So, you’ve made it through all your Perspectives and Enduring-Questions courses, and you’re trying to decide what you’re interested in studying for your three Integrative Studies courses? Or maybe, you’re sure you’re interested in International Business, Marketing, and Sports, but you’re not sure how to turn your IS courses into a final Core Milestone Experience project? Not to worry- there are some amazing students, and even some graduates, who have cultivated masterpieces, photo presentations, videos, and books, among other things, to represent their interests and studies. Check out their journeys through the new core.

Meet Laura Keech

Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders

 Minors: Pre-Audiology and Sociology

Hometown: Honeoye, New York

Graduation Year: 2017

Extracurricular Activities: I am a student coordinator for Partners for Learning, a work study program that’s part of Nazareth’s Center for Civic Engagement, a Student Orientation Coordinator, and a Senator for the class of 2017. I also am part of the Communication Sciences and Disorders Association.

What courses made up your IS Clusters?

1) PSY 221 Infancy and Childhood –about the growth and psychological development of children from birth throughout early childhood

2) CSD 253 American Sign Language 1 – This course taught me many signs and how to communicate in American Sign Language, as well as knowledge and insight into the Deaf community and Deaf culture.

3) SOC 410 Race, Ethnicity and Society – This course opened my eyes to the inequalities and injustice endured by racial minorities in our society to this day.

What was your project? How did you present it?

My project was a series of six drawings that I created to illustrate the contrast between two very different worlds. I drew the contrast that I have learned about and witnessed between the Deaf community in the United States, (especially in the Rochester area), and in Ethiopia, specifically the life of a child growing up in these communities. I presented this by hanging up three drawings of scenes of the life of a deaf child here in the US, and three drawings of the life of a child in Ethiopia. As a hearing person I cannot speak for the Deaf community, but I hoped to show my perspective. I came up with the idea after taking a service trip to Ethiopia to work with and empower the deaf community there. I then met with my CME professor on how I could incorporate art into my project and she suggested that I do a series of drawings.

lauras-project1

How do you think your Core Milestone Experience, your IS clusters, and your PE-Q courses in general, have helped prepare you for life after college?

First, I believe the Core Milestone Experience encourages students to take what they’ve learned and apply it in perhaps a different way, or look at it from a different angle, at least, that’s what the project did for me. With my IS cluster I was able to integrate knowledge from my major courses along with ideas from my sociology minor as well as experiences from a service trip I had taken with Nazareth to Ethiopia to work with the deaf community. My PE-Q courses in general have provided me with information about varying topics that I would not have otherwise pursued. Those classes took me outside of my comfort zone and were sometimes a challenge, but in a constructive way.

Read about some other students’ CME clusters here:

Alessio de Michele (Business Administration ’17) and Good Leadership

Cassie Matalavage (Inclusive Education and Spanish ’17) and Diversity in Education

Heather Holland (Communication Sciences and Disorders ’16) and Memory

Interested in learning more about Nazareth’s curriculum? Read Lauren’s blog about her experience with the CME or Conner’s blog that gives an overview of Nazareth’s core requirements.