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Juliette Bryant

LB 490

12/13/20

Final Reflection Paper

When I entered Colorado State University (CSU) in the Fall of 2016, I was set on getting

into the Biomedical Engineering Program, but, unknown to me, my path through college would

not be as straightforward as I had envisioned, and I would end up as an Interdisciplinary Liberal

Arts student. My experiences at CSU have shaped me as a person and have completely changed

my life. As I look towards my future outside of academia, I have no more insight into what my

path will look like than I did in 2016, but I am looking forward to whatever comes my way. I

know that the skills that I have learned and the experiences that I have had as an Interdisciplinary

Liberal Arts student will help guide me to a professional path that fits my interests and passions.

There are many experiences that have changed my path in college but a major defining

one was my participation in the President’s Leadership Program. It was in the President’s

Leadership Program that I learned about social justice and what it takes to create social change.

This program ignited my passion for social justice and helped me find other experiences that

allowed me to continue my education in social justice. Throughout the three years of the

program, I learned about the different aspects of being a leader, how to be inclusive and how to

work towards a more inclusive work environment, and how to support other people. I grew so

much during my three years in the President’s Leadership Program and this knowledge that I

gained, pushed me to other programs and events that further defined my college experience.
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Another experience at CSU that has changed my life was my job in SEED (Students

Empowering and Engaging in Dialogue). I was hired as a peer educator in 2018 and it has been a

highlight during my time at CSU. SEED is a group that gives workshops to other student groups

about topics like bias, social identity, and other social justice topics. This job has taught me how

to facilitate workshops, how to work with other people, and how to be accountable for my own

work. An important aspect of SEED is that while I co-lead workshops, I am just a peer educator

and I am not an expert. Instead, I am learning right along with the participants and I learn just as

much from the workshops as the student groups. Being humble and being able to articulate when

I do not know something is a great lesson I have learned from my time in SEED. This has

changed how I interact with people and helps hold me responsible for my own learning. SEED

has prepared me to have success in my own career in the future and I know I will keep using the

skills I learned in whatever I do.

As an Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts major, I had the opportunity to take a variety of

courses in different major tracks. At first, this was by accident, as I was just trying to figure out

what interested me. I changed my major almost every semester for the first three years of

university. I switched from Biochemistry to Construction Management to Anthropology and

several majors in between before finding my place as an Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts student.

While this path was frustrating and figuring out that the current major was not working for me

was painful every time, this path allowed me to explore so many different ways of looking at the

world. While no one class stands out in my time at CSU, there was one theme that connected

each course. Almost all of my classes and most of my extra-curricular experiences have required

some type of reflection. I have learned to reflect through conversation, through writing, and just

by thinking. This is a skill that I greatly appreciate because it allows me to slow down and
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connect my experiences to what I am learning. It also allows me to see connections that I would

not have noticed if I had not reflected. In my jobs, reflection has helped me make sure that what I

was doing was aligning the values that my workplace held and my own values. Reflection is a

major part of my daily life because of my education and it is a skill that I will continue to hone

and one that I know will be very helpful.

Another experience that taught me a lot was being part of the Delta Alpha Pi

International Honor Society, an organization that recognizes the achievements of students with

disabilities. I became a member in 2018 and have held positions as the secretary, vice-president,

and this year as the president. My years in this club have helped me apply the skills of

leadership, advocacy, and reflection that I learned at CSU. As an affinity group, we all shared

similar experiences and while our disabilities were different, we could support each other as we

learned how to advocate for ourselves. Since I have been a member for a long time, I had the

opportunity to see other members grow from their involvement in the Delta Alpha Pi

International Honor Society. I saw how my friends gained confidence after advocating for

themselves and how having a community was so important. I value community so much because

of this experience and it has pushed me to create other communities in other parts of my life. I

will definitely look for a job that has a good community around and within it.

At this point, I am not sure where I am headed after graduation. I still have a semester left

to figure it all out. Right now, my plan is to take a year off before applying to grad school. I plan

to get a Master’s in Student Affairs. I want to impact students the same way that multiple student

affairs professionals have impacted me, however, I decided earlier this year that I did not want to

go to grad school during the pandemic, so I will pursue other passions during my break. I am
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hoping to continue to work in social justice, whether that be with a non-profit organization or a

government agency. Whatever I do, I know I want to continue to learn.

Moving forward, I think that the most important things that I have learned in my time as

an Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts major happened in 2020. With the pandemic sweeping across

the nation, all of my classes and both of my jobs moved online. Anders talks about how

important it is to have a basic understanding of technology and because of this past “virtual”

year, I have surpassed a basic understanding (Anders, 2017). Throughout my life, the world has

been using more and more technology, and now technology is integrated into almost every

aspect of our lives. Technology is also an integral part of any job today. My experiences as a

student in 2020 have taught me how to effectively communicate over email with people I have

never met in person. I am also able to lead Zoom calls, using all of the current features like

breakout rooms, polls, and chat. Additionally, after sitting through a couple of painful online

classes, I have learned how to give helpful and concise feedback on how to use Zoom or

Microsoft Teams to my instructors. Another skill I have gained from this year is how to

troubleshoot over a video call and help people figure out what is going wrong with their

technology. The way that we use technology as a society has changed during this past year and

these tech skills that I gained during my time as a student in 2020 will help me as I look for jobs

in the future.

The portfolio that I created in this course will help me advocate for the value of my

unconventional trip through college. Before going through all my projects, I was feeling like I

had not done a lot during my time at CSU. However, compiling my work showed me something

very different. There are so many things that I have done at CSU that I am proud of. From my

experience in the President’s Leadership Program, my work in SEED, and my various classes, I
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have learned and done so much. Through my portfolio, I can explain what is important to me and

how I have centered those important things in my work. My portfolio will also help me in future

interviews. In Chapter 12, Anders pushes liberal art graduates to tell their stories during

interviews to give a more complete image of who they are than any resume can. My portfolio

shows who I am and what is important to me. But the opportunity to build a portfolio and review

all of my work will help me tell my story. I was able to remember the places where I struggled

and where I excelled. I will be able to use this information to answer interview questions. Even if

I do not use the physical portfolio, I have all this knowledge in my head that I will be able to

share.

I have learned so much during my time at CSU and being an Interdisciplinary Liberal

Arts student has added so much value to my journey. I know that I can use the skills I have

gained to further my education, and get a good job where I can make a difference.These skills

will help me stand out in the job market and will make me a desirable candidate. While this

academic chapter of my life comes to an end, I am looking towards a great future full of

opportunities because of my education.

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References

Anders, G. (2017). You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a Useless Liberal Arts

Education. New York, NY: Little Brown & Company.