Bear Tracks is your companion during your journey of self-discovery and through the Ursinus Quest Curriculum.
The experiences that you have at Ursinus will lead you to discover and reexamine who you are at your core, how you relate to and understand the world and people around you, and what you will do to live a life full of purpose and achievement. However, college goes by quickly, and before you know it, you will be walking across the stage on the Berman Lawn in a cap and gown!
During your time at Ursinus, remember that the processes of tracking and reflecting upon your learning experiences that occur both in and out of the classroom are essential for engaging meaningfully with your own growth and development. Bear Tracks is your companion during your journey of self-discovery and through the Ursinus Quest Curriculum.
Bear Tracks is a convenient, digital platform where students can engage in deep self-reflection based on their learning experiences in and out of the classroom. Students can think of Bear Tracks as an online journal for documenting, collecting, and organizing the meaningful experiences that they have throughout their years at Ursinus, as well as a space for tracing the development of their personal and academic growth and their evolving answers to the Quest Open Questions.
Bear Tracks provides the opportunity and the space for students to slow down and acknowledge what they experience, learn, feel, think, and do in a contemplative and reflective way. The contemplative and reflective writing and thinking that students do in their Bear Tracks will allow them to gain a higher level of self-awareness and self-purpose. On graduation day, students can look back to see how they have developed and grown over their years at Ursinus with a sense of pride and accomplishment.
The rich moments of reflection that students record in their Bear Tracks will serve as reference points as students develop their professional personas. The sense of self-awareness that Bear Tracks helps to cultivate will help students decide how to share their story with potential employers, graduate programs, and other networking connections. Furthermore, students can draw from their Bear Tracks reflections when writing personal statements and cover letters, filling out applications, and preparing for interviews.
Students are also encouraged to upload essays, assignments, and research projects that they are especially proud of to their Bear Tracks. These documents can later be used as writing samples in future job, internship, and/or graduate school applications or referenced as relevant experience during interviews.
Overall, students will be able to use the content of their Bear Tracks to articulate what is meaningful to them and who they are in preparation for entering the post-graduate world.
Sophie Gioffre Bear Tracks Post-Baccalaureate Fellow
sgioffre@ursinus.edu (610) 409-3667 Bomberger 103, Center for International Programs
