This is going to be one of the more indulgent posts I'll make.
Over the summer (2024), I took my daughter who is a rising sophomore in high school, to look at her first college.
We had a road trip to Philadelphia (she was part of a group that sung the national anthem at a Phillies game) and while we were in Philadelphia, she really wanted to go visit Swarthmore College, which is where I did my undergraduate work. Swarthmore, apparently, has a good astrophysics program, which is her main interest. So, we stayed an extra day and went to visit Swarthmore. Unfortunately, there were no tours running the day we visited, so we settled on the two of us wandering around the campus, mostly with me generating memories of what it was like to be an undergrad there.
(For the record, I have a friend from college who was an astrophysics major - he was a professor for about a decade, and then went into industry work. Eventually, I will have her contact him. But that comes later).
During the time we were there, one of the many random stories that I told my daughter was about one of the more unique requirements at Swarthmore. Swarthmore, like Brown, has few academic requirements. It's a little more restrictive than the "anything goes" philosophy of the open curriculum, but it's really easy to fulfill the requirements if you want anything remotely close to liberal arts education. But there is something Swarthmore has that few other schools require: Everyone must pass a swim test. I'm sure there's a story behind it, but I honestly don't know why Swarthmore requires this. Needless to say, it's a bonding experience for every alumni - we all did it.
What's the swim test? Swarthmore has an Olympic-size swimming pool. You have to jump in, swim four laps (any style), and then tread water for 20 minutes (the whole pool is the deep end, so there's no standing).
At least, that's how the test was explained to me by one of the seniors on my hall who knew I was heading to take it.
Also, let me pause for a moment. The test sounds kind of hard. Well, at least it did for me - I had little swimming experience. I grew up in and around New York City. There was a local public pool, which I went to in the summers sometimes, but it was mostly to play basketball or other sports. I didn't really like swimming. Still don't. The contrast I always think about was with a another first-year student who lived on my hall. She was on the swim team for Swarthmore, and had previously swum in the Olympics in Seoul in 1988. But even she had to take the swim test.
(Also, pause another moment - Swarthmore was weird. The people I met there were just weird. I mean great. But so weird.)
I was 18 and thought I was in good shape (I was a runner), so like almost everyone else in my class, I lined up for a swim test during orientation week. I jumped in the pool, doggy-paddled my way to four laps and then started treading water like everyone else. About five minutes in, I got tired. Like really tired. Like, holy $h!# tired. But I was looking around and everyone else was also treading water and they all seemed OK. So, I just kept swimming (well, treading, but you can cue your inner Dory now).
But then I noticed something. There was a woman over the corner of the pool. And she wasn't treading water. She was floating. Just lazily doing a back float over in the corner of the pool. So, I asked the woman administering the test if that was OK. And she said, yes. You just have to be in the water for 20 minutes. Doesn't matter what you do. So, I started floating, and it made all the difference. I noticed that just about everyone I was taking the test with also started floating immediately after I did. Moreover, the test ended a lot sooner than I thought it would. It turns out that you have to just be in the water for 20 minutes, not tread water for 20 minutes after your laps. The time it takes you to swim your laps are included in the 20 minute timeframe (think about it - we were tested as a group - they aren't going to time us individually - they just set a timer from when we jump in). This came as a great relief.
The test ended and I passed. Yay, I can graduate. I didn't really think about the swim test again until senior year. A friend of mine, who had never grown up swimming at all put the test off until senior year. He took it, and failed in the Fall of our senior year (if you fail, you have to take a semester-long aquatics course, which you have to pass. He did). And honestly, I hadn't thought about the swim test again until that visit to Swarthmore with my daughter.
* * *
But I thought about the swim test again when I was submitting my final grades for a class. Some of the classes that I teach - even at the introductory level - are relatively small. I can get to know the students. In this particular class, I had a student who all semester long did A-level work (well A-, but it's Brown). We get to the end of the term, and they have maintained a steady average all the way through. All that's left the grade is the final exam and the final project. So, I grade the exam. They get an A-. A few errors, but really solid work.
Then I grade the final project. I'm just going to say this: I was not good. There were a lot of errors. There was a lot of material irrelevant to the project that was included. And, what was clear was that the student did not understand the instructions for the project.
The project did not get a good grade. I'm sure the student was not happy with the grade that they received. Moreover, because the project was worth a significant percentage of the grade for the semester, the student's solid, semester-long, A-level grade could now look very much like a B.
Why is this related to the swim test? My feedback on the student's project centered on the specifics of the project, but it also centered around some assumptions I think they made. I'll try to list them here:
1) Don't assume you know the instructions (I did on the swim test, and it almost cost me).
2) Don't be afraid to ask for clarification about what is expected of you (because sometimes things are easier, or just different than you think).
3) But outside of a swim test and in academic circles: Don't be afraid to ask for help. That could be from TAs or a Professor, but it usually should come from your fellow students. In fact, working with partners (particularly PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW WELL) can only help with your assignments. Even if this is just exchanging drafts and commenting on them, or exchanging drafts to make sure that you're both doing the right assignment. Diversity of thought almost always leads to superior products and outcomes.
* * *
There is one other piece of advice here I want to give here. After I finished grading all the final exams and final projects for the class, I posted final grades to the Banner system. It usually takes about 30 minutes for Banner to then propagate grades to students (although I think students have to fill out a course evaluation in order to access their final grade). About an hour later, I sent an email to the class saying that final exams and projects were grades, and those grades were in Canvas, and that final grades were also submitted. I thanked the students for a good semester, and shifted my attention to other matters. This was towards the end of the day on a Sunday, so I started to prepare dinner for my family.
About 30 minutes later, I got an email from this student. They were polite and thankful for the feedback and for the class in general. They praised the class and my responsiveness. But they were also concerned that the grade on the project would affect their final grade. Their position was that they had worked hard all semester and had maintained A-level work all semester, and one grade should not pull their grade down. Indeed, their final grade was an 89.6% for the semester
I understand the intention behind the email. I get emails like this almost every semester. What I didn't like is that the student obviously did not check their final grade. They reacted to the grade on the project without looking to see what the final result was. (Indeed, they earned an A for the semester). So, my last piece of advice here is to keep the big picture in mind. I passed my swim test, but it had little to do with graduating from college with the degrees I have. And even if I had failed it (like my friend did), there were mechanisms in place to make sure I would still graduate. Keep the big picture in mind, instead of focusing on a single event.