As a psychology major at Colorado College I was taught data-based psychology. The focus was behaviorism: sensory psychology, learning and behavior, physiological psychology, etc. Thus, I was quite familiar with the Fixed-Interval Scallop. The Fixed-Interval Scallop is defined as “a gradual increase in the rate of responding, with responding occurring at a high rate, just …
Category Archives: Alumni Stories
Kathleen Ellsbury ’73
I was one of the one-third or so students at CC who came from Colorado when I arrived there in 1969, during the last year of the semester plan. I had lived in many locations in the US, including small towns in southern Colorado, and at one point considered a career in the Foreign Service …
Patricia James ’73
On May 5, 1970, I sat in Jack Carter’s office wondering what to do with my future. He was my freshman advisor, and I loved studying botany with him. But on that day we were not talking plants. We were talking about my dismal first year (grade-wise) at CC, and the wrenching events of the …
Christian Clay ’88
I chose CC almost exclusively because of the Block Plan (the mountains came in a close second!). I found it fascinating and intriguing that we could study just one subject at a time. And, though few might admit it publicly, block breaks are rad!* (*a word we used to use at the time!).
Ann Howland Lumbard Alexander ’80
I came West from New York City because of the Block Plan, the chance to take courses in depth and have small classes. I really like doing intense work then taking breaks, and this has continued into my work life as well. My only regret is that CC did not have a Business Major at …
Leslie Graver Trevathan ’77
I loved the Block Plan. It really gave me the freedom to explore different opportunities. I was a humanities major with an elementary education emphasis when I did an independent study of a free school in Hawaii. My father was a pilot for TWA and my brother was going to school out there so it was easy …
Cherie Anne Karo Schwartz ’73
I loved CC from my first breath there, and then having had one glorious year of standard classes. Toward the end of that year, we began hearing about a new way of learning, culminating in our voices being heard (even though we could not vote on the outcome) when it was time for the faculty …
Bill Oman ’71
I was a political science major. My classmate Sally Nash and I interviewed every member of the faculty for the better part of a year before the faculty voted to move forward with it. We met over lunch at Rastall Center with each member of the faculty, asking them what they thought were the positive …
Chris Lee ’11
I studied biochemistry at CC, and I absolutely loved every class, every lab, and every chance I could get to learn more about chemistry and biology (and even neuroscience!). During my sophomore year, I especially leapt at the chance to study as much as I could and to challenge myself in ways that would not …
Caitlin (Katie) Barasch ’15
When I was a prospective student at CC, I stayed overnight with a few friendly freshmen in Mathias. I’ll never forget listening to my hosts express their excitement about an upcoming trip to London for a class called Drama Away. It sounded too good to be true—three and-a-half weeks exploring London by day, attending performances …
