December 16, 2016 - 08:08
Where Am I Now
There are some things in life that just happen un- expectantly and people do not know why. If you are someone like me, you want to have more control over the things that take place in your life, but more often than not, this is not reality. When I was selecting my classes for Bryn Mawr I had no idea what I was doing, let alone completely understand what an E-sem course was and how to choose a topic. As I was scrolling down I remember selecting the course title, “Changing Our Stories,” and at that time I thought that this class was going to be about growing into a new identity, which was correct, but due to my failure not fully reading the course description I was unaware that this class had any involvement with the environment. Had I known this I probably would not have taken the course because it has always been a habit of mine to shy away from the things that I cannot change like, global warming, but everything happens for a reason.
Never, did I imagine that this class would have such an impact on my life from meeting amazing people, and having an instructor like Anne Dalke, made my experience at Bryn Mawr worth- while. For a long time, I felt that I did not fit in at Bryn Mawr, and often times I still share this thought. I feel that unlike a lot of my peers and the Bryn Mawr community, I am different: I think different, I act different, and I am not necessarily the most liberal person you will meet. I like to think of myself as someone in the middle of liberal and conservative, but the point is this E-sem class has helped me feel more comfortable in my new environment.
It is my pleasure that in our class nothing is off topic, and it is okay to challenge the ideas of others, not to simply form disagreements or create arguments, but to learn. Anne has this way about her that she always got everyone to speak and it was not forceful. I enjoyed this because I was able to learn so much about the ways that the individuals in my class perceived information and how they felt about an issue because of how they were brought up. It was like I had a culture shock. It is my belief that typically, the way you are brought up is how you determine what is right and wrong in the world, and this also influences your daily actions and how you choose to live your life.
I have learned a lot from the international students in our class, because living in America is like living in a bubble, and I loved hearing how the things that take place in the world are viewed through their eyes. It was also the international students in our class that helped me gain a sense of belonging and get a grip, because while I am sad that I cannot see my family because they are in Texas, their families are on the other side of the world. This class has a way of making you open your eyes to different perspectives.
I am judgmental and I am also set in my ways, which means that I typically do not like change nor do I like to have conversations about things that I deeply believe in, but once again, I am learning that everything happens for a reason. I never expected to have so many writing assignments, and I must admit sometimes I disliked this exercise of having a paper every Friday and a Monday night posting because a lot of our posting and writing was stemmed from the reading we had done, but it can be difficult to write about a reading that you have no connection to and cannot grasp the understanding. But once again I have to say that working with Anne helped me here, because I like to actively participate in class, and I will say for the majority of our classes I did, but when I didn’t it probably had a lot to do with the fact that I had become lost in the reading.
During our one on one sessions, Anne helped me when I was feeling confused and helped me strengthen the ground ideas for my writing. She also pushed me to not just see things one way, and while I will say these changes were to help me in class they also helped me in my time at Bryn Mawr. With time the Friday night writing assignments became easier, and although I still do not like the tedious Monday night postings, I too got better at these as well. I learned to hear both sides of a story and that sometimes there is no right or wrong answer. For example, in the last month of our semester we as students of this E-sem class were tasked with doing a six - week project on a topic of our choice and I will say this was amazing. I enjoyed the time that I spent conducting research, but I more so enjoyed seeing the findings of my peers.
My favorite book in this class what “Getting Mothers Body,” by Suzan- Lori Parks. This novel was unlike anything I have ever read, yet it was simply amazing. After reading this book, my class and I had the best group discussion, so good that it lasted nearly three classes. I enjoyed seeing that my classmates not only enjoyed the book like I did, but that we all perceived various parts of the book differently and were able to discuss our ideas and challenge each other to think.
I will miss having Anne as my teacher, and a wonderful class like this, but I now know that everything happens for a reason.