HopeDorris
Interdisciplinary Honors Program
Learning Statement
Although college was difficult, it was not in the ways that I expected. I was ultimately more prepared for college that I had anticipated, showing me that I can accomplish more than I think, and that I should trust myself more than I do.
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Intellectually, my undergraduate education has helped me solidify my values and goals. I now see issues of fairness and equity everywhere: in social phenomena, in my jobs, in current news events, and in my relationships. My studies in Law, Societies, & Justice and Political Science amplified my awareness of systems and structures, which is now the lens through which I process and evaluate the world. In addition to my major studies, my work in Interdisciplinary Honors presented the world as a matrix of connecting perspectives, frameworks, and analytics. I deeply value the lens utilized in Honors that helped me develop my ability to look across divisions and find the interstitial space between. In reality, much of my learning at UW consisted of “unlearning,” including challenging preconceptions, biases, dominant hegemonic framings, and my own concept of myself in relation to the rest of the world. This unlearning felt less satisfying and more confusing than what I expected from college, instead increasing my awareness of the intractable complexity of the world
surrounding me. Ultimately, all of my coursework has left me with vastly more questions than answers, as I developed the ability to see the “yes, and” nature of the answers to my questions. Before undergrad, I did not know the extent to which I could hold multiple truths at the same time; now, duality is core to my thinking.
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Somewhere in college, I found a yearning for international travel. I gained new strategies for persisting through hard conversations. I rediscovered my passion for getting lost inside books. And I developed my capacity to steadfastly believe two seemingly contradictory ideas at once. I am leaving college with a coffee addiction, more houseplants than I know what to do with, and a constant craving for Thai food. Perhaps most significantly, I am also leaving with a greater understanding that I consistently try to do my best and do what I can for other people. These lessons have added a layer to my ever-evolving understanding of what I am capable of, how I relate to the world, and how others relate to me. As I head into my next life chapter, words I wrote at the beginning of my freshman year still resonate: “I hope to experience as much as I can, learn about things I have not yet considered, and change how I identify in the world.” In this way, perhaps not a lot has changed. Going forward, I still hope to experience, to learn, and to change.
Sylvan Grove, University of Washington
October 2019