It’s not more work, it’s different work.
As an honors scholar, the term “it’s not more work, it’s different work” is often said when describing the coursework and expectations in an honors class. And it’s just that: different work.
In my Honors English 210 class that I took my first semester of my freshman year, I was honestly a little nervous walking in to that class. I was afraid that I was going to be overwhelmed with writing a 15-page essay every week or have tons of textbook pages to read, just because it was an honors class. However, I was incredibly wrong about this assumption. One day, my professor brought in a giant bag of Lego’s into class and told us to grab a handful and get to building, and as we were building, she began to ask us questions about the lesson being taught that week. And because we had the Lego’s in hand to distract us from the pressure that a class discussion can cause, we were all vocal with our responses that day and had an amazing discussion.
The learning environment can be a frightening place, especially for a freshman in a class full of upperclassmen that seem miles ahead of you, but because of the unique environment of the honors classroom, and the different work we were assigned, I was able to let my guard down and fully experience the class as it was intended to be.