Hi! Are you struggling? I’m struggling! I even wrote this on time and then didn’t get to make a video and then wanted to make a video and then forgot to post it.
I mean of course I hope you’re all doing okay, that goes without saying but it’s rough out here people!
In lieu of a project or more work, I want to do a quick reflection on what we’ve done so far. Hopefully a reflective point will give you an opportunity to take stock in what you’ve learned (or haven’t had a chance to engage with yet).
So please for this week, just write to me in the comments something you can take with you to your broader education, from what we’ve done so far. It could also be “to prioritize myself even when the weight of classes seems like it’s dragging me down”.
Looking forward to hearing from you!!
In retrospect, I can take a couple of things from this class to future classes and the broader world. The biggest thing I learned is that writing is like an equation. There are specific formats for all kinds of writing, and using other writings as a template is helpful. This knowledge is helpful because I will need to write in the future, and better writing can take me further. Next time I need to write a paper, I can decode the format from another paper and insert my information instead.
Another thing I learned is objective fields like science are not objective. They are filled with biases, and it is essential not to treat them as divine truths. Lastly, I learned that fields like science are inaccessible to many, and the information and experiments they conduct are usually tailored to specific groups. And those groups are usually the ones in power.
I’ve learned that even science is not entirely objective. In the future, when I look at research articles, I’ll definitely keep in mind that the people behind them have biases and may not always be worried about presenting their data in an unbiased way. And speaking of research articles, the arxiv site seems like it could come in handy should I ever need to find scholarly articles on specific topics, so I’ll be taking that with me too.
I find the whole science being objective idea very interesting. I think it is important to know the complete truth behind scientific studies because some of them might have a bias in them that is not good. One thing I learned about myself in this class is that I tend to do better in class when there is less stress.
I’ve learned that science is not always objective. Even when I thought it was objective I probably was wrong. I realized that science is not always based on data and facts. I never really thought about how much opinion and personal thoughts come into play until now. Something I can take with me to the border world is that many scientists out there may be biased and maybe some studies behind certain research topics may not be completely true due to the number of biased beliefs people have. What I learned about myself in this class is that even when I can’t find much time to focus on college (due to personal issues at home and having to work full-time). I still choose to try my best to get some kind of work done even if it isn’t as much as I expected myself to do. Along with that having a professor who chooses to support their students really helps with not having to feel so rushed or stressed out during times like this.
Things I will take from this class to other classes and the rest of my classes is that not everyone has the opportunities that most of us do. For example, There have been people of color or women who could have contributed greatly to science but because of these structural barriers, they couldn’t. Maybe if we didn’t have these barriers science that we know today might have been different. We might have discovered more. We all are gifted with something in life and some people are gifted with talent. Albert Einstein is a great example of people who are gifted and. if we did not have these barriers we could’ve had more people like him. So because of this not taking anything for granted and understanding the world we see today might have been different if everyone had a fair shot at life.