Go Ask Alice...

Vol 1. No 10.

The following is a slightly edited version of the remarks I made at the Honors graduation ceremony last May.  Since Alice is being offered in the Spring and we are all of us gearing up to end another semester, it seemed fitting to revisit these words of celebration.  The edits made were to tidy up some of the language that didn't quite convey what I should have conveyed...

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Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English); `now I’m opening out like the largest telescope that ever was! Good-bye, feet!’ (for when she looked down at her feet, they seemed to be almost out of sight, they were getting so far off).

….

Alice took up the fan and gloves, and, as the hall was very hot, she kept fanning herself all the time she went on talking: `Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, THAT’S the great puzzle!

Since I began in the position of director, I’ve spent a good deal of time thinking on this very question in regards to Honors.  I’ve led and attended workshops and conferences, written descriptions of the Honors experience, collaborated with fellow devotees on a mission and goals and I’ve had conversations – so many conversations – with family, friends, students, alumni, faculty, and staff about this very thing.  I had been teaching Honors on and off for years and so I felt that I knew it well, but when charged with the task of leading it and growing it, I came to realize that articulating and codifying the Honors identity was no small feat.

No need to despair, however, for two things quickly came to the forefront of numerous conversations in numerous arenas as being hallmarks of what we do here:  curiosity and transformation.  All of us involved with Honors know that these things apply to the students who were drawn into and become engaged in the Honors experience.  You are those students; you’ve felt the eagerness of learning, the power of being curious, the joy and confidence that can come from a shared intellectual endeavor with like-minded classmates.  You have grown and been changed by your experiences here, and they will stay with you in some measure as you continue here or move onward.  You embody what it means to be Honors and Honors could not exist without you.

For others of you, you serve a different role:  you know those students, you’ve supported them as they struggled and triumphed, smiling at their enthusiasm and doing your best to help them channel their energy.  You have watched with pride and sometimes confusion as your personal Alice changed before your eyes – sometimes more rapidly than you could have expected.  You are an important part of what enables us to be here tonight, encouraging and recognizing the students we are honoring because they got here with your support.  Honors could not exist without its vast network of friends and family standing on the sidelines cheering on our scholars.

But there is still someone else for whom these words ring true.  The Honors faculty.

We are proud of our shiny new slogan that informs and invites students into Honors by telling them that all they need to be is curious, and at first I was somewhat surprised to find myself using this slogan among the faculty.  The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that what happens in Honors courses is not just transformative for the students, but it is often equally so for the faculty who elect to teach them.  Honors courses also serve as an invitation for us to explore topics of interest, to satiate our quest for knowledge and learning that may be off the beaten path but still within our fields.  It is an invitation to look at our core courses in different ways and explore the boundaries with which we are so familiar.  Just like Alice experiences with her change in size, Honors courses can surprise us into looking at ourselves and our disciplines in whole new ways.  I am not the same professor that I was years ago – and while I’m sure that is true for most instructors who stay in the teaching profession, I can make a direct correlation between my transition and my experiences in Honors.  I have gone from being simply Dr. Merrill to being Teach and I am proud of that shift.  My students remind me what it’s like to be excited about learning and they expand my horizons every time I work with them.  I am curious, and they are curious right along with me.  I am passionate and enthusiastic and they have that same passion and enthusiasm.  We feed off each other and the classroom environment – no, the whole learning experience -- is better for all of us.  I know that I would not be the teacher I am without Honors and I know that my fellow faculty feel the same.  So, thank you – thank you for being a constant reminder of why we are here and for making us better than we were.

We are all of us Alice and I am proud to be among you.