Simons Morgan Academic Excellence 021711

This speech was given by Morgan Simons (’11) at morning assembly on February 17, 2011. “A Loyola Student is Becoming More Academically Excellent”

Although academic excellence seems like a rather self explanatory category of the Grad at Grad that is entirely entrenched in receiving good grades, academic excellence is about far more than just getting first or second honors. I'm not going to lie to you, I am pretty enthusiastic about academic excellence; this Grad at Grad quality is all about searching for knowledge for the sake of following our passions, enlightening ourselves, and developing our talents in the pursuit of becoming "a man or woman for others". We go to school to learn, but there are plenty of opportunities outside of the classroom for us to become more academically excellent.

In my sophomore year, Kellie Lynch, a senior at the time, approached me about joining the school’s JETS engineering team. At first, I barely understood what she was saying, as I was flustered and turning red at being approached so suddenly by someone I did not know. But when her message sank in, I decided to go with the opportunity and see where it would take me. People had always told me that perhaps I should pursue engineering because of my interest in math and science, but I had never actively tried to explore the field. Kellie’s offer came at the perfect time, and I decided to run with it.

As the date of our first meeting approached, I felt nervous. I had no experience engineering, and I really did not know anyone in the club. The probability of making a fool out of myself seemed very high. After the first few moments of awkward silence, we started to brainstorm ideas, and although I spoke only once or twice, I was able to follow the conversation and understand the sort of work that we would be doing. The meeting

ended without much being achieved, but at least we had a few ideas on the board that seemed conceivable.

During the whole brainstorming session, I contributed very minimally because though I understood what we were doing, I felt uneasy presenting my own ideas. That all changed, however, when our captain asked me to do a significant amount of writing for a stage of the JETS challenge known as the scavenger hunt. The hunt was the research component of the project, and as I searched online for information about our subject’s handicap, the universal principles of engineering design, and other miscellaneous details that affected our project, I found that nothing we were doing in JETS was over my head.

While researching for the project, I also noticed that as I grew more informed about our partner's handicap, I felt more capable of using the knowledge I had obtained about his situation to tailor our project to his needs. When I attended the meetings thereafter, I no longer felt ill at ease and was able to connect the reality of our recipient’s handicap with ideas for our project. My research and experience on JETS showed me that it is impossible to be academically excellent without using our knowledge and talents to bridge gaps and better understand the people around us.

Although JETS offered me an in-school out-of-the-classroom way to explore those academic areas that interested me, I also explored my interests in art by participating in a class at the MET. Last year a friend of mine who is an art aficionado asked me to join her at a class she took at the MET on Fridays. At first, I was skeptical; a class on a Friday? But she dispelled my fears when she explained that it was a program designed for teenagers that would lead us on a personal tour of the MET and allowed us

to engage in discussions about the art. And it was free. I told her of course I would go with her, although I warned that I might not contribute much to the conversation because I felt I had little background when it came to art; my last formal class in school where we had actually examined art had been art history the year before, and most of my interest in art was centered around creating it, not studying it; but I thought “why not?” and went with her to the class.

In the past, when my parents had dragged me to art galleries, I was always bored stiff and grew antsy as one gallery turned into two, then three, and often times four. On this occasion, however, I was incredibly attentive as I listened to the history behind a piece of art the curator showed us and formed my own ideas about a piece based upon my art history class and the themes I had learned the year prior in my European History class.

I kept my thoughts to myself, however, because one girl contributed consistently, and while she seemed to really know what she was talking about, the other people in our group were contributing only sporadically, out of the same fear I had; getting the answer completely wrong. Even though the curator’s eyes practically begged us to say something, each of us remained as silent as the paintings that hung before us. Soon, however, the girl’s musings began to annoy me. Was my opinion any less valid then hers?

It might be less informed, but at least it would be a new and fresh point of view. I summoned all the confidence I could muster and calmly raised my hand. Soon I was pulling from everything I had ever learned or read about Greek mythology, European history, and artistic materials to convey my opinion of the piece.

Although my thoughts may have been in complete opposition to the traditional way of viewing the painting, it was ok because sharing not only allowed me to vocalize my thoughts, but also allowed others to either learn from my mistakes or take one of my ideas and develop it. The Grad at Grad document states that a student who is academically excellent “is developing the ability to apply knowledge and skills to new situations�, and for the rest of the class, I tried to continue to analyze the paintings in terms of historical references and books that I had read in the past. I had started out feeling nervous and timid, but throughout the class had slowly allowed myself to accept that I do not know everything and was not expected to; the class was meant to explore our attraction to art and to engage in discussion based upon people’s opinions about the pieces.

Academic excellence presents students with not only the challenge but also the opportunity to improve our talents. It encourages us to apply our knowledge outside of the classroom and motivates us to always strive for our best. Academic excellence is about far more than just grades; it is the Grad at Grad quality that inspires us to pursue the topics and subjects that we love in the interest of improving the world around us.