Reflection

My decision to join paideia was fairly spontaneous. I had heard about it from a few friends and finally, only when I saw my roommate's application, did I choose to also apply. I didn't fully understand what I was getting myself into even then. I equated it to a class, or more of just an added burden that I would get through for application benefits. After all, I did sign up for it on web advisor and I had to get a book too. What I didn't expect was to be delighted. For me, Paideia consists of everything that a liberal-arts education can and should be. It sounds so simple too. Every other week or so twelve students and a professor sit, eat lunch, and discuss a topic after some easy but enlightening reading. The reading, particularly our book, "50 Facts That Should Change the World," is so easy to engage upon. The discussion is somewhat organized but there is also plenty of freedom to roam. As far as I'm concerned, it's not getting off topic if it's interesting and it almost always still is. The types of discussions are similar to those which I would and debate with friends on a day-to-day basis and paideia provides a nice, informal framework to do so.
Another aspect of paideia that stands out is civic engagement. My group recently decided that we're going to go to the Boys and Girls Club and hang out with some kids there. I'm excited for the project because I love hanging out, playing Foosball or basketball and just listening to some of the kids and watching them interact. The civic engagement project in general provides a nice outlet for something I don't do often enough: help other people. I'm still not sure how I will react our civic engagement project, but I have high hopes. This is primarily because it fits neatly into my vision of paideia. For me, paideia just means getting a better understanding of the world around you. In a liberal-arts education, this is done through taking classes that aren't specifically within your major. However, there is a very distinct line between gaining an understanding through the acquiring of knowledge, and gaining an understanding through experience. This is where civic engagement comes into play. It is an entirely new, perhaps even truer type of knowledge gained.
The final aspect of paideia that I value is the group connection. I have many friends that go to UT in Austin and I always laugh when I think about what would happen if a class of theirs went to their professors house one evening for dinner and dodgeball. It's of course ridiculous to think of 100 people or often more crowding into a professors house (although arguably it might make dodgeball more fun). This aspect of paideia ties directly into why I like Southwestern in general. Small class sizes and close relationships with professors make education tolerable. I love the fact that we can just decide to go to Monument Cafe one morning for breakfast, have most of our class be there, and still only take up one table. It's occasionally constricting, but if I ever get this feeling I just go home for the weekend or go down to Austin and take one look at UT.
I had no idea that I would enjoy paideia as much as I do now. It sounded vague and alittle bit pretentious. While it might still be alittle vague, there is certainly nothing pretentious about sitting around, eating lunch, having a meaningful discussion, and occasionally helping some people out who need it. Without knowing of its existence, Paideia is why I came to Southwestern.