General Education Reflection
To be able to talk about the general education I’ve received in academia, I have to talk about my journey to Iowa State University. I am not the typical college student. I’m a military veteran, a mom, identify as LGBTQ+, and filipina. I’ve always been a person who doesn’t stay static---I’m always questioning and always learning. Long story short, the reason why I’ve gone to many different schools is, quite literally, life happened as I welcomed a new member to my family, and consequently my journey to continue school was followed by many unexpected life events that landed me in various places. My academic career consists of transferring from San Francisco State University to University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and finally to Iowa State University. (This doesn’t even capture the community colleges I’ve been to!)
Looking back at my general education through three universities, I am very fortunate to have a diverse range of courses that enabled me to be the person I am today. At SFSU I was able to take courses focused on social issues and cultural diversity. Such courses were H ED 315 Drugs and Society, BIO 330 Human Sexuality, HIST 450 History of California, and HTM 421 Food, Wine, and Culture in California. My favorite courses were H ED 315 and BIO 330. It was very eye opening for me to be able to sit in a class and talk about the relationship between drugs and society. The class allowed students to explore what we think drugs are and why people use them, and to be able to see drug addiction as a health crisis not a criminal offense. In BIO 330, I was able to learn more in depth about male and female physiology as well as gender, and sexual identity. Both courses were very dear to my heart because I was going through these experiences simultaneously; as a person trying to figure out my sexuality, and experimenting with psychedelics medicinally. My experience at SFSU can be described as a free-loving hippie experience (how cliche!) and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I learned more about myself in terms of identity than I could have anywhere else.
My time at UNLV was a place for me to really explore what I wanted my major to be. I came in as a Computer Engineer from SFSU and decided that I might want to be a Math major, eventually settling on Electrical Engineering. I decided that I wanted to focus my studies in EE in part because of my time in the U.S. Navy as a radio frequency technician. I wanted to know more than how to operate the devices I was using. I wanted to know how humans were so clever to create such machines. While exploring my major I was able to take ANTH 411 Buddhism and Culture. I took this course because I needed something to ground my soul-searching in terms of who I wanted to be professionally and personally. My time at UNLV is where I experienced first hand how to be a mother to a new born while interning and going to school at the same time. Studying Buddhism and Culture allowed me to objectively study the philosophy contained within the text and apply it to my own life. I was able to ground myself in times of uncertainty and to be able to decide when I needed to take care of myself through hard times. My time at UNLV was cut short to make way for a school more suited to my needs. Withdrawing from UNLV allowed me to apply to Iowa State University.
My first impression of Iowa State University was that it was a predominantly white school. This was a complete culture shock to me because I was so used to being part of a diverse society on the west coast. I immediately felt out of place and wasn’t sure if I’d fit in. Fortunately, ISU held an orientation course called EE 261 for transfer students. This allowed me to settle in quite nicely to get used to the new atmosphere. My general education at ISU consists of ENGL 314 Technical Communication, Lib 160 Information Literacy, and SPANISH 101. My favorite courses were ENGL 314 and SPANISH 101. The professor for ENGL 314 was very unorthodox. Professor Corey did not lecture, but instead he created a dialogue, a multilogue, if you will with his students. He allowed critical thinking to take place and engaged students to discuss in class. His thoughtfulness for his students allowed me to be okay to speak my mind in a place where I was feeling out of place. English 314 was easily one of my favorite classes. My spanish class was also very similar in terms of the instructor wanting their students to succeed. Professor Musgrove believed in the psychology behind student’s learning and was actively watching for cues when the class would be oversaturated with information. She was very accommodating and encouraged us to actively speak in spanish with short exercises throughout every class period, immersing you into the spanish culture. Her class taught me a lot about my heritage. It is often forgotten or unknown that filipinos were once colonized by the Spanish for 333 years. Much of my culture is borrowed from Spanish culture including words, cuisine, and religion. Spanish 101 was an unlikely way for me to connect with my roots in a place where I was feeling out of place.
My general education spanning through three universities allowed me to find myself and pursue my interests outside of my major. I made sure to choose classes that were relevant to who I was so that I can further develop my character. At SFSU I was able to explore self-love through courses in social issues and cultural diversity. UNLV allowed me to explore which major of study to choose while also providing me philosophical inspiration through a course on Buddhism and Culture. Iowa State University helped me be myself and connect to my roots where I otherwise felt out of place. I am overall thrilled with my general education and will continue to pursue classes outside of my major and become a lifelong learner.
Looking back at my general education through three universities, I am very fortunate to have a diverse range of courses that enabled me to be the person I am today. At SFSU I was able to take courses focused on social issues and cultural diversity. Such courses were H ED 315 Drugs and Society, BIO 330 Human Sexuality, HIST 450 History of California, and HTM 421 Food, Wine, and Culture in California. My favorite courses were H ED 315 and BIO 330. It was very eye opening for me to be able to sit in a class and talk about the relationship between drugs and society. The class allowed students to explore what we think drugs are and why people use them, and to be able to see drug addiction as a health crisis not a criminal offense. In BIO 330, I was able to learn more in depth about male and female physiology as well as gender, and sexual identity. Both courses were very dear to my heart because I was going through these experiences simultaneously; as a person trying to figure out my sexuality, and experimenting with psychedelics medicinally. My experience at SFSU can be described as a free-loving hippie experience (how cliche!) and I wouldn’t change it for the world. I learned more about myself in terms of identity than I could have anywhere else.
My time at UNLV was a place for me to really explore what I wanted my major to be. I came in as a Computer Engineer from SFSU and decided that I might want to be a Math major, eventually settling on Electrical Engineering. I decided that I wanted to focus my studies in EE in part because of my time in the U.S. Navy as a radio frequency technician. I wanted to know more than how to operate the devices I was using. I wanted to know how humans were so clever to create such machines. While exploring my major I was able to take ANTH 411 Buddhism and Culture. I took this course because I needed something to ground my soul-searching in terms of who I wanted to be professionally and personally. My time at UNLV is where I experienced first hand how to be a mother to a new born while interning and going to school at the same time. Studying Buddhism and Culture allowed me to objectively study the philosophy contained within the text and apply it to my own life. I was able to ground myself in times of uncertainty and to be able to decide when I needed to take care of myself through hard times. My time at UNLV was cut short to make way for a school more suited to my needs. Withdrawing from UNLV allowed me to apply to Iowa State University.
My first impression of Iowa State University was that it was a predominantly white school. This was a complete culture shock to me because I was so used to being part of a diverse society on the west coast. I immediately felt out of place and wasn’t sure if I’d fit in. Fortunately, ISU held an orientation course called EE 261 for transfer students. This allowed me to settle in quite nicely to get used to the new atmosphere. My general education at ISU consists of ENGL 314 Technical Communication, Lib 160 Information Literacy, and SPANISH 101. My favorite courses were ENGL 314 and SPANISH 101. The professor for ENGL 314 was very unorthodox. Professor Corey did not lecture, but instead he created a dialogue, a multilogue, if you will with his students. He allowed critical thinking to take place and engaged students to discuss in class. His thoughtfulness for his students allowed me to be okay to speak my mind in a place where I was feeling out of place. English 314 was easily one of my favorite classes. My spanish class was also very similar in terms of the instructor wanting their students to succeed. Professor Musgrove believed in the psychology behind student’s learning and was actively watching for cues when the class would be oversaturated with information. She was very accommodating and encouraged us to actively speak in spanish with short exercises throughout every class period, immersing you into the spanish culture. Her class taught me a lot about my heritage. It is often forgotten or unknown that filipinos were once colonized by the Spanish for 333 years. Much of my culture is borrowed from Spanish culture including words, cuisine, and religion. Spanish 101 was an unlikely way for me to connect with my roots in a place where I was feeling out of place.
My general education spanning through three universities allowed me to find myself and pursue my interests outside of my major. I made sure to choose classes that were relevant to who I was so that I can further develop my character. At SFSU I was able to explore self-love through courses in social issues and cultural diversity. UNLV allowed me to explore which major of study to choose while also providing me philosophical inspiration through a course on Buddhism and Culture. Iowa State University helped me be myself and connect to my roots where I otherwise felt out of place. I am overall thrilled with my general education and will continue to pursue classes outside of my major and become a lifelong learner.