Gwen Elise

About Gwen Elise

Gwen is an avid traveler who feels most at home in Kentucky and Argentina. Her closet is full of dark dresses, and her walls are papered in colorful maps. She likes to make puns, read, write, and translate to and from Spanish, and she misses Vassar College, her alma mater, which helped her get better at all of those things.

The History of Distance Education — Distance education is any learning that happens remotely; the student is in one place and the professor is in another. These days, most courses taught at a distance are online classes. They make use of cutting-edge technology, such as webinars, podcasts, and exams proctored via webcam, to help students master […]

Distance Education through the Ages

This entry was posted in Higher Ed Then and Now on June 8, 2016 by Gwen Elise

The History of Co-Ed Housing and Gender-Neutral Housing on College Campuses — Up until the 1960s, all dorm buildings were single-sex, meaning that women lived in one dorm and men lived in another. Often, these buildings were located on opposite ends of campuses. Visiting hours between the sexes, if allowed at all, were restricted: Students were required to keep their doors open […]

Co-Ed and Gender-Neutral Housing from the 1960s to Present

This entry was posted in Higher Ed Then and Now on May 18, 2016 by Gwen Elise

What I Wish I'd Known about College Dining Hall Food — Say you eat three times a day, and you’re moving to a college where you’ll spend about seven months a year. Where are you going to eat those 630 meals? Domino’s, probably, until you overdo it on the MeatZZa Feast. That’s when you’ll be glad that there’s a dining hall […]

College Dining: What I Wish I’d Known about Food on Campus

This entry was posted in Housing on May 16, 2016 by Gwen Elise

When Enough Is Enough: Switching Roommates in College — On the first night of freshman year, I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep. I had driven some seven hours that day, making it to campus just in time to de-bunk beds in my new room and play two-truths-and-a-lie with the kids on my hall. My new roommate and I shuffled […]

When Enough Is Enough: Switching Roommates in College

This entry was posted in Housing on May 13, 2016 by Gwen Elise

Five Language Learning Resources as Recommended by a Spanish Major — Of the students who take a second language in middle and high school, many struggle to put together a sentence after graduation. When I took Spanish classes, I watched some of my classmates flip through flashcards and memorize conjugation charts the day before big tests. They received A’s and B’s, […]

Five Language-Learning Resources as Recommended by a Spanish Major

This entry was posted in Study Skills on May 9, 2016 by Gwen Elise

What to Do After You're Mugged — Last year, on the first nice day of spring, I was leaving work just before 5 p.m. The sun felt brighter than it had in months, and the redbuds were flowering above me. As I walked to my car, I noticed three guys about my age sauntering down the street […]

What to Do After You’re Mugged

This entry was posted in Health and Wellness on May 2, 2016 by Gwen Elise

How to Find a Cheap Plane Ticket for Study Abroad — There’s no way around it: If you plan to study abroad, you’ll have to shell out some cash for a flight to your host country. International flights aren’t cheap, so do your research well in advance. Sitting in front of your computer and setting a bunch of airfare alerts to […]

How to Find a Cheap Plane Ticket for Study Abroad

This entry was posted in Travel on April 15, 2016 by Gwen Elise

Cheap Activities for College Students — I'm cheap. Always have been. Among my most extravagant purchases in college were textbooks and two-ply toilet paper. Even then, I sought out the free stuff in campus bathrooms as much as possible. It was easy to respect my broke-college-student budget, especially when it came to entertainment. Tuition was so […]

15 Spring Activities for a Broke College Student Budget

This entry was posted in Recreation on April 12, 2016 by Gwen Elise