Theolonius McLean-Burrell

6/8/15
CEP Reflective Essay
My time in CEP has been quite the journey. I have been A CEPster
for what it seems like 3 years. That is because I also participated in the
CEP 200 intro class. My journey into this major and out is one that I
wont forget. To start off my reflection I want to start from the
beginning. I want to start with the reason I came into this Major. I came
to UW as a transfer student in 2011. I had my eyes set on becoming a
great Architect. I began my pre major classes for Architecture and
found out quickly that it might not be the best fit for me. I learned
although I love to be creative and design, I am more of a social
creature. Architects spends most of their class time and career locked
in a studio as if their married to their work. Not me. I am a person who
enjoys the company of others and loves to interact in groups. It makes
relationships more personal and meaningful. This is why becoming a
CEPster ended up being one of the best choices I made in my life.
I heard about this major through my mentor and now fraternity
brother Alvin Logan. He has gone on to Texas University where he is
earning his PHD. Knowing the person Alvin is and knowing that he
participated in this major intrigues me. Through my time in it I have
gotten a great sense of the type of people who end up in this major. To
say the least, we are a weird bunch of kids. We are all goofy, but
unique and interesting at the same time. My mentor Alvin is

completely the opposite. He is a cool guy who rarely ever does

anything goofy. At times I wish I could have seen how he was when he
was in this major.
This reflection is not about my mentor, so its time to talk more
about my journey through this major. I must admit that coming into
this major was a relief because Ive never had to interview for a major
before. It was also a nerve-racking experience. I knew coming from CEP
200 that I would be one of only a few of Black students within the
major. It would be the first time for me as a student attending classes
that werent diverse. The schools I came from are some of the most
diverse. Clover Park High School is located in the diverse the
neighborhood of Lakewood, Washington. Highline Community College,
now Highline College, has been known to be the most diverse college
the state of Washington. So coming into this major I felt that I might
become an outcast. I did not know how everyone would respond to me.
I am a large Black male who resembles an athlete. People tend to have
their prejudices about athletes.
I still can remember the first day coming into orientation. I was
late. It wasnt a good start for a major that I was nervous about being
in. I remember us setting off to go on our hunts around downtown
Seattle. I thought I was going to keep quiet to me self throughout the
trip, but I realized something that day. It was something that I
remembered through out the rest of my time in CEP. I feed off the

energy of others. This group is full of energy. Whenever someone does

something funny or goofy, it helps me come out of my shell. This
wasnt quite apparent right away, but over the years I have came out a
lot more. Now I dont hesitate to be my regular goofy self.
I know it seems like my reflection is talking mostly about being
goofy and having fun, but in fact something Ive learned through CEP is
that being able to come out of your shell and be who you are helps you
navigate through the classes. There were plenty of times where I would
just not want to go to class because I either didnt finish my reading or
was confused about what we were talking about in class. Being that I
already stand out, it is even more awkward when I am called out in
class and dont know what to say. Throughout our time together
everyones energy grew as everyone began to came out of there shell.
By the end of my first year I was so comfortable with my cohort that I
was able to confidently participate. Even when I wasnt clear on the
subjects. I even began studying with the others. This has often been a
problem of mine in many of my classes before coming into CEP. I was
able to get by on my own through out community college. I was used
to keeping to my self and just going to school, work and wrestling.
Coming to UW I realized that it would be hard to keep doing things on
my own. Most of the students in my classes knew each other so they
had no problem studying together after class. I did not feel comfortable
enough to approach anyone. This was until my time in CEP. My entire

second year I tried to link up with someone to study together. In fact I

am studying with Nimo right now as I type.
The experience I have had in CEP is one that I will never forget. It
is one that most people will not experience. That is because CEP is like
no other major. It is a major where students actually have a great
amount of power and control of what goes on. We have the power to
form our major rather than have it form us, just as most majors do to
others. Many of my business student and engineering friends talk to
me about how boring their classes are and how they wish they didnt
have to take the class they are in. CEP too is somewhat guided, with us
having to take the core classes, but it gives us enough freedom to take
other classes and widen our variety of courses. This flexibility has
allowed me to take control of what I want to learn. If I was in any other
major I would not been able to take the variety of classes I have token
for my minors and the other courses I have token just to check out.
This is the best way for me to find out what fits best for me as a career.
Besides my personal growth, I have learned quite a bit
academically. One of the things that I have got a grasp on now is
philosophy. Coming into this major I have never once read a peace of
Greek literature. I didnt even know that it was a requirement within
our major. Every time I went to our first class in the major all I could
think was, shit!! Did not like the thought of having to read my
assignments over and over again. The reading was very dense so I

would have to read it over and over again to understand what was
going on. I am not a fan of reading. But over my time of taking that
class to taking the first class of this year I have gained a better
understanding of philosophy. I actually enjoyed discussing it this year.
Coming into this major, I had the assumption that we would learn
about the specific topics dealing with the subjects in the majors title;
community, environment and planning. My assumptions were correct,
but we learned them in a way that was different from what I imagined.
I imagined that for community, we would spend a lot of time in the
community. I thought we would have the requirement of volunteering
for different community organizations. Instead we actually study about
the structure of community. We read and analyzed philosophy. We
looked at the different ideas and forms of city made by famous
philosophers; such as, Locke, Plato, Aristotle, etc. We used these ideas
to form our own ideas of what makes a community what it is. As I said
earlier in this reflection, I did not like philosophy, nor did I understand
why we were studying it. That was until now. In order to work with
people within a community you should understand who they are. You
should understand the ways in which they interact with their
community. No one community is the same, so you shouldnt treat as if
they were. There are people within the planning field and others that
do this, which causes many negative affects. This skill and knowledge
will help me not only if I choose to go into the planning field, but in

general because different communities exist in everything. The

different places we work have their own unique communities. This skill
will help me be flexible and versatile in the job market.
The experience I have had studying environment in CEP was a
little different than expedited as well. I expected us to be out and
about in the environment studying about issues of deforestation and
salmon depletion, for examples. Instead within the one environmental
class we have had, we studied the scientific method. That class was a
struggle for me. I havent taken a science class since high school. The
communication and clarification from the teacher was not great. I did
not take away much from this class, but it helped me realize how great
our major is. Many other students complained about the class and the
teacher. We expressed her lack of clarification. By us doing this, the
major took a look into the issues, which eventually lead to the hiring of
a new teacher. This shows that we as students have meaning and
influence on what we learn, which almost no other major allows.
The only aspect of CEP that actually went the way I thought it
would was the way we studied planning. We learned how different
methods for approaching and viewing the city, and then we took these
skills and used them in the field. We conduct projects for clients and
did field observations. This was the most hand-on aspects of CEP. I
think this aspect is what throws some people off when coming into this
major. We come in with the idea of doing hands-on planning, not

expecting to learn about theory. But, we quickly learn through out our
time in CEP that it is valued aspect and we are grateful to have learned
it.
Other than taking our core classes, we also participate in
governance. I think hands down that this was the most important
aspect of CEP. Governance teaches us to work together in an
organization of collective groups. Many companies work in this same
manor. These skills we have gained (organization, responsibility,
facilitation, etc.) are greatly valued and will take us far in the job world.
I have grown so much in CEP and am so thankful to be apart of it.
I am thankful for the friends and mentors I have gained. Some, like
Chris, were very hard on me, but I am thankful because without them I
would not have had the push and get this far. I will miss CEP, but Ill
make sure to come back and give back my time. Thank you CEP