Honors 100 Reflection essay
This is the reflection essay I wrote for Honors 100 after my first quarter at the University of Washington. It condenses my thoughts on what it was like to be in Honors and why I found the education valuable. At that point, I had taken an Honors FIG as well as Professor Roger Soder's "Leadership and Development" class. The work ethic and complex discussions that were required to succeed kept me interested and hungry for more Honors classes, and I knew I was on the right path.
My dorm room view from Lander 8 - the Honors floor!
My dorm room view from Lander 8 - the Honors floor!
Interdisciplinary education is a core value at the University of Washington, and in my opinion is the most important aspect of the Honors program as well. The connections between classes I observed in the time span of a single quarter are interesting and meaningful because they show that education has evolved into a multidimensional gathering of knowledge that goes beyond dry memorization or a narrow focus in one field. No longer is education defined by one major or one department, and no longer are students confined to one area of learning. Today we are encouraged to become well-rounded and knowledgeable individuals because this is the best way to increase understanding overall.
The best aspect of interdisciplinary experiential education is the new perspectives it creates. Even the slim number of discussions we participated in and the lectures we experienced on the topic of the Gulf oil spill demonstrated this. For example, each speaker that we listened to had a different perspective to share on the spill, and thus we were guided towards thinking about the spill from different angles, which increased our understanding of the situation as a whole. From the engineering perspective, we were encouraged to think about the problems that made the spill occur in the first place. From the philosophical perspective, we were introduced to ideas about blame and responsibility, which lead us to contemplate who needs to answer for the incalculable amounts of damage done in order to rectify the situation. From the language perspective, we participated in exercises that helped us describe the oil spill, and thus taught us to find deeper meaning in the problems it has caused because it took us beyond our own comprehension of the situation and deposited us into the minds of those living near the Gulf, and trying to make a living there. This myriad of ways of examining the problem overlapped to make our education on the oil spill more interdisciplinary, more interesting, and more thought-provoking than only viewing one aspect of it ever could have.
Thus, on the topic of interdisciplinary education at the University of Washington and beyond, I cannot argue in support of it too frequently or too vociferously. It occurred even in my personal experience here between classes that would, on the surface, seem completely unrelated. In my psychology class one day we learned about conditioning and the influence it can have on individuals; in my leadership and democracy class the very next day we discussed how conditioning can be a tool to create more law-abiding businesses by creating a system of punishments and rewards controlled by the government (designed to foster a better relationship between the economy and the people that make up a democratic society). The connections that interdisciplinary education creates knit together information from every aspect of life and bring it together to create a higher plane of understanding than could ever hope to be reached without it. Experiential learning comes into play in a similar way, because it encourages once again gathering knowledge from different perspectives and a multitude of disciplines, and leads people out of zones of comfort and familiarity so that they can truly begin to delve into meaningful education. Each is intertwined with the other to generate a deeper, broader and more balanced education that an individual is bettered by throughout their entire university journey, and the life beyond.
The best aspect of interdisciplinary experiential education is the new perspectives it creates. Even the slim number of discussions we participated in and the lectures we experienced on the topic of the Gulf oil spill demonstrated this. For example, each speaker that we listened to had a different perspective to share on the spill, and thus we were guided towards thinking about the spill from different angles, which increased our understanding of the situation as a whole. From the engineering perspective, we were encouraged to think about the problems that made the spill occur in the first place. From the philosophical perspective, we were introduced to ideas about blame and responsibility, which lead us to contemplate who needs to answer for the incalculable amounts of damage done in order to rectify the situation. From the language perspective, we participated in exercises that helped us describe the oil spill, and thus taught us to find deeper meaning in the problems it has caused because it took us beyond our own comprehension of the situation and deposited us into the minds of those living near the Gulf, and trying to make a living there. This myriad of ways of examining the problem overlapped to make our education on the oil spill more interdisciplinary, more interesting, and more thought-provoking than only viewing one aspect of it ever could have.
Thus, on the topic of interdisciplinary education at the University of Washington and beyond, I cannot argue in support of it too frequently or too vociferously. It occurred even in my personal experience here between classes that would, on the surface, seem completely unrelated. In my psychology class one day we learned about conditioning and the influence it can have on individuals; in my leadership and democracy class the very next day we discussed how conditioning can be a tool to create more law-abiding businesses by creating a system of punishments and rewards controlled by the government (designed to foster a better relationship between the economy and the people that make up a democratic society). The connections that interdisciplinary education creates knit together information from every aspect of life and bring it together to create a higher plane of understanding than could ever hope to be reached without it. Experiential learning comes into play in a similar way, because it encourages once again gathering knowledge from different perspectives and a multitude of disciplines, and leads people out of zones of comfort and familiarity so that they can truly begin to delve into meaningful education. Each is intertwined with the other to generate a deeper, broader and more balanced education that an individual is bettered by throughout their entire university journey, and the life beyond.
Artifact one - interdisciplinary dictionary
Below is the Honors dictionary I created for my Honors 100 class. I added to it throughout my freshman year, emphasizing an understanding of art and philosophy as a new way of looking at the world. I have always been science-minded, and freshman year was still operating under the assumption that I would be a Biology major. Therefore, I looked into terms from the arts and humanities to add to my dictionary in order to round out my understanding of an interdisciplinary education.
I was particularly struck by the guest lecture by Francis McCue during Honors 100, during which she encouraged us to think about the Gulf oil spill from a writer's prospective. Analyzing and conceptualizing the natural disaster from such a different framework I built in the philosophy terms that follow into my interdisciplinary dictionary to reflect her lecture on holistic viewpoints and thinking outside of the box. This exercise helped me to expand the ways in which I viewed my own education in the Honors program, since understanding the definitions of key words we often use built a strong foundation which I could return to when writing papers, analyzing problems, and even preparing to teach my own Honors class.
I was particularly struck by the guest lecture by Francis McCue during Honors 100, during which she encouraged us to think about the Gulf oil spill from a writer's prospective. Analyzing and conceptualizing the natural disaster from such a different framework I built in the philosophy terms that follow into my interdisciplinary dictionary to reflect her lecture on holistic viewpoints and thinking outside of the box. This exercise helped me to expand the ways in which I viewed my own education in the Honors program, since understanding the definitions of key words we often use built a strong foundation which I could return to when writing papers, analyzing problems, and even preparing to teach my own Honors class.
Artifact two - Honors application essays
Below are the essays which I used to apply to the Honors program. They represent my thinking at the turbulent time of college applications, acceptances, and major decision-making. It is interesting to look back on my thoughts and values at the time, to compare them to how much I have changed today. The main difference I see is that I have become much more open-minded and flexible about my academics, hungry for new and different perspectives and interested in tackling courses outside of the pre-medical realm.
honorsessay1.docx.pdf | |
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honorsessay2.docx.pdf | |
File Size: | 40 kb |
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