What is it Like to Attend Texas A&M University

What is it Like to Attend Texas A&M University The tutors behind Varsity Tutors are not just here to teach theyre sharing their college experiences as well. Victoria is an Austin tutor specializing in Psychology tutoringand all levels of Spanish tutoring. She graduated from Texas AM University in 2013 with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and Spanish. See what she had to say about her school: VT: Describe the campus setting and transportation options.How urban or safe is the campus?Are there buses or do you need a car/bike? Victoria: Texas AMs campus is vast, energetic, and friendly. You wont make it from one class to another without a fellow Aggie giving you a welcoming, Howdy! Despite the large size of the campus, many options are available to students as they trek from one class to another. Students can walk, rollerblade, skateboard, bike, take the bus, or even unicycle! And you will see all of those at AM. The university conveniently offers buses that run off campus, bringing students from their homes to campus, but also offers buses that run within campus that take students from one end of campus to another. You can easily survive living in College Station without a car or bike! The buses on campus also go to local grocery stores and places like Walmart and Target. The Corps of Cadets offers a service to the students called Corps Escorts, which insures the safety of the students on campus. If you find yourself walking alone at night on campus, you can simply call the Corps of Cadets and they will s end a Corps member to escort you to your destination. VT: How available are the professors, academic advisers, and teaching assistants? Victoria: The professors at Texas AM are always available to students, and most are more than happy to speak to you and get to know you! In a large classroom setting, it can seem hard to get to know your professors, but if you take that first step, you will find that they want to help you succeed. Each professor has their own office hours, a time when they are guaranteed to be found in the office and available to students. If you cannot meet the professor during that specific time, the professor will be more than happy to set up an appointment with you. Teaching assistants help in most classes and they prove extremely helpful in larger classes. VT: How would you describe the dorm life rooms, dining options, location, socialization opportunities with other students? Victoria: Dorm life truly depends on which dorm you are in on campus. Some dorms, like The Commons, are very social. There are honors dorms, co-ed dorms, and gender specific dorms. You can choose which type you would like, but make sure to get your request in as soon as possible! The dorms fill up quickly and it is a first come, first serve basis. The campus is divided into two main sides, North and South campus. North campus is closer to local restaurants and music venues, while South campus is closer to the main library and computer center. VT: Which majors/programs are best represented and supported?What did you study and why? Did the university do a good job supporting your particular area of study? Victoria: Engineering is by far the most represented and supported major at Texas AM. I studied Psychology and Spanish and I believe that the university did a good job supporting me in these areas. AM is a school that is driven by research, and therefore values those majors that promote research. VT: How easy or difficult was it for you to meet people and make friends as a freshman? Does Greek life play a significant role in the campus social life? Victoria: Greek life at AM does play a significant role in campus social life, but not as big of a role as other universities. AM has over 800 student organizations! If Greek life is not for you, you can surely find something else to be involved in. It wasnt hard to get involved and meet people at AM because there is something for everyone there! VT: How helpful is the Career Centerand other student support services?Do many reputable companies recruit on campus? Victoria: The Career Center at AM is wonderful! They will help you edit your resume, practice interviewing, and anything else necessary for you to feel comfortable pursing jobs. AM hosts many career fairs throughout the semester with many reputable companies represented. VT: How are the various study areas such aslibraries, the student union, and dorm lounges? Are they over-crowded, easily available, spacious? Victoria: The libraries at Texas AM are great! The newly renovated Evans Library is gorgeous and comfortable. AM has three main libraries, so there is plenty of room. These libraries are separated into talking and non-talking sections so you can find the right place to study. Also, the newly renovated Memorial Student Center is a great place to study! It is beautiful, comfortable and there are plenty of spaces for students to spread out and study. The only time the campus is over-crowded is during finals week. Go early and find your spot before everyone else and you will be fine. College Station also has many local places to study, like great coffee shops that cater to students and their need to study. VT: Describe the surrounding town. What kinds of outside establishments / things to do are there that make it fun, boring, or somewhere in between?To what extent do students go to the downtown area of the city versus staying near campus? Victoria: College Station, Texas is built around the campus. It is a city with country roots, so you can find a good country concert almost every weekend. Many students hang out at Northgate, a place where you can meet friends and enjoy live music. Northgate is literally across the street from campus, making it a hot spot for college students. VT: How big or small is the student body? Were you generally pleased or displeased with the typical class sizes? Victoria: Texas AM has over 50,000 students. A student body that large can be overwhelming at first, but you will soon find that you recognize more and more people. Class sizes can range from 15 students to over 300. Smaller majors have smaller class sizes, and class sizes tend to shrink as you become an upperclassman. Personally, I had classes as small as 15 and as large as 300 and I felt very comfortable in both. VT: Describe one memorable experience with a professor and/or class. Perhaps one you loved the most or one youregretthe most. Victoria: As a freshman, I took an Anthropology class and I remember being so distraught after bombing the first test. I went in to speak to my professor about my test and my concerns and she was so kind and encouraging. She encouraged me to stick with the class and she would work with me if I could show significant improvement on the next test. After my meeting with my professor, I started attending supplemental instruction with the teaching assistant and became more vocal about my questions as they came up in lecture. On my next test, I received an A! At the end of the semester, I spoke with my professor again. Even though it was a class of over 250 students, she remembered my name and my situation. She honored her promise to work with me because she saw that I worked very hard to improve my test score. This taught me that hard work pays off and it is so very important to make connections and build relationships with your professors. It also taught me that the professors at AM are more concerned about what you are actually learning, and not about the letter grade that you receive. Check out Victorias tutoring profile. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.

The Most Popular Anime in Japan.

The Most Popular Anime in Japan. What Anime Should I Watch? Here are Japan’s Favourites. ChaptersWhat is the Best Anime Series?People in the West â€" at least those who have never watched it â€" recognise anime by its characters’ large eyes, their colourful and stylised hair, and the shows’ elaborate, fantastical plotlines.This is the distinctive art style we recognise in animes â€" from things like Pokémon to Dragon Ball, Spirited Away to Death Note. And, in our country, we associate this particular genre with Japanese culture â€" thinking that this precisely is what defines Japanese popular culture. And that this is what Japanese animation is like.We’d be right and wrong in our assessment here. Because whilst anime makes up a huge proportion of the Japanese film and television market â€" and indeed much of the world’s animated shows â€" that style that is so recognisable to us is not the extent of Japanese anime.In fact, many of the anime shows that we know are not necessarily so popular in Japan. Just as there are many more anime series in Japan that we just don’t know over here.So, What, then, is Anime?Anime is really just short for animation, surprisingly enough. Whilst in English, the term has come to specifically designate Japanese animation techniques, in Japan, it refers to animated productions from all over the world, non-Japanese as much as Japanese.Given this, it’s hard to say that anime really constitutes a genre as such â€" and the style we see as specifically anime here is not really so clearly defined. It isn’t all big eyes and wacky hair.Rather, there are as many different styles of anime as there are animators, artists, and animation studios. You’ll probably know studios like Studio Ghibli, Toei Animation, Kyoto Animation, and Gainax â€" and, if you do, you’ll know that their styles are quite significantly different. And if you are anime fans, you’ll easily spot the difference between Osamu Tezuka and Hayao Miyazaki.This fact also complicates the questions, ‘what’s the best anime in Japan?’, or ‘what a re the most popular anime movies?’. It’s a tricky question because, in Japan, anime can be for everyone â€" and different anime characters are made for different audiences.Gundam, for example, was aimed originally at boys, whilst Cowboy Bebop, with more sophisticated themes, was aimed at adult audiences. Meanwhile, Fruits Basket was intended for a young female audience.Find out more about Japan's culture of anime! The famous Studio Ghibli has been the creator of some of the most famous anime films ever. NanaJapanese Teacher 5.00 (3) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YukoJapanese Teacher 5.00 (3) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors EllyJapanese Teacher 5.00 (1) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MomokoJapanese Teacher £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MelanieJapanese Teacher £14/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JamesJapanese Teacher 5.00 (5) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PippaJapanese Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarikoJapanese Teacher £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsWhat is the Best Anime Series?All of this means that it is hard to define the best series or the most favourite ones even. However, we have given it a go. And, like with any best of list, we know that we might upset part of the anime fandom.Some of these, you’ll find, are bigger with an international audience than they necessarily are with a Japanese one. But this is a testament to the massive global appeal of this style of art.So, from full-length films to fantasy series, here are some of the most popular anime series around.Read about the best characters in anime here!Tiger and Bunny.According to a poll in Japan, the Tiger and Bunny franchise came out as the most popular anime production of all time. The characters came from an original manga, were made into an animated series, video games, a stage play, and live action films.Generally, then, we can say that it is pretty popular as a franchise.It takes place in a futuristic New York City in which superheroes are sponsored by companies and they compete to be the ‘King of Heroes’ â€" as their heroism is broadcast on television.It’s been available subbed on Netflix, by the way, if you want to check it out.Love Live! School Idol ProjectAnother of the most popular franchises in Japan is known as Long Live! â€" which has, again, spawned, a whole range of different media projects too. Beyond the original anime and manga, you’ve now got CDs, music videos, and video games. It became something of a cultural sensation.Rather than the fantasy anime we are familiar with, however, this is a simple story of a high school student and her friends who become ‘idols’ â€" young singer celebrities â€" to save their Japanese school.We told you that anime is a lot more than we initially assume.Cardcaptor SakuraOne of the massively successful anime from the late nineties is Cardcaptor Sakura â€" or, in the heavily criticised American version, Cardcaptors. Recognised as one of the best shoujo manga series â€" or a manga aimed at young girls â€" this was transformed into a seventy-part anime series. It also won a hell of a lot of awards.The story revolves around a girl called Sakura, who receives magical powers after releasing into the world a pack of magical cards. The series focuses on her retrieving these cards.It’s a great example of the famous genre of anime known as ‘magical girl’, which features, surprisingly enough, a girl who can use magic.The seventy episodes in the series were cut to around forty for the American version, which were dubbed and criticised for making the plot unintelligible.Learn how to draw anime! The iconic 'magical girl' anime, SakuraGin TamaThe manga, Gin Tama, is one of the bestselling series in Japan â€" and, as is the trend, this has been made into everything from a live action film, Gintama, to a light novel.The series is set in the Edo period â€" the years from the seventeenth to the mid-nineteenth century in Japan â€" but one in which the country is occupied by aliens. Gintoki Sakata is the main character, a samurai who fights against the aliens and helps to rescue their prisoners.It’s known for its comedy and its social themes and it has been hugely influential.Digimon AdventureDigimon was seen by Anglophone audiences as, essentially, a rip-off of the hugely successful Pokémon. However, whilst Pokémon’s plot arc was perhaps a little limited, Digimon became much more popular and much more critically acclaimed.Its characters are known as ‘digital monsters’, which populate a digital world into which some children are transported. Realising that they are destin ed to be the saviours of this world, the children embark on a quest to do exactly that.Fullmetal AlchemistOne of the bestselling, highest-grossing, and critically acclaimed anime and manga in Japan is Fullmetal Alchemist. This is a series that tells the story of the Elric brothers’ pursuit of the Philosopher’s Stone. Set in the Industrial Revolution, these characters had tried, through alchemy, to bring their mother back to life, by using parts of their bodies. However, the experiment didn’t work, and they became permanently damaged.The series sold over seventy million copies worldwide.Dragon Ball ZAn enduringly popular franchise, Dragon Ball is one of the most recognisable products of Japanese anime culture. Its films have made nearly a billion dollars across the world â€" with only the live action American-made movie flopping at the box office â€" and the multimedia franchise as a whole raking in over twenty billion dollars.It’s a simple plot: Son Goku, throughout his life , travels the world in search of the Dragon Balls, objects that release dragons and grant wishes. Simultaneously, a wide variety of villains pursue them too.Dragon Ball is also the second-highest selling series of manga in history.Neon Genesis EvangelionIf it wasn’t for Neon Genesis Evangelion, anime might not be as popular as it is today. Owing to a financial crisis in Japan during the eighties and nineties, people weren’t producing as much as they were, and the cultural industries were stagnating.Neon Genesis Evangelion intervened into this landscape, offering a sophisticated, original, and ultimately hugely popular development in the world of anime.After a global disaster, Shinji, a teenager, is called to fight the Angels by piloting an Evangelion, a ‘mecha’ or human-controlled robot. It was these figures of the Evangelions that made the series so influential â€" and you only need to look at its grossing to see the franchise’s global popularity.Princess MononokePrincess Mononoke is the highest-grossing anime film in the world. It was also the highest-grossing film in Japan ever, until Hayao Miyazaki, the director made Spirited Away, which overtook it.It’s a wonderful film essentially about the environment. Based somewhere between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, the film depicts a prince’s involvement in a struggle between the spirits of the forest and those who plunder that forest’s resources.The film has won a whole heap of awards since its release in 1997 â€" and it cemented the place of Studio Ghibli among the big anime studios of Japan.It has also been a massive influence on the world of anime, computer games, and manga â€" with its complex moral message and its powerful characterisation.Read everything about anime! Miyazaki's film 'Spirited Away' was the first anime to win an Oscar. (Mandatory Credit: Photo by Michael Buckner/Variety/REX/Shutterstock) NanaJapanese Teacher 5.00 (3) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YukoJapanese Teacher 5.00 (3) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors EllyJapanese Teacher 5.00 (1) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MomokoJapanese Teacher £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MelanieJapanese Teacher £14/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JamesJapanese Teacher 5.00 (5) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PippaJapanese Teacher £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarikoJapanese Teacher £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors