For Seniors, Capstone Is A Final Chance to Reflect

Senior Capstone, a non-credit course reintroduced this year, challenges university seniors to question their plans and goals as they prepare for life after graduation.

Capstone, which is modeled after a similar program at Boston College, first began at Georgetown in 2005 under the leadership of Fr. Ryan Maher, S.J., The program took a break, and then was started up again by Fr. Pat Rogers, S.J. and a group of students two years later.

One of the seniors in Roger's original group was Craig Kessler (SFS '07). Kessler became interested in the program after several older friends discussed the challenges of transitioning from college to real life with him.

"My senior Capstone provided a time to reflect on my Georgetown experience, face tough questions about the future and, most importantly, it was a forcing mechanism for spending time with close friends and Fr. Pat every Thursday night," he wrote in an email.

After his experience with the program, Kessler contacted three campus leaders, The Corp's Chairman of the Board Margaux McGrath (COL '12), Georgetown University Student Association President Mike Meaney (SFS '12), and then-Editor-in-Chief of The Hoya Eamon O'Connor (COL '12), whom he believed could jumpstart the initiative once again. He also fundraised from alumni to support this year's Capstone as well as those in the future.

McGrath said she was honored to be involved in restarting the initiative.

"So many seniors at Georgetown want the opportunity to reflect on the past four years, meet new people and spend time with a professor," she said.

McGrath hopes to expand the program in future years to encompass all graduating seniors, but noted that any student is capable of contacting a professor and organizing a similar group.

This semester's student-run Capstone consists of three groups of 10 to 12 students who are led by a diverse collection of faculty. The groups meet every week over dinner to discuss a short prompt or reading, but McGrath said that the structure of the Capstone allows the conversation to flow organically.

"It separates it from the classroom experience," she said. "There's something about sharing a meal with a professor and with students that immediately removes you from the pressures of an academic setting."

The relaxed atmosphere fosters a sense of reflection and communication that the faculty members involved believe is lacking in today's fast-paced world.

"We build in a heavy schedule for our students, academic and otherwise, and we attract students who enjoy being busy," Tad Howard, associate dean of the College, wrote in an email. Howard advises one of the Capstone groups. "So we face a contradiction when we try to push students to halt those patterns that might have gotten them here in the first place. On the other hand, reflection is invited here. I think this Capstone is one way that we can issue such an invitation more visibly and more broadly," he said.

Fr. Kevin O'Brien, S.J., mentors 10 students with Jane Genster, interim director of the Center for Social Justice. He noted that the Capstone can also play a spiritual role in a student's education.

"Such guided conversations on campus are in keeping with the Jesuit emphasis on reflecting on our experiences so that we can discern their meaning and thus make better decisions about our life," he wrote in an email.

Adjunct professor William Daddio, who leads the program's third group, emphasized that the Capstone course provides students with a final evaluation of life on the Hilltop.

"It's a Capstone course; it should capstone our education at Georgetown," Daddio said. "Part of it is reflective, part of it is what are you from that experience, part of it is what are you going to be from that experience."

For those involved, the seminal component of the program is the reflective discussion that places this pivotal moment of their lives in perspective.

"Capstone is designed for students who are willing to open themselves up to different points of view — part of the magic comes from students making themselves vulnerable and sharing personal ambitions and fears," Kessler said.