Following graduation, Sean’s trajectory seemed to be aimed squarely at Dalhousie Law. Why Law?

"To be an agent of social change," is his modest reply.

He goes on to explain that this career path formed from a confluence of experiences in his undergrad in using policy to enact changes within the university. He cites breezily his role in the creation of two services, MAC Cycle Co-op and the MAC Green Coalition as an example. A McMaster student myself, I am familiar with both. Why wouldn’t I be? As a new and idealistic university student and a budding environmentalist both initiatives were bound to catch my eye. Given this experience it is not surprising that the native Hamiltonian would pack up and head east; straight into the waiting arms of Lady Justice.

"So, Law school wasn't for me," says Park.

This past September, he said farewell to Halifax and returned to MAC where he was charged with musing on learning and education in the very program that, nigh 5 months prior, he had left. He became what some have come to call "a one person think tank".

After enquiring on the seemingly elliptical trajectory of his career path, Sean explains that,

"Education, more so than any other societal institution, has the capacity to change the world and the structures and processes of education directly determine how that change will occur”.
"I couldn't resist lending a hand," Park says with a shrug. "For the most part, the job feels like first year Inquiry all over again."

Sean spends about half of his time behind endless stacks of education literature. He marvels at his remarkable ability to garner such a firm understanding of a new "discipline" in a relatively short period of time. Park attributes this success to a skill-set that evolved during his four years in the Health Sciences Program; particularly the ability to ask good questions and to find and appraise resources. The other half of his time is spent expanding his theoretical understanding of education into the realm of the experiential in such endeavors as the creation of a task force to design a Health Sciences Biology course, co-authoring a book applying theories of complexity science to education and facilitating a Health Sciences 4X03 class.

As our discussion turns to the ever evolving, ever adapting nature of the B.H.Sc. program, Sean describes a future vision shared by student and administration alike.

"Courses like Statistics, Health Interventions, Ethics and Epidemiology are breaking from the mould of isolated 3-unit experiences and will be integrated with each other into a more complex, context-rich web. Opportunities to explore complex health issues by bringing in concepts from electives and socio-cultural perspectives on health also need space within the program. Skill development in the context of knowledge representation, communication and group process and development is buzzing in the hallways."

"I want to show you something I have been working on this year,” he says with a sly grin. As I stare down at what appears to be a chaotic game of connect the dots, Sean continues to explain.

"[It] is a mind map of my 'core' learning experiences over the past five years. The numbers indicate the year and the connecting lines and arrows indicate some directional relationship between experiences." I look blankly at him, clearly missing something.

"Imagine this mind map becoming your transcript,” he says with child-like enthusiasm.

" Each course or experience would have an associated folder that would elaborate on your learning, achievement, performance, evaluation, etc. The lines and arrows would describe how your experiences integrate with each other and tell a unique story and reveal how you have developed your skill set over time."

At this point I can’t help myself, caught in his excitement I smile as he explains that this is but one direction in which the program is moving. "[It is] a richer way of showing yourself — and others — the story of your own learning. At some point down the road, it's likely that we will no longer have a graded curriculum. The evidence supports the move," Park says with conviction.

Outside the directive boundaries of course outlines, grades and textbooks, Park has begun to guide his own learning and create his own objectives. Freed from the bounds of "studentship" he has truly become, as he puts it, a "Professional Agent of Social Change, gettin’ his learn on!"