Tina Grant
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007
There was a time, Tina Gant will tell you, when she didn't see herself having any ability for college. She hadn't done well in high school and only realized she enjoyed learning when she studied for her AA degree at Seattle Central Community College.
What brought her to Antioch? "Quite honestly," she says, "as an adult learner with a learning disability, I needed a school that would allow me to learn in whatever way worked for me. I love to write, and so knowing that written expression is the basis for most work at Antioch spurred me to check into the program. Once I began the process, everyone was so enthusiastic and supportive. It was as though I had found a place where I could do my best work."
"I have come to see that I am worth every penny I spent. After all, if I cannot give myself the gift of learning in an environment that is the most nurturing for me, how then will I ever be able to nurture others?"
Independent study was easy for her. "I completed four independent studies and all of them were successful endeavors. I was able to take an interest I already had and turn it into a learning activity."
She says she found inspiration in Randy Morris, core faculty member in Antioch's B.A. program. "From the first class I took with Randy Morris, I knew intuitively I had found the path I was at Antioch to discover," Grant describes. "His commitment to his own lifelong learning process inspires students in their learning. His ability to create a safe, sacred space to express one's thoughts, ideas and feelings on the subject is unparalleled. Randy role models his passion for his life's work and in so doing is a catalyst for students to know they can find theirs as well."
Her best memory? "The highlight of Antioch was presenting my Senior Synthesis project. This was the culmination of all the hard work of the last four years, a distillation and a synthesis of all the different classes and experiences. The presentation was a way to show myself and the world all I had learned, all I had become, who I now was," she says.
She concedes her thinking mind struggled with the cost of an Antioch education. "With my heart/mind," Grant notes, "I have come to see that I am worth every penny I spent. After all, if I cannot give myself the gift of learning in an environment that is the most nurturing for me, how then will I ever be able to nurture others?
"Antioch is a place where you can find what it is you want to do with the rest of your life. It is not that the teachers will tell you, but that they create a space for you to explore, experiment and find what it is that fills you with passion.
"During each class, I found different ideas, worldviews and methods of interacting with my fellow sentient beings. As I integrated what I learned, how I worked in the world shifted. My success in the work world is a direct result of learning about myself."
The more you learn about the how and why of your beliefs, reactions and interactions, the more your success at work expands, according to Grant, licensor for Ryther Child Center in Seattle.
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