The "Values" meeting was one of our last meetings as Shucker New Fellows in our first semester here at Furman. The meeting was a great way for us to reflect on our experience and realize how close we have gotten to be over this past semester. It seems like just yesterday we were interviewing to be in the Shucker Leadership program, yet we have come so far since then.
To start the meeting, we each had to think of someone who we consider to be true to their values. Each of us contributed two character traits of this person to a master list. Once we had almost 50 character traits on the board, we went through each trait. If someone thought that the character trait was not necessary for a person to be true to their values, then we would cross the adjective off the list. When we made it through the list, we only had about six character traits left. We had several debates about character traits and whether or not it was necessary for a person true to their values to have that trait. Eventually we ended up with a concrete list of the minimum traits a value grounded person needed to have including morality, integrity, and honesty.
For the next activity, there was a list of phrases around the room such as "legal," "illegal," "illegal but acceptable," "not a good idea," and "brilliant." We were told to listen to several scenarios, then stand in the section of the room that corresponded to our opinion on the scenario. We debated scenarios like eating food from a grocery store before you pay for it, or stopping at stop signs. Through some good discussions, we heard different interpretations of scenarios and many people's opinions were swayed.
The last activity was much more personal. We all stood in a big circle around the room. Various phrases were read out loud. We were asked to step forward towards the center of the circle if that phrase applied to us and if we felt like sharing it with others. The phrases started out simple, but they progressed to be much more personal. People were very willing to share personal details about their lives and their opinions such as their political views, past experiences, and time here at Furman. It was very affirming to the Shucker program to know that so many people felt so comfortable sharing personal information about themselves. This activity really made us feel like we were a community of people who were accepting of each other. We saw through the activity that many of us come from very different backgrounds and have very different views, yet we were all willing to share that with each other. When people stepped in towards the center of the circle, we were all reminded that we are a tight knit group of people who will always be surrounded by our fellow Shucker members.
Everyone really enjoyed the meeting last Wednesday, and we are looking forward to what Shucker has to bring us in our next semesters at Furman.
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