As UNIV 3954 comes to a close, the actual experience and
impact on the lives of the participants will never end. This blog began when we were asked to
consider the quote “Contrast is the mother of clarity.” by: Os Guinness, thank
you Danny White for pointing us to this quote.
It has served as a personal challenge for putting into perspective the
enormous contrast experienced. How will this experience shape my values? How will it clarify my personal choices and the motivation behind my
choices? How will it impact my
leadership principles? Finally, what
fine tuning will I make to the question of life’s purpose? Heavy
questions, no doubt, but isn’t that one of the aims of education?
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| Jon taking part in a camp exercise |
How does a nation with incredible natural resources exist in
such abject poverty? I cannot get that
question out of my mind. I do not have
enough information to answer that question with absolute resolve but failed
leadership has to have played a major role.
That is why this course has so much value to me and others across this
university community who worked to make it a reality. It gets to the heart of our personal
leadership, which leads to our ability to influence others, ultimately
giving us the chance to impact a culture or community in which we live. A friend recently told me that sociologists
have researched and discovered that individuals, on average, influence 10,000
people in a lifetime. I am so encouraged
by how this experience will impact our influence of others.
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| Carol Kahoun (WTN) finds a friend for life |
Lastly, injustice matters.
In a world where absolutes are losing their grip on societal influence
this experience further solidifies for me that virtue, values and ethics matter. A member of our group eloquently referred to
the four cardinal virtues one evening.
They are: prudence, justice, courage and temperance. They were referenced as the hinges upon
which the door of life swings. Take a
few minutes and reflect upon your leadership in light of these virtues. Sure has made me think about my past, present
and future.
I hope you have enjoyed sharing in our journey through this
blog. Thanks for coming along with us
and hopefully you have been influenced by the thoughtful words that the students
have expressed. May all our lives find
opportunity after opportunity to live out, experientially, this great universities
motto, Ut Prosim (That I may serve).
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