Conversations in higher education and the wider society involve themes about the value of an undergraduate education, college students’ readiness to face an uncertain global economy, the education of the whole student and student learning outcomes. Many of our efforts center around critical questions of excellence in both teaching and learning and providing a rich and meaningful undergraduate experience.
This is a two-part assignment in which you will reflect on your learning during your undergraduate career.
In the first segment of your assignment, you will reflect on your academic transcript and respond to the question: What did you learn in college? Your transcript is a record of your mastery in your discipline or field of study and you will be expected to demonstrate that mastery in contexts such as job interviews, applications for graduate and professional schools, and in your work life.
As you reflect on your transcript, bear in mind that although you and peers may have taken the same list of courses and received similar grades, it is likely that each of you had very different learning experiences. Think of your paper then as an exercise in self-promotion, a way to distinguish yourself from your peers, and appeal to potential audiences who may have very different kinds of expertise.
The following questions may be used to frame the first part of your discussion. I would suggest that you choose at least one of the questions to help you organize your essay:
1. What doesn’t your transcript say about what you actually learned in college and how you might be different from another UCSD graduate with the same major?
2. How is “learning” in college defined? Are there disciplinary tensions associated with its conceptualization? Cultural, class, religious distinctions? You may have learned more from extracurricular activities, from organizing campus events, from your practicum or research or clinical or fieldwork experiences for your major, from collaborating with peers or mentors, or from other opportunities to improve your social or emotional intelligence by being sensitive to new rhetorical situations, learning how to solve problems creatively and negotiate your “presence” in relationships.
3. How did college help to prepare you for future professional, social, political, organization, personal engagement – relationships at various levels? What differences do you see between the person you hope to be as a graduating senior and the person you were as a freshman or a new transfer student?
WHAT I LEARNED OUTSIDE OF COLLEGE
Given the current economic climate, a college degree is often insufficient for employment and career advancement. While employers, graduate and professional schools will review your transcript, cover letters and résumés to learn more about your mastery of your discipline, they are also keenly aware that outstanding candidates usually have broader and more valuable learning experiences outside of the university setting. In fact, they will be more likely to engage a candidate who has a more global and complext set of experiences, and who defies the representation of recent graduates as narrow, sheltered and/or excessively dependent on authority figures. They are more likely to seriously consider a candidate who is more than just an expert in being a student.
What will be particularly attractive and important to audiences far removed from campus settings is your ability to tell defining and memorable stories about your experiences outside of college. Highlight your leadership/follower attributes, qualities, experiences, and the ways in which you creatively explored the world outside of the hallowed halls of higher education to build and refine your expertise.
The following questions may be used to frame your discussion. I would suggest that you choose at least one of the questions to help you organize your essay.
1) Consider your membership and activities in communities outside UCSD as a central part of your discussion – cultural, political, religious, ethnic, language, national, sexual orientation, political activism, military service, scientific or artistic expertise, and many other possible features or traditions – and the unique perspectives that this community has contributed to your intellectual, academic, professional, spiritual, or personal growth. How do these perspectives and your learning from this community distinguish you from others? How does your relationship to your community shape who you are today?
2) One common complaint about recent college graduates is that they may lack independent problem solving abilities because they have been told what to do and how to think for so many years. Given the sheltered routines of undergraduate life, such naysayers argue that typical students never get a chance to improvise and are never forced to adapt to new situations away from the cocoon of a protected college campus environment. Explain how your own experience defies this stereotype. What makes you able to solve real-world problems creatively without step-by-step directions?
3) Another common complaint about recent college graduates is that they don’t understand the conventions, regulations, and practices of institutions and organizations. Describe a time when you discovered the merits of playing by established rules to preserve an important value (like fairness or stability) or when you had to be sensitive to the needs, feelings, or goals of others. What do you know about the rules of complex systems, structures, or social dynamics that a less mature student might overlook?