Emily Ferman

Professor Lee
FYS 146-04 
13 December 2020

Reflection

Even though this year has been filled with so many uneventful events I am really
excited to begin my education at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB).
Online school has definitely not been easy but hopefully next school year we will be
able to attend school in person. This class has definitely affected my life because I want
to strive to become more away from people from different backgrounds and cultures. At
first, I was not really sure about taking an ethics class because I honestly had no idea
on what it was all about. With this class I was able to educate myself of the importance
of learning about other people's backgrounds. As a person of color I really do respect
this class because I was able to relate to some topics and experiences that were taught.
Something that I learned about that I did not know before was how quickly
Columbus decided to take advantage of the Native Americans because they lacked
modern technology. I found this disgusting because Columbus and his men invaded the
homes of the indigenous and enslaved them. Another thing that I learned this semester
is about Zinn and his five suggestions to understanding why we need to study history. I
agree with Zinn because in order for people to not be ignorant they need to be
empathetic towards the good, bad, and ugly of somebody else's life.
This class has made me a better critical thinker because I now feel more confident in
reading a text, breaking it down, and analyzing it. Doing the reading logs gave me the
chance to extract certain parts of text and talk about what I thought they meant.
Watching the documentaries also helped me become a better critical thinker because I
had to pay attention to the speaker's story in order to understand who they were and
where they came from.
 Throughout this semester I came across times when I doubted myself and if I
was going to accomplish the things I listed on my vision statement. But, every time I feel
like that I tell myself that I just started my journey and I can not give up now. I feel very
good about my vision statement because I know that it is possible as long as I keep
trying. At this point I do feel closer to achieving my goals. This semester went by faster
than I expected and pretty soon I will be completing every goal I set for myself. Growing
up I always liked science but as I grew I learned about forensics and I found it
fascinating. Becoming a forensic scientist is now my dream job. Creating a vision
statement helped me physically see what I have planned for the future, and I am excited
for it.
If I were to teach this class I would probably want to hear about my peers' history
and to talk about the cultural similarities and differences we have. Since the students in
the class are mostly freshmen I think that it is important for us all to get to know each
other because we will be together throughout our college experience. I would also want
to create a fantasy world where the students build their own utopia from different eras to
see how history might have been different if certain events did or did not happen. Even
though we can not change the past we can use the information from it to build a better
future for those who have been wronged.
Overall I really enjoyed this class and I hope to use what I learned to educate
people in my own life to learn about the importance of ethics. This year has been a
tough one but in this class I knew that I was not alone, and I was supported by my
professor and different support groups California State University Monterey Bay
(CSUMB) provides. I can not wait to be on campus one day to experience the full
college experience. I have always lived in the city so going to Monterey is definitely
going to be a different experience. As a first generation student I am very proud of
myself and all the things that I hope to accomplish. I will also be the first person in my
family to move away from home which is scary and exciting at the same time. Going to
college has already made an impact in my life and I can not wait to see where my
education takes me.