Expect the Unexpected

“They were the best four years of my life.” Why do our alumni feel this way about their time at Trinity? There is something very special about this college. Our students feel it, our faculty promote it, and our alumni reminisce fondly about it. It's difficult to describe exactly just what is so special about Trinity, but we'll try to help you discover this specialness by describing what it's like to experience it.

What can an incoming freshman expect? You should expect the unexpected. There isn't much about the Trinity experience that's predictable. There are no niches and no prescribed paths. No “typical” Trinity students. No limit to the options and opportunities, both in and out of the classroom.

The Trinity experience is a process, an adventure. It is fun. It's one discovery after another. You will discover answers to questions, and you'll discover new questions. You'll gain a sense of empowerment when you challenge assumptions — including your own — and make difficult choices. Perhaps most importantly, you will come to discover what is important to you, what you excel at, what you most enjoy, and what you most wish to become.

At one moment you will be in the role of economics major, the next as thespian on the stage in a theatrical production. Then you'll find yourself acting as change agent in your role as a leader in student government, and perhaps next you'll be performing as the left wing in a soccer game. Who could have predicted you'd be in the lead role in the student production of Waiting for Godot? You had never before set foot on a stage!

Everywhere you go, in everything you do and explore for the first time, you will cross paths with someone who has something in common with you but who at the same time exposes you to experiences, dimensions and ideas that are new to you. Your roommate and best friend may come from Denver or Philadelphia, or from Kent, Washington.

He or she may be a neuroscience major rather than an economics major, and rather than practice on stage he or she can be found practicing piano in the Austin Arts Center or a jump shot in the Ferris Athletic Center.

Many different types of people with diverse backgrounds and varying interests come together at Trinity in a community of scholars that is at the same time a community of friends. Trinity students are united in their passion for knowledge, their hunger to learn, their belief in their future, their love of interaction. The conversations you will have at Trinity will probably be unlike any you've had before. The experiences unlike any other. The friendships more enduring than any others. The good times better than you had thought possible.

Our students emerge as confident, well-rounded and well-adjusted citizens of an incredibly diverse society, ready to leave their mark on a world that has an insatiable need for progress, for leadership. Trinity graduates will be tomorrow's leaders.

A Trinity education is preparation for life. Our graduates go on to excel in virtually every field imaginable. But Trinity alumni are not just prepared for productive, purposeful careers. They are prepared for living, too. There is an old adage with which we're all familiar: live and learn. At Trinity students do just that, and they're serious about both. The emphasis on living is as vital as the emphasis on learning. Nearly two-thirds of a student's time is spent outside the classroom, and the learning doesn't stop when the proverbial bell rings. At Trinity, living and learning come together in an extraordinary way.

Choosing wisely

How do you decide on a college when many of them seem to be so much alike?

Trinity students say that they like the College's location in a capital city, with its extraordinary opportunities, coupled with easy access to places and people. They also point to the College's small size and academic rigor, its beautiful campus, flexible curriculum and innovative learning programs, and outstanding teaching faculty as reasons to choose Trinity.

Most of these reasons relate to the academic experience students want and expect from one of the nation's top colleges. But, there is much more to a liberal arts education than what is imparted and shared in the classroom. At least at Trinity, we believe there is much more.

Residential Life

A Capital Difference

Multicultural & Religious Activities

Social Life

Student Organizations & Student Government

Athletics

Community Service

The Arts

Words From a Student

Words from Sharon Herzberger, Vice President for Student Services