What SJLA Means To Me...

"I sawed the human head in half yesterday, right down the midline of the face. Oddly enough it got me thinking about SJLA; perhaps in the cheesy metaphorical sense as it pertains to how I felt after leaving some of the prescribed classes I once took. But, more importantly, about all your so described "anal-retentive pre-med" students who inevitably slip into the program at the onset of college. So this may be specifically to them, and everyone else in a more general sense. . .

I've come to find that the idea of a doctor as distant and somewhat cold may actually be a chance to hold onto any remnants of their own humanity. I'm not even a physician yet, and I've done some of the most inhumane things to my cadaver over the past seven weeks (granted the idea of a cadaver as "human" remains up for debate). I'm starting to find that the onset of the "numbing" process we are warned about in medical school starts extremely early, and that caring for someone at the level of a doctor requires inhumane practice in the name of humanity. Paradoxical, isn't it?

Here is where I have to thank you. Philosophy, I have found, is not a class, but after SJLA, is a way of life. It becomes so, even if you're part of the back-row crew. It's not a bad thing. In the blizzard of technical science, I find that my time in the program has left my mind open, allotting enough space for all the anatomical relations of the human body, since I am always also in constant reflection about the occurrences of my everyday reality.

So, Dear anal-retentives (which essentially sums up the profile of the entire class, whether they know it or not), SJLA, if anything, is not even about the material, but the mental exercise, the strain you have chosen to place upon your minds in addition to the normal college course load. It's the exercise that will train you to assimilate facts easily, since such a task is rather rudimentary, but more importantly, I find that I am able to hold onto myself. When you graduate from college, it's rather easy to get lost. SJLA has taught me to operate on a different level, one where I am not what I do, but what I do is part of me. Yes, philosophy may be useless, but as Dr. Black would say (as you will soon find out), that's what makes it beautiful. The world is built on utility, but I think holding onto the ideal of cura personalis requires more than what we are training to do with our lives.

Take it from me. I started in the back row; the nihilist, anti-idealistic, the black-sheep of the class. (You told me once, Fron, that's why you allowed me to be in the program.) So, think a lot. Be stumped. Confusion here, in class, will allow everything else to make sense. It is because of that I interviewed at some of the top medical schools in the country, and found the fit that I was looking for. I'm serving the underserved in north Philly and loving every second of it."

"I was just recognized by our Global CEO for a Regional Next Thing Now Award. –It’s a Company Word-Wide contest to award the year’s best work. There’s one reason I was recognized: Dr. Whittaker’s weekly “Under 200 words” essay. The Next Thing Now Award submission form consisted of 5 short form essays that all needed to be under 90 words. This was a cake walk after Trivium. While other groups spent weeks preparing the submissions and accompanying “media kits,” I submitted my own entry on the day it was due, without any supporting documentation. This is totally unheard of. “Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator…” right? Not exactly. I knew that if I submitted the entry late, the EVP and CNO (Chief Negotiation officer) would not have the time to make their own suggested edits to the submission. It’s not that the Trivium made me a great writer---it's just that it made me better than the vast majority of my peers & superiors."

"The program is like one big family pulling together to help each other. It has changed my whole way of thinking and outlook on life as well. It has made me more aware of the world around me and has given me spiritual guidance as well."

"I feel SJLA has put my educational experience on the same par with that of a Harvard or Yale student. At the same time rather than isolating me from the general student body, SJLA. . .has prompted me to direct my talents back into the university community."

"The best decision I made before college."

"I just got one of my first grad school papers back today and I got an A+. I heard from another professor that the teacher who graded this paper said she had never given out an A+ in her 20+ years as a professor. I owe it all to the SJLA program. Thanks for teaching me how to write a well-developed argument. If it weren't for SJLA, I do not think I would still be in school."

"We've grown up quite a bit since freshman year and, happily, we've grown closer together. Oh sure, we all had our own interests, different majors, and different roommates, but there was always that common bond. It was a pretty neat feeling to walk into a classroom and see the familiar SJLA faces as we traveled through each fall and spring semester; faces of students that I respected, admired, and cared about; faces that made me laugh, made me think, and made me feel like I did belong."

"An SJLA class is like no other I have experienced while here at the University. I learned not only from the teachers, but also from you. Classes were seldom dull because a debate was a common occurrence in many of them. Many of us have strong convictions which often conflict. There are also those who would characterize us as 'highly motivated and competitive.' Although we are competitive and desire to do well in life, we never held it over each other. SJLA is not cutthroat, but it has demanded excellence from each of us, and it is something to be proud of. We have all been empowered as a result of our education, and we will all exert some influence in some part of the world at some point in our life. We are called to promote justice in an apparently unjust world, and I believe that we have been given the tools to do so in SJLA."

"This semester I wanted to drop out of SJLA. But after talking to an upperclassman in the program, I remembered why I'm in this program--for an education! I'm getting my money's worth."

"It has been almost ten years since I first walked into Father Ron McKinney's Intro to Philosophy class. I didn't know it at the time, but the decision to be in SJLA set in motion a series of events that led me to where I am today. I think the interdisciplinary nature of the program led me to become an historian. By junior year, I recognized how the book we read in Masterworks was connected to the history paper I wrote next week, then related to the issues in philosophy we debated the following week, and how those same ideas played out in the service work we did in the Scranton community. Ultimately through my education in history and in the SJLA program, I could integrate all of these disciplines."

"I have been thinking about a few things ever since the SJLA Alumni dinner that passed just the other weekend. I don’t think I have ever actually taken the time to thank you for the excellent education the program has given me. As I am now in the ‘real world,’ I can see how I was very lucky to have taken part in such a unique program such as SJLA. The program enabled me to receive superior instruction in both oral and written communication skills. In the business world, these two attributes have proven to catch the eye of many of my superiors and have allowed me to standout among other colleagues. More importantly, I was able to receive an education that has taught me to think deeply and to look for the cause behind everything I encounter. I feel this could be the greatest asset I have gained from my entire college experience, to contemplate and not to just abide. I would like to thank you for accepting me into the program and for keeping me in it, although I may not have met the mould of most of the program’s students. I slightly regret not taking part in all of the community events the program did together. But at the time I was caught up in my sports and didn’t realize I was lagging in involvement. Once again, thank you for everything. The SJLA program has certainly changed many aspects I have on life as well as has given me a conscience."

"What can I say except that college is supposed to teach you to think more clearly and make better decisions, and by Junior year I learned that SJLA was where I belonged despite what some profs may have said at the time. All jocularity aside, my ability to communicate effectively is a huge part of what distinguished me as the best candidate for my present job. In the business realm, I find that there are few who write as well I do. I would neither trade my SJLA experience nor my connections to my SJLA cohorts for anything."