After reading Newman's discourses I somehow see a connection with the ideal university learning and what a leader should be. Newman believes that a university should not only just be a place where students can gain knowledge of facts, but a place where they can get a deeper learning of themselves and others.
"It is the education which gives a man a clear conscious view of his own opinions and judgments, a truth in developing them, an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them." (170) To know one's self is to become a leader. The university is a place where one can learn who they are through all the different aspects of learning they can come across here. Knowing who you are will better prepare who you will become in the future. Which is a reason why I wanted to go to a university like UT. I knew I had to experience something new to see how I would react. To see who I am as a person outside the norm. Coming here to UT would be an experience of a lifetime that not everyone gets to take. Surrounding myself with different people, the classes, and the new life would help me determine who I really am as a person. Discovering who I am will set me closer to my goal in giving back to my community. In coming here I wanted to take every single thing I learn and use it to benefit people. A year ago I came across a quote that has been somewhat of a motivation for me to pursue my goal.
Success
To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
-Bessie Stanley
To be a good leader one must be able to understand others; which Newman also mentions. "It shows him how to accommodate himself to others, how to throw himself into their state of mind, how to bring before them his own, how to influence them, how to come to an understanding with them, how to bear with them." (170) Leaders must know how to listen with empathy.
(Covey, pg 240) A university should be able to teach the students in doing so. Universities should produce well rounded students. In not doing so, the student will not be prepared for certain situations. Newman writes that the ideal university should produce successful leaders for the world. For my goal in giving back to society, I must learn how to first truly understand others before I can help them. Without understanding them, I will not get anywhere in completing my goal.
Experiential Learning
In high school, or in any time since I started school, I have never really experienced experiential learning before. This method of "active involvement results in processing of information deeper than mere memorization." (184) Experiential learning allows for students to keep in their mind what they learned to use that information in the future to be successful. "It makes use of your own personal associations as a basis for remembering and understanding."(184) It's a method where one will always know the information learned in order to be able to better society. It is like discovery learning; where one can learn and also discover who they are as a person, where they stand on a certain viewpoint, how they will change for the benefit of society.
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