Reflect on Your Experiential Learning Experience
Reflecting can help you gain a deeper understanding of what you learned and how you grew from the experience. This can facilitate your ability to:
To help you start the reflective process, here are some general guiding questions to consider:
- What experiential learning opportunity did you participate in (e.g., research, internship, study abroad, etc.)?
- What made you decide to participate? What motivated you to apply?
- What was the highlight of your experience?
- What new questions emerged for you during and after you completed the experience?
Know Your Audience
Each person you talk to about your experiential learning experience(s) will have unique interests and priorities. Understanding what each person values and your goal for the conversation can help you highlight the aspects of your experience(s) that will resonate most with them.
Pro Tip: Be sure to provide specific examples from your experiential learning experience(s) that illustrate the points you are making (e.g., skills you learned). This will help make your explanation more concrete and credible.
Engage with Different Audiences
Employers
Focus on professional skills, adaptability, problem-solving, global perspective, teamwork, and connections with your career goals.
What skills did you acquire through your experiential learning experience(s) and how are they applicable to the position you are applying to?
Did your experiential learning influence your current and/or professional goals? If so, how?
Faculty
Focus on academic enrichment and/or connections with your major, research opportunities, cross-cultural understanding, and soft skills development.
What did you learn from the experiential learning experience and how does this help advance what you’re learning in your classes and/or major?
Have your perspectives changed since you participated in the experience? If so, what changed?
Family/Loved Ones
Focus on personal growth, independence, cultural exposure, and future opportunities.
What did you gain from the experiential learning experience?
How did this experiential learning opportunity help you make progress towards graduation?
Want to Talk More?
Connect with your experience advisors. Use the links below to schedule an appointment.
If you participated in study abroad, complete the Student Stories feature and schedule a Returnee Debrief with your advisor.
Do you want to talk about how to add your experiential learning experience(s) to your resume, LinkedIn page, or interview narrative?
If you participated in direct community service, record your service hours by entering them into your personal or your group or organization’s CatLife account.
