BLOG 10! Sam Quinn

Address your journey in 332. Did you change? What did you discover about yourself? Your community? What will you do with what you learned?

Wah my journey in this class has been so memorable and worth it! I don't want it to be over, and it makes me wish/seek classes that will make me want to participate as actively as I have done in this one.

That being said, I do feel like I have changed as a result of our sexy-racy 332 experience...but I'm not done changing! I discovered that it is ok to talk about and ask questions about even sensitive topics in your community, because it allows you to grow! GROW: what does that even mean? To me, I can say I have grown when I make some form of progress that seems significant to me as an individual. It isn't always recognizable by the community, when an individual grows a bit, but over the stretch of this class I feel confident saying I have been able to tangibly see many of us grow...which just makes me wonder how much else people have personally progressed in their 'journey' as a result form this experience, despite it not always being visible!

I didn't ever think to take a class in this direction before this semester at William and Mary, and in retrospect, I wish I had started sooner. I've really enjoyed analyzing our classrooom community, and using the critical lense we developed to analyze my position in the other communities I consider myself a part of! In Branch Out, when I went to Kenya this winter I learned and talked a little bit about a technique called Asses Based Community Development (ABCD). My co-site leader and I used it to assess both our own group assets and deficiencies, as well as our community partners. It really helped me to understand how aid can be most effective, by seeing what assets each individual brought to our team, and whether or not they matched up with any deficiencies found in our community. But what was really worthwhile was reversing the project, and finding that during our trip, many of the assets in the little Village in Kenya fit in with our deficiencies: their knowledge of permaculture and sustainability really helped build our understanding of our partnership! 

TANGENT, I know, but my point is...while reflecting on our one community in 332 is awesome, I have learned that in order to really take the developments we've made and run with them, I have to compare it and put it in context with other communities at large, to find out where and how I can make an impact. This is what I want to do with what I have learned. We have been taught in this class that QUESTIONS lead to more than answers, and so my goal is to continue to question aspects of situations and environments that I involve myself in. Furthermore, I want to continue to take classes that give me more insight into sustainable community development, as it is a real interest to me!

Thank you so much for helping me learn and share so much in just a brief part of my journey, you guys! Professor, peers, this class really has been the best!