Select Kent State University students have accepted the challenge to submit a video as part of the latest element of Discovering Purpose video series. The project began with inspiration from Kent State President Beverly J. Warren’s 2015 State of the University address emphasizing the importance of a purposeful education.
“The first videos being released highlight the personal stories of several role models within the greater Kent State community,” said Brent Robinson, an Assistant Dean in University College. “When students see that success requires an openness to possibilities, a willingness to embrace one’s truest passions, and unwavering authenticity, they are better prepared to understand that the path to a fulfilling career is often very nonlinear and requires flexibility and adaptation.”
Students are expected to take this project and use it to reveal what they desire from their Kent State education. Provost Todd Diacon was a featured interview for the first Discovering Purpose video. He discussed his journey during his education.
“When students hear an establish campus leader, like Provost (Todd) Diacon, who openly admitted that he realized that he really didn’t want to be a lawyer as he was actually taking the LSAT test, revealing his own early career uncertainty, it ought to embolden the students to continue their own search for purpose,” Robinson said.
Kent State’s Exploratory Advising Center, Student Success Programs, Career Exploration and Development, Degree Completion, and the Office of Experiential Education and Civic Engagement are collaborating on the project’s launch. Students enrolled in Exploratory sections of the First Year Experience (FYE) course and others in a pilot section of the College of Education, Health and Humans Services (EHHS) are participating in the contest.
The collaborators intended for this project to encourage the students to reflect on their individual experiences throughout the students’ first semester and where this will lead them over the next four years and beyond.
“Each student will be submitting their own 30-second video as a capstone project within the FYE course,” Robinson said. “It’s a habit that we feel will empower them to more effectively author their own life story and thereby reach their highest potential.”
Students have the opportunity to be recognized for their work by submitting their 30-second Discovering Purpose video in a contest. The Purposeful Learning Committee representing different departments collaborating in the project will choose the three best student videos, which will then be uploaded to the Discovering Purpose website in early December.
“Students will have the opportunity to inspire their peers by sharing their own story and thereby making a positive impact within the Kent State community,” says Robinson. “After all, what prize is greater than the fulfillment of a life lived passionately for the betterment of others?”
For more information about the video series and contest, visit the Discovering Purpose website http://www.kent.edu/einside/einside-oct-31-2016