Final

This semester seemed to have flown by, even if there were parts that seemed to move so slowly. Despite the opinions of students in other FYE classes, I think our class could collectively agree that we had a good experience, contributed both by a great teacher, peer helper, and diverse range of students from all walks of life. It united us together to dig deep into (sometimes) controversial topics and breach the wall of discomfort to better understand situations and differing perspectives.

The first student learning outcome FYE is designed to teach is to develop and apply information literacy skills in academic and non-academic contexts. As honors students, we are expected to write a thesis before graduating as well as understand that all of the research papers we write are held to much higher standards. We did not really need to spend a lot of time writing an actual research paper because we had definitely done enough of those. Instead, we constructed an outline and found two sources and assess their credibility. My thesis for my "research paper", detailed in my week 12 blog, was how the "behavior of ants resembles human civilization and the parallels that can be made between the two species." We used the CRAAP test to prove the credibility of our sources and it wasn't easy to find one that could satisfy all the CRAAP requirements. Ebeni even stated "trying to find sources wasn't the hardest thing, it was just making sure you would be able to check off everything the C.R.A.A.P. test asked about."

The second outcome is to engage in campus resources, your degree program, and the community. During my week 1 blog, I claimed that "it seems like one would have to try really hard not to join an extracurricular activity of some sort" and this is true. I wasn't looking for anything really until I noticed a flyer for ultimate frisbee so I joined a random team. Going into it, I had played a lot of casual frisbee before but nothing competitive. I definitely didn't have the same strategic thinking they the rest did but they were very patient with teaching me. Although the season was pretty short, I had a blast! Alicia also joined a frisbee team and she exclaimed, "I enjoy playing intramural ultimate frisbee and can already see how many connections and friendships the sport has afforded me, and it's only been a week."

Another day, I walked past a flyer that said "Fraternity for Eagle Scouts" and I thought that was very intriguing. I went and talked to some of the members and they gave me a little insight to how the organization goes camping and does service projects while keeping the ideals of scouting close. I went through the "candidacy process" with three other recruits and it is a lot of fun. It's really cool to find an organization like that where you all have this one, big, unifying achievement where you understand the same ordeals that every other Eagle Scout went through.

Through these two extracurricular, I learned how important companionship is in college. Especially when you need a distraction from school work :)

The third outcome is discussing diversity and inclusion. This is very important because although we have come a long way in the past decades, we still have work to go in terms of mending racial tensions and biases. As outline in my week 3 blog, our class discussions and small groups helped improve "our communication with our peers and teachers enhance our educational experience." One particular theme was white privilege. Before this class, I knew what it was but I had not thought a lot about it, mainly because I am not negatively affected by it. I feel stubborn now. Through our class discussions and small groups, it really helped open my eyes to the true issues at hand in our nation (and globally). It was especially effective hearing some shocking first-hand accounts of it from our fellow classmates. I had a long conversation with a fellow classmate outside of the class and we really brought our ideas together, both learning new ideas about it and tried to understand why it was so prevalent as well as where the term "white privilege" is commonly misconstrued as a socioeconomic status by white people rather than a racial bias issue. In my week 9 blog, I explain how "the FYE teachers took a strong initiative to extensively discuss with everyone about diversity" following the book-burning and spike in racial tensions at GSU. We can all make this world a more peaceful place by examining our own actions and thoughts and trying to allow a growth mindset to understand others before making assumptions.

In the beginning, I was not thrilled about the FYE class. But as the semester progressed, I began to appreciate the spread of ideas in our respectful environment and soon I started looking forward to going to FYE class. It differs from other classes because it teaches important life lessons that you can't get from a math or engineering class. It opened my eyes to a lot of problems in the world, but also a lot of good too. Learning about different cultures and background of our classmates was really cool and I will likely not forget it.

Peace.

Will "wheat thin boy" Evelyn