The Grand Canyon

I'm writing on behalf of group 3 (also known as "The Grand Canyon"). We selected the name based on a commonality we all saw in how we moved through the world – "becoming more so." The phrase came from one of our group members, who explained that "becoming more so" was how he and his family described people whose personality traits grew stronger as they aged. As we thought more about this idea of strengthening personality and strengthening identity, we reflected on our own paths to social work and to the 360. Each of us spoke to different choices and experiences pointing us towards this point in our lives now. One of us spoke to changing her mind about persuing a graduate degree in psychology as well as the way loved ones impacted physical placement in the world and proximitiy to Bryn Mawr. Another spoke to her own experiences as reflected in the 360 course content – and the way the content overlapped with her career goals. 

We appreciated the metaphor of the Grand Canyon as our path through the world – as we age, the path deepens and grows stronger. However, we can (with effort!) change our path and forge new "tributaries" off of our original canyon. Additionally, as we continue to deepen the path we move on, we wear away existing rock and new things are uncovered.  

We also had less abstract connections. Three of us were connected through midwives – one wants to be one, one was birthed by one, and one's children were birthed by them. Four of us were connected through Illinois – whether that was home-town, school site, or family space. We all have parents. We've all experienced aging in some way. We all spoke to feeling simultaneously "like a kid and a grown-up." We all felt frustrated by age expectations. And nearly all of us felt as though we'd missed an opportunity and it was now too late to return to it. Hopefully, these and other commonalities will continue to emerge as we work together this semester.