Synthesis Essay
Going into the honors program, I wasn’t fully sure what to expect. I knew the honors program would challenge me and push me to rise to the occasion. What I didn’t expect was that the honors program would teach me how to challenge and push myself. Throughout these last three years, I have learned what’s important to me in my personal life and in my career, how to find and pursue opportunities, and how to deepen the impact of everything I do through reflection. I feel the honors program has prepared me for a lifetime of personal and professional growth.
The first activity I completed was in my Intro to Honors class during my first year. This was the StrengthsFinder assessment, which helped me identify who I am as a leader. This experience really served as a foundation for the other experiences I completed during my time in the program, because my core strengths not only effect who I am as a leader, but they affect who I am as a researcher and global citizen too. These strengths are thing I now think about a lot, and they help me ensure my actions are intentional and a reflection of who I am and my personal ethics.
I started thinking about other’s core strengths as I first observed leadership and teamwork during my time in Eta Sigma Gamma, which is a health education honorary. Eta Sigma Gamma had a strong leadership team made up of four students and some faculty advisors. It was clear they all had different strengths, and everyone worked together to use their strengths collaboratively. These core strengths also proved an asset when we started doing research through Eta Sigma Gamma. On our research team, working collaboratively and playing to each member’s strengths was essential in making progress.
Use of understanding other’s strengths was also important when I competed in the Case Study Competition. I competed on a team with two other health education students, and we had to work together on the entire project. This one was a little bit more challenging than the research done in Eta Sigma Gamma, because we were a smaller group, and we all tended to try and take charge. We also had different levels of education in the same program, so some of us knew more about the research and development process than others. In the end, we had to have a conversation about how we would divide the work and communicate in a way that made everyone feel heard. Communication ended up being the key to working together effectively.
Communication was also a big theme of my intercultural engagement experiences. During my freshman year, I took a class called Sensitivity to Disabilities. This class taught me a lot about using communication to understand what a person needs instead of assuming. This is a lesson I have used during countless other experiences, especially when leading and working on a team. It’s never good to assume what a person wants, it’s so much better to ask. This also helps avoid disagreements and misunderstandings down the road.
I also use this skill a lot in my work as a direct support staff. I work with many different individuals that have unique needs and identities. Having learned how to effectively communicate, I was able to proficiently understand the needs of the individuals I supported by having person-centered conversations and really listening to them. As a direct support staff, you also use your leadership skills a lot. There are times when you need to decide what is best for the individual you’re supporting, but more often than not you’re working collaboratively with the individual to support them in living the life they want to live.
I have participated in research and intercultural engagement on a more individual scale as well. I took a class called Access Denied, which studied the history of disability and accessibility while evaluating the accessibility of the Memorial Library. Even though I used this as an intercultural engagement experience, it really had just as much to do with research. We read research from secondary sources, and we gathered our own data as we observed the library. The data we gathered helped us understand the identities others hold and the accommodations they need.
I also learned that exploring your own identity is a big part of intercultural engagement. I took a class called scholarship development which was all about finding and applying for scholarships. While this class taught me a lot about the research process in how to find opportunities, it also taught me a lot about how to understand your own identity and present yourself as you are writing essays and personal statements. Another common theme through my honors experience was knowing and growing in your own identity.
I really had to know my own identity while working as a campus tour guide. In this job, I used my leadership skills to guide campus tours and work with the admissions team to help students. On campus tours, you must know a lot about various aspects of the school and programs, which was good research practice. You also have to decide how you want to present yourself to the tour group. It’s a great opportunity to share your stories and experience to benefit others. I also had the opportunity to meet individuals from all over the world, some of which even spoke different languages than me. I learned a lot from the people I gave tours too and I learned about the courage it takes to pursue an education so far away from home.
My final reflection is one that easily means the most to me, and it’s an experience I will likely continue in for the rest of my life. I have been volunteering with the Alzheimer’s Association for the last three years, and I have developed in all three competencies through this experience. Primarily I have developed as a leader as I have challenged myself to take leadership roles within the association. I have also developed in intercultural engagement through my experience working with individuals with Alzheimer’s or related dementias. Working with older adults gives you the unique opportunity to learn from individuals who have lived full lives, and working with memory care patients is a practice in adapting your care to individuals of unique needs and backgrounds. Lastly, I’ve served as a community educator through the association, and we do a lot of research as we are reviewing secondary data to better educate and advise. This experience meant so much to me and is such an impactful part of my profession development and identity.
Looking back on all my experiences, I don’t think there was a single experience that only fit into one category. I used a little bit of each category to succeed in every experience, and each of my experiences built on each other to help me succeed. I especially feel that my intercultural engagement experiences helped me be a better leader, because they’ve helped me better understand and connect with the populations I was working with. I also feel like my research experiences helped me to become a better leader because they were great practice in teamwork.
The honors program has taught me how to get the most out of every experience I have in life. Without the program, I might not have pushed myself to do things that were outside of my comfort zone. I wouldn’t have the connections I do now, and I can truly say I wouldn’t have the interests and passions I do today. I’m so grateful for how the honors program has changed me, and I want to use the skills I have learned for the rest of my life.