Students in this class dealt with the challenge of hunger by holding a bake sale from which they raised $137.50, enough to buy 1375 meals. They were inspired by “Share Our Strength,” and learned to navigate various applicable campus rules and processes to accomplish their successful fund-raiser.

Students painted “Starry Night” as their depiction of the glass castle, paying homage to Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting of the same name.

For this project, students researched bullying, comparing public and private high schools in Los Angeles by conducting a series of interviews. Their work was inspired by the well-known “It Gets Better” initiative.

Overcoming Obstacles: students prepared case studies (modeled after the UNIV 100 textbook) showing how they would each address challenges often facing freshmen. The class also wrote a brochure offering advice to their classmates, and researched the factors leading to success.

“Snack on Success” featured a [cardboard] vending machine from which students were invited to select any of several forms of involvement that research has shown will increase the likelihood of college success, including student-faculty interaction, participation in student government, academic involvement, and more.

This class of Finance majors was asked to imagine that they were approached by NASA to be part of the first colony in outer space, only if they would study what they were passionate about. The range of answers is a reflection of their individuality as students.

The Tree of Life, a project focused on individuality and unity inspired by The Glass Castle. “Our hands reaching out to children’s hands represent the leaves of the tree on which we describe our freshman experience and why we chose to major in Child and Adolescent Development.”

The Glass Castle: movie posters.