Phoebe Hart

FILA-450H

01 January 2019

Alma Ramirez-Trujillo

Introduction: Integration, Experiential Learning, and Personalized Educational Program, Part One

As graduation nears, reflections on our time at Bridgewater hold a bittersweet tone. In these past

four years at Bridgewater College, my education has consisted of a Spanish Major, a Psychology Major,

the Foundations in Liberal Arts curriculum, and membership in the Flory Fellowship of Scholars, or the

honors program. These elements were all crucial in my intellectual development as a student and person. I

also participated in clubs and organizations, such as the Brethren Student Movement and Interfaith Board,

and two Division III sports teams: women’s lacrosse and swimming. The integration of my majors,

general education courses, and membership in the honors program alongside my extra-curricular activities

formed the unique experience I have been blessed with at Bridgewater. This unique experience is what

has prepared me for my next steps, be they work, graduate school, volunteering, or another adventure. To

explain the profound impact of all these pieces of my time at Bridgewater, I have analyzed, integrated,

and synthesized them into my personalized educational program.

My personalized educational program was such that I had frequent opportunities to not only

parallel or relate, but integrate and synthesize my majors with each other and with my general education

curriculum and honors program requirements. One example of an integration of all four elements is my

first artifact, an essay I wrote to meet the requirements for an honors upgrade on a non-honors designated

general education course (https://phoebehart.weebly.com/artifact-velaacutezquez-and-psychology-honors-

project.html). The course was Painting, and it met the Fine Arts requirement for FILA. My essay was a

unique additional assignment to add a written element to the class, which already featured analysis and

history, for the honors credit. In the essay, to incorporate my majors, I focused on a Spanish painter whom
I had studied in various Spanish classes, and how his works, life and the history of painting from that time

period were connected with psychology, both in modern retrospect and as it existed at the time. This is

only one example, though it is a thorough one, of the various modes of integration which I employed to

create my personalized educational program.

Alongside academics, I also participated in clubs and organizations, as well as Division III sports

here at Bridgewater. My primary organizations were Brethren Student Movement and Interfaith Board.

Brethren Student Movement is a club comprised mostly, but not exclusively, of Church of the Brethren

students who meet weekly to fellowship together. We alternate weeks of slightly more serious content

with weeks of games and activities, and the content is never limited to a specific format or topic. We

communicate with friends and leaders in our community and denomination for guest leadership, as well

as foster leadership experiences for the younger members. In my leadership positions for the last three

years, I have served as a “secretary” of sorts, an email master, and a meeting planner. In those positions, I

have been the primary minutes-taker at our leadership meetings, run the notification emails for the club

from Argentina while I studied abroad, and have been one of the primary contacts for reaching out and

coordinating any guest leadership at our meetings.

Interfaith Board functions without distinct positions or duties, and is slightly different in format.

The Board is actually in a formational moment currently, as we try to determine our position beside the

new Interfaith Club. The goal of the Board is to encourage an environment on campus that welcomes

diverse religious or areligious perspectives, wherein people live and work for the common good. In both

of my organizations, I have learned the value of taking new perspectives into account and seeking a

clearer understanding of my peers. Particularly in Interfaith Board, I have learned how to notice when my

religion creates a normalcy bias, where I find a certain action or idea to be weird or abnormal when it is

really just different from me. Being a part of Interfaith Board has helped me to recognize those moments

and shift them into a perspective of learning. I am often surrounded by opportunities to practice and relate

my faith, so to be immersed in new religious experiences forces me to set aside what is normal in my
perspective and see what is normal in someone else’s. In my leadership positions on the Interfaith Board

and in Brethren Student Movement, I have learned how to better articulate ideas on faith and religion, and

I have most certainly used those ideas in my approaches to academics, both for specifically religious

purposes and in other circumstances. With the potential to articulate my own ideas and open up my mind

to the introduction and synthesis of other ideas, I have taken from these organizations into the classroom a

stronger ability to engage diverse perspectives, engage in public discourse, and be a better global citizen

with ethical reasoning skills that encompass more than a singular idea of ethics and morality, but rather an

intricate combination of the ideas that I have synthesized as my faith and intellectual experiences continue

to grow and develop.

Finally, in addition to my organizations, I am also a member of the women’s lacrosse and swim

teams. My experience as a Division III athlete has allowed me to continue to participate in sports which

mean the world to me, without sacrificing academic commitment to do so. Division III’s priority on the

student-athlete has been essential in helping me keep a clear set of priorities. Thanks to the absence of

athletic scholarships in our division, I know I am surrounded by people who are here because they care

about the sport, not just because they have to do it to pay for school. I know that while I may not be the

fastest swimmer or the most skilled lacrosse player, I have a place where I can continually work and

enjoy the sports which played formative roles in my life. Swimming was a more recent addition to my

life, as I only began the sport in tenth grade with no prior competitive experience; however, swimming

gave me the physical boost I needed to excel in lacrosse, which I had played since I was 11 and which

was one of my favorite things about my entire high school experience. Lacrosse’s crucial role in my life

and well-being was enhanced by my participation in swimming, and now I can’t imagine giving up either.

It has not been simple or easy to split my time between the two, and it is unfortunate when schedules

overlap, but I could not be more thankful that I simply have the opportunity to continue both sports.

In terms of intellectual development, the most valuable lesson that sports have imparted on me is

to focus on what I can control and to always work my hardest. In psychology, I want to use physical
activity to help people, and I know how valuable it is to mental health largely because of my involvement

in and passion for sport. Spanish allows me to reach a greater number of people in the world, and sports

can function in a similar way; they provide connection. I would love to see the spread of lacrosse to

Central and Latin America. What the sports have provided for me is a sense of responsibility,

sportsmanship, and calmness. When I focus on what I can control, I know how to be responsible for

myself and respectful of all the elements of my sport; likewise, in academics and in my future career, I

hope to focus on what I can control to be a responsible example of sportsmanship in all my relationships

and activities. Sports have also provided avenues to give back to my community, through regular

community service projects. These have been meaningful to the teams because of the value in

representing your school as a presence to help others; some recent examples of community service we

have done include making cookies with residents of the Bridgewater Retirement Community and handing

out hot chocolate at the town of Bridgewater Christmas tree lighting.

In combination, sports and organizations provide the non-academic parallels to the integration of

my four personal educational program elements. However, they also integrate seamlessly to represent

common themes within each other. What I’ve learned through faith activities and athletics is connected to

the same goals and objectives of my academic coursework. In my majors, the FILA curriculum, the

honors program, clubs and organizations, and athletics here at Bridgewater, I have compiled and

organized the skills I need to be the best member of my community that I can be. Through engaging

diverse perspectives and engaging in sustainable public discourse, and practicing ethical reasoning skills,

I become a better world citizen. In the following sections I detail these four categories and how they

manifested in my career at Bridgewater College. Beginning with engaging diverse perspectives, I

examine a Biopsychology final and a Religion and Nature essay; first to show the importance of all the

content I was exposed to, even if it was not explicitly associated with a major course, and then to

emphasize the importance of being able and willing to combine old perspectives with new, changing what

needs to be changed and synthesizing that which can be better together.

Though Biopsychology was a required class for my major, it imparted a lot of learning that was

slightly peripheral to my career. Dr. Kelley was known for his anecdotes and helpful side-lessons that

often began somewhere in biopsychology, but ended on another topic entirely. The artifact I included

from this class (https://phoebehart.weebly.com/artifact-biopsychology-final-essay.html) addresses

multiple elements in this essay; in this section, I will refer to a bonus question on our final exam and the

responses I gave for it. The other specified element of this artifact, an essay question addressing the

intersection of religious and scientific views, is more relevant to my own major and career, and is better

suited for my Ethical Reasoning and Public Discourse sections where it is discussed.

In regard to engaging diverse perspectives, Dr. Kelley’s courses were often challenging to some

views that students held. He incorporated science, religion, morality, and contemporary social issues into

a class that, in theory, was essentially about the brain and neural systems as they influence or control

human psychology. Due to his inclusion of the perspectives and impacts of various neurological

principles and the relativity of those topics in social issues, I gained a greater appreciation for combining

science with our pre-existing perspectives on life. This was all quite significant, but still relevant to my

intended career in a number of ways. What was exceptional was the bonus question on the essay portion

of our final exam. When asked what the five most important things I learned in the course were, not a

single answer I gave had to do with biopsychology. Instead, I listed lessons about how to be successful in

the classroom and academia, how to relate with children (we were instructed to refer to children as

‘ninjas’ to make grading more fun, if I remember correctly), that learning in itself makes you better at

learning, that we shouldn’t limit how people express their feelings, even if it means sacrificing a little

pride for ourselves, and that money should be used to enhance relationships, not replace them.

In integrating these lessons in my academic life and my social life, I have found that they enhance

me as a person, even if it wasn’t a career-oriented lesson. Intellectually, I learned to pay attention to

everything, even if it doesn’t seem relevant or important at first. Soon enough, the little things become
some of the most important aspects of our lives. There is great value in being able to combine the

academic with the personal, the moral with the scientific, and old perspectives with new ones. In that

respect, courses like Religion in Nature (https://phoebehart.weebly.com/artifact-religion-and-ethical-

reasoning.html) also helped build a foundation of combining perspectives within an academic discipline,

as well as combining personal perspectives with newly learned ones or other academic areas.

Though I do not intend to pursue a career in religion, in the course, I learned skills that helped

develop me intellectually into someone who listens and seeks to understand diverse perspectives. In my

paper, I argue that technology doesn’t diminish the impact or significance of nature as a part of Wakandan

religion and spirituality, and even enhances the relationship. This could be considered a controversial

statement in real-world matters, because the pattern of technological and industrial development in the

world often results in the destruction or dismissal of nature, even when religious customs are at risk. We

learned in the course about various groups of Native Americans whose sacred ground and landmarks are

being destroyed or misused because of land development and recreation, among other things. As someone

who greatly values the respectful and sustainable utilization of nature, as well as recreational experiences

in it, I felt conflicted about certain disputes we examined in the class.

Writing my paper on the significance and relationship between religion and nature, as well as

using Black Panther as source material, helped me find intellectual growth to better understand the

importance of analyzing that relationship, even if it isn’t explicitly a part of my career. Religions will

always be a strong force in the world, socially, economically, and politically; as the natural world is

consistently and increasingly threatened by Global Warming, pollution, destruction of ecosystems, land

development, over-population, and waste, it becomes more crucial every day to be able to examine why

and how religion can play a part in both remedying and harming the planet. I care deeply about the

environment, and yet I find that a large portion of my own religion doesn’t value it enough to take any

social or political action to fight the forces destroying it. Though Wakanda is fictional, my essay

communicates the value that they place on nature, despite their high value on technology; I propose that
we don’t have to choose between the two, but that they can coexist. To integrate a perspective of

technological advancement in tandem with environmental care and preservation may seem

counterintuitive, but I have found that this is precisely the idea that needs to change.

Taking classes like Religion and Nature, or learning lessons in Biopsychology that aren’t

necessarily about psychology, are two aspects of my education that have fostered my intellectual growth

by teaching me to combine, compare, analyze and challenge the perspectives that I come across, not only

in class, but in life. To integrate diverse perspectives is not only significant in its own right, but is a

crucial element in engaging in public discourse, being a global citizen, and in thinking about ethical

issues. If I was unable to integrate perspectives, I would be stuck in a world of ticking off boxes and

choosing sides. To communicate with people effectively, I must give and receive information; in public

discourse, I know that I have the skills to hear diverse perspectives that might shift or coordinate with my

own, and I know how to provide those perspectives both objectively and subjectively. Likewise, I can

consider an ethical issue from those diverse perspectives. Sometimes, one perspective may seem better

than another in terms of solving an issue or holding an ethical or moral standpoint, but these lessons have

taught me that integration of ideas, and finding the best of multiple perspectives, is what produces the

better ethical reasoning. Finally, thanks to these experiences of integrating diverse perspectives, as a

citizen of the world, I can better appreciate the small lessons in each time, place, culture and activity that I

participate in; I can absorb and reflect on lessons that might not have been explicit or intended, but were

actually the most important of all.

In moving forward, the integration of perspectives is an important but singular aspect of the other

categories of my essay. My next category is Public Discourse, which is similar in its interconnection with

integrating diverse perspectives, global citizenship, and ethical reasoning. One avenue of public discourse

at Bridgewater is the Big Question, which sparks conversation and inspires the spirit of the year’s

learning.

Public Discourse: Citizenship & Community Responsibility

sustainable? I believe that this encompasses a lot of the themes addressed by more recent years’ big

questions, as well. The question of sustainability has inspired a huge portion of whatever public discourse

I’ve taken part in over the years, and not solely regarding the environment.

Sustainability, in my opinion, should encompass anything that needs to last in order to be

successful. Of course, this includes the environment and the things that impact it, but it also includes

concepts like relationships, societal structures, governments and all the elements that drive these. So,

when engaging in public discourse, everything from the content to the methods with which it is delivered

can be evaluated as sustainable or not. As a citizen of the academic community at Bridgewater, I not only

learned about public discourse and methods for hosting and participating in it, but I also learned of a few

topics for which I am particularly passionate. Within those topics, I learned how to integrate various

perspectives and synthesize information to form stances and position with bases in ethical reasoning and

sympathetic imagination.

By employing sympathetic imagination, I am better able to consider how I would like to address a

situation if I am not already directly affected by it. Writing position papers in my Human Sexuality course

helped me develop this skill, and I believe it is essential for sustainability in all social areas. The artifact I

included (https://phoebehart.weebly.com/artifact-position-paper-from-human-sexuality.html) was a

position paper on sex and gender. I respond to a few readings fairly informally with a critical evaluation

and analysis of the topics presented, as well as my own assumptions, perceptions, and interpretations. I

found that in writing this paper, and looking back on it now to see how I’ve developed since, that as I

mature in philosophy, faith, and academic ability, I continually make an effort to evaluate matters

objectively and prioritize empathy. When I think about social justice and forces for social change, I think

that these, empathy and sympathetic imagination, are the indispensable aspects that make those

movements sustainable.
 In the paper, I assert that people should be allowed to be who they say they are. I think this

applies to life and a variety of social topics, and not just gender or sex. I know that, for example, when I

vote for someone, it is important to me that they believe in this concept. When thinking of how a

community works, and how change is made, I think that the true essence of freedom is not sustainable. In

my moral and ethical point of view, you should not be able to simply do what you want, because a lot of

people want to treat others badly and a society should not protect that sort of treatment. In my time at

Bridgewater, I’ve learned to take a critical look at the various definitions I’ve always been taught and how

they are given by various authority figures. In public discourse, whether written or spoken, I am careful

not to assume that just because I know a definition of something that it is the only one to exist.

For this position paper, I learned about problems facing various minorities, such as intersex and

non-binary populations. What I grew up thinking about gender and sex was challenged and I had to

seriously evaluate the new ideas I was being introduced to. The ethical basis I used to form those

positions followed my pattern of sympathetic imagination: if I was in that position, how would I want to

address the issues? As well, in keeping with the big question, ‘is it sustainable?’, how can we develop

ways to address those problems that is sustainable?

To exercise community responsibility, I learned that one of the best things I can do is to sit back

and let others have the floor. I rest in a place of great privilege, and I do not have the ability to fully

empathize with someone experiencing the sex and gender phenomena I discuss in my paper. Another way

I can be responsible in a diverse community is to use my privilege where I can. When someone wants to

listen to a voice like mine instead of the ones that matter, I can speak out in support of those who are

overlooked; I can direct attention to them and be an advocate. This is an element of social change that is

crucial for the sustainability of that change. Those with privilege in a society have power to sustain

movements and ideas in ways that marginalized groups do not always have the opportunity to do. While

that does not usually mean that the privileged ones lead the way, we are an important force in creating

sustainable social change. By recognizing and using our privilege and power appropriately in public
discourse, we can effectively help society to move forward in positive, sustainable ways, into a greater

state of equality, empathy, and respect.

Additionally, ‘is it sustainable?’ forced me to think on lifestyle and health. We know that society

can be made healthier when sustainable change is employed, but what about interactions between

individuals? I observed in my time on both the women’s lacrosse and swim teams a variety of methods to

approach athletics and competition, some sustainable and some not. As a student, I watched my peers

approach academia in ways that were sustainable or not. Finally, in debate or discussion, I watched

people attempt to communicate in ways that were sustainable or not. What I’ve found in all of this is that

the sustainable methods for competing, academics, and discussion all center around various aspects of

sportsmanship.

To define sportsmanship, you must include more than the superficial elements of ‘shaking hands

after the game.’ Sportsmanship is about respect; for the game, the players, the coaches, the referees, and

for yourself. In my opinion, respect enhances sustainability in every situation. It can help you to be the

bigger person in times of conflict, to enjoy the victory more in times of triumph, and to learn the lessons

more intimately in times of failure.

In academia, if a student does not respect their professor, a sense of trust is lost. The student may

begin not to believe in how the professor is running the class. I know I’ve had moments like this in my

education. When I drift into these kind of thoughts, I re-center myself by thinking that a professor is here

for a reason, and that even if I do not agree, I can still do what I can to gain the most out of a classroom

experience. In classes where it was more difficult to do this, I found that sustaining my engagement in the

work and content was far harder than in classes where I easily trusted and respected my professor.

Another part of this that I developed at Bridgewater was learning that I don’t have to agree with someone

to respect and trust them. It’s not sustainable to expect everyone to agree with you, and if you do, then

your efforts will not stand the test of time.

effort to trust them day in and day out at practice. Your physical and mental game will not last if you

cannot find a way to buy in to what you are doing, just like in class. Though we often want to question the

referees, that is not the job of the athlete. To do so is not a sustainable way to change the results of game

play. Instead, the best way to show sportsmanship in public discourse, whether on the field or in the

classroom, is to focus on what you can control.

In discourse, you can control you. I can only control what I do, what I say, and how I act. If a

referee makes a call I don’t like, I cannot control it and to focus on that fact will not sustain my game

play. Instead, I simply focus on doing better next time. Doing your best is not a static concept; your best

can change from moment to moment. The fact is, that doing your best is what makes any effort

sustainable. Just because today’s best is not as good as yesterday’s does not mean that it is worthless.

Your effort will be sustained.

This is important in public discourse because discourse can be exhausting, mentally, emotionally,

spiritually and physically. In a diverse community with a wide range of opinions and points of view, it is

essential that we be able to maintain our efforts to cooperate and advance together. This gets tough at

times and it is all to easy to fall into traps of disrespect and bad sportsmanship. An insult may fly before

you fully understand an idea, or judgment may pass instead of trying to understand why someone thinks

something. To sustain our efforts, we have to remember that our best will not always be the same. I know

that I need rest sometimes in order to do my best; this applies to the field, the classroom, and the

community. For us to keep healthy lives, relationships, and social systems, we all occasionally need rest.

Then, we can sustain the respect and effort needed to reach a point of understanding. We have to respect

our own abilities and limitations, while continually striving to do our best in listening and understanding.

When I think of the big question ‘is it sustainable?’, I am reminded of assignments like my

position papers, where I learn to examine things with respect and sympathetic imagination, and how skills

like this transfer to other areas of life such as sports, health, and relationships. I am a better person in all
areas when the ways I live, learn, and relate are sustainable. When I maintain this mindset in public

discourse, I am exercising responsibility as a citizen in my community, to make it a better place for

everyone. This is done in part by engaging diverse perspectives, as discussed in the prior section, and also

calls into attention the concepts of global citizenship and intercultural competency, as discussed in the

next.

Global Citizenship & Intercultural Competencies

As a citizen, both of my community and the world, I have come to the conclusion that I have a

responsibility to do what I can to make it better. In examination of why I have come to this conclusion, I

believe that it is a culmination of the lessons I’ve learned about sympathy, perspective taking, and

sustainable development. These concepts synthesize into a drive that I feel to make the world better,

especially in response to the idea that life is the way it is, and we should buck up and deal with it.

That very concept is one of the major critiques of the millennial generation: that we will not just

deal with the norm because it is the norm. If we do not like the way something has worked for the last few

decades, by and large our generation has stood up and tried to do something about it. My artifact for this

section (https://phoebehart.weebly.com/artifact-final-composition-for-advanced-grammar-and-

composition.html) is my final composition for Spanish Grammar and Composition. In it, I write about the

millennial phenomena and how all around the world, younger generations are experiencing the effects of

technological and societal development. Change can provoke fear and defensiveness in anyone, but it

seems especially evident when I consider why our elders tend to devalue the work done by millennials: it

may seem easier because of technology and a shift away from manual labor, it may be perceived as cushy

because millennials tend to place more value on pursuing a career they enjoy, and millennials are often

perceived to be ‘entitled’ because of our desire to earn a living based on those careers, rather than settling

for whatever pays the bills like many of our elders (and like many of us do anyway, especially when

unpaid internships abound).

generations; we are getting married later, having children later, and buying houses later in life, whether

because we cannot afford to do so sooner or because we are more focused on career objectives than dating

and ‘starting a family.’ We do not value all the same things in all the same ways as our parents and

grandparents did. However, when you truly consider the basics of the situation, millennials and young

people want many of the same things as their parents: education without debilitating debt, an affordable

place to live, entry-level jobs that do not require years of experience, and a paycheck that covers the bills

and allows for saving.

All of this is evident in much of the world, not just the United States. The phenomena of ‘mil-

euros’ in Spain is a similar concept, where many young people are educated and qualified for higher

paying jobs, but live on around one thousand euros per month because they cannot get work in their field.

I studied abroad in Argentina in the Fall of 2017, and in multiple cases I found evidence of the same or

similar concepts. We discussed in Spanish class and in my Methods of Interpretation class the

phenomenon as it specifically applies to Buenos Aires; with so many young people coming from abroad

for the free public education, the institutions and the country are losing money without gaining it back as

those young people go on to benefit other countries with their work. The public education system suffers

for it, impacting the students who participate in it, and the private education system becomes more

polarized and inaccessible financially. However, a paradox is created in which public university is

regarded as being significantly more difficult because students who fail out after their first-year cost less

money than ones who make it through. Private university in Buenos Aires still holds a certain level of

prestige, but among young people it is also informally considered to be easier to succeed in.

Additionally, in Buenos Aires and Argentina, similar attitudes exist toward young people from

older generations. There are the same perceptions of entitlement, whininess, and childish idealization. I

think that in many areas of the world, similar perceptions probably exist. Why wouldn’t they? Every

generation is different, and every single one is going to have opinions on the next. I’m sure when I am in
my sixties, I will have something to say about the new crop of twenty-somethings. I only hope that I will

remember the lessons I have learned about listening, empathy, sustainable discourse, and engaging in

diverse perspectives, and that I am understanding to the best of my abilities. Perhaps as the twenty-

somethings, and thirty- and forty-somethings age, we can set the example for sustainable communication

and discourse with the generations that come after us.

Globally, young people have a vested interest in the well-being of society and the planet because,

as of right now, we have a lot of things to be worried about. However, we also have many examples of

goodness in the world. Taking a class like Spanish Composition and Grammar might not have been an

intensive experience in culture, but it gave me invaluable skills to communicate with a large portion of the

world and in one of the most prominent world languages. Through this, I can learn about culture

experientially, and not just observantly. My study abroad experience would have been nearly impossible

if I didn’t have some grasp of the language, and thankfully I had more than a grasp. Learning about world

cultures and languages by immersing yourself in them is something that simply cannot be surpassed by

book study alone. To understand the interests of the world, and how they relate to my own the those of

my community, I must be able to communicate. Learning to speak a language and learning to be an

engaged and respectful participant in world cultures has made me a better global citizen. In doing so, I am

furthering my ability to address issues in my own life, in my community, and in the global community,

incorporating diverse perspectives and sustainable discourse to bring about the best that we can achieve.

Finally, as a global citizen who seeks to synthesize diverse perspectives, host respectful discourse

and improve the world as I view is my responsibility, I must also consider ethics, virtues and principles.

In the next section, I address what I have learned about ethical reasoning and how it relates to and

interacts with the elements of my education and global citizenship.

Ethical Reasoning
 In consideration of the prior topics of synthesizing perspectives, maintaining sustainable

discourse, and being a responsible global citizen, I would assert that one of the most important things I

have learned, both at Bridgewater and from the communities I’ve been a part of, is that you cannot make

baseless claims and call it truth. As a student of science, I have learned the importance of evidence-based

practices. As a student of the arts, I’ve learned to find evidence to support my claims. As a student at

Bridgewater, nearly all of my classes, from either of my majors or from the liberal arts curriculum, have

prioritized teaching us how to form stances using ethical reasoning, virtues, and principles.

The skills I have learned have taught me to back up the things that I say and think with morally

and academically responsible data and information. I have learned how to report data faithfully, and how

to synthesize it to form an interpretation. I have learned how to analyze information from a variety of

sources and how to respond to it with my own personal opinions, and how to examine the implications of

my interpretations and opinions. The importance of understanding those implications lies in the values

and principles I have analyzed throughout this essay: if I do not understand what I am implying, I cannot

be a responsible global citizen, integrate unique perspectives, or foster sustainable discourse.

A surprisingly light-hearted artifact which I chose to demonstrate my approach to ethical

reasoning is a video project from my Measurements and Statistics class

(https://phoebehart.weebly.com/artifact-null-hypothesis-testing.html). Though it doesn’t address ethical

reasoning in content, the concept of Null Hypothesis testing is exactly what I detailed above: you cannot

simply state that someone or something is right or wrong. As I learned with Null Hypothesis testing, you

must support your claims.

An important element to this method is that its purpose is not to prove an idea purely right. In

Null Hypothesis testing, the experimenter is searching for an effect, and uses two hypotheses to test for it.

The experimental hypothesis is an equation stating the expected effect, and the null hypothesis is an

equation stating a lack of effect or the unexpected effect. As Jim explains to Dwight in my parody video,

the test is not about proving that the beet-crown increases efficiency; instead, it’s about reasonably
supporting the idea that it has no effect, or even decreases efficiency. The testing method can be applied

to test for any effect as well, and helps to interrogate the evidence that someone provides; illogical

reasoning or inappropriate evidence is not sufficient to support a claim.

Outside of statistics, this ideology can be applied in how we relate to people when they make a

claim. We should not focus on demanding proof of whatever claim we hear, every time we hear one.

Instead, we should seek reasonable evidence to reject or fail to reject a hypothesis, using a variety of

perspectives, sources, and discourse to come to that decision. The terminology is crucial, because in

statistics, we never accept the null hypothesis, only reject or fail to reject. In life, this means that we can

never say that something is one-hundred percent true, but we can have faith that it is not false. It may

seem counterintuitive, but I believe that this approach creates a humility and respect between people of

different viewpoints. If they both can have faith that the other’s hypothesis is not false based on sufficient

evidence, then they can coexist respectfully even though they might not believe that same hypothesis to

be completely true.

This approach is not always appropriate, though, especially considering the damage caused by not

believing in concepts like Global Warming; the scientists studying it have gained more than sufficient

evidence to believe that humans have had, and are having, a negative effect on the earth. If their null

hypothesis was that humans had no effect or a positive on, then they rejected it. But in matters of less

time-sensitive and life-dependent stakes, such as with different ideas on how best to complete a task, two

people may have unique ideas on how to do it, and if both have sufficient evidence to reject a null

hypothesis, then neither is really wrong. And therein lies an opportunity to integrate perspectives or host

discourse to decide a path forward, which is what creates a genuine global citizenship in all of us.

Conclusion: Integration, Experiential Learning, and Personalized Educational Program, Part Two

As a global citizen, it can be hard to detach from the small community I’ve known so intimately

for four years. I am making a shift from seeing myself as ‘Bridgewater student’ to a member of all forms
of communities; I am an alum, a resident of the Shenandoah Valley, a member of the Church of the

Brethren, a psychologist, a Spanish-speaker, an employee, and a future grad-student. I am all this and

more, thanks to the opportunity I had to create my personalized educational program incorporating my

majors, the honors program, and the Foundation in Liberal Arts curriculum. These elements, in

combination with non-academic pursuits like athletics and spiritual life, fostered my development and

growth in learning to engage diverse perspectives, participate in public discourse, become interculturally

competent and a responsible global citizen, and to critically evaluate topics using ethical reasoning

principles.

As a final example of my success in these avenues, I have included some extra artifacts that

showcase a little more of my style and interests. First, an artifact replacement document

(https://phoebehart.weebly.com/artifact-oral-presentation.html) recalls the informative speech I gave in

my freshman year Oral Communications class. In that speech, I had only just scratched the surface of

these elements, but I had a grasp on those diverse perspectives and public discourse that allowed me to

effectively communicate about retroactive diversity and representation for minorities and how it can do

more harm than good.

Today, I could go back and see how I might improve my delivery with increased diversity of

ideas, considering some views who don’t view the post-canon additions to be problematic, gathering more

responses from fans to use, and evaluating the ethics of that pattern of ‘adding in’ representation. This

project is not only an example of my initial level of engagement with my four elements of the personal

educational program, but is also a mark of how far I have progressed since then.

A second additional artifact is my Behavioral Psychology honors project

(https://phoebehart.weebly.com/artifact-operant-conditioning-honors-project.html). I was able to train a

fish to complete various tricks using the principles of operant conditioning. In the project, I not only

communicated the principles I employed and the methodology with which I applied them, but I also kept

it fun and lively. This project was a part of the integration of the honors program with my psychology
major, and I demonstrated scientific presentation and began to declare a style for myself. In the parody of

The Office (https://phoebehart.weebly.com/artifact-null-hypothesis-testing.html) I demonstrate a similar

proclivity toward the humorous and silly. The Behavioral Psychology class was one of the first places

where I formed this tendency, and I see it as not only an example of my personality, but also a part of my

academic story without which I would not have had the same experience at Bridgewater.

My second official artifact pertaining to my personalized educational program, and the final

artifact of my reflective essay, features a detailed and critical analysis of my own personality

(https://phoebehart.weebly.com/artifact-personality-psychology-essay.html). This was an essay we wrote

in personality psychology, and we incorporated learned knowledge about the various personality theories,

how personality is classified and organized, how its elements interact with each other and with various

tasks or trait, as well as implications of personality on career readiness.

I believe that I have demonstrated the ability to critically analyze and synthesize these many

elements and demonstrate myself as a viable potential success in a variety of possible paths I could take

after college. My personality as examined in this paper may seem like just numbers, but the implications

of my evaluation of my personality show that I will always have the potential to improve, as a person, a

student, and an employee. Therefore, with grit and determination, I am ready to continue to develop and

grow my personality as I depart this place, persisting in the journey that Bridgewater College has set me

upon.