Conversation Starter 22 | Talking Capstone with Alumnus(?) Beth Thompson, with Josh Spears

In this conversation starter, Josh talks to Beth Thompson, class of 2022, about her Capstone. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

I'm currently sitting outside a coffee shop in Norman with one of our favorite alumna. Is it alumna? Alumni? Alumna alumni is plural. Alumnus. But what's the I don't know the declensions, Beth. Alumnae? So you're plural for I have only one of you though here. Beth. This is Beth.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Latin was a while ago.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Latin was a while ago. This is Beth Thompson. Uh Beth, when did you graduate?

SPEAKER_00 0:33

2022.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

Beth is a 2022 graduate, four years ago of the Academy of Classical Christian Studies. Beth is back in town. I snagged her. She was visiting her mom, South fifth grade teacher, extraordinaire. I grabbed her and told her I have to do the podcast, and she really has to do it with me. So Beth, thank you for jumping in and podcasting with me.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Beth is also now graduating from college this May from Colorado College. Go Tigers. Go Tigers. With a fascinating double major that I um I think captures a lot of what we would want students to be thinking about and talking about. So I've invited her with a challenge. Beth, are you up for a challenge?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Uh my challenge is in 151 seconds. 151 seconds. Because our last couple podcasts by our marginally esteemed colleagues, Nathan and Andrew, they've been talking about capstone. And so my challenge to you, Beth, as an alumni, alumni.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

In 151 seconds, describe your capstone from the academy and what it is you wanted to do with that and how it has mattered, if it's mattered, what's been going on since then. You have 151 seconds. I will be counting. Beth, are you ready?

SPEAKER_00 1:54

Ready.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

On your mark, get set, go.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Okay. My capstone um in my senior year of high school was I was really thinking about community and how God created us to be in community. And so I was working, um, I was in the polis class at that time. Um loved the polis. And we were reading at St. Paul's every week. Um, and this was my second year in polis, and when I was a freshman in high school, I had also gotten to go to Thelma Park. And so really loved uh that experience and got at least a taste of how God created us to be in community with people who are different from us. Um I got to be, I was at the academy since kindergarten, so with a lot of my classmates all the way through, and really got to love them well, but to go and read with these third graders who were just different from me, but taught me so much, and I just learned so much from them and really loved that. So thinking of my capstone, I did my capstone on how to build intergenerational community through board games and how board games provided uh something physical and tangible and that we could actually do. And looking at the intergenerational part, like I was noticing that these kids that I babysat um in different parts of life, they could beat me in board games. And so just seeing board games as something like that's not based in skill by age, but could just be a tangible something to really build community over. So I really loved uh looking into that in my capstone. And over the past four years of college, have really continued looking into how we can build community and how God built us to be in community with our very bodies. So my dance major and SAPA studies major, really looking at how we tell stories with our bodies and from our bodies of like lots of memories that we hold within our bodies, and so um really how to come together in community and love for one another and listening um with our whole selves, not just not just our minds.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Beth, that's amazing. Thanks for uh thanks for sitting down with me outside. It's a beautiful day. It's always good to catch up with uh alumnuses' alumni, alumnus, alumnius.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Like moose.

SPEAKER_01 4:39

Moose. So fun to hear what you're doing, connecting the dots with all of that. Uh thank you for joining me for a minute. Do you have anything for the for the listener? Do you have any questions? We're supposed to end with questions. Do you have any questions that you would want to ask?

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Questions?

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Putting Beth on the spot here.

SPEAKER_00 5:00

In my my capstone for college, I did we did fun introduction questions. Um, but just a way to share stories with each other. So my favorite one was what was something silly or that made you laugh today. Um, and to share that with someone.

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Okay. Listener, we'll start with that. Thanks again, Beth.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Yes, thanks.