#RemainOpenMinded

[sociopplwatcher]

My Advice to Future Sociology Students

If you are planning on taking sociology go into the course open-minded. Prepare to discuss controversial topics. Prepare to have your ideas and beliefs tested. Because you’ll be looking at things through a unique lens. You will be challenged, even if you consider yourself an open-minded person, you may not be as much as you thought. You’ll learn views and theories you may never have considered before and be forced to self-evaluate your own behaviors and thoughts at times. My personal experience will caution you not to take Global History 1500 to present day at the same time. The topics combined although complimentary made it very emotionally draining. It left me depressed frequently due to the nature of the topics. I also felt it made it a bit more challenging in the regard to how I was able to view certain chapters compared to other students because I was beginning to merge what I was learning about history into class.

The positive side to that is that it allowed to me to realize in what ways we really have progressed through history and areas that as a society we still are struggling with presently. There are some fun parts too, so don’t let me scare you away! The social norm breaching project was my favorite part!

What I’m taking away from this course most is that there really are no clear cut easy solutions when it comes to dealing with society and the people in it. There are many variables that will change and some of the changes we start making now may not be impactful until far into the future, maybe even beyond our lifetimes. Ultimately, we can’t make changes unless they acknowledge their existence and are aware of how society constructed some of these beliefs whether it was through poor science, religious beliefs or downright prejudices we’ve gained. Put in the work and stay open-minded. If you’re unsure ask questions and take some time to step back if you get overwhelmed or simply find a topic upsetting. As mentioned these topics aren’t easy to discuss at times. Always remain a bit of a skeptic and do some of your own research as well. In the end, you will have learned to expand your critical thinking skills and your views will have probably changed to seeing things through the lens of a sociologist. I strongly believe the class has changed my perception. Things that I didn’t put as much thought into before I seem to think about even more ways now. Good luck to all future students!