S5 Episode 1

Welcome to Season 5: Begin. Again.

Building from our seasons on Failure and Learning to Learn, we consider how our college is a place of constant beginnings. Many people choose a two-year college to begin a college education, whether they only seek a degree or certification from us or whether they plan to transfer later to a four-year institution. Also, many people come to us to begin again. People come to us at all ages to start a new career, to gain a new trade or skill, to start over, to change their lives. This season, we explore what it means to be constantly beginning again and again as students and as faculty and staff. What does it mean to teach only beginnings as a career? How does our own practice of being a strong beginner inform our teaching? What if we made the skills of beginning more visible in our teaching and learning community? We also feature another story series called I Am Beginning, to explore how members of our community are always beginning something new and using those lessons to help our students.

Always Beginning

We're so back.

Our first episode opens the new season by following the flow from a season on failure and a season on the skills of learning to learn. Failures usually force new beginnings. And being a "good beginner" is definitely a distinct and important set of skills in a learning journey. What if we made these truths more visible in our instruction? This episode begins an extended inquiry into and exploration of these possibilities.

In that spirit of linking and flow, we talk with one of our failure storytellers from Season 4: Hameen Shabazz. Hameen will talk about how he sees people beginning their college educations with us and also beginning again in their lives and careers.

Hameen also talks about a beginning he is embarking on: he's moving from Advising into the new role of Student Success Coach. This is a completely new position at the college so it's a big beginning for Hameen, the students he serves, and the college ecosystem as we work to incorporate these new services and possibilities.

We also introduce the new story series for the season: I Am Beginning. We'll hear stories from people all around the college who have recently begun something entirely new in their lives and talk about how it's going and what it's brought to their lives.

Join us as we begin a new semester and a new season and look closely at what it means to be a beginner.

Listen to Episode 1

Stream the episode here or listen through Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Hameen's Story of Failure and Beginning Again

In Season 4, Facing Failure, Hameen was our second storyteller in our series on failure. You can listen to his story of educational barriers in his young life and how he slowly found ways to succeed after failure.

Hameen's interview showcases how he's become a deliberate "failure practitioner," as we came to call people who do their best to learn from mistakes and failures. He also has become a conscious practitioner of new beginnings. You can find more about Hameen on the episode webpage from Season 4.

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