Blog 10: My journey and my community by Matt Antezana

My journey in 332 began on the first day of class walking into class and sitting down in a chair not knowing what to expect. At first it felt just like any other class with a bunch of students who looked like drones just ready to take notes from a lecture and leave. Professor Aguas then told us that we were more of a community than a random group of students but this just felt like meaningless words to me when I first heard them. Early on in the semester it didn't seem like a community because not very many people talked or expressed themselves. I didn't even feel that comfortable talking because I felt that it would be like other classes where if you didn't have a promising point to make, that involved the reading or some theory, then you shouldn't make it. However that's where the formation of the community came into place because like a real community you were contributing to the class by stating your thoughts which ultimately drive the discussion and teach us the objectives of the course.

I definitely did change during my time in 332. I learned that class could be more like a community where every thought you have can contribute to the overall understanding of a topic and where you can express every emotion instead of just the seriousness that is usually associated with a college class. The course helped me feel calmer in class and taught me to think in new ways because it made me focus more on the community instead of solely on myself. I discovered that it's alright to just speak your mind in class and that expressing yourself is just as important as taking notes. I also discovered that everybody else is in the position as me which allows us to more open and that's what makes us a tighter community. I learned that we can all function as a community in different ways and roles with certain people talking and others contributing their thought on the blogs. I also learned that in a community setting you can learn just as much than in a stereotypical individual driven setting and you can also learn on a much deeper level in a community setting. I will take what I have learned in 332 into future work environments that I'm in and future classroom settings because I believe it will help me participate better in group environment. What I have learned will allow me to better engage with my peers and cooperate on a much deeper level. I will also be able to learn in different ways instead of just the usual individual lecture based class.