Anna Spoden

Portfolio Reflection Paper

Senior Seminar
As a Catholic liberal arts college, Loras fosters a community of principled individuals
capable of demonstrating four core values: active learning, reflective thinking, ethical decisionmaking and responsible contributing. These values are promoted through a variety of courses at
Loras College and enunciated in every program. Through a variety of major courses as well as
general education and elective courses, I felt a personal growth in each of these areas but most
prevalently in the facets of responsible contributing and ethical decision making.
In looking specifically at the value of responsible contributing, prior to the
commencement of my undergraduate education, I had never fully considered societal problems
or how I could positively impact my community. While I may have contributed in my society to
some degree, I had never really made a conscious decision to contribute positively to the lives of
those around me. For example, although I was heavily involved in high school activities, such as
band, theater and choir, I hadnt considered the impact on the society. Through my experiences in
my field of study, I have had numerous opportunities to strengthen my responsible contribution
to my community. With every action I take, I consider how it impacts those around me. Because
of my sociology minor, I am able to consider my own personal privileges that allows me to do
what I do. Through this increased self-awareness, I am especially interested in responsibly
contributing to those in my society who have not had the same opportunities in life that I have.
While at Loras College, I have taken steps to become a responsible contributor with the
awareness of my privileges in mind as well. Through the psychology program and the Center for
Experiential Learning, I was able to get hands-on experience in my field of interest. I knew that I
was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to work with such talented and educated

individuals, and also kept in mind that it was not an experience everyone would be lucky enough
to have. Keeping that in mind, I worked through my internship in a manner to demonstrate
responsible contribution. During my two semesters interning at Lutheran Services in Iowa, I
worked very closely with therapists, case workers, social workers and direct support
professionals in creating a positive beneficial environment for those in need. I spent roughly 20
hours each week engaged in therapy sessions, community involvement or simply answering
questions in the office in an attempt to better the lives of those who were undergoing hardship.
To me, that is the essence of responsible contributing: working within our communities to better
the lives of everyone while keeping in mind that we all come from varying backgrounds and
cultures and being accepting of those differences. Although my psychology and sociology
education gave me the fundamental knowledge present in that opportunity, being a student at
Loras College has facilitated the idea of responsible contributing in itself.
These experiences have also fostered my increased value of ethical decision making. I
have been confronted with a variety of ethical considerations in all disciplines at Loras College.
My sociology courses emphasize the ethics regarding our responsibility to care for minority
groups, my psychology courses stress the importance of the Code of Ethics when working with
clients, and my general education courses, such as War and Pacifism, considered ethics on a
global scale. Through learning about the same issues of ethics within a variety of disciplines, I
was able to better grasp its importance and make significant connections between various areas
of life. For example, the topic of pacifism and justified war was discussed significantly in the
general education course, War and Pacifism. I was able to connect many of the same topics to
our discussing of ethical controversies in psychology, including psychologists role in torture and
the use of deception in psychological research. We discussed the relationship between the

question of whether the ends justify the means and many controversies in psychology and also
considered the same relationship in my War and Pacifism course. In regards to ethics, many
agree with the utilitarian viewpoint in which the greatest good for the greatest number is
typically accepted as ethical; however, many of the courses that I have taken at Loras College
have confronted that viewpoint and questioned its legitimacy.
In accepting the viewpoint that the greatest good for the greatest number is valid, people
fail to consider those who are in the minority and who are negatively affected. My sociology
courses, psychology courses, criminal justice classes and politics courses have considered this
concept and many have prompted students to think about our moral obligations to others through
this lens. While there isnt necessarily a correct response to these prompts and it is evident that,
ethically, the response to different situations may vary, we have a responsibility to consider all
viewpoints when making decisions. Through a culmination of coursework and many
conversations about our moral responsibility to others, I have come to the conclusion that there is
no response that is always correct, but I tend to lean away from the utilitarian viewpoint.
Through my courses, however, I have made the realization that sometimes the ends may
justify the means while at other times that is not at all the case. Take, for instance, the use of
deception in psychological research. While I do not agree with the use of deception and think we
should refrain from it, there may be cases in which deceiving one guilty person may spare harm
from many others. Similarly, when discussing war crimes in War and Pacifism, we discussed
how they are frequently overlooked given the war was won or there was a positive outcome.
While these behaviors may be unethical, I have come to the conclusion through this discussion in
different disciplines that there is not always a concrete correct way of dealing with these
situations. Although a response may be highly unethical in one situation, it may be deemed

necessary in another. I do believe, however, that it is of the utmost importance to consider the
impact our responses have on every member of the society, not just those with the power and
prestige. In harming someone for the sake of another, we are still harming someone, and I
believe, as a society, we should not be able to justify harming anyone.
Through discussing these controversies and questions of ethics in all different fields, I
was able to better connect to the information I was learning and was able to create my own
opinion of it. Because the same ethical questions arose in many fields of my education, I was
able to integrate these issues in many areas of life to decide that there is no right answer always.
Although I view myself as a pacifist in terms of war globally, there may be times in which
utilitarianism is the correct response to societal issues. While my education has led me to the
conclusion that all life is important and no life should be valued more than others, I have also
had the ability to consider individual opinions on the topic and hold that it should be each
persons right to make that decision for themselves. While I do think I have always been a person
of high moral standings, through my education I was able to better understand the perceptions of
others and come to the conclusion that different opinions are beneficial to society and each
justification has merit.
I believe that I have grown significantly in all four core values of Loras College
throughout my time here. I am most compelled by my growth in the arears of ethical decision
making and responsible contributing. As they tend to coincide, my ethical decisions tend to result
in responsible contributing. For example, during my involvement at Lutheran Services in Iowa I
was able to make ethical decisions regarding client needs while responsibly contributing to the
company, Loras College, and our community as a whole. I think as one of these values develops,
the others do concurrently. Ultimately, each field and course at Loras College facilitates the

development of these values and allows us to consider then in a variety of situations aside from
just our major field. I am fortunate to have had an opportunity to develop these skills across
fields and become more aware of numerous walks of life and various perceptions.