It feels eerie and wonderful that this particular novel has been my companion for so long.

It rendered life more bearable, more beautiful, while simultaneously articulating something deeply sad, lonely, and lovely about adult life that I desperately needed to know was universal rather than just my unique emotional defect.

I learned to understand when to take charge and to recognize when to step back and follow my peers’ direction

During undergrad, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and three minors: 1) Adolescence, Community, & Education 2) Communication and 3) a Thematic Minor in Theatre Arts, Dance, & Music

I was happy to use my first two years as an undergraduate to explore different majors and areas of interest through the vast and diverse course options. I valued not having to immediately declare a major

Critical consciousness is the ability to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and to act against the oppressive elements of society (Sharpe). Instructors in these courses would challenge and reframe taken-for-granted assumptions about society.

Breaking the project into more manageable tasks can help you build momentum.

Focusing on process creates a positive feedback loop where repeated, purposeful practice improves your analytic skills, makes questions easier to answer, and leads to higher grades.

By remaining curious, trying new things, and being willing to risk failure (or the feeling of embarrassment that can mimic failure), you will surprise yourself with how much you can learn and grow.

Though I knew of my family’s history, my parents never really talked about it because of the trauma it caused.

Ultimately, what “matters” emerges from the concentration of shared meaning, conveyed through ideas and narratives

ethnomusicologist

I have learned that people need to be instructed, or reminded, how to be inclusive

We can make libraries where everyone is invited to be part of a community, to share their knowledge, and create new things.

am a strong proponent of meandering journeys.

Rather, these are complementary approaches that help make each other more effective when employed together

More is still needed to advance justice.

Taking an “equity” approach to address the structured racial inequities that exist in society due to structural oppression requires that we treat people differently, since everyone has different needs.

predictive algorithms pertaining to your academic risk

However, quantitative reasoning is not limited to academic research settings. We — yes this includes you, reader — use quantitative reasoning in daily tasks like calculating discounts while shopping, using probability to plan around the weather, and understanding interest rates on a credit card.

For example, statistical inference helps us make important decisions under uncertain and imperfect knowledge by converting data into usable information.

I am deeply committed to creating equitable educational opportunities for every student who chooses to become a Wildcat.

That freedom to work remotely

But I had to find my own way to apply my engineering skills, not the way society dictated they be used

It was one of the first moments when university writing seemed relevant. It wasn’t a regurgitation of what I knew about rBGH. Writing became meaningful and connected to a real-world situation. I began to see how writing was a tool to accomplish goals. Writing was not only about great books. Writing helped us do things.

Marden).

I saw writing as a transaction of my thoughts to earn a grade.

One course that stands out to me was Professional Ethics, where we explored different ethical dilemmas in various industries such as journalism, law, and medicine. We asked difficult questions of lawyers, journalists, and doctors who visited class each week. After learning through discussions with our guest presenters, we reflected on the ethical challenges they described, as well as the ethical issues that we could potentially face in our own careers.

Creating a new policy or program to address nutritional gaps that is informed by integrating these multiple insights and perspectives is likely to be more effective than if we approached the problem and solution from any one of these insights alone

to be a good designer, I needed to be a good world citizen

The church leaders consistently spoke about the work we were doing as charity — doing for those who can’t do for themselves. But that explanation clashed with the reality I heard from my new African friends. They were smart, determined, and fierce people. They were doing for themselves! The obstacles that stood in their way were not of their own making

But I was a pesky reader, frequently arguing with the stories, demanding evidence to make sense of contradictions and predicaments in the plots

about moments of panic regarding the promiscuity of plants in the 18th and 19th century — whose reproduction includes a lot more than two gender options, suggesting a wide variety of natural sexual identities (people back then were as upset about that as you might imagine

For some reason, people associate the natural sciences with rational thinking and the arts with creative thought. In my experience, these artificial divisions fail to properly represent what it takes to be a scientist or an artist.

Knowledge & Reality, a course that focused on making logical arguments and identifying logical fallacies.

Star Trek when there was no other Star Trek.

Study upon study documents that skilled workers in virtually every field are measurably more successful when they have a humanities-based outlook.

What do humanities majors become? “Baristas,”

Samples of the forms and information pages our students created are available here.

for ninety-two percent of low-income Americans, when they are sued for an unpaid debt, or served with an eviction notice, or face a divorce, they are going to use the civil legal system alone without help from a lawyer.[1

Learning to draw provided me with the ability to communicate beyond the limits of words

These pictures told a story in a way that the spoken word on its own could no

Switch to a side view and you’ll gain a completely new picture. Both perspectives are true and accurate. Combine them and you’ll know more about the car than someone who’s only looked at it from a single angle

“to perambulate” (to walk along).

ePortfolios allow us to take the messy lists, half-formed thoughts, and drawings and turn them into something useful that tells a larger narrative.

Eventually, studying geology took me to Tibet, where I spent months doing field research out of a tent in the middle of nowhere.

and the occasional foray across the northern border to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

“curiosity” has its roots in the Latin word curare, which means “to care for.”

With a single question, an attentive listener can bypass small talk and start a real conversation.

Author’s Note: I did not, in fact, complete that 100-mile ultramarathon the year I wrote this, 2021. Nor did I in 2022. And that’s okay

Their response — tailored towards a young child — was that “this is what happens when a brother turns on his brother,” and “even good people sometimes do bad things.

The university wants to ensure that students not only have the tools to learn their limits, but the tools to make more educated decisions later on.

all while trying to drink enough water

UA Gen Ed program allows you to choose courses you find meaningful that also align with your personal and professional interests, with opportunities to develop the skills needed to tackle important issues facing our communities.

Some wonder whether that land-grant mission promise is still relevant for today’s global society. Considering it took more than 100 years for anyone in my family to benefit from attending our land-grant university, I’d say the mission is still quite relevant.

My Greek mythology professor allowed me to see patterns across the human experience that spanned time and continents.

In this way, every plan and decision I have made has been with my daughter in mind.

why waste life being mediocre?

my grandfather, Campa, and his wise words: “You’re smart. Don’t waste your smarts on nonsense.”

I wasn’t doing too well in my classes and I wasn’t making real connections with people

Success, to me, is accomplishing any part of my goal and feeling satisfied. Before? Success was so extreme. It was aggressive and time consuming. It was stressful and it was hard.

Moving away for college was a shock to my rhythm of life. I struggled without my groups. I got lousy grades, or worse. I questioned if I was on the right path. It took a while, but eventually I settled in with another group.

Over time my groups changed — they evolved: Boy Scouts, track teams, BINGO club (ahh… BINGO club). I can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened, but one day in high school I found myself with a new group.

Reflecting on my learning allowed me to make connections between courses and draw conclusions about my own academic interests

journal each morning as a method of managing anxiety. I always wanted to be the person who kept meticulous records of my life and thoughts, but it was never something I managed to habituate until my therapist prescribed it as a tool to work out my anxieties, as a way to be honest with myself about what I am fretting over and why.