Conflict Resolution Application

Katie D.

March 14, 2010 - 1:01 PM

Wish me luck! On Tuesday at 2:30 I will be interviewing for the Conflict Resolution Master's Program at the University of Oregon.

The most frequently asked question of a college student's senior year is "what will you be doing once you graduate?" Well, hopefully I'll have the answer any day now. For several years, I would have said that I planned to go abroad after graduation: to do humanitarian aid work or teach English somewhere far away from here, perhaps back in Latin America or in Italy or Spain. I had planned to graduate and spend a couple of years in wild adventuring, pursuing passions and accumulating experiences, knowledge, and connections which would serve me well in the coming years. But I have come to an interesting and exciting new realization: the most perfect place for me to be for the next two years, the place with the most adventure and opportunity, is right here in Eugene.

The Conflict Resolution Program is a perfect match for me. It merges academic study with practical skill acquisition and mandated internship hours in the community, during which I will practice the skills I have gained. I will take classes in mediation and negotiation, in discussion facilitation and in theories of conflict. This is an exciting and dynamic new field, which applies to all kinds of fields, from mediation in the business world to conflict resolution in war zones. It would be relevant to situations from roommate conflicts to national-level diplomacy. The UO CRES (that's Conflict RESolution, if you're confused) program draws from a wide array of faculty and disciplines. It is housed in the Law School, and draws many students working for concurrent degrees, and professors who are primarily invested in the field of Law. However, professors from departments across campus including philosophy and geography are also recruited to teach in the CRES Program.

During the first year of study, CRES students take almost all courses together as a cohort. I am so, so excited about this. I'll be part of a group of approximately twenty-five students who have come together because of a common interest. That is a rare thing: to enter into long-term study with a large group of people with truly similar goals and passions. We will take formal mediation training early in the fall, and will continue through various practical and theoretical courses as the year progresses. Our second year is less structured. We create a focus for our studies and take classes outside the CRES program, as well as fulfilling more than 300 hours of internship work in an organization of our choice.

The CRES program is designed so that, upon completion, students not only have a highly marketable skill set but are also well-connected, experienced, and already deeply involved in their work. I'll leave the program one step closer to an ability to create real change in the world: to ease some of the pain and mitigate some of the inequalities. I do not imagine myself in a business negotiations position, but rather as an advocate and negotiator in areas of human rights and social justice. Imagine if I could take my interests and passions and add some real training and honed skills! This will be the perfect step.

I still plan on living wild and far-flung adventures in my early twenties. Now I imagine that I'll create deeper bonds and connections here with the fabulous faculty and organizations I am already well-acquainted with, and will spend these two years creating a real difference in this community, as well as a network which will serve me well in the future. Then it will be time to go off in search of the larger world: in pursuit of new cities and people and dreams. But for now, I'm preparing for another two years spent here in the city I have come to see as home.

So wish me luck, everyone! Send me some good energy vibes on Tuesday afternoon. I can't wait to spend the next two years blogging about the amazing studies and opportunities I'll be experiencing through my time in the Conflict Resolution Program.

(Plus, after all this big talk it would be excessively embarrassing to have to write the "Not Accepted" blog. We won't even entertain that as an option...right?)

Be sure to check out the Conflict Resolution Programs website and the related Appropriate Dispute Resolution Center.