The reason why I decided to take this course was so I could learn more about myself and what I believe in. This is because, in general, I usually have a neutral opinion on most topics, but I felt like this course has helped me identify my own personal strengths, learn more about my identity and what it means to mean, and how although I am just one individual, I still have power.
We did many assignments in this class that had to do with self-reflection, and to be honest before I decided to take this course I never self-reflected in a way that allowed me to look at my strengths. Most of the time I would always focus on my weakness and how I should improve on them, but this class helped my realize that although it is good to be aware of your weaknesses, you should also look at your strengths and how you can use those strength to improve yourself. When we took our strength-finder test and discussed our results in class and what we should focus on, it really helped me realize that even though I may have a weakness in one area, I have other people around me who are strong that area. So, when I work in a group my teammates help hold the group together by using the strength that I lack and vice versa. This assignment really helped me understand the importance of teamwork and that sometimes I can’t do everything by myself.
Overall, I do not have any major identity issues, because although I am mixed, I have never felt held back by my racial identity, but after taking this course it showed me that there are other things that define your identity other than race or gender. I learned that your identity is what you want it to be. The assignment that really allowed me to reflect on this topic is the ethics of women assignment. One of the articles explained how women tend to be more ethical than men when representing themselves rather than representing someone else. The article was interesting to me because I never really thought about it that way. If I am being honest, I do my best to act as ethically as possible at all times, because whether or not I am representing myself in a situation there is always someone I will represent. For example, even if I am off of the softball field and am not wearing my uniform people will still know who I am. The fact that I know in the back of my head that I am not only representing myself, but also someone else makes me want to act more responsibly. Although, the article shared a similar yet somewhat of a different opinion than me showed me that even though I am a woman it does not mean that I am not constrained to a cookie cutter image of a woman. I am my own person and I should be able to have my own beliefs whether or not it is considered normal to my gender or race.
In this class I was able to discuss new topics to me such as women empowerment. I have never really thought about women empowerment as a whole, and I have just always done what I wanted and never thought much about it. I have never felt restrained due to my gender, but I am from a small area and that made me realize that the world is much bigger and I may experience moments where I do feel restricted due to my gender. Hearing the women on the panel and being able to talk to my fellow peers it helped me realize that although I am young and naïve, if I just keep having the same outlook on life as I do now, I will always feel like I have the power to do anything I want. I understand that it is a difficult task to accomplish being able to keep up with that positive outlook on life, but with the help of those around me, I will be able to have power.
Being able to learn all of these things about myself like I am now more compassionate towards others and being able to look at the world through someone else’s point of view. I feel like that was a strength that I lacked in my leadership style before taking this class. I felt that as long as I do what I am supposed to do other people will follow, but after talking with my other classmates and reading articles I learned that everyone is different and sometimes they need a little push.
