期末拾遺：一些學生的思考

（山靜）

--期末在校園槍聲的餘震中結束，又是聖誕了。這幾天讀到一些學生寫下的感想，令人欣慰。種子播在地裏，哪些會窒息黴爛，哪些可能開出“惡之花，”哪些將結成正果，都是不以人的意誌為轉移的。無論如何，走過的路都值得日後退休回顧。

現輯錄在此，與朋友們分享。順祝大家節日安康快樂。

M: “Before this class, I actively avoided thinking about what it meant to live in a globalized society.  For me, buying a drink at XXX was just something everyone did—and besides, their company advertises that they practice fair trade—right? Now when I make a purchase I think about life for the rest of the world.  How many people were involved in making this item? How many are living on a dollar a day? How many are starving because their traditional way of life has been superseded by globalization? The most important thing I learned is a true global perspective on power relations and how they impact the world….

there are no easy solution s to solving the problems in the world.  I knew that I didn’t have a solution, but given how many people work to feed the hungry, house the homeless, educate the poor and analyze economics, I honestly thought there was a solution out there somewhere.  Instead, there are only suggested possibilities to make the world a little less harsh…

I learned that I truly take my education for granted.  Growing up, I never wanted to wake up and go to school.  I put in only enough effort to pass my classes with the grades I wanted.  I was always sure I’d get into a college and find a way to pay for it with financial aid.  There are so many students in the world who work so hard and have to claw their way out of poverty. For some, all their effort is meaningless because they can’t afford to pay for higher education.  This reality breaks my heart and makes me want to do something to promote change, even in a small way.

I will take the lessons I’ve learned in this class with me into my career and try to instill the value of education and being informed about what’s happening in the world.  I will do my best to help the world become a less harsh place—it’s my duty as a global citizen.”

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B:  “…I am typically a person who turns off the news, and avoids articles with any type of world hardships as I tend to dwell on them and let them cause a lot of anxiety in my life.  I have heard you make the statement several times over the semester that ‘one person cannot change or solve all of the world’s problems.’ I fought tears during the documentaries—although aware of the poverty situation in the world, I made a conscious choice to remain semi-ignorant to the facts.   These videos were a sobering reminder that while I may be facing hard times in my life, my definition of ‘poor’ makes no comparison.  From an economic and geographical standpoint, I learned a lot…”

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A:  “The most important things I learned…was an awareness of the varing viewpoints that exist in all issues regarding the well-being of people, how economic or social influence in developing countries is a dynamic issue, and the impact of globalization beyond economics.  There areas…do not include all my learning from the course but rather the areas where my knowledge was refined or changed in a significant way.

            Simply attending and listening to discussion would have shown me that there are significantly different opinions on almost all of the issues we covered in class. The readings augmented those differences to an even greater degree.  This really showed me that the experiences of people play an important role in developing their view of the world and how to make a positive impact on the lives of others….”

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L:  “…I’ve broadened my views politically and economically because I see more.  My perspective is panoramic rather than focused on smaller issues.  I have learned that other democratic countries have different approaches to inequity that affects poverty levels.

…the class has required me to use critical thinking skills. The different views and research has been informative and permitted thoughtful discussion of relevant global issues.  The approach caused me to read, reflect, research, and write, review and rewrite with an open-minded approach… I’ve learned to see the problems within society from a new perspective. ..I have examined my presumptions and perspectives which changed my values and opinions.  My vocabulary now includes sociological terms that help me to look at problems from different points of view…”

            （to be continued...）