Final Reflection Essay
The academic journey I have undertaken has placed me on various cross paths that have enabled me to understand the position of multiple individuals within the global context. The ability to learn how global systems are intertwined has helped me to analyze the various interworking within our society and determine the role played by each of them. Although I have made quite good progress in achieving multiple goals during this learning process, I am yet to attain various objectives that are integral in my educational process. However, as I reflect through my learning process, I consider myself with the necessary amount of knowledge on the global system. The experience I have acquired has eliminated the naivety I had towards the start of the semester on how various global systems work while intertwined together.
Progress Made Towards Achieving Various Personal Goals
In the early days of the semester, I was curious as to how my studies will enable me to achieve various personal goals that I had outlined for myself. For instance, one of my main motivations for taking this class was ensuring that I would learn and understand my position within the society and the broader global context. My sentiments on the progress made on achieving these goals are that I know my role as belonging to the youth who are working to ensure that this world becomes a much better place than it is now. I have managed to understand I am controlled by other more significant aspects of life that determine our existence.
By exploring mass industrial complexes that control all aspects of life, I have been exposed to the fundamental elements that we can determine the role that we play in the global context. For instance, one can either decide to be a builder of this earth or a destroyer that adds no value to our communities. As a student, I am proud of the fact that I have made tremendous progress towards my academic life. The scenario above is attributed to the fact that I managed to approach my studies from a professional point of view rather than an academic one. For instance, I consider academics to be an integral part of who I want to become in the future. As a result, there are certain academic elements that I have to achieve, like learning new knowledge and skills so that I can play a decisive role in the betterment of my community. Furthermore, my academics in various global communities have enabled me to change my character towards that of appreciating and respecting all races and ethnicities on earth.
Before taking this class, my previous behavior used to be that of an introvert since I did not dare to interact with other students. However, the situation has changed since the aspect of learning about other people’s societies, and communities have made me more appreciative of the role each human being plays in this world. Although I have made tremendous progress in this area, I still have difficulties relating to persons from different ethnic communities. However, to surpass these difficulties, I have volunteered in various communities building activities that enable me to interact with individuals from different ethnic and racial backgrounds.
My Understanding of the World and My Role in Social Change
My learning process throughout the semester has forced me to change some of the assessments I had made earlier based on my understanding of how the world works. For instance, I have discovered that social change is caused by a lot of elements that determine the role one plays in society. From a global perspective, social change is caused by aspects like economic and technological changes, modernization, urbanization, conflict, and political power. The above are examples of elements that contribute to social changes. However, many other aspects are intertwined together to influence social change. Although the above factors contribute to social change, their effectiveness is determined by human beings who are affected by them. For instance, the aspect of technology is invented by humans. However, the continuous advancements of technology have forced humans to be more dependent compared to the past. The above scenarios are an example of social change that has been caused by technological innovations.
Furthermore, I have realized that I play a significant role in influencing society based on some of the decisions that I have made in the past. For instance, I always rush to try out new technological innovations since I do not want to be left behind when the social change occurs. As a result, I have allowed the influence of technology to determine how I live my life. Furthermore, in other examples, I have also tried to play a role in influencing the positive aspects of social change. For instance, I encourage most of my peers to refrain from various social evils like violence and adopt a life that is based on peaceful co-existence.
What I Have Learned About the Process of Learning
One principal that I have to learn about the learning process is that it requires a lot from a person and not just using one’s brain capacity. For instance, all methods of learning need one to involve their whole personality. These include aspects like sense, intuition, beliefs, feelings, values, and the will to accomplish specific objectives. Therefore, for a person to consider themselves as learning, then they should have the will to do so. Furthermore, the knowledge that’s gained by individuals in their academic journey should have a lot of significance in helping the individual achieve specific objectives. For instance, learning for the sake of examinations will have very little relevance once that task is over. Therefore, such knowledge will exist as vague ideas that float through one’s consciousness.
Another aspect that I have learned is that one can never seize the action of learning until their demise from this world. The assessment above is based on the assumption that every day of our lives is a learning process. Individuals are always in the process of learning from their actions, the actions of others, and others’ experiences. Therefore, learning never seizes to occur until the death of a person.
Challenges Experienced and Steps I Took to Overcome Them
One challenge that I experienced during this semester is that I did not have enough time to take part in various activities that would have enabled me to gather evidence for the senior project. Furthermore, the ongoing pandemic in the world has discouraged human interactions that could have helped me gain knowledge of how various global systems work. As a result, I was unable to put into practice the theoretical knowledge acquired in class.
