Since the student is the one who drives the bus in the non-course, which means the student chooses what to read and write about as well as the pace at which this is done, it seems sensible to ask, what criteria will the student use to make those choices? One might imagine that if the subsequent experience goes well then that experience helps to solidify the criteria in the mind of the student. Alternatively, if the experience goes poorly, then perhaps there was some weakness in the criteria and the student might be encouraged to modify those criteria for the next set of choices or abandon them altogether and try something completely different. Let me caution here that sometimes we make a mountain out of a molehill and it can simply be bad luck rather than poor criteria that determined the outcome. So there is a need for patience in this sort of process.
Nevertheless, it is commonly said that we learn more from our failures than from our successes. The above paragraph gives some explanation for why that is. So, part of the personal philosophy must be in the willingness to take certain risks where you might fail and then, if the failure repeats, a willingness to try something else. When failure is intermediate product to eventual success, it might be easier to tolerate.
There is then that we often don't know enough about ourselves ahead of time, our strengths and weaknesses, our likes and dislikes, our sense of humor, etc., that we may be unable to determine what is a success or a failure at the time the event happens. It may only reveal itself in retrospect.
So there is good reason for students to spend considerable time reflecting on their own past experiences and doing that in some depth. I'm guessing that many students now don't do that, because it is a solitary activity. Do recall that the non-course is aimed at students who are time abundant. Solitary activities are okay, especially if they produce some benefit for the student.
Now a personal aside. I went through depression in school. The first time was 10th grade. It happened again in college. I was an extremely good student, but my grades began to slip that first time through. I had to ask myself whether getting good grades was itself something I cared about, as something in itself distinct from the learning. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that it was all a big game - paper chase - and I wouldn't play the game if grades were the ultimate goal. Instead, I took interest in personal idiosyncrasy, which eventually became making bad puns in a social context, and enjoying being with my friends. I could do this because I had very strong intrinsic interest to learn. This approach ended up working well for me.
A different personal aside is about my last year at Cornell, where I had a single room in the apartment house where I lived and a waterbed in that room. I would lie on the waterbed, stare at the ceiling, and do the type of reflection I was talking about above. Much later I found out I was an introvert, even though I was quite socially oriented with my friends. Introverts can spend a lot of time in reflective mode and are comfortable in doing so. I don't know that extroverts can be comfortable doing this. But some time devoted to reflection is needed, even for them.
For those students who get something out of the non-course, I would expect that their desire to drive the bus would extended to other life choices they may make. Those choices are also made based on certain criteria and while we all surely make mistakes now and then, you will feel better about yourself if you embrace the criteria according to which those choices are made and don't otherwise feel those criteria are forced on you against your own wishes.
There is one part of your personal philosophy I will try to influence in a certain way. This is about being kind to others, particularly your fellow students in the non-course. If you see that one of them is struggling, I hope you will take it upon yourself to help them. On this one point I'm not neutral. Otherwise, I will try not to encourage you in one direction or another. It is you who are driving the bus, so you must make those choices.
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