When I started the honors program, I did not know what I was getting myself into. I figured eventually I would figure out what it was all about. Through the Honors 201 class, I learned a little bit about how Honors defined the different competencies.

Honestly, leadership was the one competency I felt confident about going into college because I was in so many clubs in high school that leadership came naturally to me. However, I never knew how many different leadership styles there were. Through Honors 201, I learned the different leadership styles, and I even learned my own leadership strengths through the Clifton Strengths Finder test. Then I proceeded to use my strengths finder results to help me reflect on my participation in the school’s athletic band the Maverick Machine. I was able to recognize my leadership and use it as I took charge when underclassmen needed rides to different off campus events including but not limited to hockey games at the Mayo Clinic Event Center and various exhibition performances in New Prague and Waseca, Minnesota. It was a joy to be able to help these students. Finally, I put my leadership styles into use as I handled many different types of jobs over my four years in college. I have had jobs everywhere including (but not limited to): summer production in the factory for Wells Blue Bunny Inc, wellness/COVID screener at Blue Bunny, convenience store clerk for Hy-Vee, deli clerk for Hy-Vee, seasonal associate at Kohls, summer qualitative analysis technician for Blue Bunny, micro lab intern for Blue Bunny, and tour guide in the admissions office at MNSU, Mankato. It was interesting to see all the different leadership styles my supervisors all had in action as well as learning what aspects of certain leadership styles worked together, with my fellow coworkers and I, and which styles didn’t. It all depended on the type of job on which leadership style worked the best, but I found great leaders often exhibit more than one style to appeal to the various personalities that the people below them have.

​

​

Coming into college, I believed that research was working in a laboratory with chemicals and discovering new methods to do things or the groundbreaking experiments we read about in class. However, through Honors 201, I learned that research could be that definition, but it could also be many different things. Research can take place in many different disciplines other than the hard sciences. After learning about the definition for research through the Honors lens, I participated in MSU’s Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) twice. Each time, I did a research project that was not in a lab. The first project I worked with a faculty mentor as a member of RAP. Together, we worked through the steps of a research project on how class format affected student motivation, and we put together a poster. My mentor had already written the survey and decided who the survey was going to be distributed to, but I offered feedback. For my second project, a group of other undergraduates and I worked together as part of the RAP Ambassador program to build a survey to determine why undergraduate students were not participating in undergraduate research and distribute the survey. Ironically, although I have a hard science major, I have not stepped into the lab at MNSU in a research capacity. However, through my experience in the micro lab as an intern at Blue Bunny, I worked in a lab that did have some research components. One such research experience during that job was when a floor swab came back positive for Listeria, and we were able to figure out that it was the wheels of our trashcans that spread the listeria from the pathogen room to the rest of the lab. To stop this from happening again, we created new measures for cleaning the wheels of the trashcans. Altogether, my experiences have taught me that research is a much broader field than I originally thought.

 

 

I grew up in a small town in Iowa and was not exposed to many intercultural aspects as a child, so I had no clue what intercultural engagement was when I came to college. I just thought it was some language requirement because how else would I communicate interculturally? Through my experiences, I learned that intercultural engagement is not just communication, it’s about learning about other cultures and learning to put your own inherent biases away. I took an American sign language class where I was able to learn tons about deaf culture and how it is not just my own culture without hearing. Deaf culture is a completely different culture. It has its own intricacies and beauties that I would not have understood if I didn’t put my own thoughts aside. I also took an intercultural communication class where I learned many things about the different cultures in the United States and how one simple aspect in one culture can be seen as offensive in another. This bled into my time in London and Scotland during my study abroad program. The experience was amazing and full of many interactions that helped me realize how I see the world and what I need to be cautious of as I explore new cultures in the future.

​

​

Without the honors program, my college experience would probably be very different from the one I had. I honestly do not believe I would have done half of my experiences without being in the honors program. I never would have touched the research because it scared me, and I definitely would not have touched the intercultural communication class. These experiences help shape how I see the world, so without them, my experience would have been very different. I am very thankful for my time as an honors program student, and I am excited to see what the future has in store for me as I continue to grow in the competencies outside of college.