Greetings! Let me begin by telling you a little bit about who I am. I grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts. I majored in History and Political Science as an undergraduate at Kentucky State College. Plus, I have graduate degrees in Counseling and Child and Family Studies. Currently, I am the Coordinator of Multicultural Equity Programs in the College of the Liberal Arts. My duties focus on recruitment and retention of underrepresented students in the college. One of my goals in the work that I do is to help students find ways to challenge themselves and to take risks that will positively impact their undergraduate education.
Now that you know a little bit about me, allow me to share a story that reflects how I learned to navigate my own undergraduate experience. My adviser Dr. Smith was a stern looking person but was also very communicative when engaged by students. Dr. Smith helped me to develop as a student by taking on academic challenges. I clearly recall seeking his input on my course selection one semester. I was interested in taking an upper level course that was rarely offered. He encouraged me to reflect on the class environment I would be entering, as a sophomore taking a course with upper level students. He wondered if I would I be up to the challenge of mastering material without much prior exposure. He asked me to explain how I planned to overcome that potential challenge, since I expected to earn an A in the course. Dr. Smith equipped me to become an educated problem solver through this exercise of ‘what if’. I assessed what I perceived to be the essential challenges that could occur and proposed possible solutions, thereby refining my risk taking skills. Based on my proposal he acquiesced to my request. In this course, I was thrust into a cohort of students that allowed my interpersonal and critical reasoning skills to evolve. I started examining materials beyond their surface meanings, seeking alternative explanations, proposing new directions to explore, and I developed a willingness to ask questions.
It is my belief that Liberal Arts students are uniquely gifted when they fully engage with the array of experiences offered at the University. Students should constantly ask what kinds of risks they can take to challenge and broaden their undergraduate experience.
What have been some of your growth producing experiences during your enrollment? What risks have you taken? Allow others to learn from your ventures.
Great post, Earl!
I think what I like most about your personal academic story is that it has that “challenge and support” aspect that always resonates with me.
Students sometimes seek out courses that they view as “easy” classes — ones in which they are almost sure to get an A. Selecting a course like that with very little challenge results in the loss of a real opportunity for growth and learning.
On the other side of this issue, faculty sometimes present their courses to students as supreme challenges–with little to no support. Anyone who can’t take the heat should immediately get out of the kitchen in their view. And some students take that deflating admonition to heart, make an alternate course choice right away—and another opportunity for growth and learning has been squandered.
But when both parties are down for a learning experience that involves “challenge and support,” it’s wonderfully enriching for the instructor and the student.
When students are getting ready to graduate, we sometimes talk about their favorite classes, the ones they will remember. Invariably, the courses in which the students stretched every academic muscle they had—and received some genuine support from the instructor along the way–are the courses they won’t forget.