Reflection on Loras Education

My experience at Loras College has provided me with curriculum and

opportunities that have helped me grow intellectually, personally, and
socially. As a liberal arts institution, Loras provides small class sizes,
exposure to multiple academic disciplines, and growth in skills that are
valuable in future employment or community involvement. Loras Colleges
mission is to form students who are active learners, reflective thinkers,
ethical decision-makers, and responsible contributors in various professional,
religious, and social roles. During my three years at Loras, I know I have
grown tremendously as a student but also as a member of society.
My Loras education has provided me with many opportunities to
develop into an active learner. Active learners are those who value learning
and do so through diverse experiences that go beyond traditional classroom
techniques. Also they have broad areas of interest and are able to
collaborate with professors and peers to effectively communicate what they
have learned. Prior to attending Loras, I enjoyed learning but could never say
that I was passionate about my education. The courses I have taken at Loras
truly transformed me into a person who desires to know more about the
world and ways in which I can take an active role in it.
A significant experience that helped me become an active learner
occurred at the start of my sophomore year when my Breitbach Catholic
Thinkers and Leaders class took a trip to the Darst Center in Chicago. The
experience was an urban emersion in which we visited various nonprofits in

the city of Chicago, learned about restorative justice, and witnessed various
social issues. My eyes were opened as we talked with people from homeless
shelters, Catholic Worker houses, and impoverished neighborhoods. This trip
not only provided a tremendous educational experience, but it also helped
me learn about myself and my own passions. Many courses at Loras College
contain elements that involve going outside of the classroom and into
communities. I have attended interfaith discussions, interviewed a local
social activist, listened to talks about issues surrounding racism, and have
participated in a peace vigil in downtown Dubuque. Through these
experiences, I was able to connect what I was learning in the classroom to
the world and vice versa. Each encounter with others has provided me with
insight of what is going on in the world which makes me want to learn more
about the causes of such issues and the best solutions available.
Within the classroom, Loras provides unique ways to grow as an active
learner. One way in which this occurs is through the many in-class
discussions. Coming into Loras, I lacked confidence in participating and
articulating my ideas in class. After taking courses centered on discussion
and being encouraged by peers and professors to share my thoughts, I have
grown in the ability and confidence to present my perspectives and
questions. One particular class that really pushed me was Democracy and
Global Diversity. In this course, each person was assigned a role of an
individual who lived during the time in history we were studying, either
ancient Athens or apartheid South Africa. Through taking on this role,

working with my group, and debating in class, I learned about a lot about
history and government. This class helped me collaborate with my peers and
improved my communication skills.
Lastly, the Loras Psychology department has provided me with
opportunities to grow as an active learner. Since my sophomore year, I have
been a member of an advanced research group. We have conducted a crosscultural study between Malaysia and the United States that has studied the
diagnosis process of autism spectrum disorder and the effects the diagnosis
has on the childs family. Through this experience, I was able to engage in
the research process and also present at the Tri-State Undergraduate
Psychology Research Conference at the University of Wisconsin- Platteville.
Furthermore, I have had the opportunity to be a Peer Assistant for an
Introduction to Psychology course in which I have taught classes, graded
assignments, and lead review sessions. Both of these experiences have
helped me grow in my communication skills with professors and peers, my
understanding of psychology, and my passion for learning more about the
field.
During my time at Loras I have also become a reflective thinker. A
reflective thinker poses questions, thinks critically, and is able to relate their
own values and other information from other disciplines to what they are
learning. Before my education at Loras College, I was an individual who took
in information that was presented to me and accepted it as truth. I was not
one to ask questions, think about other perspectives, or make connections

across academic subjects. Now when I am presented with new information, I

think critically about how other viewpoints, my own beliefs, and knowledge
from across disciplines might relate to the topic at hand.
One way in which I have developed into a reflective thinker is by
writing Toulmin style argumentative essays. These papers involve
researching both sides of an issue and weighing the information presented
by both perspectives to come to a conclusion of which argument is stronger. I
have written several papers of this style within the disciplines of Theology,
Sociology, and Psychology, all of which have pushed me to think critically
about each topic.
Various courses I have taken at Loras have made me reflect on my
personal beliefs and biases to better form my worldview. One extremely
challenging course that has pushed me to do so is Belief, Unbelief, and the
Good Life. Throughout the class, we studied atheist philosophers such as
Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche that presented compelling arguments against my
religious beliefs which are fundamental to my identity and values. I
questioned why I believe and thought critically about my faith. Ultimately,
this made my belief stronger but I no longer follow my faith blindly. Several
courses in psychology and sociology have challenged me to analyze and
become aware of my own biases. For example, in Race and Ethnicity, we
studied common stereotypes as well as the biases present in ourselves by
taking the Implicit Association Test. After learning about what my personal

biases are, I am more aware of them and am able to strive towards

objectivity.
The liberal arts education that is provided by Loras College has been
imperative to my development as a reflective thinker. Through taking
courses from a wide range of disciplines, I have been able to learn about
many subjects but also have been able to draw connections between them.
Professors make sure to push us to reflect on the information we have
learned, how we can connect it to other disciplines, and what impacts it has
on our own lives. This has helped me grow in understanding of the topics but
has also played a significant role in forming my own worldview. Furthermore,
Loras provides many opportunities to dive into the connections we make
across disciplines. Many assignments permitted me to research topics I was
truly interested in and often connected various disciplines. One example of
this was a literature review I wrote in Psychology Research Methods that
allowed me to connect my Catholic Studies minor and my Psychology major.
As I have previously discussed, reflective thinkers are able to think
critically about information and have the ability to remove themselves from
one side of a controversy to understand the positive and negative aspects of
opposing beliefs which results in a greater comprehension of the topic. In our
Psychology Senior Seminar course, we studied prominent controversies that
are present in the field of psychology. I learned how to argue for a side of a
controversy that I stood for within my major paper assignment on the use of
animals in psychological testing but also had to form an argument for a side

against the benefits of psychological testing that I did not necessarily agree
with. Both topics helped me grow in my understanding of the American
Psychological Associations code of ethics and the complexity of such
controversies. By doing our own research and discussing other controversies
with each other, our class discovered how much gray areas are present in
such debates. We also learned how important it is for psychologists to
consider all sides of an issue to determine how each perspective could affect
others with the notion of doing no or minimal harm as the top priority. The
information, ideas, and concepts we learned in senior seminar will be crucial
to remember as I move into a career in School Psychology and will be faced
with many decisions.
Loras College has provided me with many opportunities and curriculum that have formed
me into an active learner, reflective thinker, ethical decision-maker, and responsible contributor
in all areas of my life. I have become passionate about my education by engaging in the world
around me and discussions with my peers and professors. I no longer accept information without
thinking critically about how other perspectives, my own beliefs, and information from other
disciplines relate to the topic at hand. Overall, I have grown tremendously during my time at
Loras College and feel confident and capable for my future endeavors.