Tres Heffron
M.S. Management, current student
The Center for Creative Change, Tres Heffron says, is an experience in academic and personal learning, not merely a destination for a diploma so you can add a master's degree to your
résumé.
"Be prepared to open up and trust the process, and you will discover insights few other programs could offer you," he tells prospective students.
"I am no longer looking for a new title or a new rung on the corporate ladder; I am looking for a way to influence the corporate environment such that the 'ladder' metaphor gives way to bottom-up vision and responsibility."When he first entertained the idea of Antioch and attended an Open House to learn more, he was ready to sign up for all the graduate programs the Center offered.
"I was, however, a little worried that I was going to spend the next 10 years and half my savings working through each of the degrees. Settling on the Management program, I interviewed with Sadru Boga. When he asked me if there was a difference between management and leadership, I knew I was in the right place," Heffron says.
He describes one of his best memories, which helped him recognize the distinction between accumulation of knowledge and accumulating that knowledge within a community. And he could see the difference between academic and intellectual success and that same success within a community.
"I was working 60 hours a week at my job and trying to make progress on both my Change Project and other courses. Not only was I unsure I could pull it all off, I wasn't sure I could remain sane through the remainder of the quarter," Heffron says.
"In what was for me a bold move, I opened up to one of my class groups during a weekly conference call. I knew I just had to get it out there so the group would know where I was in my life and my schoolwork.
"What I didn't expect was the way in which the group essentially caught me (I didn't even know I was falling). They selflessly put aside the call agenda in order to make room for my challenges and help me see my way through the obstacles ahead. It was at the end of that call and in the following months that a truth about the Center for Creative Change learning experience hit home for me. While we each were on our own path, we were also inextricably intertwined during our 22-month journey."
This software developer and software architect for Avalara on Bainbridge Island suggests the value of his Antioch education has been profound.
"While I went into the Management program with the intention of learning to become a better manager, I have left it with an interest in and knowledge of group dynamics," he says. "I realized that to impact my organization, I needn't be in a position of power designated by a title. Instead, I could both take on positions of grassroots leadership, and, more importantly, teach others grassroots leadership. I am no longer looking for a new title or a new rung on the corporate ladder; I am looking for a way to influence the corporate environment such that the 'ladder' metaphor gives way to bottom-up vision and responsibility."
He has lots of kudos for faculty in the Center for Creative Change.
"I can recall inspirational teachings from nearly every faculty member. I'll never forget Don Comstock's 'Go deeper,' for example.
"Of the most inspirational and impactful, I could not narrow it down to less than three," he says.
"Britt Yamamoto most shaped the outcome of my learning throughout the program, not only in terms of content but also the philosophical vision of the learning that Antioch offered. He always read my submissions with amazing attention and then offered back to me a question or two that encouraged me to tie a specific learning back into the systemic view of the program. I could tell that he took in and catalogued each student's learning; approaching me after my symposium presentation, he gently offered, 'I believe you've found the first chapter of your book.'
"Mark Hower, whether he knows it or not, was a keystone figure in the outcome of my Change Project. I zigged and zagged from one path to another, never comfortable with my change mission or design. It was Mark who took the time on a weekend, outside of class, to sit down with me and talk through the process.
"Finally, there is Sadru Boga, who most epitomized for me the objective in a learning environment: to identify challenging questions and open up a group to a conversation. While there was plenty of structure to each of his courses, it was the group conversations between each syllabus item that provided the most profound learning moments. Should I ever have the honor of becoming a teacher some day down the road, I am sure I will model the classes on Sadru's teaching style and can only hope I provide for my own students as many ah-ha! moments as Sadru provided me."
To those who worry about the cost of Antioch, he urges, "Get as much detail about the program as possible before you apply. Talk to faculty and students (particularly those nearest graduation). Attend some classes. If you're excited about what you've seen, find a way to make it work financially. If the program touches you, then it'll be worth the sacrifice in a way a financial balance sheet cannot identify."
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