Welcome to BYU and the Freshman Academy learning communities program.

We hope you are excited to embark on this illuminating adventure.

Your decision to participate in a learning community will set the tone for your overall academic, social and spiritual experience at BYU. By participating in a learning community, you will have opportunities to learn, grow, and develop intellectually, spiritually, and as a contributing community member.

To help you plan your own adventure, I would like to share four observations and insights gained from more than a decade of work with incoming freshmen:

1. Questions play an important role in the academic life of students. Asking good questions and taking time to reflect on answers will help you make the most of your experience at BYU. In Freshman Academy, we have identified eight fundamental questions we hope you will consider. Our own research shows that responses to these questions serve as tipping points for student success or failure. Take a few minutes to read through these questions and reflect on your personal answers.

2. Living and learning with others in a community setting provides unique opportunities for learning to extend beyond the classroom-such as in study groups, collaborative projects, and open discussions. This fall, we have strengthened the living-learning connection within our learning communities. We understand that many of you have preferences about your living arrangements. We hope that you will be open to new experiences and consider the benefits of living with others in your learning community.

3. The University Core program was designed to help you develop broad intellectual skills and abilities. Many of you have prepared to attend BYU by taking a rigorous course load in high school, including AP or IB classes. These courses may serve as a solid foundation for your continuing work at the university. Carefully review the University Core options and select courses which will provide opportunities for you to build on your skills and explore a variety of disciplines. For example, if you have AP English credit, consider enrolling in an Honors first-year writing course during your first year at BYU. University Core courses will help you meet the demands of learning within the university setting and help prepare you for a lifetime of learning.

4. As a member of a learning community, you will be assigned a peer mentor, an upperclassman who will act as a guide. He or she will help you make important connections by facilitating interaction with faculty, TAs, staff, and university resources. As one having gone before, your peer mentor will support you in your development as a university student. Your peer mentor will be one of your greatest resources, and I encourage you to get to know him or her.

President Hinckley, in his BYU devotional address, "Out of Your Experience Here," identified three things he hoped students would achieve from their experience at BYU: (1) intellectual discipline; (2) a spirit of fellowship and social ease; and (3) an unassailable spiritual strength.

Freshman Academy is committed to helping you develop these qualities and characteristics which are implicit in the official Aims of a BYU Education. In addition, we have established our own learning outcomes for students participating in our program. Take some time to read through these outcomes and begin to anticipate experiences and opportunities which will help you develop these qualities. As you learn, grow, and develop, you will be better prepared to meet the challenges and demands of university life and the world of work in the 21st century.

In return, we expect you to fully engage as a learner in the community you choose. We expect you to become immersed in the learning process, be an active community participant, support your fellow community members, and take responsibility for your own learning.

We believe that as you do your part within the Freshman Academy program, you will achieve your personal goals, make substantial contributions to your chosen profession and improve the world in which we live. We look forward to working with you in the upcoming semester and will do our best to help you get off to a great start.

Sincerely,

Pat Esplin
Director, Freshman Academy