Post #9: Integration

Coming to the end of the semester, I believe the concepts discussed in class gave me a better understanding of who I am, what motivates me as a person, and at the same time strengthens my self-confidence in expressing who I really am. I learned that I need to be more mindful and aware of not only my surrounding but also the people I socialize with as we all come from different backgrounds or as we learned in class, we all were formed by different types of habitus.

Another important lesson I took away was how to better be in touch with my various emotions and how to regulate it such that it does not control my actions but instead I can modify what I feel to better fit the situation I am in. This gives me a greater sense of purpose as I am not longer a slave to my emotions but rather I am the master of my own fate which ties into another lesson we learned which was how to become a more agentic individual and delve beyond the looking glass when trying to see how others perceive me. This gives me greater confidence in my individual abilities and pushes me to become an active agent for change in my community.

Being kind to others is another big aspect of this course as I learned that the roots of injustice lies deeply-rooted in the system that we are all enmeshed in thus it is better to develop a more empathetic viewpoint when dealing with others rather than perpetuating this negative cycle and creating more inequality. I truly do feel now that those who are privileged enough to enjoy the greater luxuries to life such as myself not only can make a difference but should feel obliged to become persons for others as we are all in this one big community together so why not share the resources that I am grateful to have been blessed with in order to create a more cohesive and family-like social structure amongst all peoples. From this course, I have developed a more open mindset where not only do I have greater belief in my abilities but also greater belief in the power of collective action to inspire change thus activities such as the Do Good, Be Open, Be Social activity really opened my eyes to the power of positivity and mindfulness in our daily disposition.

Overall, while I was initially hesitant in believing how well I would fit in here in Ateneo, this subect has given me a lot of hope and knowledge that will guide me way of thinking such that I can utilize my time and talents to the best of my ability in order for others to feel more at home as well. We are all in this journey called life and instead of viewing it as one big game or competition, I have learned that we are all complex creatures wherein all we do need is some love and compassion to unlock our full potential as individuals thus synthesizing everything from theories of the self, socialization, and how our upbringing affects us, I can safely say that I am now a much more informed and mature individual after this semester.