PSP Student Self-Statement

PSP is a major that emphasizes experiential learning and community.  By means of these, we students in PSP seek to become flexible, effective leaders through developing human connections and through learning when to step in and when to step back.  We also strive to make positive, lasting change and to become comfortable standing up to injustice and inequity.

Because being within community can be difficult, PSP promotes skills in conflict resolution by emphasizing the practice of dialogue within collaborative classes that build on one another over the four years.  In PSP we emphasize dialogue as a source of deep reflection on our actions, and practice at developing the skills of active listening and story-telling.

What we grow to understand in PSP is what we most value.  What we become better able to do in PSP is to put those values into practice every day. PSP encourages us to be open to being questioned about our values and to have the courage to allow for an evolution of our values as we join together within our community-centered dialogue, reflection and action.

PSP, finally, is what prepares us for a career in private-sector, public, or community-based organizations.  By preparing us for these careers, PSP allows us to pursue our individual passions while negotiating the needs, limits and requirements of those organizations and the communities they serve.