I first joined Honors as its director in July 2016, and now find myself at the end of my four-year term. Prior to that, I served as the scholarship coordinator for Honors from 2007-2015, and also was a student in the program during the mid-1990s. You can say that Honors is in my blood; it always has been, and it always will be.
The most inspiring aspect of Honors, for me, are the students. I think that everyone knows that Honors students are intelligent; that goes without saying. What has been an absolute pleasure for me, however, is seeing the fruits of their work ethic, creativity, and passion for fostering community. The student council, the office workers, the RAs, and really all of the students in the past four years have worked tirelessly to create an atmosphere of innovation and support. For the rest of my life, I will look back on this time with great fondness. I learned all sorts of skills involving recruitment, residential life, and other areas in which faculty do not tend to be involved. Although there are other faculty involved with Honors through its curriculum, the director is the only faculty member present on a daily basis. If it breaks, you have to fix it, whether it be a leaky faucet or an aspect of the curriculum that isn’t working. You learn a lot about a number of different things, and even more about yourself. The biggest thing I learned about students is to seek their ideas and trust their instincts. Honors is an ever-changing community, and many of the ideas implemented in the past four years when it has come to recruitment, community-building, or even the curriculum evolved from student ideas for improvement.
There are lots of events that stand out in my mind when I think back on my time as director. I enjoyed the Welcome Back BBQ, as it is nice to meet the incoming freshman and reconnect with returning students. The Christmas Party was always a highlight, particularly the gingerbread house making competition and the creativity of the designs. The Honors Experience was always stressful, but also a great success in attracting students to the program. And finally, the Senior Banquet was always poignant, with the juniors planning the event, sending off the seniors by thanking them for their mentoring and their many contributions to the program.
Although I will no longer be serving in Honors as its director, I anticipate continuing to play a role in Honors, whether it be to drop by and interact with students in South Hall, take part in the quarterly events, and perhaps one day teach again in the curriculum. You see, Honors is in my blood!
- Dr. Andrew Howe (Class of 1996)