Nabintou Doumbia

29 April 2016
PS 1010
Aaron Martin
PS1010 Reflections
As a student currently pursuing a degree in the discipline of Sociology, I like to think of
myself as both, open-minded and empathetic. This is illustrated through my interest in exploring
issues that are labeled taboo, have certain stigma attached to them, or working my hardest to
understand the diverse range of positions taken on specific issues. The project I assisted with
successfully assembling during this semesters PS1010 course is a primary example of this. As I
choose to believe that I am quite the rebel, I made the intentions of brainstorming rather out of
the ordinary issues I witnessed within my Detroit, MI community, for the courses first
assignment. One of which was, the lack of an adequate amount of feminine hygiene products
for female inmates in MI state prisons. I found myself prepared to accept the challenge of the
extensive research awaiting my group members and I. The reason for this was simply because I
knew that in order to be a successful student of Sociology, as well as a prospective attorney, I
would have to adapt myself to recognizing and bringing attention to injustices and defending the
rights of others, even if it meant escaping my own comfort zone in order to successfully do so.
Although an eventual realization, this came as a surprise to me. The experience I
underwent consisted of so much more than learning the jargon dealing with my issue or
committing certain names to memory. It was, instead, a means for me to grow as not only a
student, but a proud Detroiter who attempts to be an agent of positive social change in my
community.

It is for these reasons that I simply cannot imagine myself stopping at where my group
members and I concluded our studies. Instead, I plan to stay in contact with those individuals and
organizations who we reached out to while completing our assignment. Our PS1010 project
reminded me, not only of the great deal of injustices that exist within the world, but just how
passively they do so. In other words, there is so much wrong with the world, but only a rather
meager amount of citizens willing to initiate plans for targeting and ameliorating them. In fact, I
feel confident enough to argue that there is also a small group interested in even informing
themselves/being informed on these existing issues. This brings me to not seeing myself as
having much of a choice in doing the work that so many turn away from. Therefore, I hope to
continue my research on the problem and even have intentions of completing my senior thesis on
it. Closer in time range though, I have already made plans to return to the organization my group
and I volunteered atDays of Girlsin order to finish what I have started.
Awareness, in my opinion, is only one step in the right direction. Not to be
misunderstood, this is a crucial and absolutely necessary step to take. After all, how can we build
passion for something we are not even certain we fully comprehend. Nonetheless, it is of little
value if not taken further. A respected teacher of mine once said to my peers and I, Knowledge
cannot become stagnant, it must flow. Just as stagnant water become poisonous, so does
knowledge that does not transmit into anythingaction.
To conclude, I am currently stocked with much knowledge regarding the issue we set out
to understand and develop a solution for this semester. Now though, I must continue that work so
that my knowledge is not wasted by either simply staying with me, or even used as an impressive
line on a resume. Now, I must protect the knowledge from becoming poisonous by keeping it
flowing.