Closing out the Year

Katie D.

June 2, 2011 - 5:26 PM

Yesterday was my last day of class for the year. I've already finished most of my finals, and have begun wrapping up tasks for the spring. It's been quite an experience with the first year of my Masters program, and such an amazing time of growth and change over all. I've taking such a range of classes over the past months, have met an array of wonderful new people, and am now preparing for another adventure abroad. It feels like there is a lot going on, when you get right down to it.

I'm glad this term is over. Although I've had some amazing classes (particularly my CRES Ethics class with Professor Tom Linginger), and despite the fabulous experience of helping with this term's Inside-Out Course about Conflict Resolution in Northern Ireland, I am feeling a bit burnt out. I'm getting to a time of itchy feet and wanderlust. It's time to close out the year, and then to look forward.

As you might have picked up from my blogs this term, some of my classes have been wonderful, and some have been frustrating. It's been interesting to participate in a cohort model of education, with the enormous benefit of knowing my classmates and learning in community, and the true disadvantage of a lack of control over my schedule and courses of interest to me. I'm also finding it very interesting to be involved in a graduate program that is blending theoretical knowledge with the practical skills of a specific field. It's been very different from my undergraduate experience. I have grown in my understanding of conflict, and in my understanding of interpersonal skills to intervene for conflict transformation. I have also learned about myself that my true passion lies in large-scale conflicts and social justice. Skills in mediation and facilitation will serve me well as I go forward in life, as I find whatever path I'm on in the world. I will not be a mediator or facilitator, but the questions I've explored through these classes have redefined many of my skills and ideas, and for that I am very grateful.

My GTF experience has been one of true and ever-increasing growth. This year I have had the opportunity to teach, to design courses, to support new campus social justice efforts through the Savage Committee for International Relations and Peace and the Carnegie Council for Global Ethics. I've also been able to stay involved with the Inside-Out Program, with its ever-growing variety of opportunities and needs for leadership. Between all these efforts, I've been busy. Very, very busy. I can't wait to return next year for another round of work. Sister Helen Prejean is coming back to the UO in October. I'll be helping in three classrooms, and building new projects and coalitions. As always, I'll be involved with Inside-Out at every level of participation and leadership. But if I'm being honest with myself, for the moment I am burned out. I am tired and need a break. I need a short time without all these responsibilities riding on me. I need a change of scene, and a set of commitments that feed some of my other passions.

In two and a half weeks, I'll be leaving for a summer in Honduras. As the year comes to a close, I'm finishing finals, packing up my house, writing a huge final essay about immigration, and preparing myself mentally for the first major trip I've undertaken in three years. I'm watching as some things end (such as a year of cohort-only classes, and the graduation of my best friend) and I'm anticipating the start of so many new things: a new house for next year, the research and writing of a Masters thesis, and this summer of adventure and change.

It's time. And I am ready.