. With this advantage the doo to jobs open, because you would just not be contriscted to just on field but to many.
My name is Summer Singletary and my two focuses are in health and behavioral/social sciences, and my minor is in Spanish. I want to further my education once I am through with my undergraduate degree, most likely law or public health.
ReplyDeletePeople are generally very confused about my major but after some explaining they seems to understand. I need to form a way to tell what it is to me short hand.
I feel like IDS is a great advantage to someone like me who is interested in many things. One could argue that is spreads you to thin, but I think if you take all the focuses and apply it to one idea it is quite the opposite. I am very excited to finish school with such a variety of knowledge.
John, I really do like your first explination for IDS. I do believe we will be better intellectually from having an IDS major. We are more well rounded and have a lot more knowledge on various issues.
ReplyDeleteSummer, thank you. I believe that there is a potential to become spread too thin. But I think as long as you take the time and effort to not allow that to happen you will be fine. People may believe that you are learning too little in to many areas, that's fine! They may also think your choice of clothing is off, but that's not going to change your style. You know what is right and wrong, you know what your doing, keep up the good work, things will be fine. John Zillmann
ReplyDeleteCamilo,
ReplyDeletesounds like you have a full plate in front of you. If you cant play after graduation, what type of job would you look for?
Yeah John thanks I will take that into consideration!
ReplyDelete