Practicum

For my practicum, I took CHSE338J (Learning about Cultural Diversity Through Intergroup Dialogue: Facilitation): a class centered around the learning and teaching of social justice values and intersectional theory. I found out about this class through an email from Kelly. I highly encourage that future Media Scholars read emails from Allison and Kelly in order to stay on top of available practicum opportunities that would interest them. Had I not clicked on Kelly's email, I wouldn't have known about this class and likely wouldn't have enjoyed doing my practicum as much as I did.

The class was taught through a series of dialogue as opposed to lectures and was run by facilitators instead of professors. During class periods, facilitators would direct the subject and flow of discussion so my classmates and I would feel comfortable while having respectful and productive discussions with each other about social justice and taboo topics in our society (racism, sexism, intersectionality, etc). As discussions became more natural and less daunting to us, the facilitators started to teach us various facilitation skills and provided us with the opportunity to practice them with each other. This was done to prepare us for our final projects: a 75-minute facilitation workshop which we would present in small groups of two or three.

Throughout my time in CHSE338J, I've learned a lot about how to actively listen to others and be vulnerable about my feelings and past experiences. I'd consider myself to have been a good listener prior to taking the class, but my experiences in class have made me think a lot about where "my place" to speak is and how my words affect others. As someone who can be fairly shy in everyday conversation, I tend to be more of a listener than a talker. However, this is sometimes the result of me having nothing to say or being too nervous to say what's on my mind instead of out of interest in what the other person is talking about. Re-evaluating my relationship with active listening has made me a better friend and a more gracious person overall. The same could be said about my re-evaluation of how my words affect others. An example of this is the fact that I've always tended to talk a bit recklessly about sensitive subjects. I'm someone who typically uses humor to cope with unfortunate situations and often hang out with people who share that same sense of humor. My time in this class has helped dismantle the idea that everyone should learn how to cope using humor and the idea that I should do so around others. I've made similar revelations with regards to other aspects of my social life.

For the final step of the practicum, my partner and I will facilitate a discussion about the failures in the American healthcare system with the Media Scholars. The slides we made for it are attached below.

The slides used for my facilitation exemplify my personal growth during the practicum. A big reason as to why is the fact that this is by far the most involved and consequential group project I've ever had to do. I'm much more comfortable when working alone, so having to facilitate a discussion alongside someone I don't know very well was initially somewhat stressful. However, him and I worked very efficiently with each other. Our facilitation styles also complement one another well. I was nervous before having to facilitate the discussion with my classmates, but the presentation went quite well. I'm also proud of how easily we were able to connect the inadequacies in the American healthcare system to many of the other systemic inequities that plague our society. It was nice to hear how impressed the facilitators were with my partner and I for having connected the healthcare system with the main topic of the class. With this in mind, this simple slideshow is a representation of me being able to take a significant step out of my comfort zone and excel.

My practicum experience, while not directly related to mathematics or data science, helped me practice many necessary life skills like respectful discussion, actively listening, healthy relationships with others, and the ability to facilitate respectful and fruitful discussions. I believe that I am now a more well-rounded person after having done my practicum. My resume can be found below.

After having spent this past semester exploring my interests after deciding that I no longer want to major in math, I will be switching my major major to Social Data Science with a focus in Government and Politics. Much of the time I have left at UMD will be spent taking classes related to my major, as I still plan to graduate in Spring 2024. I don't have a specific career in mind, but I'm focused on getting an internship that will provide me with relevant job experience and improve my ability to use programs like Microsoft Excel.