It is difficult to believe that this semester is almost over.

I still remember coming into the

first class nervous and not knowing what to expect. I recall struggling with how to define

citizenship and what citizenship meant to me. Now, I am very glad I took this course. Over the

course of this semester, my views on a variety of social issues have been challenged and I have

learned how to look at situations from a multitude of different angles. This is true for all topics

ranging from homelessness, implicit bias, crime, and the school-to-prison pipeline. I have also

learned how to have the difficult discussions that are required to become a catalyst for change in

the community.

Until the beginning of this semester, I never gave much thought to citizenship. Thus,

when I was forced to write about it at the beginning of the semester, it stumped me. I eventually

defined it as being an integral part of the community and participating actively. During my

midterm reflection, I added that a big part of citizenship is staying informed and critically

analyzing every situation. While I still believe that there are all important components of

citizenship, I think the most important part of citizenship is cooperation. Without the cooperation

of your fellow citizens, becoming a change agent can become close to impossible.

This semester, my group spent countless hours researching, going to HHH meetings, and

talking to the organizations members. During this time, I realized how important cooperation is.

Without the cooperation of HHH members, the organization would not have the resources

necessary to carry out many of its events. Similarly, if HHH decides to utilize tiny homes, it will

need to be able to cooperate with other organizations as well as government officials to make an

impact.

The semester project was my favorite component of the course. I recall when the class

started, I had a very narrow minded view of homeless individuals, and did not know what Moore
Place or housing first was. By talking to HHH members, I learned that homeless people are

homeless for a variety of reasons and that most of them just need some help getting back on their

feet. My trips to Moore Place, allowed to see firsthand the benefits of housing first and get to

meet some of the residents like Justin Markel. He explained how he had been formerly homeless

and what can be some of the reasons that cause homelessness. He explained it as a slippery slope

where once you start falling, it is difficult to stop. The trip to the Urban Ministry Center served a

similar purpose. Until that point in the semester, I had only been to Moore Place and had only

seen the main lobby and one conference room. Getting to tour the main portion of the UMC

helped enforce my belief of the importance of facilities like UMC and Moore Place.

For me, one of the most informative components of the class was the injustice/crime

portion. Between the two RMJJ talk and the Netflix documentary, my views on the crime totally

changed. Till the beginning of the semester, I assumed that all people were treated equally and

that bias was not an issue. After visiting the center-city campus and listening to the RMJJ folks

talk, I understood that sometimes rulings can differ depending on the color of your skin. My

favorite part about the talks were the statistics the group provided. Being an analytical person, I

find it difficult until I see significant statistics to back the claim up. RMJJs data was very

persuasive and clear showed that the lake is the problem not the fish.

One of my favorite parts about the RMJJ discussions was how the speakers approached

the topic. Topics involving race must be discussed in a very delicate manner and I thought that

the group did an excellent job of that. Going forward, I think it is important for everyone to learn

how to conduct a conversation like that. If society wants to eliminate these issues, it must be

done in a way where people are not getting offended or very uncomfortable and learning how to

lead a difficult discussion is the first step in doing so.

 For me one of the biggest takeaways from this class is to analyze and situation from

various points of views. A large portion of the material we discussed this semester comes back to

the same lesson I learned at the beginning of the semester, the fish in the pond analogy that our

class discussed on the first day. It applies to homelessness, racial injustice, and a variety of other

social issues that we are currently facing. Even though the semester is winding down, I hope to

build on what Ive learned thus far and for every situation see if the fish is the problem or the

lake is the problem.