Understanding, how important is that for some people? For me understanding is the key to living a balanced life with reduced conflict, especially now that I am here at an actual learning facility, with actual teachers and classmates. I have never had the privilege of being taught by a fully certified teacher let alone the five that I now learn from and though I am thoroughly amazed at the unique personalities and qualities of each of my teachers and that I can relate with them through the subjects that they teach. I believe that there is more I can do to get the best out of the education that I am here for. So with the help of the Beloit List and the 2011 Mind-set of Faculty (Born before 1980) List, I have searched for what makes my generation and my professors’ generation different yet able to co-operate in three areas: conversation usage, technological availability, and social boundaries.
I am certain that before 1980 words such as “shizzle, nigga, bestie, bling, beastin’, “and phrases like “say what?, do what now?, how ya doin’?, and I’ll do me” were not a part of the common jargon for those that were born before 1980, just like “barf me out, bimbette, boho, and groovy “are not heard so frequently in my generation. According to tripletsandus.com, even the abuse of the word “like” had not started until the 80’s and “swipe” is hardly used any more with stealing.
Not only has conversation and technology changed over the past few decades but the social and physical boundaries of society have been altered as well. Before the 1980s, gay marriage was abhorred and highly disapproved of. Now it has almost become widespread across America. I can remember back when I was eight years old walking through Walmart's electronic section and seeing a clip of two women kissing on the TVs. The only thing that both generations share about this is that there are many people that still say homosexuality is wrong.
Technology has played an immense part in distinguishing the gap between my generation and that of my professors. According to the Beloit College Mind-set List, the Internet has always been around for my generation, so much so that when there is an argument or confusion about something the most common response I hear is “Google it” instead of “go look it up in the dictionary or the encyclopedia.” Relationships have even been “revamped” thanks to technology. These days I hardly hear about people getting together, breaking-up or getting engaged in actual life, in fact the only way I even know that anything happens amongst my friends is on Facebook or through emails. It’s is often to the point that I ask myself “What ever happened to the times when guys would go to the father of the girl they are interested in and actually ask the father if he could date that man’s daughter?” However, this lack of traditional communication has brought about an easier and faster way for professors and students to get “in touch” with each other, (i.e. emailing and web blogs).
Though my professors and I have a fairly big age gap between us, I know that there are ways in which we are similar. Yet the differences between my professors and I are what make each day and each experience unique and add to the learning environment at SAU. These generational differences are what add to my endeavors to get the most out my personal college experience.
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