Final thoughts

This class was by far my favorite class this semester, and one of my favorite in the four years that I've been here at Fredonia. All of the topics were so fascinating! I really learned a lot. One of my favorite parts of the class was the great discussion that we always had. I'm really glad that there were so many students with different majors and with different hobbies and lifestyles because it added so much to the class. With all the different topics we covered, from race to disabilities to sexuality and everything in between, there was something that everyone could relate to and that everyone knew something about. There was also something that everyone had never learned about before, and we all had the opportunity to be educated on various subjects. In the beginning of the semester, I admit that I wondered a few times how the lessons we were learning would be relevant to my life or my future career and how I could use them. I realize now that learning about deviance and normalcy and being aware of the medical community's role in forming those idea throughout history can be very relative to today's world and many different fields. As a school/youth counselor, I'm guaranteed to come across various individuals that fit into one or more of the categories of "deviance" that we've discussed. Taking what I've learned from this class will help me help them through struggles they may be having with their identity or with being judged by other people, and I can help them realize that they're not deviant or abnormal and that there's a great history that's relative to their situation.

The most important thing I'm taking from this class is what I've learned about other people and about myself. I never would have given most of these issues a second thought if I hadn't been forced to learn about them and really think about how I felt. Now, I can have a more educated opinion on issues that will certainly come up in my future and I have a little more experience discussing them with my peers. Thanks to all the other students in the class; you made it so much fun for me, and I really hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did! And thanks, of course, to Jeff. Your class rocks, and I'm really glad that more students will have the opportunity to take it next semester.

Sarah Bradley