Riley Lehmer

Honors Portfolio Development

Why Honors?

If I had been asked why honors my first year here at Minnesota State University, I would

have said exactly what all the other first years said. That I fit all the requirements, that it was a

two for one deal when applying for the Presidential Scholarship, and that I took honors classes in

high school to challenge myself, so why not try to challenge myself in college. Having been at

MNSU for a few years the Honors Program has become a lot more to me than simply checking

some boxes, and that’s why I am still in the program to this day.

I think my experience at MNSU has been made better because of my participation in the

Honors Program. My first year, I was not overly involved. I believe I attended two events in

total: the ice cream social and Bob Ross painting night. Both were fun events, by I always felt a

bit out of place. At the end of my first year, on a whim, I decided to run for the Sophomore Rep

position on the Exec Team, and to my surprise I got it. This position I think has had a big impact

on my time here at MNSU because it came to be something I could count of, especially during

the pandemic. There were always meetings to attend and events to plan, and it added some shine

to an otherwise dull year. I think without going out of my comfort zone, like I did, last year

would have been a lot more difficult to get through. Overall, my participation in honors has made

my experience at MNSU above and beyond what I thought it would be my first year.

As I move through my final years of the Honors Program, I want my participation in it

to help me to further develop skills in each of the three competency areas. I would like to

discover more about my leadership values and develop them, as well as learn new leadership
techniques. I would also like to spend more time learning about cultures outside of the realm

of what I am used to. I want to be able to push my comfort zone and learn from it. I would

also like to further develop my research skills, potentially by taking on another research

project.

A big part of being in the honors program for me is being able to develop skills that I

can take with me into life after college. In the future, I believe there will be many

opportunities to use the experience I gained from the honors program. Being a representative

on the Exec team has given me leadership skills and more knowledge one how to work

together as a team to accomplish a task. I hope to be able to take what I learned from that

experience into my future work environment. Wanting to work in the healthcare field often

requires one to step up as a leader and make decisions as a team and I believe the program

will help me gain those skills to make that possible. I also believe developing my research

skills early on, will help me stand out when applying to both jobs and schools. Finally, I can

see myself using what I gained from the intercultural engagement competency no matter

where I find myself after I graduate. Having an understanding that people come from all

walks of life with different customs and perspectives will be important in any scenario I can

imagine. Looking into my future I imagine I will have plenty of opportunities to use what I’ve

learned in the Honors Program.

Overall, the Honors Program has given me real life skills and experiences that I will be

able to take with me into the future. It has also given me a community I can be apart of. Those

are the reason why I choose to stay in Honors.