I have completed my letter and sent it off to the USM administration. I hope people will take the opportunity to read this. My experience with education started rough, but ended with success. It may be long, but it is about something I am very passionate about. My letter is below. To whom it may Concern, My name is Chrystal Thorne and I am a 2004 Theatre graduate of USM. If I have learned one thing from my years of being a student, it is that each one of us has different learning styles. Over the past few years it has become evident that this country is trying to put education into a neat box that has one way in and one way out. I fought all through my educational career to not be put into a box. When I was younger I was told that I had a learning disability. I was put through every test you can think of. I didn’t seem to be answering the questions in these tests the way administration wanted and I was pulled out of classes I loved in order to re hash these same tests over and over and over. I felt for the longest time that something was wrong with me and that maybe I wasn’t even capable or worthy of an education. I started to believe I was a waste of my teachers’ time. I went through a period where I truly believed I would not amount to more than a screw up. Fortunately, I had a support system of wonderful family and educators that would simply not allow me to sit in that dark place. I was worthy of an education. Not only was I worthy, but more than capable. For so long I felt that I could not be in a classroom with my peers, because they simply were smarter than me and somehow I would just hold them back. I found however, that many of the issues challenging me were also challenging to my classmates as well. When I was able to be in a hands on environment, the process of learning became a bit easier for me. Due to these experiences I feel it is important to have classes where students actually sit together. Sure, we have ways of video chatting and having discussions over our computers, but it does not give us the chance to sit in the same room together, share ideas or make lasting bonds with our peers. It is a combination of classroom collaboration and technological advances that allow students to be successful. The reason I mention this is because I see these recent lay offs and plans for the future of USM as making it much harder for this classroom collaboration to take place. I know that many of my theatre classes required a lot of one on one work with peers and also a student to faculty ratio that made it possible to get more personalized instructions. I feel as though the lay offs that have been made and the lay offs to come will cause the classroom dynamic to not be as successful as it has been. I think if students are not getting this classroom time and personalized instruction that many of them will feel frustrated and possibly give up on getting their degrees all together I do feel that the opportunity to have an education that is rooted more in the community is a great idea. I think the businesses in the area would enjoy working with students who want to dedicate themselves to learning and to getting the skills to build an even stronger bond. Portland is such an eclectic area. It is surrounded by diversity and creativity. Many of the businesses in the area are very supportive of the arts. The arts have proven to be the universal language. It gives us unlimited means of telling stories, educating, and cultivating an appreciation of all walks of life. One of the reasons Portland has always been so special to me is because of how beautifully I saw the arts portrayed. I love living in the midst of people who are creative and willing to look outside the box. For this reason also, I see these lay offs as counterproductive. USM is so fortunate to have a representation of professors and staff that are currently there. The talent and pride USM educators have in their field is unmatched to anything I have ever seen. So many of the faculty, especially in art, music and theatre have won prestigious awards and express their pride in their students and university publicly. This is such an incredible asset to the students, community and the school. I can not tell you how important these people still are to me. Even after graduating over 10 years ago, many of these professors continue to be a resource for me. I call on them for references, advice and have even worked with them outside of the University. Having people in your life that have been the role models I have had at USM make taking risks and expanding yourself all the more rewarding. From the very beginning my theatre professors believed in my abilities and fostered a wonderful learning environment. They helped me work toward a BA degree that now hangs on my wall at home. I never thought I would see that educational accomplishment met and at one point did not feel worthy to even attempt to earn it. I ask that you please look at the current steps that are being made. I just feel that if things continue to roll out the way the administration has planned that the university is going to suffer greatly. I will always cherish my time at USM and my hope is that future generations will get to have the experiences that I have had. Sincerely, Chrystal Thorne
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 20:10:18 +0000
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