Holistic Reflection
This page is dedicated to a reflection of my honors work during my sophomore and junior years, as well as how being a part of Luddy's honors college has shaped my collegiate expereince.
Original statement
I want to grow as an honor student at IUPUI with additional values and qualities like creativity, diversity, and leadership. The end goal is for me to become a more well rounded academic and professional so that I can show proficiency in more than just my major or academic field of choice.
The first quality I want to explore is creativity. Instead of just doing the required course work, I want to explore how I can get the most out of the classes I take in order to reach my full potential in each course. This ties into creativity because, while I may be doing honors contracts, I still have to think outside of the box in order to make these contracts not only meaningful for the class, but also my long term goals within my education and future career path in Library Sciences.
The second quality is diversity because I want to explore different aspects of myself and my education outside of the required courses for my degree. So if that’s joining an organization that is not related to my degree path, taking courses that are more geared towards my other interest areas, or internship opportunities that give me more skills than those I may be required to have, I want to do it. I already have joined the Campus Citizen as well as work as an O-Team leader, but I think exploring diverse opportunities could help me broaden my knowledge base to make me a more well rounded academic and person overall. This may also mean completing honors contracts that are outside of my major so that I can gain a deeper appreciation and understanding for that particular field of study.
The third quality I was looking to explore was leadership. I already do a little bit of this through being a First-Year Seminar Peer Mentor, but I want to push myself further in order to see what it is that I am truly capable of. Perhaps this is becoming an O-Team coordinator later on in my education, or seeking another type of leadership role like being a TA, becoming an honors mentor, or leader in some other program, I think that these would pose great learning opportunities for me where I can learn more about my own strengths and weaknesses as a leader.
In conclusion, I want to become an honors student who is creative with their education, explores diverse opportunities and courses, and takes leadership roles in order to broaden my skills and knowledge base as an academic and professional.
Context and Initial Thoughts
When I started honors college I was a sophomore who had just switched from being a Communication studies major to being in the MLIS 4+1 program. The previous year I had moved to Indianapolis without ever living here before and without knowing really anyone here. I was ambitious and interested in seeing how far I could push myself. Looking at this statement, I can see the hard work and dedication I already had to making an impact on this campus and my community.
Although I didn't have a sure direction for myself or my life, I think that I really took this opportunity to manifest what I wanted out of my college experience as a whole, not just in the capacity of an honors student.
2022
2026
Revised Statement
I am someone who strives to grow and become not only more educated but more community focused and creative. I hope to become someone who is able to contribute to my community whether that is through my professional work or just because I can. I want to be someone who uses their creativity and knowledge to make the world a better place, and create opportunities for growth and learning. I hope to take everything I've learned from my undergraduate career and use it as building blocks to help me reach my highest potentail, whatever that might be.
Reflection
I am certainly not the same person I was when I started college. I could never have anticipated all the different opportunities and experiences I would have that shaped me into the person I am today. Now that I am on my way to graduation I have taken a broader focus to being a facet of my local community and using the things I have learned to make the world a better place, even if it is only in a small way.
When I started college I was not sure of myself or my skills and set out to learn as much as possible, even though I already had what it took to be a good leader and member of my campus community.
Journey Map: Fall 2023
Journey Map: Spring 2026
When originally creating this journey map, I was asked to think critically about what experiences or events in my life shaped the person I am today.
In this map I took at some key events like my love for reading, jouranlism, and my ADHD diagnosis and applied to them to where I was then and where I wanted to be.
My goal at that time was to get my Master's in Library Sciences. Regardless of the path, my end goal remained the same and was the driving force for my pursuit of higher education.
This new map is a reflection of significant events over the last two years.
Some of these are career related, but some are also related to my development as a leader and mentor in my community. Although not specifically related to the projects I did through honors college, the values and goals I set as a sophomore honors student helped me shape my choicces going forward and push me to take more diverse opportunities.
Looking at both of my journey maps, I think you can really see how much I have changed as a person and come more into my own. When I started college, I had no idea what kind of path I wanted to take, and I was unsure of myself and my identity as a leader and as a member of my campus community. Looking at this new map, you can really see how I've leaned into my strengths, taken opportunities to grow, and built on previous foundations of knowledge and interest. At the end of my new journey map, my initial goal of getting my MLIS degree starts to become a reality.