An Education Journey - Essay Example

My Educational Journey I will admit that I came into this at the start of the semester with a more limited view about life. I was the kind of person that one would consider to be self-centered and not a team player. My tendency was to look out for my personal interests even at the expense of the welfare of others. Mostly because as a Millenial, I grew up being treated extra special and without much expectations and pressure coming from my parents to be a better person. I felt and understood, from the way that I was brought up, that the world owed me everything and I owed the world nothing. I was not the kind of person that I would personally like to meet now that I think about it. Thankfully, the lessons taught in this class helped to change the kind of person who I was. Now I know that the sun does not rise and set by my selfish whims and caprices. More importantly, I learned that I need to take responsibility for myself, my life, and the way that I treat others. I have a different view of the world now. It is a point of view that I never expected to have because it was not part of the way I was raised. I find that I am more open minded now. With the patience and sincere concern to hear about what other people have to say. These days, I talk to, rather than talk at people. I no longer ignore what other have to say just because it does not agree with my point of view. That is because I have come to learn that by listening to other people, I will be able to get more out of my life. Whereas I tended to live live that did not involve others before, I now try to get other people involved in my life. By doing so, I have discovered that my life has become a better place and the presence of other people in it, and the way that I allow their own point of view to reach out and touch me, has given me a wider perspective on life in general. Looking back, I will have to say that my life was kind of pathetic because of my self-centered attitude. I am very thankful that this class has helped me develop a better relationship with other people. I am even more grateful that the camaraderie I have developed with them has led me to a richer and more fulfilling life. While all of the readings in this class has had a profound effect upon me in one way or another. I would have to say that the work that I consider to be the most influential upon me was Martin Luther King Jr.s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”. I grew up in a world that claimed to be racially just and accepting. However, as I read and learned more about the life and times of Martin Luther King Jr. and the event surrounding his arrest in Birmingham, I have discovered that racial profiling and discrimination is still quite alive and present in our 21st century lives. I am not proud to say this but, the reading material I am referring to has helped me realize that the problem of indiscriminate treatment of other races and ethnicities should still be considered to be a growing problem in the United States. Mostly because people from other countries continue to flock to America hoping for a better life and a slice of the “Great American Dream”. A dream that was partially fueled by the great African American leader to help the African Americans hold on to their dream of a better day, a just day. It is a day that came to reality with the election of the first African American president in Barack Obama. But it is still a dream, no, a work in progress as the likes of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin continue to grip the headlines. It is a dream for equality that cannot exist as long as gay bashing costs the lives of other human beings whose only crime is having a different sexual orientation than the others. It is a a sense of belonging that cannot become a reality for as long as Americans continue to hyphenate their roots in the country instead of simply being “American” and nothing else. Indeed the “Letter From Birmingham” jail has helped to open my mind to the reality of the world that we live in. I no longer see the world through rose colored glasses at this point. I am already painfully aware of the unjust system that continues to exist both politically and socially in this country, and I have made it my business to make sure that I no longer contribute to that problem. Martin Luther Kings letter was written as a plea for logical resistance in mind. He never advocated armed conflict even in the face of unjust treatment. He made it a point to let the African American people know that their time for just and fair treatment would come. But only if patience and logic prevailed. That is a mindset that is currently necessary for the continued development of the United States as a country that embraces and welcomes immigrants to its fold. The rising racial violence in the country, the massacres that occur in schools, these are all part of the problem that racial division has brought upon the American society. It is a problem that he was not able to present a clear and doable solution do during his lifetime. But his life work, his written opinions, journals, and the like, can all serve to become a template for leadership and a handbook towards creating a more just and accepting nation. I believe that the dream of Martin Luther King Jr. did not die with him. It continues to live on in the hearts of every American, regardless of his skin color and heritage. All it requires to see his dream of equality to be finally fulfilled, is for a person to come forth and bring about the true spark of change within our society. Before I wrote about Martin Luther King Jr and Jane Addams in this class, the piece of writing that I found most influential towards my development was “Problems of Poverty”. Having grown up never knowing the meaning of want or need, I was not too familiar with the problems surrounding poverty until I read this piece by Jane Addams. Little did I know and none did I understand about the fight for the rights of the poor in the nation. To me, it seemed like the poor in the country was a dark side that the government tried to hide for a a very long time but could never successfully do. People like Jane Addams knew about the poverty that existed in early America and acknowledged the fact that someone had to enact movements in order to help stem the tide of poverty that threatened to sweep the citizens of the nation. It was not an easy task for her to do. That is why I admired her so much for taking on such a monumental and financially draining task, all meant for the betterment of the American society. The work that Jane Addams accomplished at Hull House is not something that should be brushed aside. Thanks to her research and funding, the poor Americans found an ally who provided them with the best health care, sustenance, and continued education that the measly budget of Hull House could provide. These people did not think that Hull House was a sign of poverty and despair. Rather, these people saw the opportunities that Hull House provided to them and they did their best to utilize all of the services and opportunities that were open for them to benefit from without question or pause. Without Hull House, there would have been a number of American families that would have continued to live below the poverty line and maybe, just maybe, the country would not have been able to achieve its fullest potential as the land of dreams without a strong assist from Hull House and the likes of Jane Addams and her supporters. I sort of view Jane Addams in the same league as Martin Luther King Jr. in that respect because they both fought long and hard to end poverty in the United States. For Martin Luther King though, it was a more concentrated effort to help bring the long mistreated African Americans plight to center stage. His was a movement that centered on the growing poverty of the African Americans at the hands of the Whites while Jane Addams tended to concentrate on the over all effects of poverty. The fight that Luther King struggled to win, for the right of the African Americans to be treated equally and to allow them to lead better lives in the country of their birth was one that was filled with tension and uncertainty from the very start. But he never gave up on his fight because he knew that his cause was just. It is his sense of fairness and equality that has continued to burn in the minds and hearts of the new generation of American people. Though it took more time than he would have expected, America as a nation is now ready for the change that he so fought for. The new generation of Americans now look towards Martin Luther King Jr. and his literary works for the inspiration to continue with their struggle and fight for equality and acceptance in the modern world. Be it the fight for gender equality or racial acceptance, the influence of his thoughts, words, and wisdom can never be discounted in the hearts and minds of the new generation of American social activists. Jane Addams and Martin Luther King are two of the most historical people in American society whose life work will continue to influence the future generations of Americans. They may not know who Jane Addams and Martin Luther King are in the future, but their influence is already a part of the American DNA and will continue to shine brightly for as long as there is a need for justice and a sense of equality among the people of the United States. Theirs is a cause that will never die because there will always be cause for their beliefs in life to be brought forth and advanced as a social cause for the members of this great nation. Read More