UTC Honors College students Izebella Lamb, left, Summer Wilson, Lilliana Jessen and Andrew Capelety flash the Power C while standing on the famous “water steps” in downtown Chattanooga as part of City as Text. Photo by Clara Paulson.
In the August heat, incoming students in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Honors College began their school year by exploring areas from Fort Wood to Missionary Ridge as part of the City as Text event.
On Aug. 14, approximately 140 incoming UTC Honors College students in the Brock Scholars and Innovations in Honors programs were divided into groups of four to five and tasked with exploring local historic neighborhoods.
The students were encouraged to walk through a neighborhood or area to gain a better understanding of their community. This task was to be accomplished by talking to locals, visiting community favorite restaurants and seeing the historic sites.
The Brock Scholars program is a four-year track for incoming freshmen, while Innovations in Honors is a two- to three-year program for transfer and current students.
Dr. Jordan King, director of the Innovations in Honors program, organized the event.
Last year’s City as Text was a part of the Southern Regional Honors Conference. King and his team in the Honors College organized this year’s event in the Guerry Center.
“It’s really important for us that students starting in the Honors College realize that they’re part of a broader community,” King said. “That entails understanding how connected UTC is with Chattanooga as a city, as a living entity of different people and places.
“We want to make sure that one of the first things they do when they’re here is realize that the opportunities they have on campus stem from the rest of the city in the community, and give them a chance to explore a little bit of that on their own.”
Lilliana Jessen, Summer Wilson, Andrew Capelety and Izebella Lamb were assigned to Group 22. Their assignment was to explore the Bluff View Art District in downtown Chattanooga.
Lamb, a first-year student from Hixson, Tennessee, majoring in exercise science, said she has always loved the Chattanooga area. Her favorite part of the day was grabbing a coffee and croissant from Rembrandt’s Coffee House after walking through the nearby Sculpture Garden.
“I love Chattanooga,” Lamb said. “I’ve always loved it here. I feel like we do prioritize being able to enjoy the area.
“Taking the time to prioritize the places around UTC gives us a higher appreciation for the people around us, which is a big part of culture in the world. That’s what Brock Scholars is all about. It’s being able to appreciate the world around us, not only through literature but also through culture.”
Jessen, double-majoring in political science and Spanish, is a native of Wausau, Wisconsin. Entering her second year at UTC, the Innovations in Honors student brought a different perspective to her team, having already lived in the city as a college student.
“Especially with the innovation program, it’s a lot about community involvement and giving back, which was one of the reasons I applied because of how philanthropic-based it is,” Jessen said. “From my understanding, the Innovations Lab, the class that we have to take, is all community service-based.
“This was a good introductory day of seeing the city that we’re helping, especially with the freshmen coming in who haven’t explored it at all.”
After traveling to the Hunter Museum of American Art and walking across the nearby Holmberg Glass Bridge, Jessen said her favorite part of the day was seeing the famous “water steps”—also known as “The Passage”—near the Tennessee Aquarium.
“It was hot, but I liked it a lot,” Jessen said. “It was a good activity and it’s not cliché orientation information. I liked getting to know some of the other members.”
Upon completion of the students’ tasks, they were commissioned to create a one-slide presentation to examine their cultural findings. King explained that this helped show all students the variety of the locations visited.
Lifelong Chattanooga native Krue Brock assisted during the presentations as a local community advocate, answering questions or bringing up essential information about the area.
“We hope that they have a connection with some other students and see them as peers and partners in their learning journey,” King said. “Also, we hope that they see Chattanooga as a classroom for them. Not just UTC, but a place where they can have experiences, get connected with partners and stakeholders and community members, and be involved in things and feel like this is their home.”
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Photos by Clara Paulson
Lilliana Jessen, left, and Summer Wilson sit by a fountain in the Chattanooga Bluff View Art District.
