Sierra “Sisi” Warner wins Love of Learning Award!

This year’s recipient is sometimes very quiet in class and sometimes very talkative, but even when she’s quiet her mind is always exploding with thoughts. She will often stay after class to say how much she loved a reading or to ask a question about an idea. Whether she is discussing her conflicting views about Thomas Jefferson or lighting up with joy about her love of the Korean language and culture, it is clear that Sisi simply loves to learn.

Some class assignments of Sisi’s include the following in a paper about Jefferson and DuBois’s view of liberal education:  Even though Dubois stresses the importance of college, he is also aware that college is not an option for everyone. In reality, Dubois supports industrial labor for the 90%, but he argues that the ultimate outcome of success would be hindered in the Black population if they solely focus on the training of industrial skills instead of receiving a classical education.

In another paper Sisi quoted David Foster Wallace, “Wallace states,’… I submit that this is what the real, …..value of your liberal arts education is supposed to be about: how to keep from going through your comfortable, prosperous, respectable adult life dead, unconscious, a slave to your head and to your natural default settings of being uniquely, completely, imperially alone day in and day out” ( Wallace). Based on our knowledge of liberal arts education, this quote vividly demonstrates the meaning of what is expected from a liberal art school. While in such settings, scholars actively seek for the deeper meaning of life, of reason, and of self discovery.

In her classwork, she wrote about the importance of liberal education, which is fitting because she yourself exemplify the love of learning that is essential to a liberal education. Said Dr. Mackler, “For this reason, the education department has chosen Rescuing Socrates as your book prize. The author, Roosevelt Montas, was a Dominican immigrant who writes about how the books he encountered in his liberal education helped him make sense of his own life. In many ways, this is a book I could imagine you writing as well. We hope reading this book will help you reflect on your own journey in liberal education, and we hope that you will keep your heart and mind open to learning after you graduate and model this openness to growth to your future students.”  Congratulations to Sisi Warner!