STEPS - Library - Central Queensland University

Part Two: The STEPS philosophy
comes with a more open mind. My opinions, now, are my opinions based
on what I have found to be my truth. I also accept that others can have
entirely different opinions that are equally as valid and as truthful as my
own are to me. STEPS opened my mind and made me want to continue to
journey and explore and discover.
Resurrection
Originally, I had thought STEPS would be like a gentle little dip in the
ocean, nothing too strenuous, and then a return to shore. I was wrong.
STEPS was like a tidal wave that swept me off my feet and often pulled me
under. So many times I wanted to just give up and go back to that safe
shore I had left. The frightening thing was that I knew I had already been
taken too far out, and I couldn’t even see that secure bit of ground any
more. Thankfully, whenever I felt like I was drowning, there always
seemed to be someone there to help me lift my head above water or to
throw me a life raft, and give me time to breathe.
Eventually, I stopped looking back at the fast disappearing shore I had left,
and started using my energies to swim harder to reach the other side. I
know that this difficult swim through STEPS has changed the person that I
was forever. Reaching the other side, I will be resurrected to a new way of
looking at myself, at others, at the world I live in and my place in it.
Return with Elixir: Freedom to Live
On an academic level, STEPS has taught me many new skills. I have learnt,
if not to love computers, then at least to cope with them adequately.
Researching for essays has taught me so much about my world, and has
inspired me to learn more. My journey through STEPS, though, has done so
much more for me on a personal level.
It has made me realise things about myself, things that didn’t always please
me and things I often found hard to believe. My perceptions and values
have changed incredibly. One of the most important lessons I will take
away with me is that I am not a powerless victim, swept along by people
and forces beyond my control. I realise that it is within my power to change
who I am, and that my past experiences do not have to affect me for the rest
of my life. I have gained the strength to recreate who I am, and make my
own personal world the one I want to live in. I realise I can have informed
opinions that do not have to be the same as anyone else’s to be valid. I also
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