DiversityofHumanExperience:

Goalnumberone,whichisDiversityofHumanExperienceisonethatisveryimportant
tomeandwhatdetermineswhetherIamintherightplacewhenitcomestoUniversities.
Diversityissomethingthateverystudentshouldgetthechancetoexperience.Itisthetoolthat
aidsintheabilitytoopenourmindsandexplorematteroutsideofourselves.Itisveryeasyto
becomesetinourownwaysandbeliefsystemswhichcausesustobegintocloseourminds
andbecomelessopentoforeignorunfamiliarideasorexperiences.Howeveritisthosesame
unfamiliarideasandexperiencesthatwilltrulyteachusnotonlyaboutthingsoutsideof
ourselves,butourselvesaswell.Andthroughthat,wetrulybegintounderstandingwhat
learningisabout.Therearesomanydifferentcomponentstoeachandeveryoneofus,withthe
universitysheddinglightonrace,gender,seexualorientationandability.Weallarevery
differentfromeachotherinamultitudeofways,tobeabletorespectthesedifferencesthatwe
allhaveisveryimportantespeciallywhenyouareinasettingsuchasPSUs.Thefactthatthe
universityhasmadeitagoaltohaveitsstudentsexperienceandunderstanddiversityiscrucial
forwhenthestudentsareoutintherealworld,diversitywillmostlikelybealloverthem.Having
classessuchasRaceandSocialJusticeormajorssuchasWomenStudiesshowthatPSUis
givingopportunitiesnottosimplybearoundpeoplewhoaredifferentfromourselvesbutit
showsthatwearelookingatdiversityfromanacademicstandpointtotrulyunderstandwhy
thingsarethewaytheyare.WeallsharePSUscommunitytogether,thereforeweshoulddo
ourbesttomakesurewetakeadvantageofandareawareofthebeautifullydiversecommunity
aroundus.

AssignmentChoices:Deportationnationpaper,KeyConceptsummaries

Forthegoal,DiversityoftheHumanExperience,Ichoosetheclassesdeportation
nationpaper,andalsothekeyconceptsummariesassignment.Thedeportationnation
assignmentrequiredthestudentstoreadandevaluateDanielKanstroomintroductionto
DeportationNation.Afterreadingandevaluatingwewerethenrequiredtothinkabout
Kanstroomsmajorideas.Kamstroomsmajorideawasthattherearetwodifferenttypesof
deportationlawswhichareextendedbordercontrolandpostentrysocialcontrol.Hethen
arguesthatthetwolawsareapartofalongerhistoryandthatattheiressencehave
majoritarianpower.Ichoosethisassignmentforthisparticulargoalmainlybecauseitgavethe
classachancetolookatanissuethatwasntparticularlygearedtowardsAfricanAmericans.
SomestudentsintheclasswereupsetthatwelookedatAfricanAmericanissuesmorethan
others,soIappreciatedthisassignmentwhichgaveinsightintootherstrugglesthanthoseof
AfricanAmericansThesecondassignmentIchooseisourKeyConceptsummaries.Forthis
assignmentwewererequiredtochooseclassreadingsandthenidentifythekeyconceptsand
summarizewithoutourownbiasandjudgement.Ichoosethisassignmentbecauseinmyeyes,
itrequiredustogetinthemindsetofacademicdiversityandsetourownpersonalopinions
asideandfocusonotheracademicswork.Itisnotalwayseasytoreadsomeofthescholar
levelr=writingthatwereceived,withideasformedfromextensiveresearchthatwemayhave
notpersonallyknownabout.Becauseofthat,Ithinkitiseasytoshutoutmanyoftheideasthat

arepresentedtouswhenreading.However,thisassignment,requiredustoputourown
thoughtsasideandidentifydifferentauthorsideasfromvariousbackgrounds.

EthicsandSocialResponsibility:

Asindividualswearecomprisedofveryrichandcomplexmindsthatarealwaysworking
constantlytounderstandandgrow.Wealsostrivetounderstandeachothersmindsasthey
workcoherentlywithours,ornotcoherently.Weallmakeactionswithalotofthoseactions
purposesbeingtoexpresswhatisonourminds.Indoingthis,wehavetobemindfulofthese
actionsthatwemake.Almosteveryactionthatwemakeeverydayaffectssomeoneor
somethingthatisaroundus.Itisuptoustounderstandwhatouractionsareputtingbackinto
thissocietyanditisalsouptoustounderstandhowmuchofanimpactthatwecanmakeon
othersandinsociety.Eachandeveryoneofuscaninsomeway,makeanimpact.Evenifwe
donotrealizeitbecauseofthewaythatsocietyhasdepictedpeoplewhomakedifferences.
Majorandwidespreadactionsarenottheonlyonesthatmakedifferences.Eventhesmallestof
actionssuchascallingsomeoneoutwhentheyarebeingdisrespectfulandhurtfultowards
anothercanmakeasignificantimpact.Thatisanexampleofsocialimpactbut,ourimpact
academicallymattersaswell.Theactofbecomingeducatedonvariousthingsisverymucha
wayofmakinganacademicimpact.ThroughPSUwewillberequiredtodojustthat.Wewill
receiveassignmentsthatwillcontributetoourknowledgetoamultitudeofdifferenttopics
thereforeenrichinguswithknowledgethatwillthenimpactouractionsasindividuals,and
analyzeorunderstandothersactionsaswell.

Assignments:Syllabusassignment,readings

ForthegoalofEthicsandSocialResponsibility,Ichoosethesyllabusassignmentandthe
classreadings.Forthesyllabusassignmentwewererequiredtocreateaclassthatwewould
wanttoteachormaybeattend.Theclassthatwecreatedcouldbeadreamclassthatwewish
wehadthechancetoexperienceinhighschoolorevenaclasswewishwasavailableatPSU.I
absolutelylovedthisassignmentandwasverygratefulthatwewereassignedthiswork.Itgave
alotoffreedomandroomtoreallyletthestudentsmindswonder.Ichoosethisassignmentsfor
ethicandresponsibilitybecauseIthinkrepresentsfuturedecisionsthatstudentsmightmake
academicallywhichwillhaveanimpactofthesocialandacademiccommunityofPSU.Someof
usmightpursuetheselearningopportunitiesinawaythateducatesotherstudents.The
secondassignmentthatIchooseforethicsandsocialresponsibilityistheclassreadings.Iam
notsureifweareallowedtochooseclassreadingsasanassignmentbutIfeltthereadings
wereagreatfitforthisgoal.Ithinktheyfitthisgoalbecauseallofthereadingsthatwewere
assignedcausedustoalltrulythinkandwhenyouarepresentedwithnewideasandnew
knowledgeitofteninfluencesone'sactions.ManytimesthroughouttheyearIwouldseeorhear
thingsoutinthecommunityandtheywouldautomaticallyremindmeofsomethingthattheclass
hadbeenassignedtoread.Occasionallyiwouldgotosaysomethingandstopremembering
somethingwehadreadanddiscussedinclassremindingustobecarefulwhentalkingabout
certaintopics.Mentalimpactissocialimpact.

Communication:

Theuniversitystudiescommunicationgoal,me,meanslearningandimprovingwaysto
effectivelycommunicateinvariousways.Communicationisabsolutelycrucialtolearningand
personalgrowthaswell.Withoutcommunicationstherewouldbenothingatall.Nonewideasto
share,noknowledgetospread,nosolvingofanyissuesandsoon.Inordertomakethings
happen,communicationisvital.Throughouthistorycommunicationhasbeenthekeytosuccess
inmanysituations,inordertocontinuethatsuccessweneedtocontinuegreatcommunication,
andthatisPSUsgoalinmyeyes.Throughgreatcommunicationincategoriessuchaswriting,
graphics,numeracywhicharesomeofPSUmainfocuses,thestudentswillgrowandbeableto
usetheacquiredskillswithcommunicationtomakechangesandpromotegrowthwithinPSU
learningcommunity.IfthestudentsofPSUdonotunderstandandvaluetheuniversities
communicationgoalitwillmakethingshardernotonlyforthecommunityofthemselves.WhenI
thinkoftheuniversityscommunicationgoal,Ialsothinkofhowitbenefitsuspersonally.PSUis
averylargeschoolwithalargeamountofstudentsandfaculty.Inordertomakesurethatas
students,wearegettingthefullexperienceweneedtobeproficientincommunication.The
peoplearounduswillnotalwaysputopportunitiesinfrontofourfaces,so,weneedtotakeit
uponourselvestocommunicateandgetinvolved,knowwhatsgoingonaroundcampus,or
evenhelpinourclasses.Theabilitytocommunicatethroughouracademicsisatoolthatwill
helpuswatchourown,andwelcomenewacademicgrowth.

Assignments:Researchunit,Individualpresentation

FortheCommunicationsgoal,Ichooseourresearchunitproject,andourindividual
presentationassignment.Fortheresearchunitprojectwewererequiredtoresearchdifferent
communitiesofmultnomahcounty.MygroupchosetheAfricanAmericancommunitywith
Multnomahcounty.Ilovedthisprojectandwasveryhappythatwegotthechancetotakeon
thisassignment.Wegottotakeanindepthlookatthedifferentcommunities,researchthem,
andsharethemwiththeclass.Tomethiswasagreatexampleofcommunicationbecausewe
sharedwiththeclasstheresearchwefoundonmanydifferentcommunities.Ifeltthatalotof
thestudents,includingmyself,maynothaveknownalotaboutthedifferentcommunitiesthat
werepresented,especiallywithinmultnomahcounty.Whatbetterwaytocommunicatethan
throughadirect,verbalpresentationsharingaboutthedifferentcommunities.Through
communicationtheclasswaseducatedonallofthedifferentcommunities.Thesecond
assignmentIchoseforthisassignmentisourindividualpresentations.Ichoseourindividual
presentationsasagoodrepresentationofthisgoalforthesamereasonIchosetheunit
researchassignment.Forthisassignmentwewererequiredtoresearchandpresentanactivist
ofourchoice.FormyactiscustIchooseAmiriBaraka.Manyofthestudentshadneverheardof
someoftheindividualsthatwerepresented.Itisawesomethatwehavecommunicationasa

wayofsharingknowledgewiththosearoundus.Wewouldtrulybenowherewithout
communication.

InquiryandCriticalThinking:

Inquiryandcriticalthinking,whichistheuniversities20162017goaloftheyear,isone
thatwell,acollegewouldntbesuccessfulwithout.Ourjobincollegeistoexpandandacquire
knowledgeinordertobesuccessfulinwhateverpathwechoosetotakeinlife.Nomatterwhat
thatpathisinquiryandcriticalthinkingwillbeacomponentnomatterwhat.Frommedicine,to
counseling,toarchitectureitisveryimportantthatweapplyinquiryandcriticalthinking.Oneof
thewaysthattheunivateriesgetsitsstudentstopracticeinquiryandcriticalthinkingisthrough
conversation.Conversation,tome,isoneofthemainwaysthatourthoughtsandideasoriginal
orevaluational,canbecommunicatedandturnedintonewideasforinquiry.Groupworksuch
asourmentorsessionsgiveustheopportunitiestodiscussmanydifferentthingsthatallhelp
aidinourownpersonalcriticalthinkingprocesses.Asitistheuniversity'sgoaloftheyearIhave
noticedtheamountconversationalgroupworkthatisbeingdoneinclassandIbelieveitis
workingverywellandmakingapositiveimpact.Wereceiveassignmentsthatrequireustodo
inquiryandrespondtopromptsrelatedtoreadingthatwehavedone,andthenweoftencome
backtogetherasaclassoringroupsanddiscusswhatwecameupwithonourown.This
processhasbeengreatindevelopingourthoughtsandideas.Themindisabeautifulthing,that
ifweuseit,willtakeusveryfar.

Assignments:Readingquestionsassignment,Argumentative/unpackingwhiteness

ForthegoalofInquiryandCriticalThinkingIchosethereadingquestionsassignment
andtheunpackingwhitenessessay.Thereadingquestionsassignmentrequiredustoanswer
analyticalquestionsthatcamefromthereadings.Thequestionsaskedwereonessuchas
whataretheissuesandconclusions?ThereadingsweworkedwithwereonessuchasToni
Morrison's,PlayingInTheDark,andBrianWallisBlackBodies,whiteScience.These
readingwereverycomplexandrichinheavyknowledgethatwasnttheeasiesttounderstand.
However,inmyeyes,thatiswhytheassignmentworkswellasarepresentationofinquiryand
criticalthinking.Toevenbegintoanswerthequestionsassignedwetrulyhadtobreakdownthe
textandfigureourunderlyingmeanings.Wethencamebacktogetherasaclassanddiscussed
thequestions.Theanalysisofthetextanddiscussionthatwetookinpartinisagreatexample
ofinquiryandcriticalthinking.ThesecondassignmentthatIchoseistheunpackingwhiteness
essay.FortheunpackingWhitenessessaywewererequiredtochoosetworeadingsand
identifywhyoneortheotherbestexplainedwhitenessthebest.Thisassignmentrequiredus
totakeaveryanalyticallookintobothofthereadingswechoose,andthroughcriticalthinking
andinquiry,decidewhichonebestunpackedthemeaningofwhiteness.Ithinkitwasagreat
exampleofinquiryandcriticalthinkingbecauseitreallyrequiredustonotthinkabouteach

readingbutfindsupportiveevidenceexplainingwhywhichonewasthebetterchoice.Without
inquiryandcriticalthinkingwewouldnotbeabletoaskquestionsorreachsolutionsand
answerstothosequestions.