Carroll Fellow Reflects on this Year's Forum

As the Carroll Forum has unfolded this semester, students have been exposed to various concepts, skills, and paradigms that, once adopted, transform their ways of thinking.  From Keirsey they learned of centering in on the true-self and living consciously of one’s distinctiveness, something that is also reflected in Duns Scotus’s concept of haecceitas, or individuality. The Forum seeks to provide an environment where students will let their exteriors become a direct reflection of their haecceitas; thus, they will move away from quiddity (titles, jobs, and definitions), and let their unique selves become so embodied that other people will act in pure response to each student’s individuality, or their “thisness”.  The attitude of pursuing excellence has also been instilled through the past semester, as seen in the FIRP (First Year Independent Research Project), a 10-month long research project that all Forum students must complete. Through the FIRP students explore topics of their own interest, thereby learning and experiencing the processes and skills necessary for conducting original research. While work ethic has been an undercurrent of the Forum, play has become just as imperative.  Students participated in Badgerstown, which is a game that manages to challenge and undo everything a person could have possibly assumed about the nature of teamwork, play, and, in fact, umbrellas. Students have discovered that Badgerstown is a competition of mental and physical expertise, and that it rewards those who think creatively, uniquely, and skillfully. While students have learned the importance of dissolving the barriers between work and play, they have also explored how other Carroll Fellows have productively managed to pursue their passions. Guest speakers Luke Shoenfelder, Steve Silvius, and Caroline Stout revealed how they collectively overcame the able-generalist framework and instead paved their own way to excellence.