Curiosity in action

Of the five values we hold at LCM: hospitality, service, justice, integrity, and curiosity, I have the most trouble living out curiosity on a daily basis. In my classes over the past two years here at the U, I think I’ve trained myself to just accept and write down everything my professors tell me. After all, they are the experts on the subjects, and I’m supposed to be the sponge… soaking up all of the information!! This was okay for me while taking my Lib-Ed requirements just to get a grade for the first four semesters, but something clicked this summer for me as I became more interested/passionate about what I was learning in my program and from the greater world around me.

I was blessed to nanny for a family with two young girls this past summer. I was surprised on a daily basis by the imagination and genuine curiosity of the 3 year-old. She could play at the park–mostly by herself as I was holding her 8 month-old sister–for hours. Pretending to be a pirate, playing house with her imaginary friends, watching the birds,  and asking me SO many, “Why?” questions. “Kalysta, why are those birds all together?” “Why is that guy walking by us?” She even noticed a colony of ants on a walk one day–something that I would have walked right past– sat down on the ground next to them and asked, “What are they doing?” Pure, spontaneous curiosity. This is something I’ve let go of, I think, because of the college bubble that I’ve been in for two years.

In goal-setting for myself this semester, I’ve decided to BE CURIOUS by asking- either verbally to my professors/peers or mentally to myself while reading or learning- Why? Why am I learning this? Why is this important? Using a three year-old as my role model and inspiration, I hope to dig deeper and grow. Constantly learning, wondering, and appreciating the greater world around me.

Stay curious, folks 🙂

Kalysta Schlitter