Nick Hodge

Spring 2007 AEP Student

I arrived at Bradley University as a Civil Engineering major. However, over the summer prior to my freshman year of college and through my first few classes of Introduction to Civil Engineering, I discovered that Civil Engineering was not exactly my calling in life. But then what was my calling? What was I to do with the rest of my life? I hadn’t the faintest clue, so I enrolled in the Academic Exploration Program.

The AEP course, which is worth zero credits, demanded that I complete in-depth research into areas of study that interested me and interview individuals with an expertise in those certain fields. At the beginning of the course I was troubled with the outcomes of my endeavor into academic exploration. I hadn’t made any tangible headway in my pursuit of a college major or career and the only thing the course seemed to be proving itself to be was an additional distraction from my school work.

Despite my initial skepticism, my satisfaction with the course improved greatly. I still wasn’t coming to concrete conclusions on what areas of study I should pursue, but I was starting to learn the value of the class. It wasn’t necessary for the course to make my decisions for me; its value came in the skills that it allowed me to develop. The course forced me to analyze myself and make a conscious, direct effort to pursue my interests. I no longer believed that it was possibly for my career interest to come to me in a dream or in an immaculate revelation, I had to be an active participant in my career selection.

Mr. Trillizio provided me with the necessary tools and connections to investigate my interests and skills. The course followed a well-formulated plan to optimize my exploration abilities in order to produce the most desirable results. Through the objectives posited by Mr. Trillizio, I have been able to arrive at a tentative decision in regards to my academic aims about which I am very excited. The Academic Exploration Program effectively allows students to arrive at specific conclusions about their academic intentions while maintaining an open perspective to alternative interests so as not to limit a student’s active pursuit of their academic welfare.