After spending a summer abroad, I came home ahead of sophomore year excited to begin exploring my interests and finding new opportunities. I was able to quickly begin an internship with a Seattle city council race for Sandy Brown. This was the first election cycle in which city council members were elected in districts rather than all positions elected city wide. I learned a great deal about campaigns and local politics from this experience, especially that I did not want to work on campaigns forever.
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During this spring course, I learned so much more about Honors as a program, as well as the wonderful people that make Honors what it is. Before this year, I had spent a lot of time discovering what it was that Honors meant to me: a place that encouraged academic exploration and personal growth through discussion and experience, something I did not know was such an important aspect of education until I realized how lacking it can be for many college students. One of the greatest benefits of this quarter's seminar was a chance to see Honors through the eyes of others. This will undoubtedly make me a better peer educator in the fall.
Additionally, I learned there is no one perfect way to teach. I expected to be given much firmer guidelines as to how to teach my autumn quarter class, and this was obviously not the case. With only goals and suggestions for 80 minutes with 15 college freshmen, I was given the opportunity and agency to do whatever I wanted! This is a terrifying level of flexibility for me as someone who loves rules and hesitates to explore any creativity. While difficult at first, I was able to complete weeks of lesson plans that I am proud of and able to call my own. Having the input of others and examples from past years was definitely a needed resource throughout this process. With many different lessons plans throughout our group of peer educators, I realized there is not one correct way--something difficult, but eye-opening for me to accept. Finally, I connected to the lessons of Honors 100 in a much deeper way than I did when I took the course as a freshman. While I did not have a bad experience in Honors 100, I did not have a great one either. Many peer educators that come to this role had a transformative experience that led them to want to pass on the lessons they were given. I, however, remember little of my time in this course and know that I did not absorb the deeper messages about the importance of Honors that I now believe is so crucial for Honors newcomers. Through this spring course, I have been able to connect to the lessons of Honors 100, having two years of college to attach them to. Knowing that it was not easy for me to make those connections as a freshman, I will pay close attention to relaying the "Why" of Honors in my fall class. |
Below, are my posts on the peer educator discussion board as well as an article we read early in the quarter that is mentioned in my go-posts and a good read.
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