Overall Course Comments

Reflecting on this semester filled with moments of truth and certainly many lies, I cannot help but think about the impact a course like this will have on my life. I registered for this course because I loved having Dr. Williams as a professor in the previous semester. I would be lying if I said I knew what the class was about before walking in on the first day. Dr. Williams: I have appreciated your insight and comments about life. I can tell that you truly care for each of your students,

Dr. Williams: I have appreciated your insight and comments about life. I can tell that you truly care for each of your students, not just as learners but as humans navigating a complicated world. Your willingness to be honest with your own stories, your doubts, your humor, and even your firm reminders created a space where we could actually wrestle with the idea of truth instead of just defining it. That is something I don’t think many classes ever achieve.

What surprised me most this semester was how a course that seems philosophical on the surface quickly became deeply personal. Each week, I found myself questioning things I previously accepted without hesitation: Why do we believe some claims so easily? Why do we cling to certain narratives even when they’re shaky? How much of who I think I am is shaped by stories others have told me or ones I’ve told myself?  The discussions in class helped me gain a new outlook on life, and I have gained a new appreciation for the truth. 

What I appreciated most were the conversations we had that were outside the syllabus: the moments where we talked about character, responsibility, and how to navigate the world with integrity. This class taught me to pause to hold space for doubt, to ask better questions, and to be comfortable admitting when I don’t know something. That skill alone is something I’ll carry into every future academic and professional setting.

As I leave this semester, I feel more grounded and more intentional. I am walking away with a deeper understanding that truth isn’t just an idea; it’s a practice. It’s in how we speak, how we listen, how we interpret, and how we choose to show up for others. And it’s a practice I will carry with me long after this class ends.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Simple but Destructive Act of Phishing and Catfishing

Image
This week’s class really opened my eyes to the horrible deceptive acts that phishing and catfishing can bring. I always pictured phishing as some super technical complex coding content, but our discussion kind of shattered that. My group and I walked through how easy it would be to pull off a fake “RSVP to the work luncheon” email, send it company-wide, make the link look official, and then click. The part that bothered me most is how normal it all feels. We’re trained to be responsive at work and helpful to our teams, so an RSVP link doesn’t set off alarms. Realizing that something so simple could open the door to someone accessing a computer and everything on it was honestly unsettling. The videos we watched in class added a sorrowful feeling to the environment. Watching people lose their savings, privacy, or even their sense of safety because they trusted the wrong message; it was heartbreaking. None of them looked “reckless.” They were tired, busy, trying to do the right thing, or ...
Read more

Waco

Image
A few weeks ago in class, we had a guest speaker who I still cannot stop thinking about. Jeff Guin came to talk about the Waco Siege, and before this presentation I thought I already knew a good amount about what happened. I grew up hearing bits about it, and I have always been fascinated by it. But hearing someone who has really lived in that history, studied it, and written about it talk in person felt completely different. He did not just tell the story. He made it feel alive and complicated and human. One thing I really appreciated was how balanced his perspective was. So many conversations about Waco turn into either “the government was right” or “the government was the bad guy.” Guin did not do that. He broke down the motivations and beliefs of the Branch Davidians, but he also explained the pressures and mistakes made by the government. He talked about how fear and certainty on both sides fueled the situation and how everything snowballed into tragedy. It really showed how messy...
Read more

Conspiracy of Cancer Cure

Image
When I was in high school I wrote a paper about Big Pharma hiding a cure for cancer, and I genuinely believed it. A big part of that came from the idea that there is just way too much money in cancer treatment for companies to ever let a cure come out. I remember thinking, “If cancer suddenly had a cheap natural cure, think about all the money drug companies, hospitals, insurance companies, and research institutions would lose.” To me back then, it felt almost obvious. Cancer treatment is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and I assumed the system cared more about profit than people. Conspiratorial thinking about health is widespread. A 2014 research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that 37% of Americans believe that the Food and Drug Administration is suppressing natural cures for cancer because of drug company pressure. Honestly, I still get where that suspicion comes from. The financial side of healthcare can be frustrating and even jaw-dropping at times. We see sky-hi...
Read more