explorate University of Missouri Honors College Newsletter
A drive to succeed
MU golfer Laura Kraft
In someone else’s shoes
Start Empathy, a new Honors course
Living and learning in the HLC
Kara Tabor
Student Spotlight
Schurz Hall’s offerings for freshmen
Sept. 29, 2014 | honors.missouri.edu
- explorate - - (ex-plo-raht) is a explorate plural imperative form of the - - “to exLatin verb explorare, plore.” Drawing on the Honors College motto, Explore. - Dream. Discover., explorate invites students to seek out every opportunity available to them.
Facebook University of Missouri Honors College Twitter @MUHonors
- - contributors explorate editor Rachel Koehn staff reporters Siyu Lei Kate Maxcy Jacob Renie Kelsie Schrader Congrong Zheng faculty adviser Megan Boyer
Cover photo courtesy of Laura Kraft.
in this issue 3 Announcements 5 Living and learning in the HLC
Schurz Hall’s offerings for freshmen
7 Kara Tabor
Student Spotlight
9 Sports: A drive to succeed MU golfer Laura Kraft
11 Faculty: In someone else’s shoes
Start Empathy, a new Honors course - - |2 explorate
Announcements Updates from the Medopp Office Juniors and Seniors: Still Want to Register for MDAP? If you didn’t attend the MDAP (Medical and Dental Application Program) orientation in August, but are planning to apply for the 2016 entering class of medical or dental school, you may still register for MDAP by watching the orientation video on Tegrity and completing the MDAP application (found on Blackboard). You must turn in the MDAP application to the Medopp office.
Medopp Freshman Connection Sessions are OPEN!
Registration is now available for the Medopp Freshman Connection advising sessions. These intimate group sessions are designed specifically for first year pre-health students (Medicine, Dentistry, Optometry, Podiatry and Physician Assistant) who want to maximize their time and competitiveness for professional school. In these small groups, we will touch on a few important topics such as courses for the Spring semester, shadowing and volunteering, research, study abroad and other topics first year students need to know, but the groups will also be interactive and there will be plenty of time for Q&A.
Sessions will be held during several time slots on Oct. 24, 30 & 31 and Nov. 6, 7, 13 & 14. All small groups will meet in the Lowry Hall Conference Room (2nd floor). Space is limited, so register early by calling 882-3893. Each session is limited to 8 students.
Medopp Sophomore/Junior (Pre-Application Year) Connection Sessions are OPEN!
Registration is now available for the Medopp Sophomore/Junior advising sessions. These intimate group sessions are designed to prepare pre-health students (Medicine, Dentistry, Optometry, Podiatry and Physician Assistant) for the application process for professional school. These sessions are not for those students currently enrolled in MDAP. In these groups, we will cover important topics such as standardized test prep, timeline of the application process, what’s a competitive candidacy and prerequisite courses. The groups will be interactive and there will be plenty of time for Q&A. Sessions will be held during several time slots on Oct. 24, 30 & 31 and Nov. 6, 7, 13 & 14. All small groups will meet in the Lowry Hall Conference Room (2nd floor). Space is limited, so register early by calling 882-3893. Each session is limited to 8 students.
Honors Study Abroad Opportunities
Great Britain: British Culture and History This summer offers you the unique opportunity to travel to Great Britain with Honors College Director Dr. Nancy West (westn@missouri.edu), who will teach a British literature seminar at the University of Manchester. Great Britain: British Culture and History – 6 credits Tentative dates: July 4 – 25, 2015 Explore the ‘real’ Downton Abbey, the Brontes and the Beatles in Manchester
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Open only to honors students, this new program allows students to take two courses, one with Dr. West and other one with a faculty member from The University of Manchester. With Dr. West’s course on British literature, you can earn three humanities credits – either as GH 3120H or English 3118H. For the course taught by a Manchester faculty member, you can earn three humanities or social science credits – either as GH 3120H or GH 3230H--depending on which course you choose to enroll in. For more information see http://international.missouri.edu/manchester-summer. Application deadline will be in mid-February, 2015. We have also highlighted specific courses on sustainability and psychology at the Danish Institute of Study Abroad (DIS) in Copenhagen, Denmark (http://www.disabroad.org/study-abroad-summer/) and a course on renewable energy in Bonn, Germany in summer 2015 (http://www3.uni-bonn.de/studying/international-students/exchangeand-study-abroad/renewable-energy-development-and-policy).
For information about study abroad, internships or experiential learning contact Honors College Associate Professor Monika Fischer fischerm@missouri.edu
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Living and learning in the HLC
Schurz Hall offers valuable resources, experiences for first-year HC students By Kate Maxcy It should come as no surprise that ests are,” Winters said. “We provide the students who participate in Freshman opportunity for students to grow and Interest Groups (FIGs) have, on aver- learn because it’s many of their first age, higher GPAs than the campus av- time living on their own.” erage. First-year students figure out what Students consistently surrounded by it means to learn interdependently and people with similar interests, like those navigate with skills necessary to work in a FIG or Thematic and live with each Learning Commuother, Winters said. nity (TLC), constantly The first through support one another fourth floors of Schin their goals and inurz Hall house Honvolvement on camors College students. pus, said Schurz Hall The students are eicoordinator Nathan ther in a pre-med, Winters. journalism, or “The Schurz is the only Honors Experience” residence hall on FIG, and each FIG campus that houses is within an Honors students in Honors Learning Community College-specific FIGs (HLC) TLC. and TLCs. What sets the HLC Nathan Winters Schurz Hall coordinator According to the MU Resapart from other learning idential Life website, FIGs communities is that each consist of 15-20 first-year students week an Honors College academic adand a Peer Advisor (PA), with rooms viser visits Schurz Hall to meet with assigned close together on the same students. Academic advisers Megan floors. They are thematically focused Boyer and Kristina Bradley visit the on one specific major, academic inter- residence hall once a week. est or common learning theme. In ad“I think it’s important for the Honors dition to living with one another, stu- College to have a consistent presence dents also attend weekly FIG seminars in the Honors Learning Community,” in which they have group learning as- Honors College academic adviser Mesignments and activities. gan Boyer said. “We offer the students TLCs are similar to FIGs in that they a unique service with in-hall advising focus on a specific sequence, but ac- that is really not available in any other cording to the MU Residential Life Learning Communities.” website, they provide some structure Boyer said the advisers do the same in balancing academic and social com- things they do while in the office, like mitments. TLCs are broader than FIGs, answer questions and advise, but that it so FIGs are grouped within TLCs. feels like the students are a little more “These communities provide a start- relaxed when they’re having conversaing point for students to be able to get tions in their “home.” involved and discover what their interIn addition to helping students figure
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out their schedules and coursework, Boyer said she tries to bring in “special guests” like the Director and Associate Director of the Honors College, as well as Medopp advisors. Another benefit to living in an Honors College residence hall is the opportunity for workshops and programs. “We offer ways to help [students] prepare for a future beyond Schurz,” Winters said. “We want to be able to get them welcomed to the community and get them prepared for thinking about things for the future that they’ll need to pursue with their degree.” Workshops like resume building, working on interviewing skills, and helping direct students towards shadowing opportunities are some of many ways in which the residence hall helps students prepare for the future. Aside from academics, the HLC also offers traditional and social events like the Mr. Tiger pageant and an Honors Ball. Mr. Tiger is a campus-wide pageant in which each community picks one student to participate, and the winner picks a local charity to donate the proceeds to. The annual Honors Ball is co-sponsored by the Honors College and takes place in the spring. The Area Coordinator for Schurz Hall, Maya Hernandez, said this type of learning community is for freshman who are looking for a more special, targeted experience and connection with the Honors College. “We’re hoping the Honors College is more in the forefront in the students’ experience in their first year at Mizzou,” Hernandez said.
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STUDENT SPOTLIGHT in the Honors Learning Community in Schurz Hall. When she became a peer advisor in her sophomore year, Tabor actually took over the FIG that she joined as a freshman. According to Tabor, this move “set the tone of her life at Mizzou.” Tabor always wanted to attend a college or university that was far from home. In hopes of following through on that intention, she visited MU as a high school student. During the tour, the Honors FIGs caught her attention. For Tabor, joining the Photo courtesy of Kara Tabor. Honors FIG is one of the best decisions she made in college. “The FIG shrinks the size of campus and minimizes the scariness of coming to school,” Tabor said. Despite being an out-of-state student, she never felt that by Congrong Zheng she was on her own. “I met my lifelong friends in my FIG Kara Tabor, a junior journalism student from and my learning community,” Tabor said. Medford, N.J., is a second-year peer advisor for When Tabor was a freshman, her FIG attended MU Residential Life. As a peer advisor, Tabor football games and Mizzou After Dark events teaches the Honors Journalism Freshman Inter- together. One of Tabor’s favorite memories with est Group (FIG). friends she made in her FIG was toward the end This fall begins Tabor’s third year of living
Kara Tabor
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of her freshman year. She and several students from her FIG drove to Big Tree, a Columbia landmark. One of her friends brought a guitar, so the group enjoyed an evening of music and looking at the stars. In her sophomore year, Tabor decided to pass the wonderful experience on to the incoming freshmen by becoming a peer advisor herself. Since taking on the role, Tabor has gained a deeper understanding of the value of the program. “My students are very driven and have high curiosity,” Tabor said. “At the same time, they also need guidance.” According to Tabor, it makes her proud when her students use what she has taught them in real life and the knowledge she passed on opens an opportunity for them. She tries to ensure that the resources she provides are what her students need. For Tabor, it was challenging to fulfill the needs of different students while also maintaining a high level interaction with all of them. Tabor puts a lot of effort into designing her class. She asks
her students to write blog posts, for which she gives them very broad topics in order to let students express themselves freely. Besides being a peer advisor, Tabor works as a reporter for the Missouri Business Alert and is part of the community outreach team for the Columbia Missourian. Tabor is particularly interested in entrepreneurial journalism. After college, she hopes to work for a startup news organization or a newsroom that focuses on changing their relationship with their audience. According to Tabor, working as a peer advisor has built up her leadership skills and taught the importance of listening to other people and giving them guidance. “This program gave me the unique opportunity to teach as a 19-year-old undergraduate, which is intriguing,” Tabor said. “It’s not available otherwise nationally.” Tabor looks forward to completing the semester with her FIG students.
What’s Your Story? Do you have a story that deserves to be in the spotlight? If you or someone you know has a story that you would like to see in the Honors College Newsletter’s student spotlight, let us know! Send your story idea and contact information to siyulei@mail.missouri.edu.
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Photo courtesy of Laura Kraft.
SPORTS
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A drive to succeed By Jacob Renie
When she was 6 years old, Laura Kraft’s dad first brought her to a golf course. She rarely leaves one now. A senior on MU’s golf team, Kraft has enjoyed three great years here. “We are all just one big Mizzou family,” Kraft said of her team and athletic community. “I feel really privileged to be here honestly.” Since she first stepped foot on campus, Kraft knew this was home. “I toured a lot of schools in the Midwest,” Kraft said. “Mizzou was the last place. As soon as I stepped on campus, I felt like this was the big time.” She described the quality of MU’s coaches and facilities as being a key factor in influencing her to come here — that and how nice and welcoming she found everyone on campus. Since she first started golfing with her dad some 15 years ago, her love for the game has only grown. “First of all it was really fun,” Kraft said. “I always enjoyed a challenge, and once I got older I realized I was good at [golfing] and it was something worthwhile.” In high school, she met great success, becoming the first three-time state champion in North Dakota history. Her success continued on into college as she placed in the top 25 in several tournaments her freshman and sophomore years. Then, in the fall of 2013, she hit a roadblock. “Last year I did not travel the entire fall season because I was struggling with mental blocks and not seeing a lot of success,” Kraft said. She persevered and eventually overcame the challenges. Kraft is now back at it again and holding her own.
“When spring came, I was back stronger than ever and had a career best tournament,” Kraft said. She was mostly able to bounce back so strongly because of her coaches and teammates. According to her, they are a tight-knit group. The key to Kraft succeeding on the golf course is staying focused. “The biggest thing that helps me focus is staying relaxed and realizing everything around me,” Kraft said. “I try to stay in the moment, and if I look to the future, I break my focus.” Kraft referenced a saying she always hears from MU athletics: “Where are you, right here, right now?” With this in mind, she can focus on each individual hole instead of worrying about her score. Never one to back down from a challenge, Kraft is also a member of the Honors College. “I felt it was a great opportunity be in an elite program at Mizzou,” Kraft said. “I feel education is really important.” Both of Kraft’s parents are teachers, and they heavily influenced her both academically and personally. She described both her parents as her role models. Her dad is her sports motivator, and Kraft really loves his work ethic. As for her mother, Kraft admires her positive outlook on life and said she strives it emulate it. In the Honors College, Kraft has had a wonderful experience. “It’s the teachers I’ve had,”
Kraft said. “In the classes I’ve taken through the Honors College, the teaching has been above and beyond other classes.” Kraft specifically remembers Martha Townsend’s English 1000 class. As a chemistry major, Kraft said she doesn’t like English, but Townsend made her want to come to class every day. Her favorite memory at MU is going to the last MU vs. Kansas basketball game. “I’ve never felt so much energy in a stadium in my life,” Kraft said. After three years here and with one more to go, Kraft can confidently say she made the right choice in choosing MU. “In my opinion, I couldn’t have made a better choice,” Kraft said.
The Seventh Column Bow Ties and Sundresses By Jacob Renie Okay, so we’ve been in the SEC for two years now, going on three, and I think it’s high time I address something. It’s about how we look on game days. The SEC is classy. The SEC is southern. The SEC is refined.
Well, maybe it’s not refined, but we do dress like it. We are the best conference in college football, and so we should look like it.
Go down to Gainesville, Athens, Oxford, Columbia, Nashville, etc. There is one thing you’ll see besides quality football. It’s quality-looking fans. I’m talking bow ties and sundresses. Guys look dashing and girls are perfection.
Our chancellor knows how it’s done. He wears a bow tie to every game. Heck, he wears it to every event. Being from Atlanta, I grew up with this mentality. We call the Georgia vs. Florida game the World’s Biggest Cocktail Party for a reason.
Or watch the Ole Miss vs. LSU game. It looks like everyone just came from Sunday brunch. Now, I’m not saying you gotta go crazy, but it’s high time Mizzou steps up. We are getting better, don’t get me wrong, but we still got a ways to go.
I know it’s hot out, but, guys, at least wear a polo. If you paint up or dress crazy-like that’s different. That’s school spirit and everyone loves that! UGA has their “mad dawg” crew just like our Tigers’ Lair has its 40 some people that paint up. If you went to the SEC championship, then you know what I’m saying. The Auburn student section looked great! They even had a bunch of guys all in matching orange sport coats.
What I’m addressing here is the T-shirts and shorts. This isn’t the Big 12, where the fans dress like their team plays. This is the SEC. And its time we start looking like it.
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FACULTY
In someone else’s shoes
A look into a new Honors course, Start Empathy By Kelsie Schrader
What would the world be like if every single person were just slightly more empathetic? How would society benefit from an increase in everyone’s understanding of one another? And what, exactly, would it take to develop such an understanding in society? Whatever it is that is needed to improve individual empathy, students in the new Honors Start Empathy course at MU are looking to do just that. The Start Empathy course is based on an initiative put forward by the Ashoka group. Ashoka is an organization that fosters social entrepreneurship and encourages people everywhere to make a positive impact on the world. One way Ashoka has done this is through its Start Empa- 11 | explorate
thy initiative. This initiative essentially operates on the premise that if all children are taught how to be empathetic, they will grow to be empathetic adults, allowing for a more understanding and comforting society. Three professors from the College of Education agreed with this logic and used it as a starting point for their new Start Empathy course. Together, these three professors—Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Kathryn Chval, Professor Melissa Maras and Professor Leigh Neier—set up a partnership of sorts with Douglass High School. Students at Douglass will be working with MU students in Start Empathy to build a better understanding of what empathy truly is and how it fac-
tors in to a successful society. Their overall goal for the course is to start an “empathy revolution,” as Chval refers to it—they are aiming to change the community using empathy in the same way Ashoka aims to improve society. Students from Douglass and MU will work together to achieve this goal. They will spend eight weeks together, exploring each other’s schools and daily environments. They will meet once each week—four times at Douglass and four times at MU—to hold class, where they will discuss empathy and topics related to empathy. They will partake in numerous activities to demonstrate concepts that relate to empathy. They will also discuss readings and complete projects together. Speakers such as Jimmy Cook from Be The Change will
come talk to the class about making a difference in the world. The class will also have a Skype session with Ashoka. Just as Chval says, “every day is different.” The organization of the class itself sets it apart from many other classes at MU. Few courses allow students to interact so closely with students from other schools in Columbia. However, there are many other defining features of the course. One unique aspect of the course is its goal of community change. “Every class at Mizzou has a component that’s around knowledge and competencies—so, ‘What knowledge do we want students to learn?’ ‘What competencies do we want them to develop?’” Chval said. Start Empathy, however, is different in that students must critically think through a plan for how they can
bring change to their communities. how applicable that knowledge is “This class is a beginning,” Chval to all career paths. said. Kimberly Croxville, another freshAnother unique aspect of the man student in the class, agreed course is the final that the class is one project. Students will in which she feels be partnered with she has learned students from the opthe most “appliposite school, and tocable” knowledge gether they will work from. to capture empathy in The class has any way they choose, already been a whether that be ushuge success. Stuing art, photography, dents have been writing or anything really enjoying it, else. They are to use and they have not their chosen method even met up with Kathryn Chval, Associate Dean of Acato share their jour- demic Affairs, said Start Empathy is the students from first Honors course she has taught at MU. ney and experience in Dougless yet. ChPhoto courtesy of MU Education Departthe course. Whatever ment website. val said students they create will be are already asking displayed in an Empathy Museum, whether the course will be offered which will be open to the public again next semester, a decision sometime in December. The hope that will require further discussion is that both the museum and the before an accurate answer can be students’ shared experiences will given. inspire the public to advance their Regardless, the course is providown empathy, possibly achieving ing both MU students and Douglass the goal of an empathy revolution. students with valuable skills that Clint Shannon, a freshman in Start will at the very least allow them to Empathy, said he at first had some be more understanding with othreservations about the course. ers. “At first, I wasn’t sure what Start “Being able to picture yourself in Empathy was going to be and how someone else’s shoes is a sign of it could be beneficial for a non- intelligence,” Shannon said. If he is education major like me,” he said. correct, then the students in Start However, after being in the class Empathy have a lot to look forward just one month, he understands to. just how beneficial empathy is and - - | 12 explorate
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Source Unknown
Sept. 29, 2014 | honors.missouri.edu