Reflections

Midterm Reflection

This class is unique to any other classes I have taken at High Point University. For starters, it is focused strongly on reflection – what has made me the person I am today? These assignments tie everything that I have learned over the course of my life together. I will admit, as a psychology student who is not the biggest fan of philosophy, most of the readings feel like they go over my head slightly. However, when we discuss those readings as a class, I realize I understood far more than I thought I did. So, for starters, this class has shown me that even when I feel I am over my head, I am not. Furthermore, the introspective aspect of this class is unlike anything I have had in a class yet. It really brings life skills to the surface – specifically how my life skills have evolved. In class, I feel comfortable speaking, which is rare for me. I tend to be very awkward, and my thoughts jump all over the place, but in this class, I feel comfortable to “embrace the madness.”

Because of the ability to discuss sensitive topics, I actually feel like this class teaches me relevant topics for my future as a professional. What I mean by that is that we can talk about gaps in the system – where we have learned and where we have not. There are some classes I walk away from and think to myself, “Huh. I learned nothing.” However, this class has made me realize that there is always something to learn, even if it is not immediately clear what that something is.

I also love the atmosphere in this class. I feel as though it is a completely judge-free area, which is unusual for me. I tend to be hyper-sensitive to negative atmospheres, but this class has such a healthy feel to it. This encourages me to let my mental guard down and learn even more. Furthermore, reflecting on life and how it has contributed to the individual I am today brings a level of self-awareness that I have not achieved in any other class before. I am incredibly excited to see what lessons I learn during the remainder of the semester!

Final Reflection

Dr. Hedman;

I have learned much through my four years at High Point University. Not only have I learned how to be a high-achieving academic, but I have also learned more about myself than I thought I ever could in such a short time. This website serves as a way to communicate with fellow Honor’s students or even incoming freshmen considering the Honor’s program. I hope that by being honest about my struggles, other students may feel inspired or less alone through their undergraduate years at High Point University. Because I was homeschooled through my life, I came into college having no academic experience. I often felt like I was only accepted into the program because I was kind and fun to talk to about life. Until partway through my sophomore year, I had no idea why you and everyone in this program had faith in me. I have become someone I can be proud of, and I truly hope you can be proud to have me as a member of the Honor’s program.

That being said, my selected artifacts had a more personal feel. I have very few academic artifacts due to struggling quite a bit with adjusting to college, but I have a lot of “core memories.” A lot of events have shaped me in ways I honestly never wanted to be shaped. However, these events have contributed to me finding myself, and as of this year, I have finally felt stable enough to begin pursuing research. It is a little late to be doing research, but I am quite excited about my trivialization project. It is the one academic artifact I have, but I feel all my artifacts have met the Honors Scholar Program Learning Outcomes.

Traditions

I feel my trivialization project shows these values. Honestly, the main point of HNR 3800 is to instill the tradition values. The purpose of HNR 3800 is to create your own research project and complete it. This also has some much layover with synthesis due to the process of creating your own project.

Contexts

I feel the conversations we have had in ever honors course reflects this. We have much diversity in terms of methods of thinking, and in honors courses, we are able to express those methods of thinking objectively. I find that this is something that can not be done in society these days due to tensions running high with certain issues.

Synthesis

Again, this goes perfectly with my trivialization project (AKA HNR 3800). However, I also feel my stories reflect this value. While they are less about public relevance, they are a process where I synthesize information to solve complex problems. Even though I am the one who creates the complex problem, there are times where I struggle to figure out a solution. Stories help me to think about the situation from a different perspective.

Ethics

This is a field in which I think the program could be improved. Because I am a psychology major, I work with ethics constantly. However, in the honor’s program, the concept of ethics is lacking a little bit. The only time I recall working with ethics within the honor’s program is during HNR 3800. Again, because of my major, I have worked extensively with ethics, but without my major, I do not think I would have gotten enough education in ethics.

Awareness

I feel as though this value is instilled while maturing. What I mean by that is that as I mature from a child to an adult, I learn about the differences between cultures and individuals. However, I think the honor’s program has helped that knowledge develop into awareness. As mentioned in my artifacts, I moved from Wisconsin to Florida when I was 13. I was shocked by the differences between Wisconsin and Florida. Because of these differences, I feel comfortable stating that the artifact of my family moving helps to demonstrate this learning outcome.

Communication

Throughout my life, my family has taught me communication. Two of my artifacts when examined from a personal stance reflect this. One of my artifacts is the emotional abuse of one of my ballet instructors, and another is the constant support of my father. For the four years I was learning from that instructor, my father would constantly sit down with me and discuss how to communicate with my instructor. He would coach me about how to read a situation and know what to say to prevent the wrath of my instructor – how to know if the situation is right for me to say something, if my instructor will be more likely to lash out if he is around other people, how to speak in a non-accusatory manner, and others like that. These skills that my father spent years teaching me have continued to influence me through my college years.

Collaboration

My work within Noise Complaint, a professional tap dance company, was based on collaboration. The leader of the company would have meetings with all of us to discuss issues before asking for advice on how to fix the issue. However, I feel that this is one of the things in which the honor’s program is strongest. Every class I have ever taken that was a part of this program had extensive collaboration, including personal experiences, expression of different values, and discussions of how to fix world issues.

Development

All of my artifacts focus on my development through my life. Because of my absence of academic artifacts and abundance of “core memories,” the majority of my artifacts are events that shaped me throughout my life. This includes items like moving to Florida, being diagnosed with several mental health disorders, and struggles transitioning from being homeschooled to a high-achieving college student.

Reflection

This entire class – HNR 4900 – is about reflection. How has our education helped us become academic individuals? What values have made us the people that we are? Setting this class aside, my stories show much reflection. While I did not notice it at the time, my stories are an extension of my personal struggles. Because writing from an outside perspective adds a layer of psychological protection, I was able to create distance and analyze the issues objectively.

Again, thank you for allowing me to participate in the honor’s program. It has been a wonderful experience, and I hope to continue to reflect positively on High Point University through my academic career.

Warmest Regards,

Emily Screnock