From Daughter to Scholar: Reflections on a Father’s Yearnings

Abstract

Abstract In this article, I respond to my father’s 2005 article From Here to Clare: Yearnings of a Scholar-Turned-Dad. My goal is to share whether and how I followed the guidance he set forth, and how those recommendations shaped my life and moral development as an undergraduate student and beyond. It is my hope that students find inspiration in these examples and forge their own pathways of moral development. In writing this reflection, I became aware of the great privilege of having had a parent in higher education and student affairs to guide me. I also learned that every experience on my journey was a means to an end that was more fulfilling and authentic than I—or my father—could have ever planned.