"Motivation of this sort, once it catches hold, is a ferocious force."

When reading these chapters of Zen, it highly impacted my idea of the grading system. In the past, I have doubted the effectiveness of it and entertained thoughts of how achievement would be measured without it. However, whenever I thought about it I would normally in the end excuse grades as being a necessary part of school that without them there would be no motivation. But when reading this chapter, this idea was questioned. Chapter 16 discusses Phaedrus' experiment with his no grade class. It discusses his thought process behind it and the pros and con of no grades. The thing that got me questioning if a no grade system would really work was a reference to how the students had been trained to learn. The had had at least 12 years of learning how o work the system before entering college. My question is if we instill a love for learning that is motivated by merely wanting to know more as a child, would that affect the success of a no grading system? My question involves going back to the root of the issue to reteach people how to learn and the reason for learning. If this is done successfully, then the grading system would not be needed and people would be learning to learn rather than to work the system.

I believe this concept is important to society because it would force people to learn what they care about. It would result in the people being there really wanting to learn. Also, the learning would be different. It would not be for a grade but for the preciousness of knowledge. I'm still not quite sure what I think about the whole thing but I am glad I got the opportunity to see it in a different light.

Confusion of the Moment

This week I thoroughly enjoyed reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. At college I rarely get the opportunity to read for pleasure and these two chapters gave me a little hint of that back. These chapters were filled with skillfully crafted theological discussions. They were fun to decode and learn from. In the discussion about the instructional book, many things stood out to me; however, the main point I learned is seen on page 210. The narrator states, "You look at where you're going and where you are and it never makes sense, but then you look back at where you've been and a pattern seems to emerge. And if you project forward from that pattern, then sometimes you can come up with something."

I can see this concept in my own life. Like at the present point, it's hard to see past today or to even filter what this day means in the progression of my life. Also, many times the struggles and the pressures of the day cause me to fail to realize God's goodness and his strength surrounding me. However, as I look back even over the past semester I can see what I've learned and that I've always made it through the day no matter how much I was lacking in strength. Seeing this pattern causes me to know that when I'm having a tough or stressful day that seems like it will never end, I know that God's strength will get me through it. He has never failed me before and I know he never will.

Also, I can see how this concept would greatly impact the world. Many times people get distracted by looking at all the little things they need to do rather than seeing the big picture. They forget what truths they have learned in the past and consequently make many of the same mistakes. Looking and processing the past would help people make better decisions which would greatly affect how people live their lives.

Power of Unselfishness

The biggest thing that stood out to me in these chapters is something that might be overlooked due to the main theme of the church of reason. What I saw in these chapters is people's need for relationships and how these relationships change how people relate to each other. The first example of this is found when the narrator is talking about his relationship with Chris. He states that many times he realizes he is angry only after noticing a worried look on his son's face, or that the narrator's good mood directly affects Chris's enjoyment of a situation. Also, when the narrator discusses Phaedrus' relationship with DeWeese, he states that they are drawn to each other because they don't understand each other which is intriguing to them. With this realization of this theme, I can greatly see how our attitudes in relationships change that way people relate to each other.

I believe a realization of this importance of other people and our reliance on their relationships would greatly change the world today. People would become less self-centered and more apt to seeing how people around them are reacting. The focus would be on how we can better the world through how we treat people rather than demand special treatment for ourselves. This also shows me a lot of stuff I need to change in my own life. Many times I mistakenly and un-purposefully get in the mindset that I am the only person that matters on this planet. As much I strive to think of others and see their needs as Christ has directed us to do, I understand that at times I can be a very selfish person. This chapter and the reiteration of this theme refocuses my attention to others rather than myself. Christ has commanded me to die to myself and live for him which means I am to act as he acted and see other's needs first.

Wise Old Owl

When thinking about wisdom what comes to mind? College? Probably not. I can see how you have to have wisdom in choices at college, but do you think of opportunities to development wisdom in tandem to college? Why is this? College is one of the biggest growing times in a person's life. Personally I would like to become a little wiser during this time.

I believe the reason is that many colleges today do not focus on the individual development of a student; rather, they focus on the material outcome of classes, such as grades and retention rates. To them, the person is not important. The outcome and statistics are the things that matter. Because of this, most college atmospheres are not conducive to developing wisdom.

So cool, now we know that wisdom is not always a hot topic at colleges, but what does that mean for my college? Like I said above, I would like to finish college at least a little wiser than when I entered. I actually believe that the Honors program at JBU does a good job at creating opportunities to develop wisdom. They provide their students with different ideas. The students job is to then decide what is right and what they will believe. They ask more than just head knowledge in the classes; instead, most classes call for a change in action. Overall, I believe that the JBU Honors Program does a veery good job of incorporating wisdom into their classes.

More than Head Knowledge

In the article "How Should Colleges Prepare Students To Succeed In Today's Global Economy?" Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc. discusses a gap between higher education and the business world. This article brings to light that employers are not necessarily looking for someone who is completely specialized to their field, but instead, they are searching for people who have the ability to take information and apply it in real life. They want good communicators who have a balance in general education and more specialized education.

This goes hand in hand with the Honors Program at JBU. One ability a student in the Honors Program is expected to possess is the ability to apply knowledge to real life situations (II). They are expected to take what they learn in class and to apply it to their everyday. One example is in my English Comp class. In that class, I am refining my reading and summary skills; these skills are then transferred to different areas of my life such as another class. Also, it affects my personal non-academic life through changing the way I study the Bible or read devotionals. As it says in the above article, employers are looking for these skills in potential candidates, and I believe that not just the honors program but JBU as a college presents it's students with the ability to possess these qualities.

Alternative Education

These past few weeks in Honors orientation, we have been learning about education and discussing some issues in education that are flawed. For this assignment, we were asked to look at some alternative education system employed by many colleges around the US. One such college is Evergreen State University. At Evergreen, they do not measure a students learning by grades; however, they are evaluated by professors and themselves through detailed personal narratives. Their websites states that this has been widely accepted by employers because it is more detailed and personal than letter grades. 

Comparing this school to JBU, there are many differences. The main one, of course, is JBU has grades. At JBU, many students strive to maintain a certain GPA, whether it is for honors, scholarships, or just a personal goal. I believe this is good because it gives students something for which to strive; however, they can be a downfall where a student is focused just on the letter grade that they overlook actually learning and retaining the material. In academics I also see how the two colleges are alike. Like JBU’s professors, Evergreen’s professors seem that they are truly there to teach the students, and they want them to succeed. 

I personally believe I would do well in the type of learning at Evergreen. One point they made was that their classes were actually programs. They studied a variety of subjects in one class, with the help of labs and field trips. The reason I think I would excel in this type of education is I like to see how different subjects fit together. For example, my high school humanities class combined history, literature, geography, poetry, and music all into one class. With this I was able to learn how they all connected and fed off of each other. This type of learning makes sense to me and I enjoy learning this way.

Jack and Jill

One of my biggest struggles this year has been changing my learning strategy. In high school, grades came easy to me. I did not really have to try and was rewarded, through grades, for my lack of effort. Through the realization of what quality learning is, this learning just for a grade is something I am trying to avoid. I believe that a quality education comes from attaining and retaining knowledge. It is not based solely on test scores but on what you take out of the class and how it affects your life. 

In my own education, I now try to strive for quality education where I really learn something from the class that moves past the answers on the test. As I said above, I did not do this in high school which normally resulted in me forgetting most things after the test. I knew the information for the test and that was it. It meant nothing more to me. However in college, I have seen my goal shift to actually understanding and implementing the skills I use outside of the class. I measure my quality of my learning in my classes normally based on if I am paying attention or not, if I am just sitting in class staring at the teacher or if my mind is actually engaging what the professor is saying which results in actual gaining and retaining of knowledge. Hopefully, I will be able to continue this goal. I am here to learn, with quality learning, and I hope to take every opportunity to do so.