With the advancements of social media, more than ever, society – here in the US and across the globe –has its fingers on the pulse of social topics – and they aren’t shy about letting their voice be heard. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snap Chat, social media has become a world of its own, permitting more people than ever to openly direct their views about contemporary issues. As these public debates unfold about vast issues from the Trump Administration, same-sex marriage, global warming, and more, many try to espouse statistics, science or facts to reinforce their case. As a learner craving to understand human action, I am always intrigued by fact-finding and how people seek facts to build, strengthen and present their cases. Prior sociology courses have engrained in me to ask critical questions. How does ‘society’ function? How does ‘culture’ play into our ability to seek and comprehend the facts? It are these questions that helps us to navigate the pressing issues today – but how do we answer them?
It is my understanding that this course will explore the methods used by researchers in social science to help seek clarity, and understanding or even pose even more questions. Set the Stage with Background First and foremost, I am an immigrant from Mexico. A person that traveled north not in pursuit of the American dream, but in pursuit of a life that I desired. One of equality, understanding, fairness and the ability to achieve financial and personal prosperity. Second, I am a husband and father. While being an immigrant contributes to my past, being a husband and father defines my present and drives my future. Being a husband and a father are perhaps two of the most important roles I feel blessed to have define my life.
These two titles afford me an opportunity to express my consideration for my family and force me to advance my ability to communicate with them more effectively. Each day, I am reminded that to take care of my family, means that I must take care of myself, as such, I strive to live encouraging lifestyle choices that support my emotional and physical well-being. Third and by no means final, I am a homosexual man that embraces music, culture, language, diversity, gardening, arts, and many more activities. I always strive to be more, courageous, outgoing, kind, caring, loving, punctual, honest, loyal, attentive, and connected. While each of these categories, titles or characteristics may describe me today, they may not in the future. As such, I above all strive to be a learner. A learner dedicated to finding ways to navigate the changes we face in our life. It are these categories, titles and characteristics that also contribute to my passions, desires and goals for Soc 286.
Goals that will help me advance these three defining characteristics and will hopefully aid with my advancing my professional skills and opportunities. Personal Goals for Course Based on my review of the SO 286 Course Objectives, I desire to take from this course the following goals: Review, interpret, and critically assess research impacting social issues. Recognize, describe, and apply basic social research concepts gained from my statistics course, like independent and dependent variables, random or categorized sampling, testing for reliability and validity. Truly understand the ethical aspects of social research (like learning how to refrain from miss representing a population or culture because of the lack of insights when interpreting the findings). Gain experience with quantitative as well as qualitative research. How to develop questions that are not leading and gain a deeper understanding of the issue.
How to navigate the overwhelming number of theories and previous research on every issue, to be able to develop research questions, methods and assessment of findings. Critical skills in constructing a clear research proposal that includes all the aspects of a good study. Above all, the ability to read and critically analyze other research to help gain a deeper understanding of social issues near and dear to my heart: immigration, culture, sexual orientation, same-sex marriages, same-sex child rearing, masculinity, gender studies and so much more. Learning Style After completing the Real Colors certified instructor training, I learned that I am a Blue and Orange learner. What does that mean? As a blue learner, I realize that my strengths tend to be in the areas of being enthusiastic, sympathetic, communicative, compassionate, idealistic, sincere, and imaginative.
I tend to care and want to contribute to every task I undertake. Relationships are important to me. I strive to be a good listener and talk about possibilities and like to do new things. I find that conflict or disharmony can force me to retreat or shut down. Above all, I strive to be concerned for the feelings of others and try to find ways to be tactful when communicating, so not to hurt others for my gain. As an orange learner, I tend to be spontaneous, generous, optimistic, eager, and bold in my choices. I am always in quest of fun, variety, stimulation, and excitement. For many, they would describe me as having a high level of energy and that I like to bounce around to different projects or tasks. While blue and orange, may describe my inner desires and go to behaviors, the Real Colors training taught me that it is critical to remember that people are not all one color at all times and in all situations, but rather we have all four colors.
It is just that some are more dominant at different times and in different situations. Thus, as a non-traditional learner, I have come to realize that at times, it is important for me to revert to my other colors in navigating my learning environments. At times, I simply need to be more organized, thorough, sensible, or punctual like the Golds, or more analytical, conceptual, and logical like the greens. Regardless of my natural temperament or desired learning style, above all, I desire to be more inquisitive in all things. Educational and Professional Objectives One would think that as a 37, nearly 38-year-old student, I would have clear educational and professional objectives defined. However, the challenge I have been faced, is that each new course or learning experience has presented me with so many more questions about my education and career path.
For some (family, advisor, neighbors, grocery store cashier) studying without a declared major can unquestionably give rise to some uncertainties or concerns. Yet, being afforded the opportunity to pursue something I never dreamed I would be presented has allowed me to take stock in the fact that my education is not about a degree or job alone, but rather about achieving Maslow’s highest level of self-actualization. While I may never achieve this level, I find that each course finds me one step closer and two steps to the side in my quest of knowledge, insight and most of all understanding of the environment that I live. While one day, I will ultimately need to finalize that degree and career path, at present, I wish to learn more about my surroundings, how people navigate their worlds or values, and how we can learn to live together, despite our diverse paths, that as Robert Frost declared, “diverged in a yellow wood.”
