Leaving my Mark

Today i went to the OSU challenge course to participate in my first training and get some hours in for my internship.  It was great!  I got to participate in the activities and thought of many ways to incorporate new activities into fall training.  The other people at the training have been working at the challenge course longer than me (obviously).  Some of them have made the gig with the challenge course part of their livelihood and supplement their income by facilitating ropes courses and teambuilding events.  It was wonderful to learn modifications, tricks, and good one-liners from them.  There were also people there who are newer members of the challenge course team.  I felt like even though i didn't go through the training that they went through in June, I was on-par with them.

I relied a lot on my knowledge of student development theory to frame questions and bring perspective and insight about the group we were preparing for.  I felt like i had a bit of a leg up on thanks to my job and my grad program.  I felt a bit like a broken record, but it was nice to be looked to for answers.  It was one of the first moments that I owned my "expertise."  In many respects i still feel a little new and often doubt my experience.  I'm not quite sure when that feeling will subside and when i will confident enough.  I'm also not quite sure why i don't feel confident now.  I am going into my fourth year as a student affairs professional, I have a wide range of experiences from various institutions, I have nearly completed my degree, I have participated and presented at national conferences, I have.....no reason to doubt myself.  yet, here i am....wondering when i am going to be "enough."

The nice thing about being at the challenge course today was that I could really see myself using this Internship to frame the rest of my career in higher ed.  I have dreamed for a while now about reforming education.  Whenever someone asks me what i want to do after graduate school my gut reaction is to say "Change the World."  Honestly, that IS what i want to do.  I want to explore new methods of higher education that marries traditional educational goals with alternative methods like outdoor education,  service-learning, and living-learning communities.  I would love to get rid of traditional classrooms.  i would love to abolish the school of thought that says the only valuable learning is that done is done though lecture and out of books.  What about the students that don't learn that way?!  Who ever said that is THE way to learn?  There is too much research identifying multiple intelligences (what kind of learner are you?) and learning styles to believe that the traditional lecture-based educational practices are still effective and practical.

I will change the world someday.....I not be able to un-do hundreds of years of American education, but i will leave my mark.