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Elise Amo
Senior Seminar
Dr. Johnson
8 December 2015
My Time at Loras College
When I was first looking at colleges my senior year of high school, I had no idea where I
truly wanted to go. Most of my friends were going to stay in state and attend a larger university
or college closer to home. Although I was born in St. Louis, I did not really feel like I was at
home. My extended family lives in Waverly, Iowa and Grinnell, Iowa, so our family always had
to travel for every holiday or special occasion just to make a visit. I came to the decision to go to
college in Iowa so I could be closer to my family and so I could continue swimming
competitively without the pressure that accompanies NCAA Division I and II sports. I also came
to Loras to acquire a liberal arts education. I chose Loras out of all the schools I applied to,
including Loras, Clark University, University of Northern Iowa, and University of Missouri-St.
Louis, because of the friendly campus atmosphere and the liberal arts education that
Not much thought was given to the meaning of liberal arts in high school. At first, I
mistakenly thought the term liberal dealt with politics and was not looking forward to a
political discussion. My high school preparation consists of challenging and varied courses, but
most of them do not inspire creative thinking. AP test scores and ACT scores take precedence in
many school districts. On the other hand, a liberal arts education broadens the scope of the
students world beyond simply learning information without purpose. A liberal arts education
offers a means in which a person can make a personal contribution to society. Through the four

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Loras College dispositions, active learning, reflective thinking, ethical decision-making, and
responsible contributing to society, I was able to develop my talents as a psychology and
sociology major freely throughout my four years at Loras. In this reflection paper, I will explain
two of the Loras dispositions that I have displayed during my time at Loras.
The active learning disposition portrays what most students do: search for knowledge
one way or another. Loras College defines an active learner as someone who is curious about
the world and wants to understand the experiences he or she faces. Students actively learn to
participate and engage in the community around them. Active learners want to learn and are
curious about the world and seek to make sense of their experiences. Loras students demonstrate
their ability to learn in active ways. As an active learner, I was required to tutor children at an
elementary school for my Sociology in Action course my first year at Loras. I tutored every
afternoon for a week and a half at Fulton Elementary School, and after that experience, I learned
that I did not want to work with children. My decision to go into a field with adults or the elderly
was definitely affirmed because most of the children I tutored had many disciplinary issues in the
classroom and with other children. The children were required to stay after school because their
parents had to work longer hours to make more money for their families. They required much
more help than I could provide for them at the time. Through this experience, I found out that
working with children in a school setting and trying to help them cope with the difficult
situations in their lives was not a good fit for me. Finding out what works and what does not
work becomes part of the process of active learning. I finally found out my passion when I
acquired my CNA certification at the end of January my sophomore year of college.
When I discovered what the requirements were for nursing school, one of the
requirements was to become a CNA and have 800 clinical direct-patient contact hours. I decided

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to obtain my Certified Nurses Aide certification in January of my sophomore year of college and
I have been a CNA for a year and a half. Since I have been working with the elderly, I have
gotten to know many of the residents in the building. Each one of them has their own story to
tell, whether they are capable of verbal expression or not. Their rooms depict a story about
themselves as well, including pictures, antiques, pieces of furniture from their homes (chairs,
beds sometimes, etc.), and some other articles of clothing (hats, brooches, etc.). I enjoy working
with the elderly because although some of the residents are not cognitively coherent anymore
and do not remember me each time I come into work, they appreciate that someone comes in to
help them take care of their basic daily needs. Sometimes the residents become frustrated
because they feel as though they are being ignored, abandoned by their families, and that nobody
cares about their needs. I often take the time to sit down with the residents and listen to what they
have to say, and I try to explain how the other nurses, CNAs and other employees are feeling and
the jobs that they have to complete. Allowing the residents to vent not only makes them feel
relieved, but I also know that they feel a little more relaxed when I talk to them. Many of the
resident experience anxiety and depression difficulties, and by being their CNA, I can alleviate
some of their stress. As an ethical decision-maker, I have had to make decisions based on how
the outcome will affect me and other people around me.
Ethical decision-makers discern religious, cultural and personal values in order to act
with justice and compassion. My public high school education left a vacuum in this part of my
life, with the exception of a fifty-hour community service requirement for graduation.
Fortunately, certain church activities counted toward this requirement. Our family delivered
leftover Panera bread and pastries to the inner-city neighborhoods in North St. Louis. The Otis
Woodard Bread Ministry exposed me to a world of need beyond my imagination. When the

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hungry saw our van, they appeared out of thin airfrom the alleys or just walking down the
streets with their grocery carts. Otis told us stories about Martin Luther King Jr., whose
assassination he witnessed in Memphis. He ran away to St. Louis to escape being killed because
he received threats against his family and his life. He and his family found an abandoned
building in North St. Louis, close to where he lives now. He prayed to God that if he could just
find some food to feed his family, then he would feed as many people in this neighborhood as he
could. Although he has a college education, he chooses to serve the neighborhood by recruiting
volunteers in the mission. Otis has inspired me to renew my faith and choose a profession with a
mission.
Ethical decision-makers choose certain paths based on their moral values. I have found
activities and two majors at Loras (Psychology and Sociology) with service and spirituality in
mind. Currently, I am part of Psi Chi and OVE+R. Psi Chi is an international psychology honors
society and the first student organization associated with the American Psychological Association
(APA). Being part of Psi Chi has encourages me to advance in my future career as a psychiatric
nurse and to promote ethical decision-making in my daily life. OVE+R stands for Overcoming
Violence and Empowering Positive (+) Relationships and is a sexual assault awareness
organization at Loras. I have been a member for almost two years now and was first a secretary
for the organization last year. As Vice President this year, I rotate with the president, Cara
OKeeffe, in running meetings about raising awareness of sexual assault on the Loras College
campus and other campuses around the country. In April during Sexual Assault Awareness
month, a national event called Take Back the Night is hosted by many college campuses around
the country, including Loras and this year Clarke University. This event brings tears to my eyes
every year because I commend the people that share their stories with the audience. This has

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brought more of an awareness that our culture regarding sexual assault needs to change and
having organizations like OVE+R can help make changes to our culture.According to the college
website, Loras has been nationally recognized for its service to others and has allowed me to
continue to serve people in other communities.
Throughout this semester in my Senior Seminar course for Psychology, we have learning
more about ethical decision-making in the field of psychology. Specifically, I researched the use
of animals in research overall. Many neuroscientists, biologists, and psychologists need to study
animals behaviors because they are physiologically, biologically, and psychologically. The use
of animals in research has also paved way for many medical breakthroughs, including vaccines
for polio, diphtheria, small pox, measles, mumps, and few others. Essentially, I learned how to
examine both the favoring sides and the opposing sides of an argument. For example, animals
have been physically harmed in the past in many experiments, but the Animal Welfare Act
(AWA) created in 1966 to ensure that little to no harm was caused towards the animals in the
experiments. I wrote a Major Topics research paper for this course that goes into more detail
about my position on this topic.
I appreciate the flexibility Loras has allowed for me in the first two years to study an
assortment of classes. A liberal arts education not only gave me a choice of courses, but the
freedom to experiment with my talents and desires. I found my talents through being a
Psychology and Sociology double major by joining these organizations and volunteering in the
Dubuque community. A liberal arts education provides a way for students to have an
international experience, even if their major(s) do not directly focus on global studies. I aspire to
study abroad one day, but these plans do fit into my current life path at the moment. Hopefully
one day I can use my majors internationally and make a bigger difference in many peoples lives.