Blog #6

Julian started of Friday’s class by taking us through the process of constructing an outline for any type of paper we may have to write in any of our classes. I found his tips very useful, especially since I have a couple of papers coming up due pretty soon. I will most definitely use the outline he provided us with on my papers. After Julian’s presentation Jaimie had us broken up into groups and had stations set up that let us experience what it would be like to have different types of disabilities that we learned about in the readings. All of the different activities truly stressed the fact how much of a challenge even everyday activities can be for those people who do suffer from those specific disabilities. The two activities that truly stood out for me in a personal level was the activity of trying to read the colors and the wheelchair activity. The color activity came off as an easy one when I was reading the instructions, but when I actually tried to read the color that was inside of the word instead of reading the word itself was very challenging for me. It was crazy to see that something as simple as reading a color was so hard to do it that particular situation, it really made me feel for those who truly suffer from learning disabilities. Even I get frustrated at myself when I can’t seem to get an assignment, but then after time I end up understanding the material. I can only imagine how much harder it has to be for them, and the fact that it is not because they are any less smart than anyone else, it’s just because that certain disability does not allow them to process certain things the way they would like to. The other activity that also stood out to me was the wheelchair activity, although I did not spend as much time on the actual wheelchair, just looking at how my classmates struggled was enough to see how much of a struggle it may be for an individual who is on a wheelchair. At the end of the day we all got to walk away from that wheelchair, but they do not get that chance. It was also surprising to see that the actual university was not at all equipped for people in wheelchairs, and that is probably the case with not just many of the schools but just buildings in general. Although these activities might have made me a little depressed in a way I still really enjoyed being a part of them.

 

This week’s readings focused on Gender and Sexuality in higher education. I found both of these topics very interesting, especially the readings that had to do with gender. The topic of gender mainly focused on how the success rate and choice of continuing on to higher education is more commonly seen in women than in men. The readings made it clear that there is a very recognizable gender desegregation not only in the actual attendance but also in certain fields that students choose to major in. A couple of the readings focused on the gender desegregation in the STEM fields, which include: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. These type of fields are for the most part considered to be that of men chose to major in, although some women are seen in these classes they for the most part feel unwanted or out of place. Many of the women also feel like they have to down-play themselves in order to be in a sense “accepted” by their fellow men classmates. This was very surprising to me to see that women are feeling unaccepted in these fields and go on to down-play themselves just to fit in. I feel like women who are smart enough to be in these programs and enjoy them should be proud to show off their intelligence and boost those numbers up for women everywhere. The other subject focused on was sexuality and the LGBT community and their campus life in higher education. It focused on the points on how just 50 years ago someone being openly gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender was not at all accepted. Although now it is becoming more well-known it is not completely accepted. In one of the articles the focus was on transgender diversity and how specific individuals took on the role of being a transgender in this society. It is great to see that people do choose to be whatever they want even if they may not be totally accepted in this society. I think that some people will always have a problem accepting people who look or act differently and sadly that cannot be completely rid of, but there is a great progress that can be made so any person can feel comfortable and are able to be who they really want to be.