Week 15: Final Exam Reflection

For our final blog, we were assigned to write a reflection for the course with details from our individual experiences. For me, this class was extremely eyeopening and something I looked forward to every day. During this semester, our campus alone faced a lot of pressing issues that we were able to address and get a better understanding of the situations placed in front of us. Our class was a safe place were similar students could come together and talk about tough, thought-provoking problems our world faces. In my week nine blog, I wrote, "I felt as though everyone who spoke gave their own thoughts and opinions in a respectful way without making anyone else feel uncomfortable," further supporting my point. Not only did we have an opportunity to learn about these issues, form our own thorough opinions, but we also got to learn about important things when it comes to college. Without the guidance from this course, I would probably have completely failed and registering for Spring AND gotten somehow kicked out of honors by now for not knowing all the requirements. 

A smaller portion of our time was spent discussing the other two learning outcomes than diversity and inclusion, but that does not mean I didn't learn a ton from it. The classes we spent learning about all of the campus resources was more than beneficial. Without FYE, I would have absolutely no idea all of the resources available to help us excel in and out of the classroom. In my week one blog, I wrote, "I believe the writing center will be the most useful. I am a terrible writer if you haven't noticed, and I know that over the next few years I will make a stop there at least a few times" and I still stand by that. If it weren't for this resource, I probably would have failed English (well I still might... grades aren't final). I also found our time management discussions extremely helpful. The tips and tricks Taylor shared with us are a big reason I survived this semester and found time to eat (sort of). Alicia stated in her blog that week, "Little things like keeping a planner, setting daily goals, and eliminating distractions while working are all easy steps we can take to lighten our loads," which is a pretty good summary of what we learned. Another extremely helpful topic was week twelve when we discussed research and evaluating sources. Not only was the "quiz" we had on fake news fun, but it was also very insightful. I used the information from Wednesday's class to help with my research paper. In my blog that week I wrote, "This was extremely helpful regarding my actual research paper and gave me a push to finally start." Because of that topic in class, I started the paper that week rather than pushing it back until the last minute. 

I large portion of our class was focused on diversity and inclusion. We spent at least six weeks discussing it and a few other weeks just including it in our talks. Because of this, I learned SO much about different racial issues we see on and off-campus. Something I didn't know is that a large portion of undocumented immigrants pay taxes. When I found this out I was shocked and very upset with myself for never actually looking into that. One of my favorite discussions was over white-privilege. I went in with a set mindset and ended up allowing myself to see the opinions of everyone in the room. The worst part of this week was the way the campus itself became extremely divided over the issue. Livia stated in her week eight blog, "It makes me sad that the student’s reaction to her talk has been so negative and has made us turn against one another," and I completely agree. Another topic that I enjoyed talking about was "Che" and "The Motorcycle Diaries." My mindset over Che once I looked up who he actually was and the things he did because of his philosophical believes. Despite the fact that my view on the main character in the movie changed, I still stand by what I said in my week thirteen blog, "Also after I found out who he was and what he did, the meaning of the movie didn't change for me." I enjoyed the movie as a whole and I think, despite his terrible practices, his story is one worth telling. 

During the past fifteen weeks in this class, I have learned so many new things and made wonderful memories on the way. This experience has changed my views and actions in and out of the classroom. For example, I went home one weekend and forced myself to have a touchy conversation about race with my dad. My dad LOVES talking about politics, but his views oppose mine in all of the wrong ways. Because of the facts I learned in this class about immigration and the movies we watched about it, I was able to (slightly) change my father's opinion on the topic. Another BIG thing that stood out to me about this course is that it helped me learn more about myself and the people around me. During week ten, we discussed our most important values and whether or not we actually have them. Because of this, I have ensured to incorporate the values I picked into making myself a better me. Anyways, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know everyone in that class over the past semester and a special thanks to Taylor and Doctora for making me strive to be the best person I can.