Kyle Henry Reflection Paper 12/9/13 Dr.

Bell Since August of 2010, I have been a part of an incredibly life-altering experience in coming to Loras College. So, in every aspect of my life here, I get a bit sentimental, as Ive grown and developed in ways Ive never really imagined myself going. In brief, preliminary summarization, my Loras experience these past three years is an amalgamation of three different aspects; the student, the athlete, and the Dubuque resident. As a resident, coming to Dubuque was an odd experience in and of itself. First off, the hills are the most present thing. In addition to that, the archaic, historical look of one of the first booming towns on the Mississippi River was a sight to behold in and of itself. As time wore on, and I made most of my friends, I began to experience, and still am experiencing all Dubuque has to offer. Many kids going to college say Oh, I live in such-and-such. Ive felt thats not really true. I tell people I live in Dubuque, because I do. I go back home to Bartlett, because, yknow, home is where the heart is. Since living here, Ive begun establishing my own proverbial roots here in town. Ive worked here, Ive gotten an education here, and Ive been a part of many community events. When I left for school, my father told me that I would most likely foster and cement friendships that would last the rest of my life. I kind of rolled my eyes, as I had gotten the same spiel in high school. Well, dads most likely right on the money this time around. I consider myself as close with my friends and teammates as I am with my own brother. Theyre essentially family now. I call the parents Ive met mom and dad, and they refer to mine in the same fashion.

Its a bit surreal. Ive been a part of simple community traditions, such as the Dubuque Dragonboat Festival. And Ive also been a part of major life events, such as marriages (Ive even performed one myself, due to being an ordained minister), births, deaths and funerals, and everything else under the sun. And the core of these people who have embraced me so wholly have lived and grown up in Dubuque. Thats my main selling point to people who inquire about this town. It may not seem like much, but it is home to some of the kindest, most gracious people in the world. As an athlete, I owe a lot of credit to Randy Steward and the Loras Wrestling program for getting me where I am today. I came from a high school wrestling program that was still very much in its infancy stages, and was only decent, as compared to the wealth and pedigree of talent that many of my current and former teammates had held. So, I feel like they took a monumental chance on me, by investing a lot of time into training with me, and instilling a sense of dedication, work ethic, and passion that I try to instill in every facet of my life. In addition, Coach Steward was the one driving force that kept me and my teammates on the path to academic success, and really enforced the perspective that we didnt come to Loras to wrestle, and made sure our education was our priority. Hes been that father figure away from home thats loomed over the team and constantly directing us to be as successful as we can be in multiple areas of our lives. He treats every one of his athletes as if they were one of his children, and would do just as much to see us succeed as he would them. And as a senior, when I meet with a recruit or a freshmans parents, I regale that sentiment to them, to let them know that theyre getting more than just a wrestling coach out of Randy Steward. He pours his heart and soul into that program and his teams with as much vigor as he did when he started 21 years ago,

and shows no sign of slowing down. Every student-athlete that was ever under his tutelage was and will always be in good hands. As such, not every aspect of being an athlete was great. I came in with a lot of athletic aspirations that, for one reason or another, were simply not met. As such, I learned how to get back up and dust myself off after falling off the proverbial horse. And its kept me forging ahead while keeping my ultimate goals in perspective. Ive swallowed some tough pills due to this, the toughest being that I will not be wrestling competitively for the rest of my life, and every day that reality comes closer and closer to coming to fruition. As sad as it is for me, its inspired me to search for alternatives once my eligibility to wrestle in NCAA competition expires in March of 2014. Ive considered going into judo, which I am already a blue belt in. But a chance meeting here in Dubuque may have actually cast that plan aside. This past September, I met one of the people from the days of my childhood fascination with professional wrestling, a man who goes by the stage name of Hardcore Bob Holly. One of my earliest memories is re-enacting one of his matches with my older brother in our basement. Bob happens to live in Dubuque, and had recently written a book regarding his decades-spanning career in professional wrestling. He also happened to be doing a book signing in Loras Alumni Campus Center. I seized the opportunity, went and talked to him, and we happened to hit it off, so to speak. Bob planted the idea of me wrestling professionally after I was finished with college, and honestly, its an idea that has proven incredibly alluring. Hes even used some contacts to get a couple tryouts at various gyms, and has even agreed to work out with me once the wrestling season is over. So, while I feel that my collegiate wrestling career is ending, a new door has opened for me that can hopefully be worked in along with my other plans for the future.

As a student, I feel like Ive been on a roller coaster ride. Overall, Ive enjoyed my classes, and the things Ive learned that have helped me become a deep, multi-faceted, intelligent individual with aspirations to further my education beyond a bachelors from Loras. That being said, I do take issue with some of the administrative procedures that are utilized at Loras, as I feel that they have been detrimental to myself, as well as many other students at some point in their student career at Loras. Regardless, I feel that the staff and the courses that they have taught have been excellent throughout. I can perhaps think of maybe three courses that I did not enjoy, whether it be the course itself, the professor, or some combination of both. Id like to think that its the faculty that my double major has placed me with from the Criminal Justice and Psychology programs. With perhaps one exception, I cant think of one really bad experience Ive had in classes concerning my majors. Ive always identified as being a psychology major at my core. Ive always wanted to be involved in that field. But the criminal justice program at Loras College has time and time again made me consider alternative options. I only ever enrolled in a criminal justice class at the behest of Dr. Mark Hopper, as I needed more credit hours. Well, I learned so much about society and how people work that I became rather enthralled. The Broken Windows theory is applicable to almost any negative behavior a human being can demonstrate, in that if someone were to due something bad its usually because something around them makes it seem like theres no one who will really care. Ive learned that there is more to crime than just a criminal, a victim, a policeman, and a court system. Ive learned that crime is approached in many deep, complex multi-faceted ways. Ive learned alternatives to simple punishment, and that being a part of a crime doesnt necessarily render one incapable of attoning for what they did and going on to live a perfectly normal life. Ive learned Criminal Justice and Psychology often go hand-in-hand, and

thats something I intend to utilize, as Ive developed a deep interest in combining both of the fields as a career. Ive learned much about crime in America, suffice to say. Ive learned that our way is far from the best. Our punishment-oriented system of law is shown to often enable and even create multiple offenders. The system is often too harsh, allowing petty crimes to result in a 25-to-life sentence and dooming someone who was potentially able to be rehabilitated to spend the rest of their days in a cell. Its a system where young people who, in a moment of brash and thoughtless decision-making, can end up spending months and years next to hardened career criminals, becoming bitter and undergoing a transformation into the same thing, learning the trade skills of crime as they sit and languish behind bars. I think the most important thing that Ive picked up is that the general population is really not as knowledgeable about crime as they could be. This could be due to a number of reasons, but I believe its due to mainly to skewed information reporting by the media. They make every story seem simple. One party is the good guy, the other is the bad guy. The only solution is punishing the bad guy. There is no complexity in the way a story is reported. Someone bears sole responsibility. Regardless, when people are better-educated about ways that justice can be approached and served over settling with the simple punishment factor that we utilize as a nation I think it will solve a lot of issues that we experience with crime will be remedied But I believe that the most important thing that Ive picked up is that a story needs to be approached from every angle to get every detail and an answer as to whom, what, where, why and how. Theres always a reason, a back story that explains why someone acted the way they did that will never be completely obvious to the casual observer. In regards to the four learning dispositions that Loras strives to instill in its students, the two most relatable to the fields of

criminal justice and psychology are Critical Thinking and Responsible Contribution. In these fields, someones health and livelihood are often at stake, so as someone who wants to be a part of all that, those dispositions are incredibly important and should be utilized. You owe it to the parties involved to try and know every possible detail pertaining to the situation that they happened to be embroiled in. This involves investigation and creative thinking, in both finding out what had happened and figuring out a solution. The situations that these fields often embroil people in are rarely ever as cut-and-dry as our justice system tries to make them out to be. Thats where responsible contribution comes in. Its important to utilize that knowledge to create new dynamic and fluid solutions that can be tailored to fit the situation that I could find myself mediating, regardless of where my career path takes me. As I stand now, Im still rather unsure of where I am going to end up. I could go somewhere completely new and start fresh all over again, or I can stay in Dubuque. However, I am comfortable in the knowledge that I do have a support network that will be there to aid me if I need it, thanks to all the time I have spent here at Loras College. I can leave this institution knowing I reaped the benefits that it promised in the brochure during the tour I took back in 2010.