Community Leadership through Peer Education: HONORS 397A
The spring preparatory class is designed to provide a safe and collaborative environment for Honors 100 PEs to familiarize themselves with all relevant information about the UW Honors Program; learn and practice skills that will aid them in leading Honors 100 sections during Autumn quarter; and to develop their own class lesson plans. During the spring class the PEs will become more familiar with one another, with different perspectives on the UW Honors experience, and with challenges that may develop in their fall sections.
Near the beginning of the quarter when I was looking at the syllabus and expectations for this class, I remember thinking to myself "Wow, they take this really seriously. I mean, we're just gonna be going over the Honors Requirements for the Freshmen come Fall." Now, I want to reiterate: these were my thoughts at the BEGINNING of the quarter, so if a trio of Honors advisers who shall not be named are freaking out somewhere and planning on preventing me from teaching this Fall, just know that my thinking has changed significantly. Because what I should have realized at the beginning of this quarter was that my first impression of this class was rather thoughtless given the context: UW Honors. In my time here, if there's one thing that's been blatantly obvious, it's that the Honors Program cannot be reduced to a straightforward list of requirements. If you take some time to flip back through my last two years here, it's clear what a blast I've had in my classes and how meaningful to the core of my being those experiences through Honors have been. The entire point of the program is to enrich the college experience, to thoughtfully delve deeper into what it means to be a student at this University and a human in this world.
This is what I will be expected to teach come Fall, and I know this now because my greatest takeaway from this Peer Educator class is understanding the importance of thoughtfulness in everything, even in what may seem insignificant.
This is good because the reason I wanted to be a Peer Educator was because my first quarter here at UW was confusing and a struggle, and I think my attitude towards this class at the beginning of the quarter is a reflection of what my experience in Honors 100 was; for me, it really just felt like learning about all the requirements, and nothing more. But now that I understand the importance of thoughtfulness, I feel like I fully understand for the first time why I wanted to be a Peer Educator. This understanding has set fire to a passion to teach in the Fall, now that I can see the importance of Honors 100 and can see what this kind of thoughtfulness would have meant to me as a Freshman and what it could mean to the Freshman I will teach. Over the course of this quarter, I went from thinking that Honors 100 was just a verbal recitation of degree requirements to understanding how it can set the tone of an entire college career. I want my Freshmen to understand this during Honors and not halfway through their first Honors class or two years later when they're becoming a Peer Educator, like it was for me.
This transition did not happen in a day. I stumbled along the way. One of the greatest critiques I received in the class was that while practice teaching, my sarcasm could come off as a little dismissive of the requirements, of shortchanging their importance. That's the kind of thoughtlessness I want to completely eliminate by Fall. As it turned out, being the Peer wasn't the hard part for me; being the mindful Educator was what I had to grow in to this quarter. And I think I've succeeded to a certain extent (if I hadn't, I probably wouldn't be writing all this). As an example of my growth, below are a compilation of Go-Post responses for this class. Each were in some way connected to an aspect of Honors 100, but as opposed to the "listing of requirements" that I would have expected at the beginning of this quarter, each of my responses demonstrate the true nature of the Honors program, the kind of deep reflection and thoughtfulness required of even the most allegedly insignificant things. The attitude I present in these Go-Post responses is the kind I want to take into the classroom come this Fall.
This is what I will be expected to teach come Fall, and I know this now because my greatest takeaway from this Peer Educator class is understanding the importance of thoughtfulness in everything, even in what may seem insignificant.
This is good because the reason I wanted to be a Peer Educator was because my first quarter here at UW was confusing and a struggle, and I think my attitude towards this class at the beginning of the quarter is a reflection of what my experience in Honors 100 was; for me, it really just felt like learning about all the requirements, and nothing more. But now that I understand the importance of thoughtfulness, I feel like I fully understand for the first time why I wanted to be a Peer Educator. This understanding has set fire to a passion to teach in the Fall, now that I can see the importance of Honors 100 and can see what this kind of thoughtfulness would have meant to me as a Freshman and what it could mean to the Freshman I will teach. Over the course of this quarter, I went from thinking that Honors 100 was just a verbal recitation of degree requirements to understanding how it can set the tone of an entire college career. I want my Freshmen to understand this during Honors and not halfway through their first Honors class or two years later when they're becoming a Peer Educator, like it was for me.
This transition did not happen in a day. I stumbled along the way. One of the greatest critiques I received in the class was that while practice teaching, my sarcasm could come off as a little dismissive of the requirements, of shortchanging their importance. That's the kind of thoughtlessness I want to completely eliminate by Fall. As it turned out, being the Peer wasn't the hard part for me; being the mindful Educator was what I had to grow in to this quarter. And I think I've succeeded to a certain extent (if I hadn't, I probably wouldn't be writing all this). As an example of my growth, below are a compilation of Go-Post responses for this class. Each were in some way connected to an aspect of Honors 100, but as opposed to the "listing of requirements" that I would have expected at the beginning of this quarter, each of my responses demonstrate the true nature of the Honors program, the kind of deep reflection and thoughtfulness required of even the most allegedly insignificant things. The attitude I present in these Go-Post responses is the kind I want to take into the classroom come this Fall.