NW seminar shows students new ways to accomplish goals, dreams

By Tabitha Redder and Taylor Jensen

People have to feel valuable before they can even begin to dream, NW seminar participants learned Nov. 26.

Speech instructor and event coordinator Carol Hunsberger emphasized the idea of finding oneself at the Dream Questiny: Just Dream It seminar.

“I wanted to help students and faculty find out their passions,” she said. “But in order to do that, you have to start with the basics: you.

Humanities associate professor Kim Jackson engaged attendees in activities and exercises that encouraged them to be as honest and open as possible with themselves.

“You need to know who you are to be able to decide what you want to do in life,” she said.

Jackson led attendees through a binary exercise designed to show that life isn’t black and white. She attributed an adjective to each side of the room and asked participants to move silently to the side they felt they identified with the most.

“Mainstream society usually only presents us with two options on an issue,” she said. “We get an idea of what something should look like and then try to fit it into those pre-set boxes, and it just doesn’t work.”

In another exercise, attendees had to choose an area of their life they were unhappy about, analyze why they’re in the situation and determine what they can do to change it.

“If you’re not honest with yourself, it won’t work,” Jackson said referring to the activity. “Honesty is liberating.”

The Collegian editor-in-chief Shirlett Warren told of an abusive relationship and her path to raising her three children and finding her dream.

“Horrible life circumstances can serve as an alarm clock for you,” she said. “I realized that I had to get out of that situation.”

Warren also explained the lily pad effect.

“A lot of times when you talk about making goals, you want to see a straight line of progress,” she said. “Sometimes, instead, it’s just about making a decision.”

Hunsberger ended the seminar with Pursuing Your Passions, focusing on self-evaluation to help better build self-esteem.

“I woke up one day and realized the desires we have in our head were given to us to help us become who we were meant to be,” she said. “You should never stop dreaming. Even small dreams are important because after we accomplish those, it gives us the confidence to accomplish the big ones.”

Hunsberger said the first thing people can do to better their lives is to admit they’re not perfect.

“Everyone knows deep down in their soul what they want to do, what their talent is,” she said. “We are just terrified to admit it and then fail at it.”

Life is a series of choices, and people are free to make them, Hunsberger said.

“You have my permission to take a risk. If you fail, so what?” she said. “Listen to your own drummer. If you want a fabulous life, go make one. If you sit down and wait for fabulous things to happen to you, you are going to be sitting for a while.”

After the seminar, sophomore Melissa Maing said she feels more self-aware.

“It made me take a look at what I have going on,” she said. “[Jackson] told us to look at one area of our life, but I can think of five or six that I need to work on.”