Dinner Report - Spring 2018

Vol 2 No 24

Last night was the Spring 2018 Honors Studies Dinner where students, faculty, and staff gathered together to share stories of what Honors meant to them and what they were doing in and for Honors. As is tradition, I will post my opening remarks below...but before I do that, I wanted to share some highlights - sound bites, if you will - of things I heard that really stood out to me.

...I found my voice...
...I was an Honors student before I ever knew it had a name...
...We will cry together in Honors...
...Inclusive...
...I have few regrets in life, but one will always be that I didn't find Honors earlier...
...a sense of belonging...
...discussions and passion...

...a sense of discovery...

...I learn differently...

...sharing passion and curiosity...

So many good stories and experiences - reminding me again how special Honors really is. So much more was said, but these struck me as being themes that carried through what students said and so I wanted to share them here. And now the speech I gave...

***

Honors means home and family to many students and that is something about which I’m immensely proud. I knew that Honors was about building community, but I never really appreciated just how much that was happening until last semester when I handed the microphone around to various students to hear what they had to say about their experiences. It was eye-opening in the best of ways.

Lately, I’ve been noticing that Honors is also about opportunity and is often referred to as a best kept secret at FLCC, known to a select few who love it and talk about it and celebrate it. Their voices are not always heard outside the metaphorical walls of the Honors House (which extend far past that amazing building across the street). Honors is anywhere that you find fellowship and conversation that pushes your own ideas further and farther.

Opportunity comes in many forms and takes many shapes. We will hear a little bit about our fall course offerings this evening as well as our brand new Honors Club, which you will hear about shortly as well. It’s also worth mentioning the growing number of Honors Studies Events popping up – activities on campus that celebrate what it means to be an Honors thinker. The Human Library, which we will hear about shortly, asks us to potentially face our own prejudices. Another activity on Laker Day will help us learn what to look for to help prevent violence while a third will challenge us to rethink what it means to take a selfie. Other upcoming events in April include one that turns our gaze to history and what we can learn about current events through the lens of past presidents and another that explores the forces of chaos in our universe. One more on the calendar is coming up quick – one week from today is the 16th Annual Campus Authors reading that Curt will tell us about in a few minutes. In short, it seems that more and more faculty are realizing that the Honors experience is a valuable one and I hope that you agree with them. I hope that all of you will consider not only participating in these events, but also challenge yourself to take the few extra steps it takes to earn Honors points for them. Take your learning and reflection outside the classroom and out into the world you inhabit.

And that brings me to one of the most powerful and visible ways you can fly your Honors flag.

On May 4th of this year, we will be celebrating our second Honors Convocation. This event is designed to celebrate the work that Honors students are doing in any of their Honors courses. It is an opportunity to show case to a wider audience the things you have so passionately dedicated yourself to this semester. You pour so much into the work you do and your ideas are so grand that they, like you yourselves, are larger than the classroom in which they were birthed. Therefore, I challenge each of you to consider creating a poster that shows us what you’ve been working on this semester. Choose from a project, an assignment, a paper, a concept; in short, anything that shows what you have been doing as an Honors student this semester. We know it’s a busy time of year, but this is worth it for the excitement of celebrating your hard work and your vision. To encourage you to walk down this path, I invite you to join us at Study-a-Thon on April 26th. This event, with its vibrant and enthusiastic atmosphere (not to mention the free food) is a great time to come hang out, make a poster, and talk with other Honors students about what THEY are working on. You may even be asked to be one of our four presenters at the speaking portion of the event.

We created the Convocation because at the end of each semester, without fail, I found myself bursting with pride at the work my students were doing. Every semester, I desperately attempted to convey the various projects to other faculty and staff, to friends and family and, frankly, I always feel wholly inadequate to do so. I am so proud of all of you who have taken on the Honors challenge and I want the world to see what you are doing and I want them to love and appreciate you just as much as I do. Other Honors faculty feel the same way, and so the Convocation was born.

For those of you who are inclined to argue because you’ve heard the passion and enthusiasm with which I talk about Honors….well, you are still seeing it second hand. Why should I try to tell the stories when THE STUDENTS are the ones who are living them? Why should I fall short of show casing everything you are doing when you are the ones who are living and breathing that work (along with so much other work) in every moment you are awake?

I know that we are asking you to do something extra, but I also know that many of you are up to the task. I know that we are adding to the immense burden you are already carrying, but I cannot think of a more fitting way to share the secret of Honors with the FLCC Community. You are all gems and you should all be celebrated; you should all be, if you’ll excuse the pun, honored.

If you are brand new to Honors or came here tonight to learn about it, welcome. Next semester, I will think and feel these same things about you if you can join us in Honors. I will make the same pleas of you as we move forward and, in the meantime, come see it. See what your fellow students are working on and share their excitement. Let them ignite your imagination and your curiosity even more than they already have.

And speaking of honoring you, I want to encourage you to do two other things. First, join the Honors Club – regardless of whether or not you have taken any Honors courses (….yet). You’ll hear more about that from Jill Bond in a moment. Second, did you know that there are scholarships JUST for Honors students? Go, apply. You DO like money, yes?

You know, this may be the strangest speech I’ve ever written. It’s a speech of imploring. A speech of encouragement. A speech that is designed to move you to help us share the Honors story with the wider FLCC Community and to help Honors to thrive and grow OUTSIDE of the classroom. We are a group that is always changing as students come and go but one thing remains the same: Honors means home and family. Honors is worth our time and energy. And Honors is something that we need to promote and share. Our world is a tumultuous and chaotic one and I cannot think of a better collection of characteristics to celebrate than what we’ve built here: critical thinking, intellectual curiosity, lifelong learning, and a sense of belonging. Celebrate it with me.

Enough is Enough

Vol. 2 No. 20

I am sad and I am angry.

Sometime during the week of February 26^th, something happened on the FLCC Campus that indirectly connects with Honors and, quite frankly, goes against everything that Honors – and this college – stands for.  At least two posters for classes being taught this semester were defaced with profanity.  The posters were for HON 200 – Women Who Kill (taught by Drs. Merrill and Ross) and SOC 201 – Racial & Ethnic Minorities (taught by Dr. Whisman).   These two classes, taught by three accomplished and educated women, were targeted for acts of vandalism.

This is intolerable.

This college celebrates values that make no room for what amounts to hate language.  Honors celebrates these same values, along with reflection, curiosity, intellectual exploration and rigor, and strives to make a place for all students regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or even mental health.  There is no room for this kind of behavior.  This should not have happened.

We live in world that seems increasingly intolerant – but there are so many voices calling out for love, acceptance, and accountability.  So many voices celebrating people who have too long been silenced.  So many voices of bravery and courage – asking for change and celebrating difference.   #metoo.  The Parkland students.  Wakanda.  We need to have those voices here.  We need to stand up against hatred, bigotry, and intolerance.

This behavior will not change what we do in our class rooms.  It will not change our values or our mission.  It will not weaken our resolve to learn and teach, to explore and expand our minds.  If anything, it will galvanize our dedication to accepting and celebrating ALL students.

The holder of that pen has no right to so anonymously dismiss the reality of the world around them.  Their actions are hateful, cowardly, and we need to make it stop.

So, in this blog, I am asking you to join me in standing up for what so many of us believe in.  Speak out against hatred.  Push back against random graffiti that seems harmless, but is not.  Don’t laugh at jokes told at the expense of women and minorities.  Add your voice to those who are saying enough is enough.

This is OUR campus.  Our refuge, our home away from home.  So many find acceptance and love here and see this as a powerful place to forward their dreams and find their wings.  And they love it here.  We love it here.  We don’t need those few who tarnish that experience to have a voice like this.  We don’t need them to hide behind a pen that leaves hateful comments on posters that dare to focus on something other than the white male experience.  That is NOT our FLCC and we all need to work together to silence those voices and deafen their message with our own.

I, for one, am angry and ready to stand up against this kind of behavior.  It is not to be tolerated here – or anywhere.

Not on my watch.

The Path of Honors

Vol. 1 No. 21

The following is the speech given by Denise Button at the Honors Graduation and Awards Ceremony held on May 10, 2017.  Denise has graduated (with 21 credits of Honors) and will be attending the University of Buffalo in the fall to study Business Administration with a focus on International Business.  Her words, as you will see, are powerful.

To all our graduates, congratulations.

First, I would like to start off by congratulating each of the honors students for all of the hard work that we have done to get to this point. 

I think that especially at a community college, it is a struggle sometimes to get through the semester between work, school, and figuring out our new place in this world.  College is a place where you get to decide who you want to be and how you want to get there.  And we all made the choice to be here, not just in college, but in honors.  When you started school and the honors program, you made a promise to yourself to work hard and earn not just an associate’s degree, but either an honors diploma or certificate. 

Once that promise was made, that meant that we had to commit to that promise and everything that it entailed – which meant going into the unknown.

Trying something new, whether it be in college, honors, or life in general means taking a risk.  And it takes courage to take risks, to be brave enough to embrace who each one of us are, and to share that with the world.  I know that when I first started attending FLCC that I was scared.  I was scared of the normal things that most people are, such as: how to afford school, how to juggle all of my many responsibilities while making new friends, and figuring out how to fit in all the other thing that I’m passionate about.  But I was also scared that I wouldn’t do as well in college as I had in high school and that maybe, just maybe, I would discover that college just wasn’t for me.   

But when I applied to FLCC, one of the first people I talked to was Trista Merrill.  I had messaged her because I needed to take an ENG 101 class, but was confused because I had noticed that one of the classes was designated as “honors”.  I didn’t know what being in “honors” meant so, after emailing back and forth with Trista, she encouraged me to try honors.  So I did.  I didn’t just learn about English from Trista, but she got me excited to go to class, and to be in school.  We all think that school can be dull, boring, or monotonous, but this wasn’t my experience in the honors program.  The learning was involved and even fun.  Yes, I learned the material, but I also learned more about myself as a person.  Honestly, some of the best classes that I have taken here at FLCC, were honors.  Honors isn’t just about hard work, but connecting with others and investing in one’s self.

I’m sure that most of us are moving on from FLCC and either continuing our education or going out into the work force.  I think that each of us will soon be able to see just how much hard work pays off.  Because each of us has earned an honors distinction that will separate us from our peers in a way that says “Hey, I didn’t just go to college, but I was also willing and dedicated to take on extra work along the way.”  This experience in college and in the honors program is something that no one can take away from you.  You have made an investment in yourself and your future.

 

And I’m sure that if you’ve had any similar experiences as I have, sometimes you get stressed and overwhelmed.  I think that we have all gotten to a point in a semester when we realize that – “I’m not doing as well as I want to this semester”.  Once you get to this point and soon realize that if you want to continue on the path that you have set for yourself, the only choice you have is to push through this feeling.  And most importantly, that it’s okay to fail and to be disappointed.  Success is a terrific thing.  But how do you get there?  The moments that define you, your character, your strength, are the moments when all you want to do is cry and give up, but you don’t.  Those defining moments when you choose to not accept failure, but to move on and keep working at your success is why you are here today. 

Not only that, but your professors probably didn’t let you give up either.  I know that without my professors here at FLCC, I wouldn’t have been able to handle going to school and juggling all of my other responsibilities.  But I always went to my professors when I knew I needed help.  My professors were more than my teachers in academics, they were teachers in life.  When I needed help, I knew that I could always turn to my professors, especially to my honors professors because I knew that I would be met with understanding and a true concern for me as a student and an individual.  So I would like to congratulate each of you again for being here.  But I would also like to thank all of the honors professors and Trista for dedicating your time to teaching and helping each one of us and reach our true potential.  Without you, we wouldn’t be here today.     

      

Honors Voices

Vol 1 No 20

Something of a long one this time....

The other day. in the face of a beautiful spring day, I thought my HON 200 - Analyzing Alice class might need a moment to gather their thoughts and focus on the class at hand before I turned class over to Linda Ross.  She was going to spend that class time talking about attachment (and attachment disorders) from a psychological standpoint and how it might relate to Lewis Carroll or even Alice herself.  So, I asked them to take out a sheet of paper and write for five minutes on this question I posed to them:  

What does Honors mean to you?

These are the responses I got...

"I preach to everyone how much I enjoy honors studies.  To me, it means seminars, a connection with your classmates and professor, and a jillion different interpretations of a common theme.  I feel like there's this amazing fellowship and mellowship that comes out these types of classes.  The students that are in these classes are dedicated to learning about the topic at hand and are typically very talkative and at times, argumentative.  Honors classes make learning fun an worthwhile.  It's not a chore to attend class, it's something to look forward to.  The professors play devil's advocate and warp your way of thinking to meanings originally thought unimaginable"

"Honors means curiosity.  It means wanting to take something, such as a topic, and wanting to learn more.  It's about exploring a new realm of learning that one may have never thought of exploring.  Honors is about taking something and diving into it deeper than ever before.  It's not about more work and being smart.  It's simply about being curious."

"Honors to me means being able to explore what interests me and the things I find interesting.  As a book lover and writer, Honors gives me the opportunity to read a lot and write a lot (!), which other classes don't allow or want.  Be being in this Honors class, I have realized how much I adore analyzing stories and writing about what the stories mean to me.  Honors therefore has helped me realize and understand more of myself, by being able to dig into, explore, and discuss what I like and what to learn more about.  Overall, Honors means being able to be me, and learn what I want to learn, by offering cool classes, which allow me to explore who I am."

"Honors here at FLCC means a more student-lead learning environment as opposed to a traditional lecture style college course.  This means lots of group discussions and participation as we are learning together not being taught at.  It also means reflecting on your learning experience.  By reflecting on your journey as a learning, you are better able to grow your ability to learn.  You will find what works for you and what you can improve upon.  Honors is also a better opportunity to connect with your teacher.  For me, my teachers are mentors not just lecturers.  Most important, Honors is a group of people excited to learn, just like you, not just people force to take a class."

"Honors was something initially that just mean another good way to get accepted in a four year college.  While this is true, it now means so much more.  Honors became something that I could be involved in outside of tedious, constant needed work.  It was Perspectives on Tolkien that I first took and now I am someone a bit different.  I was able to read and discuss something that I truly have an interest in, unlike most classes in high school.  I also was able to make friends in that Tolkien class that I have now outside the class, another aspect I didn't have my first year at college.  The community sense that I get in this 'elite' group of Honors students is of devotion, respect, and a feeling of ultimately being wanted."

"Honors means to me that it helps you to look deeper into a meaning that you would normally just brush upon somewhere else.  It's a chance to find something new in yourself.  English 101 Honors has us analyzing ourselves as a writer while Alice analyzes ourselves as a learner and how to understand deeper meaning.  Honors is a chance to step our of our boundaries and try something new."

"To me Honors reflects a community pursuit in an accountability-minded atmosphere.  We have a capability to discuss as opposed to being lectured and to grow in relationship to others in a more conducive atmosphere than a typical class.  In another sense it has an active palpability to discern via worldview and disciplinary confines."

"Honors means a different way to view subjects that 'regular' classes may not have the time / desire to do otherwise.  It's a place where I feel my opinions not only matter but are validated.  I don't feel excluded because I don't have the knowledge for a certain subject but rather it's a place where I can learn freely without fear of judgments"

"Honors is a means to challenge myself while having fun.  Most classes involving something that I actually like are Honors classes"

"What Honors means to me is a more challenging / higher level class that requires extra work and effort.  Also, I think of it as a more specialized / focused course rather than a introduction course.  It also presents some more interesting classes than what is normally offered in my opinion.  I also feel that the courses are better since they seem to be more focused and in smaller classrooms"

"Honors means a more interactive way of learning that provides the opportunity for classroom discussion and practical applications with a more discussion and writing-based curriculum that helps students to more easily express their thoughts and ideas.  The more hands-on approach also provides a sense of accomplishment for finished projects"