Self-Evaluation and Reflection

Self-Evaluation and Reflection

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bounds. Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” – Patanjali

This semester my ESem class, “Changing our Stories”, inspired me. The professor, my classmates, the discussions, and my six-week project were all inspirational. I was very lucky to have such a wonderful class full of such wonderful people. They have helped me grow as a writer and as a person. It started out rocky and uncomfortable but as the semester progressed we progressed as well. We, I, grew, learned, and surpassed our expectations.

For me the first day of my ESem class was not a good one. I had originally been placed into the ESem “Not Quite Human” and had been moved at the last minute, with no notice to me, to “Changing our Stories”. I walked into class and was simply and utterly confused. People had books required for the class but the ESem I thought I was in didn’t have any reading materials to buy. When my professor, Anne Dalke, walked into the room I became even more confused because I had looked up my professor and she looked nothing like Anne. At this point I checked Bionic on my phone and found out that I had been switched into a different ESem. I was completely flustered and on the verge of tears. Then Anne told us to move the desks into a circle and I became terrified. In high school I had always dreaded group talks where we were all in a circle facing each other. That day I sat as silently as I could, holding in the tears. It was terrible and I didn’t want to go back. But as the semester progressed something changed.

This semester I have grown a lot, in my writing and in my class discussion skills. Through the reading we have done I have learned a lot about self-identity and my self-identity in the various contact zones I experience. Through my six-week project I have learned a lot about TimeBanks and through my research and my interview of Edgar Cahn, the inventor of TimeBanks, I have been inspired to pursue a TimeBank possibly at Bryn Mawr College and possibly do work with TimeBanks throughout my life. In class I have become much more comfortable with sharing what I think in group discussions. I have come out of my box and no longer dread walking into a class and having to form a circle and discuss something, I now look forward to it. I think one of the things that helped lead me to this change was the relaxed yet educational nature of my class, the class dynamic, and the experience of performing class discussions in a variety of spaces.

Starting on September 24 we began changing where we met for class each day. It all began because we were learning and talking about ‘play’ in class and I was wondering why don’t we play? Why don’t we go outside the classroom and play? So I talked to Anne about it and we did. The very next class we were outside on the lawn. Since then we have ‘played’ with our location every class. We have been to many different locations across campus and we have periodically returned to our original classroom. This has allowed us to develop deeper bonds as a class and experience our discussions in new and insightful ways.

Our bonds, our class dynamic has grown exponentially since the first day of class. I feel like at the beginning I wasn’t the only one uncomfortable with class discussions but at the end I feel like we have all evolved into being comfortable and able to provide meaningful input to the class. By the end we were comfortable talking about sensitive topics with each other and crying in front of each other. By the end we were all sad to sad the see the class end. I am sad to see the class end.

This semester I became inspired to be myself and follow my dreams by my ESem class. My classmates are all really cool and interesting people who I hope to continue deepening my friendship with. They have inspired me to not be afraid of being myself in class. My professor, Anne, was one of the best professors/teachers I have ever had. Every day in class, in the responses to my writings, and in my writing conferences it was obvious that she really cares. She has given me the inspiration I need to believe that I can do this, I can do college. Though I had a rocky start, I wouldn’t trade my ESem class for any other ESem class in the world.