REFLECTIVE ESSAY

(Side note... I chose to put a picture of these sneakers because they are made of reflective 3M material. I figured that i should put something that related to me and my personality and that relates to the word "reflective" simultaneously)

Alejandro Giron
Professor Underwood
USA, Africa & the World
December 2, 2008
Reflective Essay

Coming into the class, I was very skeptic because of past experiences with previous history classes. I was never the type of person that enjoyed history class and doing the work was always a task for me. It was never that the work was hard but it simple bored me and I could not find it in me to actually do it. However, this class was not what I originally expected. There were some key reasons that made this class more interesting than others.
The class assignments were interesting because of the flexibility that we as students had as far as topics went. The assignment that really caught my attention was the personal artifact essay. Just about any writing assignment that allows me to write about things that I love and enjoy is worth completing. Another reason why that assignment was my favorite is because it also let me explore my creativity by writing from the first person point of view but with another character. This was something that I have not done before and at first was a little challenging, however I overcame the obstacle and had fun completing the assignment. I did not receive the grade I wanted but I just took it as me taking my creativeness a little too far and forgetting about fully completing the task.
The cultural analysis essay is an assignment that I wish had a little more flexibility. I feel as if I had a wider variety of cultures that I could have written about then I would have been a little more enthusiastic about the assignment thus providing a better finished product. I think the fact that we could only choose from civilizations that we studied during class really limited our capabilities and our creativity. It basically held us back from showing our true potential. I think that the in class lectures were of much help although sometimes boring. I think that the lectures were a lot of help because I personally learn material best from seeing and writing it. The power point presentations along with the lectures really helped with the remembering process. The other assignments were not anything too special to me. They were standard history papers that basically asked u to analyze different aspects of ancient history.
Another thing that I liked about the class is that it taught me many things that I did not know about ancient world. Things like the people of Kush and how the ancient Ethiopians were "the first men." After growing up learning from a school system that only teaches the History of just about every other culture but black cultures, learning about these different ancient people was a real heads up. Another topic that I enjoyed learning was the different religions of the ancient peoples. My favorite religions to learn about are the eastern religions such as Confucianism and Buddhism. I love to hear about the starters of these religions and hearing about their journeys and paths that they took to discover what made them want to start believing what they believed in. Buddha’s experience with people of a lesser caliber is what triggered his change. He realized that he was basically born with a silver spoon in his mouth and not every one else had the same privileges that he had and that the only way to reach peace with himself was to rid himself of all material possessions. His story and path to "nirvana" is one that inspires me greatly. I like material things, maybe a little too much to rid myself of them but if you stay on your road and disregard distractions, you are almost destined to succeed.
This history class was different from other classes that I have taken in the past. The previous classes were set classes with a main objective which was to mainly get the students ready for the big city wide test. Now that the test is out of the picture, one can just learn with no objectives and no boundaries. The previous classes did not teach anything that was not going to be on the exam. But since there really isn’t an exam to look forward too, we can learn just about anything and everything. Although this course may be boring at times, I think any class could bore somebody if it is not taught correctly. Coming out of the class I definitely feel more informed. Now when I hear my elders speaking about the economy and relating it to the past and how most of the ideas for the government were based on that of others, I can add my input and simply hold intelligent conversation.
This class has taught me more about the civilizations in ancient Africa. Those are the civilizations that I always wanted to learn about. Things like the battles between Kush and the Egyptians and the form of Christianity in ancient Ethiopia are all topics that I never knew of but always wanted to know more. Although I missed a few classes, when I was in class I did nothing but listen and take notes. I learned new things and enhanced my knowledge on topics that I already knew. This class was an experience that I will not forget because the material is almost drilled in my head.