The Honors Program has been pivotal in shaping my education at UW. At a school I knew I wouldn't fit into academically because of its size, the Honors program really shrank down the academics and helped me to personally connect to topics.
Check out my Learning Statement below, and then navigate if you like through some of my favorite courses and my experiential learning reflections.
Check out my Learning Statement below, and then navigate if you like through some of my favorite courses and my experiential learning reflections.
Learning Statement
I came into the honors Program chasing prestige. For some reason, I’ve always felt compelled towards it. Not naturally. I am not naturally guided towards prestige, but I naturally feel the guilt that I should be. It drives most decisions I make and feelings about my decisions. I lose sight of reality because my sight has gone and latched itself on this relative concept that means nothing to me fundamentally. I felt like I had to prove myself, and force myself to do so, and that is why I joined the Honors Program.
I took a class on the book I am Charlotte Simmons when I was a sophomore. I loved the themes of the class—mental wellness, women’s rights, personal transformation. I was excited to explore these concepts through writing and reading and discussion; I was excited to really push myself. But the class required so little of me that I never went. I finished the book the last day of class and busted out a 4-page paper the day it was due, and I got a 4.0. It was at this point I learned to let go of my qualifications for prestige through the Honors Program. It wasn’t living up and I was discouraged.
But that summer, I took a class called “Education Inside Prison.” I learned through this class that I had passions, and how to direct them. I had the opportunity to not only study individual transformation and its catalysts, but to witness it firsthand through personal interactions with inmates at Monroe Correctional Facility. After just four weeks of this class, I realized what I wanted to pursue—on many levels. I realized I didn’t want to pursue prestige; I wanted to pursue growth. I didn’t to pursue a successful career; I wanted to pursue a dynamic and influential one. I learned to apply these lessons to many aspects of my life, and instead of clinging to ideals I had constructed in High School, I pursued a genuine curiosity through my education—both in academics and extracurricular life.
I took a class on the book I am Charlotte Simmons when I was a sophomore. I loved the themes of the class—mental wellness, women’s rights, personal transformation. I was excited to explore these concepts through writing and reading and discussion; I was excited to really push myself. But the class required so little of me that I never went. I finished the book the last day of class and busted out a 4-page paper the day it was due, and I got a 4.0. It was at this point I learned to let go of my qualifications for prestige through the Honors Program. It wasn’t living up and I was discouraged.
But that summer, I took a class called “Education Inside Prison.” I learned through this class that I had passions, and how to direct them. I had the opportunity to not only study individual transformation and its catalysts, but to witness it firsthand through personal interactions with inmates at Monroe Correctional Facility. After just four weeks of this class, I realized what I wanted to pursue—on many levels. I realized I didn’t want to pursue prestige; I wanted to pursue growth. I didn’t to pursue a successful career; I wanted to pursue a dynamic and influential one. I learned to apply these lessons to many aspects of my life, and instead of clinging to ideals I had constructed in High School, I pursued a genuine curiosity through my education—both in academics and extracurricular life.