This being my last year at Prescott College, it is time for my Senior Project. Every student at this school designs and implements a culmination of learning for their undergraduate degree. In terms of process, this is different for everyone. For students gaining a teacher’s certification, this project would be student teaching at a school somewhere in the country. Other student projects have been everything from studying large cats in the Ecuadorian Rainforest to doing a critical analysis of gender studies in Adventure Education; writing and directing an entire theatrical performance to designing a manure catchment system for the stove of a person’s home. As for mine, I am writing a research paper, creating a documentary, and facilitating a community forum on the importance of integrative learning in relation to the personal, social, and environmental narrative.
To me, working on this project has truly shown me why I attended this school in the first place. It is about the people who truly care so much about my learning process. Being as authentic as possible, what intrigued me about this school in the beginning was the fact that there are more vans than classrooms, my fellow students are very passionate about learning and exploring, and I have taken courses here that are found nowhere else on earth. Essentially, though, these attributes did not just appear. They were constructed, celebrated, and supported by awesome people. And, when I say awesome I am using it as one describes shooting stars while standing in awe.
Today, I met with my top two advisors who helped me unfold my experience here over the past four years. Much like my parents, they have watched me grow in ways that I never noticed, and because of this they can help me in ways that I can’t help myself. There are a few schools who claim the ability to become this close with teachers, but there isn’t one that could have given me the experiences I had here. An 800 horse packing expedition studying with 7 students and two nationally award winning educators, a 200 hour yoga teacher training, an entire month devoted to studying leadership through the lens of Bowen and Systems Theory, traveling all over the southwest and Colorado visiting and teaching in schools with six other students during a month long education intensive, and the list goes on. Like I said, these courses did not just appear; they were created through many hours and people who are in fact shooting stars.
When choosing a school, many prospective students have a whole list of where they might want to go. Let me say that the place we choose will unanimously change our life. The question is, though, how?
Enjoy the journey, and stay curious…
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