Final Reflection :((

Can’t believe it is time to write this course’s final reflection; can not count how many reflections have I written but this last one seems like the most emotional. It got me reminiscing about all the great moments we’ve shared through the semester, from laughs to educational arguments and to sharing food (most important thing, of course) . Feels like a social gathering rather than a formal class; and this was what I loved most about such an experience, the chance to learn using a different method rather than just content, quizzes and exams. I mean I was reminded that learning is an actual blessing rather than a stressful process. The amount of knowledge I’ve retained by this course may be more than any other formal course, it’s not about the content itself but about the way it was taught. The hands on experiences have made the content embedded through my head and the interesting discussions have not given me the chance to lose focus or day dream through class time. In general, I learned so much about myself because there were these types of assignments that needed self exploration and digging deep down. Not only that but during class discussions, I also learned a lot about what kind of person I am. I learned about how I view certain controversial topics and sometimes I even changed my opinions if someone else convinced me with their powerful arguments. I believe the tools are the highlight of this course, I am more aware of different tools now that I have never used before and this makes me feel optimistic of better accomplishments the upcoming semesters because somehow even if on a small scale, these tools can make university a bit easier. Check my tools reflection if you’d like to know more about how the tools helped me develop! Link: https://toqaelahwal.wordpress.com/2019/12/05/tools-reflection/.  Looks like I even used these skills already, in my Consumer Behavior course we had to add videos together and do some editing for the final project. I think our course gave me the confidence to give it a try, I’ve managed to use many tools I never knew anything about already, so maybe this would work. Turns out I figured out most of Imovie’s features in one sitting. I think I would have not even bothered to try if it was not for this course! As for the social context of this course, I loved to closely interact with people outside of my circle and have one to one relationships with them. The class environment was very inclusive which has allowed us to engage in more personal interactions and even though we were somehow different, we still managed to connect. These social, intellectual and “tools” skills are definitely going to help me through the next era of my life. I am sure these skills are going to complement my career ; I am now somehow more open to different topics, general knowledge issues and social interactions. I won’t be an awkward newbie because I somehow got exposed to a lot of different skills and activities such as Soliya that has taught me to accept and interact with people that are so different to me; check my Soliya reflection to know more about this remarkable experience; link: https://toqaelahwal.wordpress.com/2019/12/02/soliya-reflection/.

One of the things that I love the most about this course is that I got to express myself in different and creative ways. The creative aspect of any assignment added a challenge which was always the incentive to create something extraordinary. If I had to show someone parts of my work, I would choose the hands on assignments; I believe these assignments are worth sharing because they reveal who I really am. An Example of these assignments would be The game and its reflection, because this process took us a lot of effort and it somehow reflected how Farah and I perceive a certain cause. Even though the process was hectic we still managed to somehow pull it off. It is also rewarding to show someone the end result of a tiring process right? Check our game using this link:https://toqaelahwal.wordpress.com/2019/11/07/reflection-on-the-process-of-the-game/. Another assignment I would love sharing would be the tinkering path assignments. These assignments were the most fun; they were very relatable to my life and they showed many of my personal preferences. If I want someone to really get to know me I would let them check out my Digital literacy pathway and my Alt CV. They are both a mini representation of who I am as a person, my capabilities and my preferences. A third assignment worth sharing I think would be the Digital Literacies in Egypt; I would like to support these amazing and strong people who have shared their stories on Humans of AUC, they deserve to be praised and appreciated for their courage! Maybe by raising more awareness of such an account and making it more visible to different people even outside of AUC, this in itself is an indirect support for these beautiful human beings. I would love to make them heard and to help them reach more people, maybe someone in their same shoes would learn from their stories and by this I may have indirectly saved a life. Check my blogpost to know more about this very well launched instagram page link: https://toqaelahwal.wordpress.com/2019/12/08/digital-literacies-in-egypt/.

It took me a lot of thinking to come up with two or more things to change about this course because as simple as it sounds I could not find much. I even convinced myself that I needed to make up some problems so I won’t seem too lazy to complete this assignment. Even that I couldn’t do, all my issues with the course are very minor and can be easily improved. One of my minor problems with the course was that I was too lost at first; the due dates on blackboard were inaccurate because we sometimes agreed with the doctor to postpone some assignments. We had to ask every week on Slack about what is due so that we could know. However this problem was solved before I even mentioned it, we now have that “ remaining assignments” document. So I suggest why not have this document from the start of the semester to avoid similar issues in the upcoming semesters. Another issue with the course might be that we weren’t going outside of class as much. It is more of a suggestion rather than a problem actually. Since all we do in class is mostly talking, why not have it outside in the sun; gather in a circle in the gardens and start having our great discussions. I believe going out more and having a scenery while discussing our topics would make the class more fun than it already is! 

I don’t think the question of what kind of person should take this course is applying here, our course is open to anyone! And this is one of the best things about it; you don’t have to be of a certain criteria to feel at home within the walls of our (freezing, Farah Awadalla would relate) class! We were all very different and I think we pursue contrasting lifestyles but the inclusivity of class environment allowed us to grow and develop. I believe anyone can enroll and enjoy such an amazing class!  

I think this is the first course I’ve taken that have given me the opportunity to choose my own assignments; I always had to follow my professors requirements and instructions without having a say in how I want to present my assignments. This factor made assignments far more enjoyable than any other course, I am the one who choose this assignment so it definitely relates to me somehow. I remember the time where I chose to listen to a podcast assignment rather than reading an article, I was too excited to experience a new type of assignment which made me write a good reflection because again it was my choice! Sadly this experience had to come to an end, but I am super glad I enrolled in this course because it was one of the rays of sunshine in my semester. Whenever the doctor commented positively on one of my blogs it gave me confidence and actually made me do well in other unrelated courses because I felt appreciated. I am definitely recommending this course to many of my friends, it would be a loss to miss such an amazing opportunity to grow and learn about lots of things!