Matthew Martin

CPRE 494

16 October 2019

General Education Reflection

At Iowa State I was able to take non-engineering courses that helped me in becoming a

more well-rounded individual. In these classes, I learned about how to be a leader in a diverse

society, politics, and much more about our world. These were great classes for taking a break

from problem solving courses to learn about society in a new mindset. These courses allowed

me to gain a new perspective on topics that face us every day.

One problem often seen in the workforce is individuals who do not understand how to

lead in an environment with differing ideas. A class I took at Iowa State that assisted in my

growth of this topic was Leadership Styles and Strategies in a Diverse Society (LDST 322). In this

class I was able to learn about all the different possible styles for leading teams and laying out

when the best time is to use each strategy. Having the ability to understand different situations

is important in becoming a leader. Being able to understand the challenges faces by other

people is key in leading an engineering team to success. This class allowed me to explore the

various gender and diversity issues facing our community today and plan how to fix these

problems as a leader in the community and my future employer.

Often it is hard to understand the reasons cultures from other countries perform certain

actions. The general education classes at Iowa state assist in being able to understand why

such actions take place. Two classes I took that helped me in learning about the cultures of

various countries was Russia Today (RUS 375) and Introduction to Comparative Government
and Politics (POLS 241). It was hard for me to understand why countries would perform specific

actions within their government until I took this political science course. Understanding the

causes for the government to take a specific course of action is important knowledge to take

into the workplace as many corporations operate on a world-wide level. In Russia Today, I was

able to take a deeper look into the political and economic challenges that faced Russia in its

history and up to today’s time. After taking these classes I was able to have a deeper

understanding to the cultures seen in other counties.

Overall, these courses were great for being able to take to a new perspective to the

workplace. It is important to always stay up to date on current events and the actions being

taken by other countries. These classes taught me the importance of finding valuable resources

to obtain the knowledge of these everchanging topics. Learning about the politics and cultures

of other countries is an item that will continue into my future.