I have taken: English Composition 1 which fell under “Core Area A: Essential Skills”, World History 1: Development of World Civilization which was under “Core Area B: Global Perspectives”, Concepts of Biology under “Area C: Fine Arts and Humanities”, Music Appreciation under “Core Area D: Science and Mathematics, and Introduction to Sociology under “Core Area E: Social Sciences”. Each of these courses taught me several different things from learning how to structure and write a paper to issues happening around the world.
English was the first one of these classes I have taken, and I have found it to be a very useful class. I learned how to write a paper using MLA format, how to cite my sources, the seriousness of plagiarism, and how to break down and better comprehend complex literature. It was helpful to learn these skills because I could apply them to my future classes that had many assignments revolving around writing research papers based on complex readings. It is also helpful in my job because while most places are paperless now, in my job there are still many documents that need to be thoroughly reviewed to ensure we are covering every different procedure.
The next class I have taken would be concepts of biology which was probably one of my favorites out the list. It revolved around daily quizzes with a lot of studying and lab work. It was great because my major is Medical Laboratory Science, so this class was my first introduction into daily laboratory work. Our labs running test using different reagents and documenting results are the kind of skills that directly translate into my current job and future courses because both revolve around laboratory work.
World History 1 was another class that gave me valuable skills I could use in my future classes. We did plenty of reading for test, but also had to write essays about different historical topics from around the world and be tested on our knowledge of the subject. It really helped teach me to focus on what I am reading and recall what series of events lead to certain thing happening. It is useful because I can apply this to my future classes when assigned to read a wide range of material or follow steps that could lead to solving an issue. This same could apply to my chosen profession because lab work is very focused on reading long procedures and following steps to achieve a task.
Introduction to Sociology was also very helpful in its applications to my future courses and work. The class revolved around a lot of debating about social issues currently happening in our world and it also had a lot of information about cross sectional, longitudinal, and cross sequential studies which is very relevant to my chosen profession and also helped with my major courses. In my profession, it is essential to understand diversity and inclusion and these debates in Sociology really helped me to learn how to understand other perspectives, which is helpful in healthcare. I also learned a lot of information regarding statistics and how to perform a study which is helpful in my major because a lot of lab testing revolves around performing tests and studies on different populations.
Lastly, Music Appreciation. This class, while very different from the other four was still helpful in teaching me a new way of comprehension. This class taught me how to understand and appreciate art in new forms I have not seen before. This can help in my future courses because it made me learn to look at things from more than one perspective and this skill can be helpful in problem solving in both my chosen profession and future courses.
Overall, these courses have changed my view of the world by teaching me that the more I know, the more I realize how little I know. These courses covered so may topics that have helped to educate me in several different things. It has made me more aware of other cultures and how important it is to really understand what it is you are learning about because of how far this information can take you.