Experience, Reflection, Action (ERA)

Explore, Grow, Design for Impact

This first-year program focuses on formative education, including cura personalis—care for the whole person—and cura apostolica, or care of the community, while helping students adjust to life at Boston College.

ERA introduces students to elements foundational to their time at BC and over the rest of their lives—how to be complete people, cultivate community, design solutions to help solve complex issues, and discover purpose in their vocations and beyond.

Meeting weekly, the program features internationally renowned speakers, presentations, activities, projects, and discussions that facilitate students’ personal and formative development, discernment of who they are and who they want to be in the world, acquisition of design-thinking tools and new knowledge, and ability to make a positive impact.

Students emerge as authentic leaders who use sound ethical reasoning to improve society and are primed to both lead and support lives of meaning.

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Freshman year was definitely the most formative experience I've had here at BC. I learned so much not only in the classroom, but also through out-of-classroom experiences. Being away from my parents for the first time I learned how to become independent, the importance of time management, and prioritizing activities that were most important. Thanks to the course Experience, Reflection, and Action offered by Lynch for freshmen, I learned the value of self-care.
Anthony Docanto ’19


Experience, Reflection, Action (ERA)

This seminar addresses academic decisions, social relationships, spiritual growth, issues of autonomy, vocational choices, mental and physical health, and general fulfillment of each first-year student in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.