Grand Rapids Griffins Hockey - Personal Essay

An event that I attended recently this year that relates to liberal education was a Grand Rapids Griffins hockey game. It was a Saturday night hockey game and a small crowd of friends invited me to join them with an extra ticket they had purchased. I had been to previous Griffins games in the past but only on Friday nights. What made this hockey game different than the rest was the fact that it was a Saturday night, and the attendance at the game was unusual. Friday night games always draw a big crowd because of the food and drink deals they promote at the arena, but Saturday there is apparently a lot less people interested in attending. I think that this event has a strong correlation with the LEAP learning outcome titled Integrative Learning.

Although the event wasn't liberal education approved, nor was it an event put on by the University, it still had many co-curricular implications. I would define the purpose of the event to be a social setting where friends and family can gather to enjoy an exciting sports game and get to know one another on a deeper level – which is exactly what I did. I found that I was able to connect with these friends more than I have ever been able to. These were people I knew fairly well, but they were not my best friends and I hadn't seen them in a while. The hockey game was a great social setting for my friends and me to get to know one another even better.

I would say this even definitely exceeded my expectations. As most probably would at a hockey game, I was expecting to enjoy a hockey game, have a few drinks, and socialize with friends. But now looking back and reflecting on the event, it was much more than just that. Not only was I able to spend rare, quality time with friends, but I had a realization of how much I gained from the event.

Since I was not attending the game with my real close friends but rather meeting people there, and it was a Saturday night hockey game, I found myself a little out of my comfort zone. Looking at the situation, I'm very glad that wasn't enough to stop me from attending this event. I became comfortable with these friends right away and confidently believed that they liked who I was through the conversations we were having. This relates to the essay by Paulo Friere titled Jumping Mouse. In this essay, one of the mice decides to