1.

Big Takeaways/Growth- What were the biggest and most lasting things you learned during this
experience? What aha moments did you have? What lessons did you learn that you will take
with you moving forward through school and work?

There were many big takeaways from the Sophomore Inspire Week. While we were on the farm
we learned about horses, native land, and business. These were all important lessons that each provided
me with more to think about and to remember. When we first got to Weasle Skin, we all started by
mucking out horse stalls. This was a slow process that helped to teach me about horse maintenance. I
have never been fully into horses and this showed me what kind of work goes into them. When I was
younger, a friend of mine let me ride their horse. They taught me to kick it in the ribs to make it go
forward and to pull on the reins to make it stop. Jennifer(the owner of the farm) talked about ways to
ride that involved asking the horse to do things in a kind and equitable way. You have to be more in tune
with the horse to do anything. This way of riding was new to me and helped me to take a new
perspective on horses and horse riding. The second big takeaway for me from this experience was
learning about how important that land is to native groups in the area. Nearly a thousand years ago the
Ancient Puebloans lived on the mesa we visited. They were peaceful farmers who found spirituality in
the hills around the farm. While they were living there the Utes and the Navajo, who were nomadic,
visited and also saw it as a religious site. Everything changed when a 100-year drought hit the area and
the Navajo and Utes invaded the area for resources. The Puebloans were forced into protective forts and
the area around Weaselskin Farm was abandoned. The Native Americans stopped visiting the site. Now
the area is under the ownership of the farm and is set aside for conservation. This means no one can
build on the site. It was important for me to learn about farmers that care about the land. In the groups
that I am in, we see a lot of rural farmers as conservative and close-minded. SIW broke that
misconception. It was important for me to learn about the history of this area and how the world has
changed since people first came here. At present, Jennifer is running a large area of land, about 700
acres, and she needs to do something with that land to make money. She talked about how there is a
sod farm on the property and that makes a lot of money for the land, but there are still mortgages and
other bills to pay on the farm. Jennifer had us think about how we would use the land to the best of our
ability. We had to think about the conservation, the farm, and the horses for this and how much it all
costs. My idea was to create a post-secondary school that would teach people about horses and how to
manage a horse farm. To balance the cost of this they would also install wind turbines across the area to
create energy for the farm and the surrounding area. All in all, these were my main takeaways. It was
good to learn more about horses and how to run a horse farm, but the biggest things for me were the
information about running a business and how important the area is to the Ute, Navajo, and Pueblo. I
was able to grow in my thinking to be more open-minded about the area around me. I didn’t know how
many people were living here before the Spanish came and I never realized how difficult it is to run a
business.

1. Connections to YouScience- Look back at your YouScience results. How do your YouScience
results connect to the experience you had during Sophomore Inspire Week? Did you see the
skills and aptitudes highlighted in your YouScience results in your Inspire Week? How?

I think that there were multiple areas where my SIW matched with my YouScience results. When
looking at my YouScience, I learned that they would place me under a group called Liaison, a
future-focused, and blended energizer. I believe that these traits from YouScience were apparent and
necessary during my SIW. First, YouScience describes the Liaison as someone who works well with others
and has qualities from both generalists and specialists. This is a very vague thing, but my interpretation
of it is that I can take deep knowledge from specialists and use it in a way to lead people. In this way, I
use my knowledge to support groups and to lead people, whereas others may just take the lead without
any knowledge or have knowledge but no longing to be in charge. During the first semester, I read a
book called The Prince. This book talked about how dictators stay in power and what they do with
power. When I first saw this grouping(Liaison), I immediately thought about The Prince. I think about
leadership as having control because you are the best around for the position. I want to have the
knowledge to lead others, and I want others to see that knowledge and listen to me because of it. I was
able to use this during my SIW by talking to our leader and asking questions about things that I didn’t
know the answer to and by answering the questions that I knew. This helped me to gain more knowledge
and to build my abilities. I communicated with my peers and the horses to get things done. Past this, I
was also able to use my apparent future-focused ness to think through our assignment for the week. We
were required to think about how we could use the land and what we would do with it to make money.
Being future-focused means that you can set small things down now that will eventually grow into
something huge! This means I can do things without immediate results or rewards and still be happy
about them. When I set this to thinking about what I would do with the land, I think about ways to make
money in the long run or to preserve it in the long run. I would have an equestrian non-profit school that
would then be exempt from property taxes. This would dramatically drop the cost of the property(if it
works that way). I also thought about adding solar installations and wind turbines across the area. This
would cost money upfront, but in the long run, it would supply free, clean energy to the farm, and any
excess energy could be sold to neighbors and the community; consequently, providing more income for
the farm. The last YouScience connection that I will talk about is the blended energizer trait. A blended
energizer would be someone who is in between extroverted and introverted. They are able to lead
groups, but they still feel overwhelmed and quiet in large crowds. These people focus on a wide range of
topics and are skilled in many things. I believe that this fits me well because I enjoy leading small groups
full of people I trust, but I feel lost in crowds of strangers or even friends. I have a lot of things to share as
well. I was able to use this during my SIW by working with my small group to perform tasks. These tasks
were usually done all together or in even smaller groups of 2-3. I was able to be happy and normal while
working hard with these people. Overall, I was able to use a number of my supposed aptitudes during
SIW to better my experience and the experiences of my group members. I used my liaison skills, my
future focused-ness, and my ambiavertedness to do this.

1. Collaboration- How did you have to collaborate during this project? Describe how and why you
collaborated, and then talk about how successful (or unsuccessful) that collaboration was. Dig
into specific skills you used during this process!

I had to collaborate with the many people in my SIW. I collaborated through our farm chores,
working with horses, and fencing. These were all times when I had to work with other people to get
something done or work with them to teach others. When we first got to Weaselskin we began mucking
out the stalls, which required teamwork. I broke off with Chirs to do this job. We began by moving a large
amount of horse poop into a bucket; then, we figured out how to scrape the bottom layer of it into the
bucket. This teamwork allowed us to accomplish our tasks quickly. Later in the week, we began working
with horses. The first horses we worked with were small and kind, which made them easy to handle;
they didn’t require much to walk or ride. I walked the horse while Lana and Maddie rode it. We all had to
communicate with each other, me, the horse, and Maddie or Lana to make sure we were all comfortable
with everything. Later in the day, we began to work with larger more aggressive horses, which required a
lot more work and learning. We had to listen to our leaders to work with these large horses properly, but
in the end, this system worked; we were able to walk these horses, though we never rode them. Our
collaboration with people who knew more than us led us to succeed and to gain more knowledge from
our SIW. The final example of collaboration is our last day when the group was taught basic fencing skills.
The local fencing club coach came and taught everyone how to stand advance, and move while holding a
sword. Since Maddie and I are both experienced fencers, we were brought up to the stand to fence each
other in a demonstration. We collaborated to show everyone how to fight someone with a fencing
sword. Afterward, the more experienced fencers also taught others more of the basics and fenced with
them. I was able to teach some of our group more about an art that I enjoy. In the end, collaboration
helped us to have a more immersive and amazing SIW experience. I was able to demonstrate my
collaboration skills through farm chores with friends, horse walking, and fencing.

1. Advice to Future Students- What advice do you have to future students about how to make
the most out of their Sophomore Inspire Week experience?

There are a few points of knowledge that I would like to impart to future students when they do
their Sophomore Inspire Week. I would like to think about whether they want to be outside, how they
want to spend their time, and what they would be happier in. All of these points relate in a way,
depending on the person's experiences. When deciding on a SIW, I would recommend thinking about
what would make you the happiest. You will be spending an entire week doing something, so it should
be something you like. This is an experience that is meant to show you how a certain career might play
out. You shouldn’t be miserable in something that you don’t want to do(that is too close to real-life
careers). I used this as a way to look at something that I wanted to do and was excited about. It gave me
a better picture and understanding of my ideas of science and conservation. I chose my SIW because I
am interested in nature and the environment, and the Weaselskin SIW was the only one that I saw as
completing these things. I matched my interests with what I thought would make me happiest to do. I
knew that I would be happy being outside and that I dislike working with young children, so I chose a
SIW that matched these parameters and interests. I also enjoyed working with my hands, but I do that a
lot and had never been to a farm in this way. It was a new thing that I knew would be fulfilling to me. I
recommend thinking about where you want to spend your time. If you like to be outside and that fills
you up, then you should choose something that is outside. You would also need to think about what the
week is going to be like though. You don’t want to be stuck doing something that you dislike. The last
piece of advice that I would like to give to future students is how they want to spend their time. If you
are more interested in learning something, then do that. If you want to build something during your
week, then do something like that. Think about what you want to get out of this week and what will
inspire you the most.