{"id":6770,"date":"2025-04-01T16:35:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T20:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/?p=6770"},"modified":"2025-04-01T16:35:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T20:35:41","slug":"crafting-some-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/global-elites\/2025\/04\/01\/crafting-some-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Crafting Some Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Attaining a state of tranquility can be quite difficult in our fast-paced everyday lives. While this proves to be a struggle for everyone, the challenge becomes increasingly difficult through the lens of a student enrolled at an elite institution. The research project my group is embarking on this semester aims to explore how Olive Grove in Jordan prepares its students to become democratic leaders. We have each been given a transcript to analyze which involves three different interviews with one student who we will continue to read about for the remainder of the term. Working off of this overarching research question, I have taken a specific interest here in the different ways in which these students interact with their inner selves. As an individual who is constantly inspired by those around me, through intentional conversation and daily practice, I am always quite curious about the ways in which different cultures experience that interconnected relationship with themselves. What I mean by \u201cinterconnected relationship\u201d is that aspect of a person\u2019s internal being that is altered and ever changing due to the environment they live in. I believe people are profoundly shaped by their environment. This is why this project has been an incredible opportunity to explore a culture very different from my own. In fact, the research conducted thus far has even gone as far as to give me a unique perspective into the world of elite, upper-class freedom and leverage that arises from certain backgrounds.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

The beginning stages of this process involved getting familiar with one student from Olive Grove. Through this process I was able to get incredibly comfortable reading the dialogue while beginning to understand the relationship this student has with themselves and with the world around them. This student is an incredibly hard worker who comes from a stable background, and happens to be very close with their mother which is something I want to explore further. Though their hard work pays off tremendously, something I am curious about is the ways in which my student appears to be very hard on themself. This is a trait I picked up on while reading through numerous transcripts from my fellow group members. Interestingly enough, something I was quite interested in uncovering through this process was how the rigorous environment attached to many elite educational institutions affects the wellbeing of its students, particularly in regards to mental health. I find myself wandering down this path because I, myself, have struggled with many different emotional battles and personal agency while living within the walls of an elite institution. In order to find a symbiotic relationship between personal growth and academic success, one must live among balance, which can be quite challenging to find, especially through the lens of a growing student. This proves to be especially true after analyzing much of the data from this project.<\/span><\/p>

Continuing to think about these concepts of personal agency and human flourishing, something that stuck out to me was how influential the student\u2019s mother was in their educational decisions. Something we just read about in Bourdieu\u2019s <\/span>The State Nobility,<\/span><\/i> is how elite institutions often impose such rigorous tradition and value into their students, that they maintain those traits and qualities throughout the rest of their lives. I want to explore this because while my student has not talked too much about pressures from the institution itself, they remark upon the times they changed their interests and desires from wanting to be a lawyer into a more \u201csuitable\u201d path that their mother has chosen for them. This is an interesting relationship to explore because it highlights how powerful the mother\u2019s voice is amongst the inner workings of the child. I find myself thinking about why this is often the case?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The final point I want to discuss is the relationship my student has with community engagement and how this connects to inner agency. I recognized how important it was to this student to be involved in the world around them. I was hesitant at first, thinking this was perhaps based on a desire to \u201cget ahead\u201d institutionally, only to be proven wrong when this student mentioned the fact that they engage in community service solely for enjoyment. In fact, a quote from the transcript says it best; \u201cif people like me don\u2019t exist, all the stereotypes about Arabs, all the stereotypes about Muslims, they\u2019re never going to change\u201d. This is a beautiful trait to come across while reading data, and has got me interested in understanding these intricate relationships with inner agency and self-awareness. Going forward with this project, I am incredibly excited to see what new questions arise through more in-depth analysis and conversation with my group members.<\/span><\/p>

\"\"<\/p><\/div>More <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \t <\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Attaining a state of tranquility can be quite difficult in our fast-paced everyday lives. While this proves to be a struggle for everyone, the challenge becomes increasingly difficult through the lens of a student enrolled at an elite institution. The research project my group is embarking on this semester aims to explore how Olive Grove […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11464,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"builder_content":"

Attaining a state of tranquility can be quite difficult in our fast-paced everyday lives. While this proves to be a struggle for everyone, the challenge becomes increasingly difficult through the lens of a student enrolled at an elite institution. The research project my group is embarking on this semester aims to explore how Olive Grove in Jordan prepares its students to become democratic leaders. We have each been given a transcript to analyze which involves three different interviews with one student who we will continue to read about for the remainder of the term. Working off of this overarching research question, I have taken a specific interest here in the different ways in which these students interact with their inner selves. As an individual who is constantly inspired by those around me, through intentional conversation and daily practice, I am always quite curious about the ways in which different cultures experience that interconnected relationship with themselves. What I mean by \u201cinterconnected relationship\u201d is that aspect of a person\u2019s internal being that is altered and ever changing due to the environment they live in. I believe people are profoundly shaped by their environment. This is why this project has been an incredible opportunity to explore a culture very different from my own. In fact, the research conducted thus far has even gone as far as to give me a unique perspective into the world of elite, upper-class freedom and leverage that arises from certain backgrounds.<\/p>

<\/p>

The beginning stages of this process involved getting familiar with one student from Olive Grove. Through this process I was able to get incredibly comfortable reading the dialogue while beginning to understand the relationship this student has with themselves and with the world around them. This student is an incredibly hard worker who comes from a stable background, and happens to be very close with their mother which is something I want to explore further. Though their hard work pays off tremendously, something I am curious about is the ways in which my student appears to be very hard on themself. This is a trait I picked up on while reading through numerous transcripts from my fellow group members. Interestingly enough, something I was quite interested in uncovering through this process was how the rigorous environment attached to many elite educational institutions affects the wellbeing of its students, particularly in regards to mental health. I find myself wandering down this path because I, myself, have struggled with many different emotional battles and personal agency while living within the walls of an elite institution. In order to find a symbiotic relationship between personal growth and academic success, one must live among balance, which can be quite challenging to find, especially through the lens of a growing student. This proves to be especially true after analyzing much of the data from this project.<\/p>

Continuing to think about these concepts of personal agency and human flourishing, something that stuck out to me was how influential the student\u2019s mother was in their educational decisions. Something we just read about in Bourdieu\u2019s The State Nobility,<\/i> is how elite institutions often impose such rigorous tradition and value into their students, that they maintain those traits and qualities throughout the rest of their lives. I want to explore this because while my student has not talked too much about pressures from the institution itself, they remark upon the times they changed their interests and desires from wanting to be a lawyer into a more \u201csuitable\u201d path that their mother has chosen for them. This is an interesting relationship to explore because it highlights how powerful the mother\u2019s voice is amongst the inner workings of the child. I find myself thinking about why this is often the case?\u00a0<\/p>

The final point I want to discuss is the relationship my student has with community engagement and how this connects to inner agency. I recognized how important it was to this student to be involved in the world around them. I was hesitant at first, thinking this was perhaps based on a desire to \u201cget ahead\u201d institutionally, only to be proven wrong when this student mentioned the fact that they engage in community service solely for enjoyment. In fact, a quote from the transcript says it best; \u201cif people like me don\u2019t exist, all the stereotypes about Arabs, all the stereotypes about Muslims, they\u2019re never going to change\u201d. This is a beautiful trait to come across while reading data, and has got me interested in understanding these intricate relationships with inner agency and self-awareness. Going forward with this project, I am incredibly excited to see what new questions arise through more in-depth analysis and conversation with my group members.<\/p>

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