By Alyssa Elmore, Reporter

Edited by Kate Dempsey, Editor

MOUNT BERRY, Ga. — Berry College is set to introduce a new Berry Journey project in the fall of 2024.

The administration at Berry College have been working for over two years on developing a project titled The Berry Journey. This project is scheduled to be implemented during the fall of 2024.

The goal of the project is to help students make the most out of their experience at Berry College by providing resources, teaching purposeful decision making, and giving guidance through mentorship and peer support.

An emphasis on intentional planning and introspective reflection will be prevalent in this new project. The Associate Dean of Students, Lindsay Norman, said The Berry Journey will encourage students to engage in personal reflection to learn more about what they should experiment with and focus on throughout their time at Berry.

”How do you start to piece together what you’re good at, what you enjoy doing, and what’s needed,” Norman said. “What’s in the center?”

The Berry Journey will include three Berry College Courses: BCC 100, BCC 200 and BCC 300. However, the only course needed as a graduation requirement for students remains the first-year seminar course, BCC 100.

The Berry Journey is broken down into four phases: Launch, Design, Immerse, Connect. The Launch phase includes BCC 100, a class designed to help freshman students adjust to college life and identify the opportunities available to them. These four phases will typically align with a college student through their years at Berry, but there is no strict schedule.

Former Assistant Dean of Students Meredith Johnson said that the Berry Journey is going to be incorporated throughout campus based on student’s Lifeworks position, major, or scholarships as every student moves at a different pace.

“The Berry Journey model is not tied to class year because not every student is moving through their development at the same timeline,” Johnson said. “It’s meant to be flexible that way.”

The Design phase includes the BCC 200 course titled Designing Your Life at Berry and Beyond. This course is in the pilot phase, Willoughby said, and they plan on expanding and adding more sections for the fall. This phase focuses on the process of planning and how to plan your college years effectively and intentionally. Students will learn to be more open-minded about their time at Berry and will discuss signature learning experiences and how they might fit into their plan. 

The Immerse phase is for the signature learning experiences that Berry provides. In this phase, students will experience some of the plans made in the previous stages. These experiences include studying abroad, holding a higher position with Lifeworks, internships, etc. This phase occurs once a student learns about what they are interested in and how they can incorporate their interests and skills into their own Berry Journey. Norman emphasizes the importance of trying things out.

“Sometimes you expect what you might learn,” Norman said. “But Immerse is also about learning what you don’t expect, which can be just as valuable.”

The Connect phase is where students practice storytelling and being able to articulate what they have accomplished through their time at Berry. In this phase, students think back on what they’ve experienced and how it fits with the plans they made back in the Design phase, along with the opportunities they identified in the Launch phase. This section is often paired with the BCC 300 course where students spend a lot of time reflecting on and connecting their Berry experiences to life beyond college. They also will spend time building their Berry Journey story to share with future employers and mentors. Being able to free themselves from what they think their story should sound like is something that Johnson thinks is important for Berry students.

“It’s important to help students think about themselves as the complex people that they are,” Johnson said. “Everything doesn’t have to align in a very clear-cut way.”

The Associate Director of Career Education and Development, Hope Willoughby, said that this is not a new curriculum or program, but rather a culture shift and framework for what the Berry student experience should be.

Willoughby also said that one of her favorite parts about the Berry Journey is the transparency it provides to first-generation or low-income students.

“The Berry Journey provides more equity of access to a lot of opportunities that students have been taking advantage of,” Willoughby said. “These barriers can be removed once we just start talking about opportunities for access, and that helps students who don’t know the hidden curriculum or the right people to talk to.”

Sophomore Student Director of Operations, Macy Bennett, has already experienced many of the benefits of the Berry Journey, particularly through mentoring. Bennett also emphasizes the importance of attitude when new students approach the Berry Journey.

“What you put into it is what you get out of it,” Bennett said. “Coming in with the attitude of making the most out of this experience is important, and I think that these tools can really help us accomplish that.”

After being in the works for several years, Berry College is excited to finally welcome the new Berry Journey learning experience and its four phases to students in the fall of 2024.