Project Proposal

Summarize your proposed experiential learning activity, including the

primary focus of your activity, your intended actions, and the expectations
of your supervisor and/or organization/partners.

I would like to consider my experience as an Honors 100 Peer Educator as an

Experiential Learning activity this fall quarter. The primary focus of this leadership
position is to familiarize all recently admitted students with the courses,
resources, and opportunities available to them in the Honors Program. As a Peer
Educator, I lead a small section once a week, in which I intend to cover the
policies and expectations of the Honors Program, while ultimately hoping to ease
everyone's transition to a new aspect of their university life. It is my aim, and the
goal of the Peer Educator program, to help new students understand how the
Honors Program can shape their college experience, and how that experience
can impact the larger UW community.

Explain how your activity demonstrates the values of the Honors Program
Experiential Learning area you selected. Rather than reiterating our
definition, outline how your activity embodies this definition.

In their definition of leadership, the Honors Program stresses collaboration with

others and commitment to playing a guiding role in the development of a vision.
The role of a Peer Educator is ultimately one of a guide, providing new Honors
students with the information and tools to create their own personal,
interdisciplinary college experience. This task requires a huge commitment to
both the students, their needs, and the vision of an individual, liberal-arts
education at a large, public research university. To accomplish this goal,
collaboration is essential between the Peer Educators themselves, in order to
share effective tools, and with the students, in order to help them engage with the
Honors community in a constructive way.

How and why did you select this engagement? What skills or experiences
do you hope to gain from it?

I selected this activity because I saw it as the most direct way I could contribute
to the Honors Community, while still gaining valuable skills for myself. I was also
convinced by the recommendation of my own Peer Educator, Autumn Grassel,
who was very positive about the experience. I hope to gain more public speaking
skills from this engagement, since I will be addressing my peers from a
mentoring position quite often. It is also my hope that through this experience I
can become a better advocate for others; in listening to the needs of my
students, I hope to develop my ability to reach out on their behalf when they
might not have the knowledge to communicate what they would like to see
happen.

How does this activity connect to your concurrent or past coursework?

How does it speak to your broader education goals and experiences?

I am currently Honors 230B, a course that is primarily graded on preparation and

participation in debates. I feel that the ability to adjust plans at a moments notice
is a skill I can develop in both courses, which are connected in their heavy
emphasis on effective communication. Beyond the translation of public speaking
skills from this course to my Honors 100 section, I believe that the need to
prepare and organize for debates far in advance will also serve me well as a
Peer Educator as I work through my own lesson plans in section. Additionally, In
a few years, I hope to be presenting my own research, an experience that will
rely heavily on my ability to field questions and explain myself, skills that
developed in these two courses.

How will your activity contribute to the larger goals of the

organization/your partners?

The goal of the Honors Program is to bring the highly individualized feel of a
liberal arts education to students at a large public university. As a Peer Educator,
my goal is to provide students with the resources and information they need to
construct a meaningful, interdisciplinary college experience in line with the
expectations and hopes of the Honors Program. I will contribute to this overall
goal by sharing my knowledge of the Honors Program and collaborating with my
fellow Peer Educators to create a supportive environment for all of those new to
this program. As a leader in the Honors community, I recognize that I bear a
responsibility to provide my peers with the tools to help the carve out their own
niche in this diverse campus.