Final Reflection

What a semester this has been! After months of this philosophical humanities class, my perspective on life has really taken on a whole new view. For this past week’s readings, I was surprised to see that the topic was death. Given that this is the end of the semester, it seems fitting that all ‘good’ things must come to an end. To have a good life, from my understanding of this course as a whole, it is necessary to achieve your personal happiness while doing no harm to others, aiding those in need, acknowledging and embracing one’s cultural history and identity and those of others, and to lie the fullest life possible in order to leave a lasting and meaningful legacy to your loved ones and friends.

This class has definitely been a different experience from your typical classroom setting; in general, it was truly a hybrid course in that learning was compose not only of reading material, class discussions, and writing essays, but also going out to experience class related topics on our own time. The first modules we covered that was impactful to me were Happiness/Thinking About a Good Life, when we debated as a class the meaning of life - if there is one - and how each person interprets what true happiness is in their own way. You can have natural law and the dissertations of philosophers on what they deem worth pursuing and should be the most important things in life, but in reality, it cannot really be defined. This emphasized to me the importance of not judging the actions or behavior of others, because you never know their true situation or state in life. Additionally, the importance of learning about my ancestral and cultural roots was brought up in the Cultural Identity and History modules; I really enjoyed the African Keita griot film, and it renewed my goal to speak more with my grandparents about their lives when they were young and to get to learn more fully my ancestry and heritage from those who experienced history themselves.  In this past week’s film and essay, I learned that the recognition of death as an imminent part of life, and needs to be addressed by doing what will make you most happy in the time you are allotted here on this earth. If I learned that I was going to die in six months from severe liver cancer, I imagine that I  (after a couple hours of disbelief, crying, and talking to my family) would begin planning out how I could make the most meaningful impact to my loved ones and to the world around me, to leave a legacy when I’m gone. I would probably reunite my classical choir to form an actual singing group, and try to perform at as many venues as possible to touch the lives of others through song. Within my family, I would spend a great deal of time with my parents and siblings, to make memories of us having good times together for them to remember for years to come.

Within the context of this class, I believe I have achieved the Honors Learning Outcomes of critical thinking, communications, and lifelong learning. By heavily participating in weekly class discussions, and leading our discussion on Sharing a Good Life, I have helped clarify the questions and issues needing to be resolved in each class, proposed solutions and compromises to said problems, and provoked discussion of related weekly topics. Through writing essays each week discussing class topics and themes we explored in class, I have honed my reflection essay skills to a higher level than they were at the beginning of the semester , skillfully communicating what I have learned. By my participation in out of class projects, I have learned of volunteer opportunities that I intend to pursue in the future, including the North Regional Medical Center and Helping Hands Clinic, which would expand my medical knowledge, and skills and abilities in customer service and with the undeserved in clinical settings.