Throughout the semester, I have learned a lot about myself. It has been a whirlwind, but I am proud of all the work that I have contributed to. A big part that contributed to this was sharing my work and discussing it among other students. I think this is extremely important, and it has overall allowed me to be comfortable in sharing vulnerable parts of my life. Every experience post that I wrote allowed for myself to delve into topics that I don’t necessarily voice even though I think often about. So, having the opportunity in general was a big takeaway for me. Moreover, I loved hearing feedback on my posts from both classmates and Dr.Isbell – it was very heartfelt I think to see what others thought of my work and what they took from it. That is another thing that I took from this immigration literature class; I learned that it is okay to be vulnerable and those pieces in which you are will provide meaning and security to others that are either feeling the same way or simply aren’t sure what to encapsulate from the class in general.
My post on Grief for example was the most vulnerable thing I’ve written, also considering the fact that the post is public, I allowed myself to open a pathway to a subject that most people choose to not discuss because they are afraid of the outcome. I’m so very glad to hear that people learned a lot from my post and took meaning from it rather than pity. I think that was one of my biggest fears due to the fact that I do not discuss the loss of my parents; I avoid the topic because I was always afraid of people looking at me differently in terms of a pity lens and not really looking at me for my work ethic, ambition, and independence I carry and I hope is shown through my work. I have learned overall that immigration looks different on everyone, people experience it differently whether it is first hand or second hand there is some experience there; and we all should recognize and embrace it because it helps us lead by example in our society today where we see a lack of empathy happening everyday.
Lastly, I have noticed that immigration is represented in various forms; literature is all about meaning and perception, how you see things, and how you tell a story. Viewing the final projects, it was very beautiful to see how everyone wanted to represent something they read in various forms. This was either through art, reflecting, creating a narrative, etc. I think that is the sole beauty of literature because everyone sees it through a different lens. Also, witnessing the different experiences students had in class was a beautiful thing because it all tied back to how everyone perceived literature differently and got affected in various ways. Even if you are not an English major, you should open up to taking this class as you could learn more about other people but also learn about yourself.
