Reflection of Spiritual Education

7/21/2019 Reflection of Spiritual Education

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Kristin Smyre

Reflection of Spiritual Education

Coming to BYU provides a unique opportunity to attend classes where the gospel

of Jesus Christ is not a forbidden topic !he learning environment welcomes discussion

and learning that includes gospel principles and spiritually nourishing moments "s #

reflect on the many dance classes # have ta$en # can loo$ bac$ fondly on all %owever&

some stand out to me as contributing to not only secular learning& but spiritual learning

too

'y first e(perience with this came when # too$ dance )*+ and )** "s dancers we

commonly refer to this as modern marathon Being together for so many hours a wee$

gives ample time to form great bonds and close relationships !his happened between

student and teacher as well as student and student ,aren Jensen taught this particular

class and did so in a memorable manner She had such great energy that caused myself

and others to loo$ forward to her class every day She accomplished this by providing a

positive learning environment and an atmosphere that pushed us and encouraged us She

too$ time to allow the spirit to guide discussion and listened to its promptings !his was

ama-ing to e(perience

.uring a spring semester& # had the privilege of going on the China .ance Study

"broad with a powerhouse of spiritual teachers 'arilyn Berrett taught improvisation for

a while and then switched with Caroline /rohos$y Caroline also taught composition

Jiamin was there for the entire duration of the study abroad !he number one reason #

thin$ these three women stood out as spiritual giants to me was their shining e(amples

and life e(periences !heir character was also off the charts Sometimes as humans& we


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Kristin Smyre

really do learn best by e(ample # can0t thin$ of a better e(ample that our group could

have had Both Caroline and 'arilyn too$ opportunities to discuss spiritual things in their

lesson !hey $new their class and implemented the gospel in the lessons somehow !he

lessons were woven together perfectly to not only ma$e sense of improvisation or

choreography& but also teaching us life lessons !hey told us e(periences that contributed

to their reasons of why they taught something a certain way or how they learned

something !hose reasons often included something of the gospel Jiamin %uang is one

woman # will always have the upmost respect for in this life #t brings me to tears now

thin$ing of her She spo$e about personal things that happened growing up in China

1hile in China she shared stories of her life so we could better understand the history and

culture 1e never imagined the hardships she faced and further couldn0t comprehend the

amount of faith and courage she had She e(plained how she found the gospel and even

shared her testimony with us 2ever had a teacher done this in such a powerful way #

was so impacted by her testimony "ll that were in that conversation were in tears

because the spirit was so present

3astly& # am currently in 'ethods of !eaching Contemporary .ance& or .ance

+44 5ur teacher is the wonderful "riel %ortin "riel is also high energy and provides a

welcome learning environment 5ur discussions and readings sometimes do more than

6ust include gospel topics Sometimes& they are centered on them !his provides a great

amount of time to discover on our own and then come bac$ and discuss as a class .uring

class discussions we learn from one another and also from insight that "riel shares She

too shares personal moments of growth and learning that helped me to learn # have

en6oyed her e(ample and vulnerability and will try to emulate those qualities in my


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Kristin Smyre

teaching when # graduate # believe so many teachers on BYU and in the dance

department are doing a great 6ob at providing spiritual growth opportunities # loo$

forward to doing the same for my students

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Reflection of Spiritual Education