"The smaller class size makes for a very deep, and focused experience, almost like a one-on-one tutoring session."

Edhaya Thennarasu ’21 had already developed an understanding of the power of communication before signing up for her first Honors Course at URI. The Communication studies major was particularly interested in film and the technical aspects of production.

She enrolled in an Honors Course on travel writing and digital storytelling led by Writing and Rhetoric Teaching Professor and Director of Writing Across URI, Heather Johnson. The class ventured out on trips around Rhode Island and the New England area, looking beyond the picturesque landscape to find new ways to connect with their surroundings and describe what they observed.

Johnson asked her students to choose a site, think about the stone there, then write a place-based article drawing from their observations. Thennarasu chose the Cliff Walk in Newport. “I had been there before, but the experience of being there was so different because I paid attention to every detail,” she says.

Thennarasu found that group discussions and feedback during class helped her grow as a writer. “The students in the class were so talented and they came from many different disciplines, so it was helpful to have their perspective,” she says. “The smaller class size makes for a very deep, and focused experience, almost like a one-on-one tutoring session.”

For Thennarasu, the flexibility of the Honors Program is key. “Any student who is Honors eligible can enroll in a class and try it out,” she says. The experience changed the way she thinks about writing and digital storytelling. “It taught us how to write as both a writer and a reader.”