Matt Raimondo, Blog #10

As I write this, I only have one week left this semester (as do the rest of you) but I also only have a few weeks left at this school.  This conclusion also ties into the curtain call on my college career, so I have a lot tied into the remaining days we share as a class as well as the time I spend in any classroom at the College.  

Before I go any further, I think that it's important to look at Jean's own journey in Savage Nights.  He went from reveling in destructive behavior to eventually understanding the importance of love in a human's life.  Jean at the beginning and Jean at the end are two very different people, and that transformation is quite representative of a journey in my opinion.  

 

The first day I came into this class, I was a bit cautious; Im a business and government major, so I'm used to lecture-style courses.  I knew this course would be different, but I was willing to listen and open myself up to the new experience, especially Professor Aguas's challenge for the class to become one community.  I did like that we were not required to share immediately, especially because I like to warm up to a class before I speak; the acting and creativity parts were tough, but I survived!  And the class always created an atmosphere of support, so that helped everyone adjust.  

I saw so many films and plays that I never would have seen outside of our class.  Each film offered a different perspective and life angle that allowed me to see things from beyond my own eyes.  I grew up in West Virginia, which is as white a state as one can find.  I moved to Northern Virginia when I was ten, so I became used to seeing diverse faces and interacting with people from different backgrounds and lifestyles.  College further served to develop my own experience of understanding other perspectives, but this class went ten steps further.  We had an atmosphere where we could all share openly, and share in our understanding of what other people see from their own shoes.  People felt comfortable talking about themselves, and that's something that is rare in classrooms today.  I can personally say that I really valued what everyone said, and I feel like everyone helped me (and others) to understanding what things look like from different perspectives.  

I feel that I did change throughout this course; I feel that I am much more open to understanding how the world works, as well as how others view the world too.  I will always value my own perspectives as a base, but I will always consider how others see and feel the same issues as well.  I discovered that I can adapt, and be flexible when an environment or community demands it.  I pushed my comfort zone in this class- even with just the blogs -and I feel more complete as a result, especially when Im about to join the real world.  I also understood what a community looks and feels like, and how quickly one can form.  I think we can all agree (and embrace) that we are all individuals with unique ideas and experiences.  These unique pieces can be a part of one community, and our class was a living, breathing example of such an event.  I thoroughly enjoyed coming to class, and I looked forward to seeing how everyone would react to whatever movie or play we watched as a class.  In the future, I will look to join more communities- be it church groups, work groups or more family events.  Being in a community is tremendously valuable, especially when trying to understand and process the world around us.  Being a "lone wolf" simply won't cut it, and I will always look to connect from now on as a result of our class.