Being a senior has a lot of perks, such as knowing the ins and outs of campus, having strong relationships with people in your classes, and generally feeling like you know what’s going on. Another perk I never really thought about was being able to look back on the previous four years and see how you’ve grown as a person.
In my Senior Seminar class, we had to write a paper called “What Moves Me.” The purpose of this assignment was to look introspectively on your life and identify what values you have and what motivates you in your life. I had never really thought about myself in so much depth, so I can already tell that this class will really allow for a lot of internal reflection, which is great!
Today in class we shared a summary of our papers with each other in small groups and it was really interesting to see how people look at themselves. There were certain people who pinpointed their values as a characteristic, such as loyalty, while others were moved through specific events in their lives that really shaped their character and personality. For me, I was able to use a combination of these two methods by realizing that what moves me are the values instilled in me at a young age.
Various events in my life have taken place that highlight what things are most important to me. These values I cherish the most include trust, being kind to others, and looking out for my well-being and others in everything I do. I find it extremely effective gathering in groups and talking about our lives and what makes us “us.” I have never been in another class where the topic is based solely on ourselves and assignments are for our personal growth instead of being driven by class standards and trying to simply get a good grade. I actually care about this class because the more effort you put in, the more you get back and learn about yourself!
If you are unfamiliar with the structure of this Senior Seminar class, let me give a brief description. Freshman year, every student is in a class called FYS (First Year Seminar) where they are being introduced to the liberal arts education. Fast forward to senior year and you take another class reflecting on FYS as well as the past four years. This class is designed to analyze your progress and growth as an individual and a student. The main assignment the Senior Seminar class is structured around the Life View paper, where you write about your life and it’s specific events in a 25-paged or so paper. Pretty intimidating, but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing how I analyze my life and what has impacted me the most. Something else that makes the class really great is that you know a good amount of people in your class, so opening up to people is easier and more effective class discussions take place, which is much better than when people are scared to speak up.
I hope this blog has inspired you to look at yourself objectively and see what makes you the way you are. Personally, I find it interesting and amazing to see what has caused me to become the person I am today and in what ways I have remained the same since childhood. The values I had as a kid simply adjusted to my current lifestyle and I continue to carry out these beliefs and way of living. I believe it is highly beneficial to take moments every once in a while to sit down and analyze your life just for the heck of it because you may be surprised to discover something new about yourself.
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @hopeleslie15.