First-Year Seminar helps student set future course

UC Davis graduate Skender Najibi attended a Union City high school with 4,600 students and not enough counselors to help them decide how best to pursue their academic interests.

That’s why, as a student here, Najibi took a seminar called “Success in College and After College: How to Get and Stay on Course.” The course is one of 200 First-Year Seminars that offer new students a small class experience and the opportunity to interact with faculty members on a wide range of topics.

Najibi, who majored in neurobiology, physiology and behavior, said he entered the seminar with less than a full commitment to pursuing medicine. “That had a lot to do with my lack of understanding of the process of getting into medical school and what it entailed, and just generally knowing if I was capable of doing so,” Najibi said.

Lecturer Andreas Toupadakis leads the class on a journey to self-discovery. He introduces students to poetry, weekly journal writing and YouTube clips — all intended to make students think about what they really want to do with their lives — and how best to focus their energies.

Najibi, who graduated in June and is working as a researcher in Sacramento, said he intends to apply to medical school next year. “After taking the class, I was more prepared to at least tackle the process of medical school because I had evaluated myself, what I really wanted to do and why I wanted to do it,” he said.

Wide range of topics

Established in 1988, the for-credit seminars, which offer priority enrollment to students with fewer than 45 units, are intended to give students — and professors — the opportunity to get to know each other and share knowledge or experiences that aren’t usually part of the college curriculum.

Topics for fall seminars include Chicago blues music, “crowd sourcing” through cell phones to help in natural disasters, sports trends in American society and infectious diseases in the 21st century. Topics for winter quarter include chemistry, physics and biology in the kitchen; cultural and historical roots of Japanese design; and public opinion in democratizing countries.

Many of the leaders of the seminars teach outside their usual area of expertise. Toupadakis teaches general chemistry, organic chemistry and physical chemistry for life sciences — sometimes in classes with up to 500 students.

Class size limited

Enrollment in first-year seminars is limited to 19 students, and Toupadakis keeps his class size to 15. “What I want to do is have that personal touch,” he said. Each year, he said, several students become family friends and introduce their parents to him.

Toupadakis’ seminar usually extends to his garden plot on campus where students come each week to help garden and to continue discussions about goals, school, life and success.

Toupadakis said he often writes letters of reference for students who, like Najibi, are applying to medical school. “I come to know them. I know if they have patience and what other kinds of qualities they have,” he said. “How can I write a recommendation just from looking at grades?”