Chris Banyas
Life Editor
Even within the journey of life there are many journeys, each complete with a dragon to slay and a reward to discover.
Instead of mounds of gold and gems guarded by monstrous creatures, the human struggle deals with issues that hinder the realization of potential.
These very real philosophical and psychological concepts are part of what will be featured in the Harvest Your Potential events.
Idaho State University Central Academic Advising will be kicking off the fourth annual Harvest Your Potential series of events with the Part-Time Job Fair Sept. 3 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Pond Student Union Building Ballroom.
Harvest Your Potential is the brainchild of Academic and Career Adviser Nancy Goodman.
“The philosophy is that it’s a way to create a series of presentations that we can get students to go to sort of underneath an umbrella of a program instead of trying to do individual programs here and there which has been a historic problem,” said Goodman. “We’ve got some Career Center presentations, we’ve got some Student Life presentations, we’ve got some academic presentations and mixed in we’ve got three academic fairs.”
Each event is aimed at helping students with a different area of their educational journey. Math anxiety, campus involvement, jobs, declaring majors and marketability outside of the university system are a few.
Each presentation will last from 12:20 to 12:50 p.m. and will be held in the Rendezvous Suites on the first floor of the Rendezvous Complex.
Punch cards with spaces for each event are available at Central Academic Advising as well as Freshman Orientation and other places around campus and during the events.
“Each presentation or event they attend, they can punch their card,” said Goodman. “Students who have participated in eight or more of these events will get an ISU swag bag of goodies.”
Cards need to be returned to the Central Academic Advising office, Museum Building room 307, before Friday, Nov. 21 to receive one of the bags.
Goodman comes to advising from a background in psychology, and utilized this in the presentation she will be delivering on Sept. 9 and 10 entitled “The Hero’s Journey – Your Adventure as a Student.”
Based in large part on Joseph Campbell’s work “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” The Hero’s Journey draws a parallel between the epic journeys of myth, folklore and fiction and those students face.
“All the movies that we see, all the films, all the stories, legends, they all kind of feel a little similar at the psychological level,” said Goodman. “How can we relate that to our experience as a college student? How do we confront challenges? How do we find allies? How do we have the grit to do what we need to get done?”
The Hero’s Journey Model involves many stages, beginning with the call to adventure and leading to dragon slaying as well as crossing from the known to the unknown and dealing with the refusal of the call, or the abyss.
“It’s a psychological experience. We can look at that and say ‘how is this happening in my life?’ What do I need to do? How am I refusing the call?” said Goodman. “We all start out the adventure with what we need, but we don’t realize it.”
According to Goodman, there are a few mistakes that are common among students, especially those new to the university system. These include deciding on a major for the wrong reasons, and taking on too much too soon.
For a full schedule of events, see the graphic above.
