Ricardo Castillo

   

                                                                  Communication

 

 

                  This goal means that we will learn to communicate with our classmates through group projects to help each other learn a bit about others and work together to get the job done. My interpretation differs from the UNST goal definition by talking about working groups more rather than just writing. If I was to write a different goal for this definition I would write it the same way I don’t think I would change anything. This goal is pretty straight forward with it’s definition and is really easy to understand.

 

 

                  The group project that we did in this class really correlates with this UNST goal because we had to work with other classmates to go to different districts in Portland. We had to arrange times to meet up and visit these districts which was kind of a challenge because we all have different schedules. Luckily, I was fortunate enough to work with people who were really flexible, and we cooperated really well. I learned a lot about the Goose Hollow district and about the people who I worked with.

 

 

                 This communication goal has helped me gain some people skills because of all the interacting with people I did in this project. As a business major these people skills are going to help me in my career. This goal has also made me better at learning to be a good team player too. When you work with other people you get a chance to look at other ideas and think of different ways of to help support their ideas.

 

 

         This is goal is really relevant to have success in your education because you must communicate in order to have success. You might have to reach out to your teachers to get extra help to help you understand certain subjects. Other classes that I have are online too which make you communicate with other peers by replying to their discussion posts. Replying to class posts can really help you think of a counter argument for someone’s post which can help them provide more details to prove their point which can be very beneficial.

                  Each of these goals help you out in real life and this one is really important because you need to be able to communicate in your job or else you won’t have a job. You need to communicate with your family to in order to stay together as a unit. Communication is such an important skill everyone needs to master because without you have nothing. Relationships are so important now a days in order to get in the door for job opportunities so communication skills are so important.    

                         

                                                       The Diversity of Human Experience

 

             This university studies goal to me means that I will learn about the diversity of people by studying different cultures and interacting with people that are a different race than me. My definition of this goal doesn’t really differ much from the actual goal. This goal definition is fine like it’s because it’s really clear to the point of what the university studies program wants us to accomplish. If I were to explain this goal to the class, I would say that the goal of this university studies program for The Diversity of Human Experience is to expose you to different culture, race, and people you’re not used seeing and learn about them.

 

 

             This goal helped me acknowledge the peers around me and respect where they're coming from and learn about these people. I come from a rural town where I’m used to seeing mainly hispanic and caucasian people. Once I came to Portland State University, I was exposed to so much diversity by meeting all these international students from my class. If it wasn’t for this class I probably wouldn’t have met these people because I’m kinda shy and busy that I tend to focus on the task at hand.

 

 

            This has played a role in my learning that helps me cooperate with my classmates and not be quick to judge them. The diversity helps you understand people's struggles and helps people learn the same about you. Since most of the people in my class are mostly international students I’m happy to do group projects with them so that I can get to know them and learn about them. I’m not the type of person that will push someone away from a group project because of their race or culture.

 

 

            Most of my other classes I had this year had a lot of diversity but when I was in them besides this one they were mostly lecture classes that didn’t involve a lot of conversation with your peers. Therefore, I didn’t really converse with the people in my classes as much as I would have liked but this class I did. In this class I learned about Portland and the diversity that Portland offers and allowed me to grow with my classmates to help accept each other and work together.

 

 

            This goal is very important to life in general because it makes everyone acceptable because we live a life full of stereotypes that make people look bad. I know that in popular culture the media often portrays people from the middle east as some sort of terrorist. When in reality they’re some of the kindest people and some people often are quick to judge people by what they look like, and meeting them and learning about them is the best way to get to know them. I have made friendships with people that I never thought I would meet or hangout just because I wasn’t ever around them.

  

                                                           

Ethical Issues and Social Responsibility

 

          The goal of ethical issues and social responsibility to me represents people who have contributed a lot to the community and society. People who have gone above and beyond to give back to the community. Therefore, what I think about ethical issues and social responsibility correlates to what the university studies goal definition. Which is understanding the impact of individuals and their choices on society. This goal is a really important one to learn and apply because it will take you far in life.

 

 

            The university studies department did a good job explaining the goal in my opinion but if I had to explain the goal of ethical issues and social responsibility. The ethical issues and social responsibility goal would be to take a moment and acknowledge people who have help give back to the community. The student’s will find out this information by research and going to these people and doing some interviews and taking pictures and presenting to the class about it. Finding out what were the motives of these individuals to go back and give back to the community. It can be pretty interesting what helps drive these people to do these acts of kindness.

 

 

              I learned a lot this term about ethical issues and social responsibility through my research essay because I discovered a lot about Nike Inc. Not only are they really wealthy because they’re the top selling sports brand but they have gave back to the community too. I found out that one of their employees, Michael Bergman did a great contribution to the community in North Portland. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go and interview people because of how busy my schedule is right now, but this individual is a great example of this goal.

 

 

             This goal is really vital to my education because this helps me acknowledge people who have demonstrated characteristics of this goal. If I acknowledge these characteristics then I can use them to my own ability and make a positive contribution. My coach has always said, if you can identify greatness in others you have greatness in yourself and this applies to this as well. In my other classes, we haven’t really done too much of this yet. I’m hoping that with my software engineering knowledge I can give back to the community by acknowledging a problem and doing what I can with technology to fix it.

              If I can attain this university studies goal and master it I think it will help me out for my future and in life in general by becoming a good citizen. Many of us achieve success but tend to forget where we come from. I think giving back to the community is really important for everyone to do even if it’s simply giving back to your family or helping somebody out with homework or doing something big like helping create a new athletic field/track for a local high school. Everyone needs help at some point in their life and why not be the helping hand that can make an impact in other peoples lives.   

 

 

                                                                           Critical Thinking

            My experience here at Portland State University has enhanced my critical thinking abilities so far. In my Computer Science class I believe is where the most of my critical thinking starts. Just because the way things are laid out or structured really make you have a plan to think outside the box. It makes you engage in critical thinking because you're given all the resources and you just have to think of a way to add them to your program so you can accomplish the task. You really have to learn what you’re what’s being instructed and practice a lot, and that’s where the critical thinking happens.

 

          As I keep engaging in the critical thinking I believe that this will help me prepare for my career when I graduate and have to face the real world. It will be considered normal for me to take on these difficult problems and solve them pretty quickly. Along with being able to solve problems it will help me become a better employee and think of new ways to improve some objects. Since thats what they have taught me here at PSU, which is to create something then make it better.

 

           In addition, you don't need to major in Computer Science in order to engage in critical thinking. Portland State offers so many majors/classes that each one makes you become a good thinker in so many different ways. For example, in this class we have to write some papers that make us analyze certain topics and break them down to get the real message. Just like the place of education paper that is attached onto this document. We really have to look at the object and do some thinking about what the authors tone or the message he’s trying to say.

 

          In final consideration, college does a very good job turning us into better thinkers with all the assignments we have to analyze and reflect upon. Since critical thinking is really important for our job in the future I look forward to getting better at it. I look forward to keep challenging myself in this my course since it's so vital to my future. College challenges you in so many ways that I understand what it takes now with my experience in this first term. I hope to learn as much as I can from the unst courses and use the goals in the future.

 

            

 "The Place of Education" paper

https://docs.google.com/a/pdx.edu/document/d/131XCxxdr8M0kcsh9uahYZGUMi_UCQbyIXPSOhYtVjuI/edit