.JPG)
We had three guest speakers today: Adnan, Will and Emily. They didn't come with a prepared lecture or activities, but instead gave us the freedom to decide where we wanted to go in our discussions today. We began by exploring ageism and how we feel as teenagers. People shared moments when they felt oppressed because of their youth and the frustrations involving being treated like a child and expected to act like an adult. Adnan explained that we really have the power, though, because even simply putting up with our parents or teachers is taking care of them which they need.
I spent a lot of my lunch break discussing the class with the TAs and some friends. Conversational opportunities about the topics we cover in class never run out. When we returned, we discussed the SATs. Most people in our class thought it was not a good representation of intelligence, but a few thought it was the best possible option. Today, I realized there were a couple people in our class who had more conservative beliefs and felt badly because the rest of the class has opposite views. When we broke up into smaller groups, I stayed with these people because I was curious how this class was for them. We spent the hour discussing how they would like to see both sides instead of always one. They suggested we bring in a Wall Street banker to talk to us or having a debate. I think this could be an interesting experience, although I personally would most likely disagree on what they had to say, it's still good to become educated about it.
Personally, I came into this program not knowing much about politics or the economy. I found that I agree with most of what is brought up in Social Justice, but not 100% of it. I do not know what I label myself yet, but I am interested in finding out about more parties. Hopefully, by the end of next week I will have a clearer idea!
Personally, I came into this program not knowing much about politics or the economy. I found that I agree with most of what is brought up in Social Justice, but not 100% of it. I do not know what I label myself yet, but I am interested in finding out about more parties. Hopefully, by the end of next week I will have a clearer idea!
I'm proud to read that you are so open-minded. An intelligent individual always looks at both sides, whether he's conservative or liberal.
ReplyDeleteYour father speaks some wisdom here.
ReplyDeleteI’m pretty set in my beliefs but I like to think that my mind is open to different ideas. This is why your blogs, chaperone evaluations and the Post Mortem Questionnaire are so important to us. We need to hear ideas, concepts and thoughts other than our own. In these areas we’ll listen to what you have to say and take it all into consideration as we make adjustments to the ILC.
We can easily fool ourselves, Hannah, by thinking that the rest of the world thinks like we do here on the East Bay. Look at any Presidential election, though, and you’ll see that a large part of the country disagrees with the greater Bay Area on most subjects.
Look at simple things like women’s rights, abortion, same sex marriage, racial and gender equality and a wide array of other issues and you’ll see viewpoints all over the map. Are they right and we’re wrong?
Even having the Wall Street banker come in and speak to you might be very illuminating for you all.
Even though you were bright enough to be selected for an ILC scholarship, by your own admission you’re still fairly ignorant about a lot of issues. We’d love to remedy that but we can only work on a couple of issues at as time (like blogging and time management).
I’m pleased to read that you made an effort to meet with some of those people who are more conservative than the rest of the group. Not only can you learn from them but they can learn from you. Neither side had to win the other side over but knowing the ways of the other side is a valuable lesson and tool.