Goal 1

The first goal of the Honors Program is to “Think critically, reflectively, and independently.” I think I was able to achieve this goal very easily because I come from a background where that is very important to have. My family would call this “street-smarts.” The following three assignments demonstrate my accomplishment of this goal.

The first assignment is the action plan from HON 395 Citizenship and Service. In this class, we had to go out into the community and engage in a service activity of our choice. I chose to help a teacher friend of mine with anything that she needed done in the classroom. Within my action plan, I stated how I planned to help this teacher. From helping her grade assignments, to working one-on-one with her students if they needed the extra support, to just collecting her students from extra curriculars. Also in the action plan, I stated my fears and hopes for my experience. I think it is a great example for this goal because I was able to create my own goals with clear detail through this assignment.

My second example was the ethical dilemma project in HON 250 Foundations of Leadership. In this course, we learned how to become effective leaders and find out what kind of leaders we can be. For this project, we had to find a problem ethical dilemma or issue. I chose the death penalty. I went through various sites and found all my research and made sure all my information was accurate and reliable. I got a lot of my information from government websites I also had to find a different solution to this problem. My whole idea was to take it away and I had to find a solution to replace it. I also formed my own opinions on this as well. Growing up, I developed my opinions based on those of my family, but this assignment made me form my own. I think this assignment is a great example for this goal because it shows how I analyze problems and how I can formulate my own opinions, conclusions, and solutions. This assignment also shows my ability to conduct my own research and to make sure that it is ethical.

My last assignment is the book review from HON 191H The Honors Community. This course was the first course I took in the Honors Program. It is an introduction course for the whole program. For this assignment, we were to read a nonfiction book and then compose a review. Like I wrote in the paper, I am not one for nonfiction books, but the book I chose was a perfect choice. It was a book I had seen around campus and even the author was coming to campus that same semester, so I wanted to read it before he came. The story was very eye opening for me at the time. I felt like I was truly living the author’s life. I still own a copy of this book to this day. I feel this assignment was a good example of this goal because it shows that I can pull information from other texts and connect to other aspects. In this case, it is connecting it to my own life at that time. I was able to connect it to how I was identified as bisexual at the time and I got an idea what it would look like coming out.

Overall, I think that I have achieved this goal. Again, from the background I had already, I knew this goal would be an easy one or me to achieve. I had so many examples I could use too, but I felt these best showed my ability in this goal. I have been able to do this not only in class but in my everyday life. I feel as though the reflective part a lot more now at work, thinking how I could’ve approached a situation differently.