What Did We Learn About the 4Rs?
Students participants were asked to submit written reflections to be included in this newsletter. They were asked the following questions:
- What is your understanding of the recasted 4Rs?
- What are the roles of the 4Rs in your life?
- What have you risked for the sake of change on your campus or in your community?
- What does the world need from you? What will the world need from you?
Student Reflections
“At the Bringing Theory to Practice Project Student Conference last November, I gave a presentation on how community service can help students develop resiliency by giving them greater perspective. Tutoring adults studying for their GED (high school diploma equivalent) in low-income communities provided me with insight into my own education and the privileges I’ve been afforded. Conversations I had with other students at the conference inspired me to expand the program so that more students on my campus could become involved. Elizabeth Bennett’s workshop (“Greatest Impact”) reminded me that issues such as educational inequalities are too big for one individual to tackle; however, we can work toward improving one aspect of the problem. The world doesn’t need me to singlehandedly solve the issues related to educational inequalities right now, but it does need me to continue tutoring, and to expand and improve the current program I’m working with. Hopefully, the skills I’ve learned will help me be able to take on bigger projects related to my interest in promoting social justice through eliminating educational inequalities.”
Kimberly Probolus, student,
Smith College, MA
“Reflection has great importance during times of increased learning and growth, which usually occur during the years of university life. The development of my identity as an adult and a proactive member of society benefits from the ability to reflect on the process of involving myself in civic work and social change, noticing mistakes and challenges—then adapting based on past experiences. Resiliency is essential for student leaders, in that it is a characteristic necessary for facing and overcoming challenges that occur when individuals are trying to initiate change. Relationships help to build a community that fosters better growth and progress than any individual can achieve alone. In my experience, the fourth R, responsibility, was not truly meaningful until I became a student leader. In that role, the amount of responsibility is correlated with a certain level of risk. The more responsibility you acquire, the more risk there is for failure, but you have to be willing to face the risk and to own your part in any experience, even when things don’t turn out as you would wish. Something that I learned from the conference is that what the world needs from me is to apply my passions and skills to the work that I do, in the best way possible.”
Mackenzie Morris, student,
California State University-Chico
“As the former president of the Student Environmental Alliance and current president of the Student Government Association, I have been a key student activist in these efforts. For me, advocating for environmental stewardship is an innate part of my being—it is my passion. However, along with any passion, with any unyielding dedication to a cause, comes risk and sacrifice. Focusing on developing campus sustainability often becomes extremely consuming; I am constantly at risk for losing the personal balance necessary for a healthy and successful collegiate life.
When I am in my office working until midnight or eating my meals as I simultaneously revise proposals and initiatives, I often reflect on what I may be missing. Am I sacrificing my grades, am I losing friends, or am I missing out on ‘typical’ college experiences? Ultimately, I have realized that sacrifice is a necessary risk to create a meaningful and lasting impact on communities…as long as you remain aware and in control of your sacrifices, you can manage and justify the risk of losing balance.”
Erik Howard George, student,
Concordia College-Moorhead, MN
“I believe that everyone is sent into this world to do something great, something worthwhile, something unique. Every individual has the responsibility to play his/her position in our ever-growing society, but that charge can often be hard to pursue. Today, I believe that the world needs me to stay focused on obtaining my college degree. Once that step has been overcome, the world will require something even greater from me: to give back and share everything that I’ve learned and obtained with those in need. This is by far the hardest task any individual can be faced with as we are often blinded by our own problems, oblivious of the breakdown that our own communities are facing.”
Jacques Pape, student,
Morehouse College, GA
Faculty Reflections
Attending faculty were also invited to share their thoughts and reflections on what they observed and learned at the conference.
“The questions I ask myself now, having attended the conference, are: How can I support student-initiated reforms better? What forums can I offer so that students’ voices inform campus decisions? How might we alter traditional methods of offering curriculum so that students’ work as campus/community organizers becomes a recognized part of their progress toward a degree? What gets in the way of students on my campus pursuing changes they believe in, and how can my program provide support for such work? The BTtoP Student Conference offered faculty members a rare opportunity to immerse ourselves in our students’ dreaming and planning for a better world. It was one of the most positive experiences of my professional life.”
Thia Wolf,
First-Year Experience Director,
California State University-Chico
“From the perspective of a faculty member and administrator, the Bringing Theory to Practice Student Conference offered a wonderful affirmation of the positive effects that BTtoP is having on students across the country. Students spoke in powerful and personal ways about the sorts of intellectual and practical risks that they are taking in the quest to grow both academically and as whole people. I was particularly impressed with the ways that the students exemplified the sort of resilience envisioned by the project. Through [their] endeavors, the students transformed themselves from knowledge consumers to partners in the process of knowledge creation. I was delighted for the opportunity to attend the student conference and to witness student transformation that is both encouraging and instructive. This transformation called on students to reimagine themselves, their work, and their contribution to the world. It was this act of reimagination that proved most provocative to me as a faculty member and administrator. ”
James Sloat,
Associate
Dean for Assessment
and
New Initiatives,
Washington & Jefferson College, PA
Bringing Theory to Practice Reflections
In reflecting on the success of the conference, we asked ourselves what, specifically, made this conference as transformative as it seemed to be for students, faculty, and ourselves. We took into consideration the conference model, and determined one of the greatest factors in its success was that it consistently relied on some form of participatory engagement from the students—in fact, it demanded it. Further, using very few “talking heads” and reflecting early on what might be in line with the audience’s cultural preferences (which turned out to be role-playing, debate, skill-building workshops, etc.) was important. The aggregation and synthesizing of advice and ideas from many diverse project constituencies as to the goals, tone, and format of the conference was key.
Perhaps most significantly, we learned from this conference to persist in our steady and meaningful encouragement of our grantees and colleagues to continue to challenge and push students in and out of the classroom—students’ resiliency in the face of new information and change is simply astounding and needs to be tapped into in order to further higher education in general, and most important, to foster transformative student learning and development. We take the outcomes of the conference and the students’ opinions very seriously to inform future conferences and meetings, and to the way in which the project views “successful campus work” when determining funding priorities and what can and should be considered “transformative educational practices.”
Jennifer O’Brien,
Project Manager, BTtoP
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