Thinking Outside the Blog - Guest Blogger

Vol 2 No 31

Opportunity in life is everywhere, perhaps no more so than during your college experience.  This week's guest blog comes from Jennie Erdle, Director of Student Life and member of the Honor's Advisory Board.  Profoundly dedicated to student academic, intellectual, emotional, and social success, Jennie's office does amazing work for students.  In this guest blog, she reflects on one of those projects.  Not just a past project, but a project that continues on.  Information on how to be involved in Fall 2018 is included.

Thinking outside the Blog…

Honors Studies meets Women’s Initiative on Leadership and Curiosity Blooms

At the end of Fall 2017, Dr. Trista Merrill, Director of Honors Studies approached Jennie Erdle, Director of Student Life with an idea she was curious about. In an attempt to expand opportunities for students to gain more Honors Studies points, Dr. Merrill inquired about the Women’s Initiative on Leadership program that has been on campus for 5 years. Dr. Merrill herself has served as both a guest speaker, mentor, and part of networking sessions and was able to experience first-hand the impact this program has made on our student participants and how simple it might be to be interconnected back to their studies. You see, “Women” maybe in the title and yes, that is for sure the focus of this homegrown leadership program, but in truth this program has yielded over 480 student participants including women, men, transgender, and those students on the full gender spectrum showcasing both fluid identity and expression. For the first time in Spring 2018, this program counted towards Honors Studies Program points and within two short weeks of advertising we had four Honors Studies students participate, two of which had completed the leadership program in previous semesters.

This Fall 2018 Student Life will be kicking off their 6^th year, and the program itself has undergone a bit of a pick-me-up. With the ever changing societal influences, the program has updated some of the information that will be shared, so in a way it’s to keep the program vital and relevant to the rising tides of change. One small but important inclusionary item will be the addition of the theory behind Revolutionary Love in a Time of Rage, by Valarie Kaur. For more information on this, please take a moment to watch this Ted Talk found on You Tube. It is our greatest hope that with the inclusion of this topic will aid in arming students with additional skills to persevere though their college years with us and beyond. 

If you know a student who could benefit from not only extra Honors Studies points, but students who could benefit from a bit of self-discovery, civil discourse, and above all, is looking for a unique way to connect to the college, please do have them reach out to Jennie Erdle to be able to get them signed up.

Thank you and hope everyone is having a great summer!!

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"Women's Initiative on Leadership taught me far more than leadership skills, and actually had me walking away with an increased understanding [of myself]" - Jill

Torchbearers

Vol 2 No. 27

I missed last week...so we are going to do two this week.  One today...and then one in a couple of days.  The following is a transcript of the remarks I made last night at the 2018 Honors Graduation and Awards Ceremony, followed by a list of our graduates and award winners.  I hope that you feel some resonance in these words and in the message they have for us all...

This is my third time presiding over this very special event and I’ve already established a tradition, or at least an approach to this speech that helps get me started in its writing at a time when things are, in a word, frenetic.  I see smiles and nods from some of you who are still in the throes of writing the papers and studying for the tests that will close out the Spring 2018 semester for you.  Having a hook already in place to hang my hat on lets me more quickly roll up my sleeves and get to work on writing something that will hopefully resonate with all of you.

I want to talk about two things tonight that have been a niggling voice in my head all during the course of this semester.  I’ve heard them in presentations, I’ve seen them on social media,  I’ve observed them in the interactions I’ve seen between students both in and out of the classroom.  In short, they’ve consistently come up during the course of the semester and even in the beginning stages of my thinking about next semester.  But then there was that tradition.

I began it as a way to make the starting of speech writing easier, but I ran into an even worse snag this year than I did last year when I tried to link it to Development of Modern Horror.  Even worse was that I couldn’t seem to figure out which hook to hang that hat on – Women Who Kill or The Lord of the Rings?  The first seemed daunting and the latter threatened to take over because it is rife with powerful content.  And, honestly, other than Eowyn’s rallying cry of “I am no man” on the fields of Pellenor, the two really don’t have a lot in common.  Except, they do.  Which leads me to those two things I want to talk about. 

The first is the power of fellowship.  As we read the stories of women who made horrific and heart-wrenching stories, we so often read, also, about how they had no support from those around them.  They struggled with trauma, tragedy, and tribulations that speak volumes about the choices they made.  These stories do not make what they did okay, but they remind us of the importance of having a tribe, or people, or a support network, or whatever personal phrase you want to use to describe the amazing communities we build around us.  I’ve sometimes joked that Honors Studies often attracts students who have not yet found a home anywhere and, jokes aside, it is powerful to watch what happens when their Honors courses become their home at FLCC.  They – no, you – have found a place where you are not just tolerated – but welcomed and accepted.  At the least you found a fellowship of like-minded learners in your Honors classes and experiences.  But more than that, many of you found friendship and community beyond what you expected.  As Gildor tells Frodo, “courage is found in unlikely places” and so who would have thought that in a class about fear and horror, you would find safety and encouragement?  Or that in a course about women who poison and smother, you would find comfort and affirmation?  But you have – and not just in my Honors courses, but in others as well.  You have leaned on and supported one another and offered compassion and encouragement.  And you have been given the same by those who sit with you tonight, along with others who could not be here.  You have a support network that many do not and that leads me to my next thought.

The second thing I want to talk about is the need we have in the world for compassion and understanding of others to the extent that it is possible.  Hard work, determination, passion, creativity, and intellectual rigor are all amazing things to have and to hone and to habituate.  But these things alone should not and cannot exist in a vacuum.  I often lay upon my students the daunting reminder that it is they who will change the world and you, our Honors Studies students, are at the forefront carrying the torch.  And so, I lay on you another reminder – that you please do all the remarkable work of which you are capable with your heart engaged and open.  Strive to understand those who come from different places and have made choices that run counter to your beliefs and your realm of experience.   Do not compromise your principles without reason or surrender conviction in the name of understanding, but remember that old adage about walking in another’s shoes.  Sometimes we have to stand up and fight, it is true, but choose those times wisely and remember, as Galadriel tells Frodo that “even the smallest person can change the course of the future.”  Use your sphere of influence to spread positivity, compassion, understanding and, dare I say it, love.

2018 Graduates and Award Winners

Honors Studies Scholar Graduates

Brandon Bailey - AS Business Administration

Christian Case - AA Liberal Arts and Sciences Literature, December 2017

Tyler Deskins - AA Liberal Arts and Sciences Mathematics

W. Henry Livingston - AA Liberal Arts and Sciences

Honors Studies Distinction Awards:
Jill Bond
McKenna Guarasce
Onni Adams
Will Maskrey
Elijah Lorah
Brianna Smith
Blinne Krieger
Vicki Ilyssa

Honors Studies Student Leadership Awards
Jill Bond and Blinne Krieger

Dr. Barbara A. Etzel Spirit Award
Lucas Holmes 

Congratulations to all our winners and all of YOU.  Without you, Honors could not be what it is.

Initiative Matters!

Vol 2. No. 17

It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you an Honors Studies Event that spans the entire semester and will truly challenge and support you to be the best version of yourself you can be.  I'm talking about the Women's Initiative on Leadership, sponsored in part by Student Life.

If you choose to participate, you will enter into a place where "individuals gather together, share their stories, offer guidance, mentor" so that you "have a safe space to be able question and develop" and can "grasp an understanding of [your] full potential."

This event began in August 2013 and has grown in scope and impact ever since.  Those who organize it have realized that there is "an ever-growing need for more leadership development and opportunities for students on and off campus" and this blog is one of the many places where you'll see invitations for you to participate in this amazing opportunity.

The theme for Spring 2018 is Daring Greatly - which is also the title of the book by Brene Brown that is used within the program.  This book, and the program, focus on "how the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead" and "the overarching hope [is] that those who complete the program learn what Brown emphasizes in her book:"

“Vulnerability is not weakness, and the uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure we face every day are not optional. Our only choice is a question of engagement. Our willingness to own and engage with our vulnerability determines the depth of our courage and the clarity of our purpose; the level to which we protect ourselves from being vulnerable is a measure of our fear and disconnection" (2)

We in Honors Studies cannot praise this program enough.  It has grown each year and the organizers are proud that "[c]ollectively since the inception of the program 5 years ago, over 450 women, men, transgender and middle school/early high school students have participated in one form or another" and they hope that you will become part of the next group who make this journey.

So, what does this have to do with Honors Studies?  Well, honestly, everything.  This program is centered on reflection, interdisciplinary explorations, learning spaces, and intellectual pursuit.  To that end, we are pleased to announce that the FLCC Women's Initiative on Leadership is a new Honors Studies event.  If you successfully complete the program, you will receive 3 points of Honors Studies. 

Interested?  Email Jennie.Erdle@flcc.edu for more information -OR- attend the information session on February 9th from 12:00 - 1:00 in Stage 14.