"Wow."
That's all I could think when Dr. Loma Meyer began to speak. Not only is she an incredible woman in the fact that she's dedicated four decades to Concordia, but also for how humble she was. Usually my thoughts drift throughout the lecture's we attend, but something about Dr. Meyer struck me. Just from the way she spoke, I could immediately tell how gentle, understanding and self-less she is. She's been everything from a professor, to a board member here at Concordia. After she was introduced, while we should have been thanking her, she took a moment to whole-heartedly thank the University, all the professors and students. Excuse my lack of vocabulary, but "Wow".
Dr. Meyer has been with Concordia since 1967, therefore she has vast first-hand knowledge of the many changes Concordia has been though. Over the years, Concordia has nearly quadrupled in size, yet the percentage of Church Work majors has decreased by 88%. This means that the integration of faith and learning must be approached in a different. When Dr. Loma came to Concordia, their connection was just a given. Some feel that Concordia has taken a step back in their connection, but Dr. Loma views our diversity as a great blessing. As a University, Concordia "must be a university that makes a difference" and "integrate faith and learning to a greater degree." Integration, she said, involves the heart, mind and soul and should be and constant journey. for this integration to be successful though. everyone must be involved.
Students need to be open to new ideas. Learning something new can should strengthen your beliefs, not threaten them! We have a great diversity on campus, and a great opportunity to learn about different cultures. Also, we can learn more by broadening the curriculum. Since technology connects literally everyone around the world, it's so important to understand other people's views and be able to communicate. One must be careful though because the combination between faith and learning is almost ineffective when not balanced. This is where Professors come in! As a college student, sometime it feels like the only people you know are professors. Maybe I'm just a nerd, but I've always had a great connection with my teachers and some have left a great impact on me. Professors are what make learning and knowledge personal. Professors are a lot of what make it possible to fit all learning, and the integration of faith into learning, into a meaningful whole; therefore making the students into well-rounded professionals, working to use our heart, mind, and soul effectively.
This lecture was directly related to much of what we do in Honors. She even had us stand up to be recognized as "Specialized Learners" :p Though our focus this semester has been more on Christianity than anything else this semester, with different aspects like our Volunteer Project, we are essentially allowed to customize our learning and really get the full experience from it. In this class, we get so much more than your typical college course. We've been discussing our vocation lately, and what our place is in this interconnected and ever-changing world. Though I've kind of been the oddball this year when it comes to Christianity, I think that's what this whole lecture was about. We need diversity in the class to learn more! Even though I'm not a Christian, I've learned more about myself than I could possibly explain in this blog. By broadening my curriculum, I've become a much more well-rounded person. Though honestly, sometimes I dread lectures like this and classes till 10pm... but it's the discussions we have in class and blogs like this that allow us to think on our own, while still getting a great education. When we get together and discuss not only our differences, but our similarities we become better individuals and a better community.
That's all I could think when Dr. Loma Meyer began to speak. Not only is she an incredible woman in the fact that she's dedicated four decades to Concordia, but also for how humble she was. Usually my thoughts drift throughout the lecture's we attend, but something about Dr. Meyer struck me. Just from the way she spoke, I could immediately tell how gentle, understanding and self-less she is. She's been everything from a professor, to a board member here at Concordia. After she was introduced, while we should have been thanking her, she took a moment to whole-heartedly thank the University, all the professors and students. Excuse my lack of vocabulary, but "Wow".
Dr. Meyer has been with Concordia since 1967, therefore she has vast first-hand knowledge of the many changes Concordia has been though. Over the years, Concordia has nearly quadrupled in size, yet the percentage of Church Work majors has decreased by 88%. This means that the integration of faith and learning must be approached in a different. When Dr. Loma came to Concordia, their connection was just a given. Some feel that Concordia has taken a step back in their connection, but Dr. Loma views our diversity as a great blessing. As a University, Concordia "must be a university that makes a difference" and "integrate faith and learning to a greater degree." Integration, she said, involves the heart, mind and soul and should be and constant journey. for this integration to be successful though. everyone must be involved.
Students need to be open to new ideas. Learning something new can should strengthen your beliefs, not threaten them! We have a great diversity on campus, and a great opportunity to learn about different cultures. Also, we can learn more by broadening the curriculum. Since technology connects literally everyone around the world, it's so important to understand other people's views and be able to communicate. One must be careful though because the combination between faith and learning is almost ineffective when not balanced. This is where Professors come in! As a college student, sometime it feels like the only people you know are professors. Maybe I'm just a nerd, but I've always had a great connection with my teachers and some have left a great impact on me. Professors are what make learning and knowledge personal. Professors are a lot of what make it possible to fit all learning, and the integration of faith into learning, into a meaningful whole; therefore making the students into well-rounded professionals, working to use our heart, mind, and soul effectively.
This lecture was directly related to much of what we do in Honors. She even had us stand up to be recognized as "Specialized Learners" :p Though our focus this semester has been more on Christianity than anything else this semester, with different aspects like our Volunteer Project, we are essentially allowed to customize our learning and really get the full experience from it. In this class, we get so much more than your typical college course. We've been discussing our vocation lately, and what our place is in this interconnected and ever-changing world. Though I've kind of been the oddball this year when it comes to Christianity, I think that's what this whole lecture was about. We need diversity in the class to learn more! Even though I'm not a Christian, I've learned more about myself than I could possibly explain in this blog. By broadening my curriculum, I've become a much more well-rounded person. Though honestly, sometimes I dread lectures like this and classes till 10pm... but it's the discussions we have in class and blogs like this that allow us to think on our own, while still getting a great education. When we get together and discuss not only our differences, but our similarities we become better individuals and a better community.
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