Iman Khoshnaw

Cristof Teuscher
Life Unlimited
11, June 2014
Final Reflective Essay for all Three Terms
The very first time I signed up for fall classes in the year 2013, I did not know
why we needed to have inquiry classes to graduate. I did not see the point of having them
either. So when I was looking over the description for each inquiry class that was offered
to freshmens, I looked over Life Unlimited and thought that it would be very interesting
since it did talk about the injustices of society as a whole. I thought well maybe this
would be a really interesting class since I am from a different background and different
beliefs of my own. Turns out I made a great decision to take the course because it did
help me see even more the injustices in society, it helped me look at other cultures,
backgrounds, and beliefs that individuals have. From the very first day to the very last
day, I learned to be more open-minded towards others and towards people with different
backgrounds and different beliefs. I learned that even if I may be against some beliefs I
should still keep an open-mind towards other beliefs just so that no one can get hurt or
get upset with what I may say. I learned that as hard it was to speak up in class in the
beginning of first term, no matter who judges, it is always best to stand up for your own
rights and to protect your beliefs. If one does not stand up for what they believe in, the
people who are ignorant can conquer those lives and can spread many inequalities
overall. Two examples when I spoke up during class about my beliefs, was when we had
a run-through during our mentored session for our group project first term talking about
the meaning of life. A fellow student of mine may not have known much information
about Islam so he went on the Internet to search more on the after life and what Muslims
believed in the afterlife. He stated that Muslims believe in reincarnation and that we
would reincarnate into something based on our deeds in the world. So after the
presentation was over, with respect, I told him what we actually believed in and how
simple it was that people who made good deeds would go to heaven and people with bad
deeds would go to the hell fire. And he had apologized and had told me that he found it
on the website so I had told him that he cannot rely on every source and that I was there if
he had any further questions. Another time where I stood up for myself, as much as I get
scared to talk in front of many people, we had a guest speaker to talk to us about free will
and this was during winter term. A question was brought up that sometimes god tells us
what to do and if our actions were wrong based on the fact that god told us what needed
to be done. He had told the story of Abraham and Ishmael and how god had told
Abraham to sacrifice his child. Then he asked the whole class if that was an okay
decision to make since god had told us. At that comment, I became very angry to the fact
that he did not tell the whole story of Abraham so I raised my hand and I told him, the
only reason why god told Abraham to sacrifice his son was to test him out as to how loyal
Abraham was to god and if he was willing to do anything for god. That is when god sent
down a lamb for Abraham to sacrifice. I stated that if he were to tell a story, then he
should have told it all the way from beginning to end because it would leave others to the
wrong expression of any belief. He then apologized and now that I look back at these
situations I think to myself, even if someone has a high degree of knowledge and has
their doctorates on a certain subject, there are many times where they become ignorant
towards religion, race, cultural background, etc. These two examples made me learn as an
individual to speak up when needed in any situations life puts you in as much as one may
be afraid to do so, it is always best to do what is needed. First term, I learned to be open
minded and not so stubborn on certain subjects and just let other opinions be said so that I
can get a wide ranges of opinions from different beliefs. First term helped me learn more
for spring term, where we learned about body modification and in the end, I stated that I
have no business as to what an individual does to his or her body, as long as I am not
included in their decisions, I have no rights to judge them as an individual based on what
they do. One aspect of this class that I will keep forever is, for my future years in college
and career, is to keep up with the work provided to be a successful student. As much as it
is difficult to do so with all of the other assignments of different classes, if there is a set
schedule, surprisingly, there will also be free time. I have learned to contribute any ideas
when asked for because even if they are not a great idea, it is always a start of something.
This course has helped me to learn a lot about time management, respecting others
opinions (although I have always), and to speak up for my own beliefs and perspectives!