Comments on: The Development of a Passion for Learning http://www.otherlobe.com/2009/10/the-development-of-a-passion-for-learning/ A Blog About Experiential Education, Social Media, and the Brain... Mon, 06 Sep 2010 13:46:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Voula http://www.otherlobe.com/2009/10/the-development-of-a-passion-for-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-256 Voula Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:21:52 +0000 http://www.otherlobe.com/?p=263#comment-256 It is really interesting that you mentioned how easy it is to be another one of the 20,000 students. I feel that statement is a central part of the reason that you and I are different. I wrote earlier that the mentor relationship is not a one way thing. While one party maybe happy to give, the other must also be willing to receive. This applies to both students and faculty. Moya and I are both mentors for freshmen that are a part of the FYI program. While we make classroom visits, send emails and give workshops to provide information for students, a relationship similar to what Moya and I have experienced with faculty members will not formulate with these students unless the students want it. While part of the problem lies in the fact that not all students understand the benefits of the mentor relationship, another is definitely that faculty members are not all equally dedicated to their students. If this is the case I feel that faculty members have an even greater responsibility to want to initiate a relationship. This doesn’t mean that a student should simply sit back and wait for someone to be the force of volition in his or her own academic career. I feel that Moya and I have worked very hard to be a great part of the Queens College community and to advance beyond being just one face among the thousands of students. That needs to come from within. It is really interesting that you mentioned how easy it is to be another one of the 20,000 students. I feel that statement is a central part of the reason that you and I are different.

I wrote earlier that the mentor relationship is not a one way thing. While one party maybe happy to give, the other must also be willing to receive. This applies to both students and faculty.

Moya and I are both mentors for freshmen that are a part of the FYI program. While we make classroom visits, send emails and give workshops to provide information for students, a relationship similar to what Moya and I have experienced with faculty members will not formulate with these students unless the students want it. While part of the problem lies in the fact that not all students understand the benefits of the mentor relationship, another is definitely that faculty members are not all equally dedicated to their students. If this is the case I feel that faculty members have an even greater responsibility to want to initiate a relationship. This doesn’t mean that a student should simply sit back and wait for someone to be the force of volition in his or her own academic career. I feel that Moya and I have worked very hard to be a great part of the Queens College community and to advance beyond being just one face among the thousands of students. That needs to come from within.

]]> By: Moyagaye Bedward http://www.otherlobe.com/2009/10/the-development-of-a-passion-for-learning/comment-page-1/#comment-254 Moyagaye Bedward Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:40:00 +0000 http://www.otherlobe.com/?p=263#comment-254 I really liked this post. I also had a difficult time when i first arrived at queens college. My high school was also only a bus ride away and for the first month of school it was difficult to find my way around Queens College. It was even more difficult for me to adjust to being a college student ( probably because like voula i had no real change in environment).' I also met the director of the Honours program and he helped me become the student and person I am today. I think that student-mentor relationships also qualify as experiential learning. I consider the director of the Honors program my mentor and I taken a considerable amount of the things that i learned from observing and speaking with him and applied it in my relationship with younger college students. I have been more willing to share my knowledge about to do one's best as well about the different resources available. It is significant to me that I started to do these things because universities are described as a dog eat dog world and so to change that mentality to one that reflects more humanity is quite significant. i realized that i had learned this change of attitude from my mentor. In fact, during my junior year of college, 2 students who were freshmen the previous year told me that "they survived their freshman year because of you (me)." Now that i am considering applying to Grad school to enter into academia, I want to be a professor like the director of the Honours program. One who genuinely cares about their student's success and is never tired of doing so. Clearly experiential learning is a significant part of the educational process and like mentor mentee relationships. This sad thing about Queens College is that it is so easy to just be another one of the 20,000 students who attend this school. Students who never get the chance to develop a relationship with a mentor or who never move away from a text book education. I really liked this post.
I also had a difficult time when i first arrived at queens college. My high school was also only a bus ride away and for the first month of school it was difficult to find my way around Queens College. It was even more difficult for me to adjust to being a college student ( probably because like voula i had no real change in environment).’
I also met the director of the Honours program and he helped me become the student and person I am today. I think that student-mentor relationships also qualify as experiential learning. I consider the director of the Honors program my mentor and I taken a considerable amount of the things that i learned from observing and speaking with him and applied it in my relationship with younger college students. I have been more willing to share my knowledge about to do one’s best as well about the different resources available.
It is significant to me that I started to do these things because universities are described as a dog eat dog world and so to change that mentality to one that reflects more humanity is quite significant. i realized that i had learned this change of attitude from my mentor. In fact, during my junior year of college, 2 students who were freshmen the previous year told me that “they survived their freshman year because of you (me).”
Now that i am considering applying to Grad school to enter into academia, I want to be a professor like the director of the Honours program. One who genuinely cares about their student’s success and is never tired of doing so. Clearly experiential learning is a significant part of the educational process and like mentor mentee relationships.
This sad thing about Queens College is that it is so easy to just be another one of the 20,000 students who attend this school. Students who never get the chance to develop a relationship with a mentor or who never move away from a text book education.

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