| Description |
While attending the University of Utah, I had the tremendous fortune of being heavily involved with the Honors College. This included involvement in 13 different activities within the college, enrollment of 15 honors classes (of which only 7 where required), and completion of an Honors Thesis. With such an amazing experience, I wanted to promote future students to enjoy the similar benefits. Therefore, I dedicated my ISP to this cause. With the suggestion of my mentor Gretchen, I focused on gathering "peer-to-peer" feedback about the college. At first, I interviewed my immediate friends who I had known through the program since freshman year. Afterwards, I branched out to include a diverse sampling across majors and years in school. I compiled the advice into lists which I have turned over to the college's Student Advisory Committee. Through this means, the voices of current students will be echoed through future generations. As such, successes of the college will b; shared and a stronger legacy will be built. My inspiration for this project was the book After Admission: From College Access to College Success. According to the authors, students who become involved beyond the classroom graduate twice as frequent as their peers who do not. Also, involvement better prepares students for their careers and other life pursuits. As such, involvement allows students the opportunity to challenge their talents and interests within a controlled environment. Unfortunately, I encountered a few major challenges in the project. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to change mentors three times. Also, my sampling of students was limited due to low response rates. Finally, some feedback was deemed too negative to be of any value. As such, it was eliminated from the results. Even with these difficulties, I truly believe the; project was a success and will have a positive impact. |
