Diversity & Inclusion Part II

Introduction

Well, this week in class we discussed diversity and inclusion a bit more. This time focusing one a particular person's impact on immigration. This person being Jose Antonio Vargas. He was the focus of the two documentaries that were available for us to watch. The first one we watched was called "Documented" which followed Jose's life and told us about his experiences as an undocumented American. The second was optional, and it was called "White People." This followed Jose as he went around the country discussing the heavy topic of immigration, diversity, and inclusion.

Documented 

Jose Antonio Vargas is an undocumented American that was brought to the United States by his grandparents when he was 12 years old. The documentary gives us an insight to his life, and how he grew up being undocumented. He didn't even know he wasn't a legal citizen until he tried to get his driver's license when he turned 16. Overall, I thought the film was pretty good. It allowed me to see a side of immigration that I don't think about often enough. Although the film doesn't come right out and say it, the message is pretty clear. Something needs to be done about immigration and the way citizenship is handled in our country. It is nearly impossible for people to gain citizenship in this country by any simple means. Plus, there are waiting lists hundreds of thousands people long. The film had a fair amount of success in addressing its point. It has allowed Vargas to travel around the country to spread this message and educate people on how the immigration process actually works. It didn't change my mind about anything, it just gave me more details. But, I am glad that the film exists and that Vargas is able to travel to tell more people who may think differently.

I also watched the film White People that Vargas hosted. In this documentary, he went around the country and asked young people for their perspectives on white privilege and what it meant to them. Most of the white students that talked about it were visibly uncomfortable. No one knew how to address it. The most common example used by high school and college students was in terms of scholarships. They either thought that white students were more likely to get scholarships or they thought they were being discriminated against when a student of a minority got a scholarship over them. As it turns out, white students are actually 40% more likely to get chosen for scholarships over minority groups.

The Dunking Booth Incident

This is off topic, I know, but I just have to tell everyone how I managed to injure myself this week. So, on Tuesday, there was this dunking booth set up at the rotunda by some fraternity to raise money. I had walked by earlier that day and basically decided I wasn't going to embarrass myself by trying. Then I had to pass it later that day on the way to my class. This time one of my friends was helping run it, and he told me I should come try it. So, I walk over and ask if I can just pay to hit the button. They agree, and I pay my money and prepare myself for the good laugh of dunking the guy in the chair. Let me interrupt this story for a quick background on dunking booths. Okay, so you know how most of them literally just have a button you push? Like a normal button that just pushes down and comes back up? Yeah this wasn't that. This was more of a lever that swung back when you hit it. Thing is, no one told me that. So I walk up prepared to hit this button pretty hard. When I hit the button, it swings back and causes me to continue falling forward with it. As I stumble, the stupid button manages to slice my poor pinky finger. Yeah, that's it. There's no happy ending to that story other than the fact that I the money I paid to get injured went towards a children's hospital so there's that. 

Diversity & Inclusion

Introduction

This week in class, we discussed a pretty touchy topic. Immigration. On the subjects of diversity and inclusion, immigration is definitely one of the first things to come up. Even though these subjects can lead to some controversy, I feel like our class approached the discussions with very open minds. 

"Which Way Home"

The biggest part of our discussion on immigration was definitely the documentary "Which Way Home." The film followed a few different children as they made their way to America on the tops of freight trains. None of the kids shown in the documentary were over 17 years old. Some were even as young as 9 years old. Can you imagine that? Being 9 or 10 years old and feeling such a great need to escape your country to help your family that you would risk your life? It was appalling to see how mature these kids were for their age. They completely understood the weight of their decisions, and they still faced the journey bravely. I was really glad this film was assigned because I feel like it really opened up our eyes a bit more. We were all aware of the way immigration is currently viewed and handled in our country, but films like this give us a chance to see the other side of the story. Overall, I think the film lived up to my expectations. I knew it wasn't going to be a 'happy family film,' so I went into it with the mindset that I would probably be upset by most of the things I would be shown. Because I knew it was going to be a lot to take in, I finished watching with my roommate which definitely helped. It was nice to have someone to discuss things with as the film went on. I don't know if I'd say the message portrayed was very clear just because it could be taken so many ways depending on who you ask. The filmmakers were definitely trying to bring attention to an issue that often gets blown over. The film didn't change my point of view on the topic of immigration, but it gave me a wider perspective. It reminded me of a lot of things I didn't consider when the topic was brought up, such as the conditions these people are traveling in. I was also left with many questions at the end. Did the kids shown make it to the US? Are they okay? Why did Kevin get sent all the way to Washington while Fito was almost immediately sent back? I wish I could have these questions answered because the film makes you truly care for these people and their well-being. 

I think everyone should watch this movie or at least be exposed to similar stories. It's very eye-opening, and it doesn't hurt anyone to become more educated on such sensitive issues. 

Academic Integrity & Growth Mindset

Introduction

This week in class we talked about in-class discussions, growth mindsets, and academic integrity. Both of these topics were actually very interesting to discuss, and they actually helped me clear some things up within my classes.

Academic Integrity

While this was the second topic we discussed this week, it was definitely the most important to me. Academic integrity varies by definition depending on the school, but in general it always means cheating and plagiarism are wrong. Hands down. No exceptions. It just so happened to work out that I was dealing with an issue of academic integrity in one of my classes at the time. Earlier this week in one of my classes, we had our first exam. It was online which seems to make cheating very easy. After I completed my exam, I started getting notifications from our class GroupMe. Once I scrolled through the messages, I realized someone in my class had decided to share their exam answers in the group chat. I left the chat immediately out of fear of being accused of cheating. I tried to forget about it after this. I wasn't the one who cheated, so it wasn't my problem, right? Yeah, I was wrong. Ironically, we ended up discussing academic integrity the day after this happened, and it helped me realize how much it was bugging me that this had happened. I talked it through in class, and that helped me to decide I should email my professor. Long story short, if you see something that you know is wrong, speak up. Even if it doesn't directly effect you. Don't let yourself fall into the bystander-effect. 

Growth Mindset

On a lighter note, we also discussed growth mindsets. Basically what are your strengths, what are your weaknesses, and what do we think those are for our generation as a whole. Most of our class agreed that our weaknesses fell somewhere with overthinking, public speaking, and things like that. Overthinking and over-analyzing was definitely a big one for everyone. It seems like we all have a habit of scrutinizing all the situations thrown our way. It's not always a bad thing, and being analytical has gotten us this far academically, but when it gets to the point of causing us worry and stress, it becomes an issue. Dra. Mcgrath put it best when she told us that we all find ourselves falling into impostor syndrome. Basically, we all feel like we don't fit in sometimes. We tend to overthink every detail, and think someone is going to find out we're not good enough and kick us out of the position we're in. But, the thing is, that's not going to happen. You deserve to be where you are, you're not faking it, you've made it this far because you're good enough. I promise.

Wheat Thins

On an even lighter note, wheat thins have become one of the most entertaining things about our class. The big thing is seeing how many can fit in your mouth. Most of haven't tried it yet, but one kid in our class is up to 35 I think. That's pretty impressive if you ask me. By the end of the semester I'm hoping we can get everyone in class to attempt it. 

Microaggressions & Free Speech

Introduction

This week's blog was a bit difficult to write since it's centered around in-class discussion and free speech, and we didn't have class all week. I did enjoy the articles though, especially the ones one microaggressions, so that's where I plan on focusing this blog. 

Microaggressions & Free Speech

Microaggressions are something we don't tend to notice very much in everyday life, unless of course you're the one subject to them. Even then, it may not be clear right away. The article "What Exactly Is a Microaggression?" by Jenee Desmond-Harris was very insightful and helpful for learning about microaggressions. Basically, a microaggression is any small behavior or remark that is inherently offensive towards a group even if it isn't meant to be. These are generally geared toward people of color, women, members of the LGBTQ population, or other generally marginalized groups. Microaggression is an interesting topic to me because it affects many different people in their everyday lives, and I would like to help put an end to them. 

These are also involved in the discussion of free speech. Many people believe that microaggressions and the remarks that fall under them should be regulated especially on college campuses. Others believe that people today are being too sensitive and need to "toughen up." I personally believe that while there is an issue at hand, it would be difficult to make and enforce any rules against microaggressions in particular. Because they come in so many shapes and forms, and because many people in positions of power unconsciously use them in daily life, it would be nearly impossible to outlaw them entirely. 

I feel like this topic would have been really interesting to discuss in class. I would've loved to hear everyone else's input as well as their personal experiences with any type of microaggression. Because two of the target groups are women and people of color, I think my classmates would have some insightful experiences to relate to the topic. 

Week 2: Honors & Time Management

Introduction

This week in class was pretty fun and eventful. On Monday, our honors advisement team came to speak to us about our opportunities and responsibilities within the honors community. And, on Wednesday, we discussed time management and how to fit in everything we want to experience in college.

Honors Opportunities & Requirements

As I mentioned before, our advisement team came to speak to us about the honors program in general. We started by discussing the basics, such as how we're supposed to participate in one experiential learning activity every year. Things like our classes, learning experiences, and volunteer hours are set up as requirements, which may make them sound very tedious, but they are set in place to help us manage our college life and get the most out of it. If it hadn't been for them coming to talk to us, I would've been completely lost on how to volunteer or go about my experiential learning. Now, thanks to them, I've already been able to look into volunteer opportunities such as the boys and girls club, and I've begun to search for study abroad trips that will also count as experiential learning. I would've liked to talk more about the study abroad trips, as well as the experiential learning, even though our advisers did a great job of going over everything.  

Time Management

The next time we met for class, we discussed time management. Not even 10 minutes into class we discovered we all regularly got so busy we forgot to eat. So, now remembering to eat is at the top of all of our lists. We soon switched things over to a more serious note. How could we avoid the stress of college and keep up with everything? Turns out, it's a lot more simple than we thought. 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. We two small activities to allow us to see time management a but differently. For the first activity, we broke up into groups of four, and we were given a list of tasks to complete. Each activity was worth more or less points depending on the difficulty and time it would take to complete. I was pretty proud when I saw that my group had won in terms of points. Once we all returned to our seats and had tallied up the points, we discussed how we all went about completing the various tasks. Most of us had simply gone down the list, and when it came to tasks with a few steps, we decided to divide and conquer. Next, we were asked to get out a sheet of paper and write out how we would spend $86,400, but you couldn't invest the money, and if you didn't spend it, it was gone. The meaning behind this is that there are 86,400 seconds in a day, and there are about a million ways you can spend them, but once you've spent them, you don't get that time back. I for one try to spend my time wisely, but it doesn't always work out that way. I usually try to get all my homework and studying done before I go hang out with my friends, but again, I'm not the most responsible in that area.