First-Year Communities / FYC

Did you know that in Germany, as early as 1850, the term Frosch was used to describe new students at the university level, which, when translated, means frog? While we use the term first-year student at Pacific, we recognize the ability to adapt to different environments—from water to land, from high school to college—takes a great deal of skill. Think, then, of our First-Year Communities course as your lily pad, a home base to land while you leap into new waters.

Pacific’s First-Year Communities, or FYC, as it is more commonly known, provides you the skills needed to critically engage with topics at the college level. FYC develops approaches to complicated issues through effective reading, reflective writing, and active discussion with your peers. These foundational skills evolve over a student’s career so FYC consciously introduces them knowing they will be built upon in the sophomore, junior, and senior years at Pacific. For instance, the critical reading skills you’ll practice in FYC will be applied through your writing skills in subsequent core required courses. The ability to effectively communicate your ideas to others on First-Year Projects Day prepares you for Senior Projects Day in your last year at Pacific. These types of scaffolded experiences reflect FYC’s approach to long-term development of essential skills within a student’s career.

In order to practice these skills, our faculty create courses around interesting topics—from gaming and identity to how to lead a more meaningful life. These topics are explored in small classes capped at 20, which also participate with other FYC sections in a learning community. Learning communities come together during the semester to share what they’ve been discussing in their individual sections, or take field trips together, or listen to experts speak on their topic or something else the learning community has dreamed up. Regardless, the FYC model wants to create communities within communities to encourage thinking that has both breadth and depth.

When it is time to register for your first-year communities course over the summer, you get to vote on your top five FYC courses when you complete the survey by the priority deadline (usually late June). You will receive this survey after you've completed the other enrollment steps (so check your Pacific email for further information). Academic & Career Advising will notify you when it's time to complete the survey. Please note: once assigned a FYC topic you cannot switch unless there was an institutional error. Any switch based on institutional error must be requested by mid-August.

FYC recognizes that transitioning to college is a leap into another world of rigor, of peers, of becoming a frog all over again. We welcome you aboard the lily pad. What kind of splash do you want to make?