I totally get that! I hope that one day, you can fill your free time with absolutely nothing. 🙂

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It really gets to be exhausting. We have the tendency to want to compete for who is the busiest. My friend and I had a running joke in undergrad, from what her brother referred to as the “oppression wars.” You know, when you’re complaining to your friend about your workload, and they often manage to tell you how many more papers and assignments they have than you. It becomes impossible to make time for mental/emotional well-being, despite being told by the university administration to do so.

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Exactly, Medha. I think that also has to come with the understanding that all students are not young, kids in their late teen’s/early 20’s. Many students are all different ages from all walks of life. That consideration is very important.

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What were some of the highlights of the conversation? Curious.

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Thank you! I had a great time being a part of the GEDI community.

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Feeding off what you were saying, if we don’t engage our students with worthwhile and meaningful activities…it makes way for apathy and eventually unethical behavior.

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You should consider taking the Ethics class. It’s offered in the CEE department and my advisor teaches it. It can be a bit messy, but I think that’s because it’s real life.

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Thank you for posing these questions to yourself, Jake. I might copy them down to ask myself every now and then. I think I am in a place in my life where I just go, go & go—not often stopping to dig deep within and reflect on if my actions are rooted in my values and aspirations, until these are challenged. I’m sure many people feel this way. This path is not an easy one, and you’re right. We need to do the work if we want reach back to bring others forward.

“STEM education usually demands reciprocation of information for most of the curriculum and then originality suddenly at the end.” I say this ALL the time! I felt disappointed when I finally got to senior design because I felt so unprepared. I think I echoed this in my own blog post this week. We have to get learners involved early!

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Personally, “do it with them, not for them!” resonated most with me. Many of them I obviously could not interpret–wish I spoke all the languages of the world (anyone remember that ‘Teenage Robot’ episode?)

As a tutor to students and facilitator of many experiential learning activities, this is something I have to remind myself of ALL the time. Students can’t truly learn if I do not allow them to take the lead.