Hi everyone!
First off, I would like to thank everyone for making the class this semester very interesting and overall fun. I honestly did not know what this whole process would be like and how we would need to react.
But it turned out to be fantastic!
I have read many of the blogs over the semester and have learned so many different things, and what things others find interesting. I have not commented on all of them (so many different ones), but have found many different topics to choose from in my own explorations in how to prepare myself for being a possible faculty member.
There are so many different things that we as students and teachers have the potential to be doing, and learning. It is my hope that I find a way to truly be a life-long learner. By seeking new tasks and information and being flexible in nature we can be successful in a fast-paced and increasingly competitive world.
But we cannot forget that we have a responsibility to ourselves, our families and our community. We must remember those who came before. These people have helped us achieve and be successful and in many cases will continue to do so. We must not only seek that which helps us, but that which can help others. We can be competitive, but we must also be supportive.
We stand on the shoulders of giants.
This sentiment has been echoed though the history of all things. The combined experiences and the wisdom of past generations serves to inform our future. And it is this future that we will not only create, but also have the power to destroy. There are issues everywhere that demand our attention, our time, our resources. These issues not only reside in academe but in our collective lives both domestic and abroad. Some may never be inherently solved, but they can be abated, mitigated, and relieved.
We are the potential that our teachers, mentors, and parents have spent their time and effort in molding and preparing for the future. Now we must meet their expectations with not only a sense of theory and information learned but also in the act.
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle
This quote, as well as its ethos, is how I attempt to engage the world. That what I do defines who I am to others. So when we leave a community, or join a new one it is our legacy we leave behind and our reputation the precedes us. So where do we go from here?
We go to influence the lives of others for the better. That by positively influencing the lives of others we can continue to live a life worth living. If we then continue to go and act on a set of principles we will not live a life that is arbitrary in manner, but seeks to learn, to teach, to grow, and then give; that others may find success though our deeds.
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