Self Reflection

Coming into freshman seminar, I had many feelings. I was confused as to the purpose of the class and why it was a mandatory course. I was annoyed that I couldn't actually take the course my freshman year (I'm a sophomore) and I was nervous about the research aspect of freshman seminar because I felt that conducting research was a weakness of mine.

Attending the lectures weekly, I noticed some great qualities in myself as a student. I noticed that I usually listen and retain information well. I take good notes and am able take to information I hear and make it pertain to my life and experiences. With all that said, I noticed some not so great things as well. For example, instead of going home and doing my weekly summary right after class, I would procrastinate until the last minute and sometimes even past then to complete work. I'm not good with time management. This is something I must work on and I'm glad that I was able to pick up on this flaw.

On thing that I cherish the most from this whole freshman seminar experience, aside from the fact that I can conduct research more confidently, and aside from the fact that I got more experience in working with groups (something I used to despise), is a bit of information, or a perspective if you will, on African Americans and “miseducation”. In that very first lecture by Dr. Carr, he talked about miseducation and the fact that we as African Americans are not necessarily deprived of education, we have all the same rights that everyone else does in this country to be educated in any type of institution we desire. Our problem is more so the fact that we allow ourselves to be fed these negative images of African Americans; who we are, what we are like, how we speak, act, etc. We allow ourselves to be portrayed as the “Madea's” and the “Lil Wayne's”; the “athletes” and “hood stars”. We don't truly embrace the modern Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s and Maya Angelou's. We run away from them; We ignore them; We shun them. But why? What are we afraid of. Coming up in the world? Being he to whom others looked up to and not he who looks up? Are we afraid to achieve great things?

This idea is something that has stuck with me throughout the semester and probably will be with me for all my life. I hope so, at least. I want to live my life knowing that there is something, this “miseducation”, that I absolutely must beat and try to help my fellow people beat. We can be more than just jumping athletes and gyrating, “blinged-out” music stars. We can be presidents, senators, principals, doctors, lawyers, professors, even kings and queens if we want to be. For this brand new perspective, I am truly grateful.