Throughout this course, I have completed many blogs
having to do with issues related to borders, culture, family, war, and more.
This has had me doing research on these topics and comprehending these issues
to put into my own words to understand what I am researching. I enjoyed
researching these topics I had to clue or insight about. We read books to go
along with these topics after we did research and this reiterated what we
researched and opened my eyes to the world. I wasn't closed minded before, I just wasn't aware of all these issues going on in this world we live in. Our
presentations were a great way to learn about these issues more in depth and
specific topics within these. I now have so much more knowledge and can help
open other people’s eyes with this knowledge. I think it is important for
educators to take this class and explore these topics to have a better understanding
of culture and what their future students may have possibly gone through before
they came to the United States, or are currently involved in as far as culture
goes.
The ideas of war and peace, culture, family, and
geography and borders have so much information to be knowledgeable about. This
class has opened my eyes to these topics that I had no knowledge on beforehand.
I knew a little about family and culture from a previous class I took where we
touched on it, but this class went very in depth with this and taught me a lot.
I liked how we held discussions about each of these issues for students to
share their views on these and we were able to talk through these tough topics
and gain knowledge from our peers. Human trafficking is something that goes on
in the city I live in and gets pushed aside. Crossing the border is something
that goes on all the time and all that America does is talk about how this
affects our country and doesn't bother to think about it from the other point
of view and look at why these people are trying to come here, to live a better
life. Within war, these soldiers want peace. “War is not soldiers fighting
against soldiers; it is people fighting against people.” This happens to often
and we don’t hear about how this affects other countries or how these U.S.
soldiers are helping build schools and hospitals for these kids.
I thought I benefited most from reading these books and
being able to converse about it with peers afterwards. This clears up any
confusion, helps us talk through difficult topics, and gets others points of
view. The guest speakers were phenomenal. It was amazing having someone who has
experienced these issues first hand come in and share their life stories and
how this impacted them. Throughout this course I came to realize that I can be
a way better citizen in this world than I am. I go about my daily life and
focus on that only and make sure I am doing what I am supposed to be doing and
what society pushes me towards. I never stopped to think about kids in other
countries or even people in my own who need a helping hand. I have volunteered
at the homeless shelter on Thanksgiving and done other small contributions, but
nothing steady to make a difference. I want to be a better citizen to this
world and this course has definitely opened my eyes to all the different things
I can do to do so. I can make this world better one kind act at a time. It is
time to think about others and what I can do to help.
For my plan of action, I am committing to volunteering at
the community center for helping victims of domestic violence. Domestic
violence is something that occurs every day and to countless people. By
volunteering, I can make a difference in their lives whether it is just having
someone to talk to, helping run errands, or coming up with what to do next in
their lives. When I move back to Tri- Cities, I will continue to do this at
their domestic violence center. I will go to the provided workshops and
participate in the fundraisers for this cause.
