Reflection: Connect to Academics

The opportunity to develop valuable skills in and out of the classroom has allowed me to be educated in my field and to become a well rounded individual that has the ability to participate in and make a positive change in society.

Berry’s goal of not only educating and mentoring students, but also encouraging them to be well rounded members of society is game changing in our current world. Students aren’t just experts in their fields, but they have the needed skills to be useful in a variety of arenas, but also the vastly important ability to connect with others. The foundations I’ve taken over my time at Berry have informed my interactions with people in and out of my own culture as well as given me valuable communication skills.

Academic Perspective

Two of the most useful foundation courses I’ve taken were COM203 Rhetoric and Public Address and RHW102 First Year Seminar in Writing. These courses have been instrumental in the professionalism presented in my SLE. For the primary portion of my work with Rome Food Oasis I worked on an extensive research project that explored the importance of food initiatives in communities that experience food insecurity. My RHW professor strived to work with us in the class to learn skills that would be useful for our majors whether we were creative writing or chemistry. I was able to learn valuable skills that pertain to thorough academic research. When I began culminating my research and working about my paper I was able to confidently go about writing a research paper that correctly cited resources, contained intelligent linking thoughts between myself and what I had learned, and that could be read easily by anyone whether they had a PhD in food security or not. 

Foundations courses although frequently complained about are really useful and help to set students up to tackle a variety of challenges found in any career or even just everyday life. Having a well rounded skillset or even being able to just think broadly and wholly can change a situation. One of the great things about my major is that is encourages me to think about things from a variety of perspectives. My SLE has given me the opportunity to work with a variety of people ranging in age, race, profession, and socioeconomic status. Without the ability to see things from different perspectives or get past my own views I would never be able to fully serve those that I work with. Alongside the concept of developing a broad perspective I’ve taken a variety of humanities and STEM courses for my majors and minors that have helped to develop diversified thinking. I’ve also been able to learn so much about specific cultures thanks to my Spanish minor that open up such a great opportunity by giving me another way to communicate. 

One of the major topics of my major courses is people’s relationships to their environment, agriculture, and food and how those things all relate to each other and other parts of society and culture. This intersectionalism is important especially in today’s tumultuous times. Having a wholistic perspective to issues has helped in my attempt at understanding food security as a whole globally, in the United States, and more specifically in Rome. Rome is a diverse community that has a lot of neighborhoods and sub communities within it. For a portion of my work with RFO and Covington Park I needed to look even more specifically at West Rome, but the challenge is also taking into consideration all of the other larger levels that influence West Rome as well. I’m also able to take into consideration my environmental coursework and strive to create positive environmental change in my on-campus position pushing Berry towards upholding a green standard. Overall, my experiences in academics has influenced and informed a lot of my work. 

Learning

When I was a freshman I would not have believed that I would be doing what I’m doing and loving it so much. I have the skills and connections to actually make a positive impact in the Berry and the Rome community. One of the greatest ways my SLE has been impacted by academic experience is having the opportunity to connect with the Rome Community through work with the Davies Shelter and especially with Rome Food Oasis. I wouldn’t be as involved with the two groups if it weren’t for my environmental anthropology class last year. That connection has also encouraged me to think more strongly about my on campus work and how it can also make an impact whether that be providing fresh food to the Berry community or taking our extra stock and donating it to the local shelters. In the last few semesters I’ve started to notice the intracurricular nature of my courses. Concepts overlap from class to class and I’m able to make those connections in my learning experience.

Using academic knowledge in real world practice is so helpful as a college student. For me specifically it has helped me to understand what I could possibly want out of my future career by specifically looking at specific aspects and narrowing down possible graduate school programs or jobs. In a grander sense the personable skills and business skills I’ve learned through foundations classes, but also my on campus job working as a general manager for Season’s Harvest have prepared for a variety of jobs in and outside of my field. I feel prepared for my future even if I’m not sure what it looks like right now and that’s comforting. 

ANT355 Final Project.pdf

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