"Will to Meaning"

Dear Visitors

Students in the ORGL Program at Gonzaga University are off to another great adventure in the Leadership and Hardiness course, studying the attitudes and mechanisms of personal and organizational resilience. As in previous years, this course continues to embrace Ignatian principles of action by challenging students to not only study various theoretical frameworks and complete projects, but also apply what they learn through an experiential adventure-based simulation of climbing Mt. Adams. Along this journey they read many seminal works that contribute to a refined and ongoing understanding of resilience. They are beginning this journey by studying Victor Frankl's story - Man's Search for Meaning - as a process of entering a contemplative state of considering their own search for meaning.

Frankl's gripping account of "life in a concentration camp as reflected in the mind of a prisoner" brings to life a story filled with realistic depictions of the experiences of camp life and how these experiences show that man does have a choice of action and in finding meaning in all forms of existence, even in the most dyer of circumstances, and thus a reason to continue living. Through readings and classroom discussions, students learn about existential analysis in the context of their life, families, organizations, and community.