December 15, 2015 - 17:56
Through this course, I struggled a lot to get done with readings and writings every week. I regretted many times that I should have practiced English more before I came here. Now, however, I am sure that I learnt a lot from this course and I have found new various different perspectives in myself.
In particular, I struggled in classes. To tell the truth, during the first several weeks, I could not hear what everyone was talking about at all, and at the same time I was very impressed by all of my peers that they have many opinions to talk and that they can respond as soon as they were given a question or topic for discussion. I still cannot understand the mechanism of brain that comes up with ideas or thoughts so quickly, but it was a very great experience for me to be in this environment. I was encouraged to speak out and think of the topics we were dealing with in details. I came to consider everything further more thoroughly than I used to do.
Through the conferences with Anne and my papers, my way of writing has showed an expansion. I had always tended to stick to demonstrate my answers or suggestions in my paper, but I learnt the way to find new questions from a question. At first I was confused when I was encouraged to do this. I could not understand what I can generate from finding new questions, but I have found that my thoughts expanded in multiple ways by taking this process into account. My limited perspective showed expansion every time I wrote an essay.
The 6-week project was one of the most important parts of my ESEM. When I chose the topic during the fall break, I had not even imagined the vision of my project. Nevertheless, as a result, I could gather plenty of interesting conception and information about Bryn Mawr as a women’s college and gender in Bryn Mawr. All of them widened my perspective. It was a great opportunity to interview current Bryn Mawr students about their views of women’s college and also of gender identity. I am eager to share the conception of ‘women’s college’ in Bryn Mawr with my own college-Tsuda College’s students. Both Tsuda and Bryn Mawr are women’s college but the conception of these two ‘women’s college’s are very different. While Tsuda is a traditional women college, Bryn Mawr is not a traditional women’s college anymore. Before I came to Bryn Mawr, I had only had an image of traditional women’s college for ‘women’s college’ so I had not expected to find huge difference between these two colleges. Through this project, I reconsidered that it is exactly hard to just say Bryn Mawr is a women’s college.
Overall, I learnt a lot by my peers, Anne, Jody and other Bryn Mawr students I had relations for my 6-week project. All of them expanded my thoughts and gave me new perspectives and thoughtful ideas. I am glad to be one of the members in this contact zone and to move forward different paths together.