Missing blog

I noticed the other day that I had only posted four blogs out of the necessary five for the semester. While I obviously don't have an event and can't find the time for one at such a hectic time of the semester, I thought it would be at least an interesting if not relaxing exercise to just write a sort of recap and reflection on the semester, with our final exam being tomorrow evening.

Admittedly, I initially took this class simply to fill part of my core requirement for English courses. However I have found that this was one of the more thought provoking and insightful classes that I have taken here in my short time at Loyola. I thought we had a great group of individuals in our class, many of whom showed how intelligent they are by offering very impressive statements and responses during both our in class discussions and on this blog site. I though the idea of doing a blog for a class was at least worth a shot, and the results were pretty cool. I liked that we were able to choose between the service learning and event track, this gave everyone's blog a lot more of a unique feel as most people either helped at different organizations in the community or went to different events on and off campus.

Probably my favorite event that I attended was the debate forum held by the Loyola Rhetoric Society back in late October. With the election season reaching its apex, tensions around both the country and the world were as high as they have been in recent memory. I found that the debates had between the diverse group of students and scholars provided the audience with a model of civilized debate on real world issues that Secretary Clinton and the eventual President-Elect Trump failed to exemplify. On the topic of the election, perhaps the most memorable class we had was on November 10th, the day after Election Tuesday. It pains me to say this, but outside of that class, I have rarely encountered civilized discussion of what happened and how everyone was reacting in a way that was respectful to the opinions of both sides. The climate here on campus seems better than most, yet the tension over the events of that night still makes too difficult for some people to talk about. On social media, it's even worse. It seems like my facebook feed is just a wash of overzealous Trump supporters and my twitter feed is filled with enraged, sometimes violent disdain from the other side. So for our class to be able to not only have a civilized discussion about the issue, but to be able to recognize and accept the opinions of both sides as equally valid is something truly commendable given the circumstances.

Overall I found this to be a very enjoyable and even at times relaxing class. As a business major, it is rare that I can focus my attention on topics like philosophy or literature, as many of my classes are objective and math based courses. This course was in many ways a breath of fresh air for me and I am very glad to have taken it.