Online

Swaby, Monique Simone

College of Education and Social Services

2011

MEd

This thesis is an exploration of the concepts ofwhat the spirituality of consciousness means in several key areas of the inteIlectual, emotional, and spiritual self. Many students and professionals walk through their educational and professional careers filled with confusion, lack of self-understanding, a yearning for something more but never discovering it in the places we find ourselves for most of our day-to-day interactions. My hope is that this thesis will give insight to how students can overcome obstacles and fears in their lives in order to move forward, and, when necessary, to move past themselves.
As a young, Black, immigrant woman who is a first-generation college student and student affairs professional, the methodology of Scholarly Personal Narrative (SPN) appeals to me the most in exploring the spirituality ofconsciousness. Therefore, I will be using SPN to highlight a portion of my journey through three lenses: mindfulness counseling, religo-spirituality, and understanding what it means to unlock our minds and its complexities through a spiritually-emiched education. I will also highlight how we can disseminate the knowledge of self-awareness and self-awakening as life teachers, educators, and learners to those who come after us--the next generation.
The holistic preservation of self and mind is a vital stage in our human existence. As higher education administrators and teachers, we should be able to take the risk and accept the challenge to delve deeper within ourselves to be able to move beyond the curriculum and see the full humanity of our students, hopefully leading to more joyful, productive, loving, creative and brilliant minds. How do we do this? How do we awaken to life, to learning, to each other, in the midst of chaos? This thesis attempts to point the way.