Reflecting on my skill growth at Minerva

As I’m completing my first month of post-first-year (i.e. non-Cornerstone) classes, I’ve been ruminating about the skills I’m developing at Minerva. Am I effectively applying the HCs we were taught our first year?

Though I suppose I’ll soon find out the answers when my professors return/submit scores on classes and assignments, I know for sure that I’m developing one skill very well: #bullshitting. But in its best form. What I mean is that I learn how to manage and contribute in settings with limited information. I’m developing the skill of picking up on what others are doing and assuming, and building on that. My reading-heavy classes and repeated immersion in unfamiliar contexts (cities and companies) through our global (semester and summer) rotation and civic projects kindle/facilitate this.

Contribution does not mean advocating ardently for a position based on very limited knowledge or putting forward inconsiderate plans; rather, it is more about observing and asking questions that can clarify the habit, topic, or goal. It’s drawing analogies/connections to facilitate understanding, collaboration, and effectiveness by bringing tools from other contexts or disciplines. It’s recognizing that “yes, I know almost nothing and that’s the way it is for now; but I can be curious, try to understand, attempt to apply the acquired knowledge, learn a shit ton in the process, and, perhaps, hopefully, enrich someone else in the process.”

Written on September 25, 2019.