Final Reflective Essay

Final Reflective Essay

 

Haley Silva

April 23^rd 2012  

 

                Walking into this course, I was prepared for another semester of classes and homework, whose ending I would look forward to come April. What I found instead was a course that I thoroughly enjoyed; a place that didn’t feel like a classroom. I made friends fast, and actually enjoyed coming to class. The material was definitely something I found interesting, and I loved how I could relate back to everything we talked about. The great thing about this class was that it was never dull – there was always something new to learn. Although the exams were open book, I still found them challenging, which is a good thing. I really found myself being challenged in the class. Even the text books were interesting! I always find it hard to do the readings for a lot of classes, whether it is time issues or lack of focus, but I found myself reading the chapters like a good book, I truly immersed myself in the class.

 

I really enjoyed the alternative assignment as well. I had so much fun with Katelin Knapp, who also did the alternative assignment with me. We thoroughly enjoyed working together and had so much fun organizing the celebration for Ghana’s 55^th year of independence. I did learn a lot from that experience, and I really enjoyed getting to know all the amazing people involved. I learned a valuable lesson about Google maps as well; it is a life saver. (I got very lost on my way to Burnaby Lake Rowing Pavilion).

 

Although I was exempt from the group project along with Katelin, I still enjoyed the others’ projects. I found the information provided by other students to be extremely insightful and thought-pondering. I feel like everyone else got a lot out of the material just like I did.  I have to say I believe this class so far is probably one of my favorites. I’m going into my third year at Kwantlen, and have taken many courses, but this is one of the rare classes I would recommend to other people. It is a class that actually cares about one’s opinions on the subject at hand, and I think there is no better way to learn then to immerse ones’ self in the material personally. I feel like it was more than just a class; it was an experience.               

 

Over all, I would have to say this was my favorite class this semester and definitely one of my favorite classes I’ve taken at Kwantlen yet. I loved the style of teaching of Dr. Quist-Adade, and I would gladly take another of his classes again, given the chance.

The Final Sociology Project Report for Katelin Knapp & Haley Silva

The Final Sociology Project Report for Katelin Knapp & Haley Silva

March 13th 2012

Throughout the last few months, we have done a variety of tasks to raise money for scholarships for youth in Ghana and help organize the event for the Ghana Independence Day Celebration at the Burnaby Lake Rowing Pavilion, which took place on Saturday, March 10th. At the beginning of the project, we contacted several banks to ask them for donations. These banks included VanCity, Coast Capital Savings, and TD Canada Trust. We also started selling chocolates as soon as possible, which we continued to do up until the event, at least once a week in the main building of the Kwantlen Surrey Campus. During these chocolate sales, we would have many curious customers come by and ask us about our cause, in which case we would explain to them what we were there for. Throughout this experience, we made a few friends and several interesting acquaintances. In February, we contacted several more businesses for potential donations. We sent letters to The Bay, Zellers, Wal-Mart, and Home Outfitters. As the event drew closer, we sold 7 tickets for the event to friends and family. On the day of the event itself, Haley went to Langley to meet up with Gifty Frimpong to get the decoration materials. In addition, Katelin went to the Kwantlen Surrey Campus to pick up a projector, a screen, and the USB, which contained the PowerPoint presentation for the evening. When we got to the Burnaby Lake Rowing Pavilion, we decorated the hall with flowers, balloons, table clothes and set the door prizes up. When we were finished, we stayed to experience the event as much as we could and really enjoyed the warmth of the people and the atmosphere of the place. It was quite an enjoyable evening, we only regret having to leave early on account of work-related circumstances. We’ve both highly enjoyed the experience and have found it to be extremely rewarding, and given the opportunity, would jump at the chance to do it again.

Illustration number 2, based on conference during class on 03/08/12

I really enjoyed the presentation on Thursday March 8th concerning Black History Month. It was highly enjoyable and I got chills when Dr. Dei spoke at the conference. I love hearing someone who is so passionate about a subject speak their heart on the matter. He had some very strong opinions and was ready to defend his opinions when someone asked a question regarding opposition on the matter. I really loved hearing the poet speak as well. He was amazing and his poetry gave me chills. One portion of the conference that I found especially moving was the slideshow… I felt so emotional reading about some of the things people have done to rid themselves of the oppression they felt. One hero of mine has always been Rosa Parks, for the simple fact that she defended her honor when it was necessary. One small act like that created a ripple effect for thousands of other people around her, and it was people like her that helped pave the road to a more equal society.

Illustration number 1 based on lecture 02/02/12

        The term conflict theory, a sociological theory, is the term I chose to further discuss. Conflict theory is described as “[arguing] that society is grounded upon inequality and competition over scarce resources.” (page 20 , Social Structures and Processes). I felt that this article truly described the way the human race works perfectly, because this is truly something that a lot of people tend to do. The strong take advantage of the weak and enjoy the power that they feel when they do so. Reading the news online at http://www.theprovince.com/news/Paxton+guilty+sexually+assaulting+former+roommate/6109548/story.html I noticed this interesting article about a man who beat and sexually assaulted his former roommate and business partner, as a means to control their company forged together. This falls under the two basic principles for conflict theory, that power is the core of all social relationships and that power people promote their own interests at the expense of the weak. This man took advantage of his business partner and used fear to control him and the company.

Issues in Social Justice, Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Human Trafficking

By Darrick Brake

Paraphrastic

This chapter was about Human Trafficking, exploring the details of the phenomenon, exploring questions ranging from the who, why, what, how, etc. This chapter delved deep into the world of human trafficking, explaining that there are many types of human trafficking and helped to define the issue at hand. It goes on to state that the weaker the economy of a society, the more likely that society will have trafficking issues.

The victims of human trafficking are the ones who pay the ultimate price when this crime is committed. Persons sold into forced labour and bondage suffer on a daily basis from a myriad of negative consequences placed upon them because of their captors. For example, many individuals endure sessions of brutal physical harm throughout the duration of their labour. Some are beaten on a daily basis to remind them of who is in charge, others are beaten for not perfonring as epected, and some are beaten and torutured just for the sake of making an example out of potential deserters or trouble makers. In some instances, people are sold and trafficked to people who purchase individuals only for the purpose of beating them.” (page 65).

Although the content of this chapter, and the book alike, are quite dark and disturbing stories, I still find them interesting and informative. I did a study on human trafficking in high school once, and was amazing by the amount of people that go missing each year due to this horrific event. The fact that these people are stolen from their lives, their comfort, and forced to do unpleasant things against their will, and are beaten into submission if they don’t comply, is enough to make one physically ill. It’s a terrible thing to do to another human being, and it saddens me that such people are capable of violence like that.

Issues in Social Justice, Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Discrimination Faced by Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Community

By Carrie Buist and Andrew Verheek

Paraphrastic Reading

     This chapter is about the difficulties people in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community face in all different areas, whether it be political or legal issues, personal issues, and crimes against them in their own community to name a few.

     “The process of ‘coming out,’ while extremely personal can also be very political as well. The impact that the ramifications of coming out can have on individuals can be equally satisfying and terrifying as well, one is not only having to negotiate what their family and friends reactions may be, they also must negotiate how they will be perceived in the workplace, in their churches, at school, and every other facet of their lives. Again, this echoes the importance of the meaning behind the process, as well as the meanings behind sexuality and if nothing else the process of realizing one’s sexual orientation and in turn deciding on how one will negotiate society as a member of the LGBT community.” (page 33).

     This paragraph rang deep for me; I felt as if I could truly relate to their problems. I have never had to do something as personally challenging like this before, but I can only imagine how difficult it must be for someone to go through. The process of coming out is one that takes bravery, confidence, and a strong sense of self. I hate what people in these situations have to go through, because this journey is one that is solely taken by oneself. It’s a lonely road, and although some people find themselves supported by their family and friends, they will never be accepted by the community as a whole. It will always be a battle. I feel as if it isn’t fair that just because someone’s personal preferences are different from the majority that they be ostracized by their peers. Everyone should be treated fairly.  

Issues In Social Justice: Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Religion and Homosexuality

By Frank Tridico, Jacob Armstrong, and David Barry

Affective Reading

I’m a Catholic. I go to church on Sunday’s, I went to Catechism when I was a child, and I’ve been raised to believe in my Catholic faith. Yet I find myself in a state of wonder about the rules of this religion some days. A man in Rome raped a 9 year old girl, and he was forgiven under the state of religious law because he “repented”, but when he got the young girl pregnant, and she aborted due to medical complications that would have no doubt ended in tragedy for both mother and child, she was no longer aloud in the church. According to the Roman Catholic Church, Abortion is considered murder, and murder is the worst sin. It’s times like these that I question the church and their standings on certain issues. This goes along with the church’s ideals on homosexuality. I believe that everyone is born as who they are, as whom God made them, and I believe it’s unfair for somebody to ask them to change themselves because God won’t love them if they remain that way. The church has so much power in society today, because they instil the idea of fear into the congregation: fear of what will happen if rules are broken. Don’t get me wrong, religion is a wonderful thing to have, it’s very uplifting most days and helps people through dark times. But that is what church is supposed to do. Not put people through hard times. On page 14 of Issues in Social Justice, it reads “Research has found that individuals who [see] their sexual desires and practices as being contradictory to their religious beliefs often experience a great deal of psychological and emotional conflict.” I feel as though sometimes this religion and others need to re-evaluate what it truly means to have faith in something.