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Through the Looking Glass: A Scholar’s Reflections on the
First Summer Leadership Institute
Antoinette M. Rogers
Virginia Commonwealth University
My experience as a
participant in the First Annual Holmes Scholars Summer Leadership
Institute has been one of the most definitive experiences of my
doctoral matriculation. Like Alice in Lewis Carroll’s Through the
Looking Glass, I found myself in a new and different place -
Washington, DC, surrounded by influential people from both educational
and political arenas.
Although our nation’s capital is only
102 miles from my hometown of Richmond, Virginia, it initially seemed
like worlds away, despite my having traveled there many times before.
Meeting with policy-makers, education advocates, leaders of
professional organizations and researchers provided me with an
“up-close” view of how decisions ultimately transform instructional
and administrative practices in American education. I was able to
begin solving the mystery of this “wonderland” as our group met with
researchers and educational leaders, whose works we’ve read about.
Being able to engage in meaningful discourse and generate new ideas
allowed me to expand my thinking and broaden my horizons. As a result
of participating in the summer institute, I am now more aware of
various career opportunities, innovative professional practices and
the ever-changing relationship between K-12 schools and Higher
Education.
The Holmes Scholars Summer Institute
not only fostered my professional growth, but my personal and social
growth as well. I was able to reflect upon things of importance to me
and further develop my own philosophies about my life as well as my
career. The networking opportunities resulting from the institute
have proven to be endless. Holmes Scholars were able to meet people
and visit places that we probably would not have had the opportunity
to do so soon, if ever in our lifetimes. Equally as important, are
the friendships that have been formed. These bonds will not soon be
broken. The scholars who participated have gotten to know each other
personally and have become a family. Although the miles separate us
physically, we regularly communicate with each other via telephone and
e-mail.
The Holmes Scholars program is one of
only a few programs in the country devoted to developing faculty of
color in Teacher Education. It is a wonderful program through which
participation has afforded many positive learning experiences such as
the Summer Leadership Institute.
Antoinette
M. Rogers
Instructor/Ph.D. Student/Holmes Scholar
Virginia Commonwealth University
Department of Teaching and Learning
rogersam@vcu.edu
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