I remember the first day of World Lit last semester. I sat down in the not-so-standard classroom, awkwardly shifted back and forth in those cushy chairs, and debated whether or not to make eye contact with my classmates or just pretend they didn’t exist until class began. Then class began, and we introduced ourselves, (I inwardly critiqued my introduction) and eyed the clock until 12:30—or, as I found out then, 12:15 to my pleasant surprise. “What am I going to do in this room for an hour and a half twice a week?” I thought. I liked everybody that I had met that day, but I didn’t really know what I would have to say to them for an entire year, and I wondered what I had gotten myself into. The next few days were the same. Then class began to really pick up and along with that classwork picked up, and (I’m sorry Professor Bump) we started to complain about writing DBs. And after that we talked about other things and slowly (or maybe quickly I can’t remember at this point) we all became great friends. 
Aww look at our class!
(Bump's Website)
And isn’t our group the greatest, really? I love answering the question, “what World Lit are you in?” because I have so much pride in being associated with all of you guys. (I know this DB doesn’t require sappiness, but it’s just sad to think that we won’t all be together in just two class periods.) Just think about all we do...we are in Student Government, service organizations, fraternities and sororities, sports, and all other sorts of organizations across campus. Five of us got elected into P2SA this year (that’s almost 30% of the organization for all you math nerds like me out there!), and I feel like half the time I meet an upperclassmen I really like, I find out later that they were a former Bumpster. Alice and I went to FaceAids’ Condom Couture fashion show last Thursday, where Ryan designed the winning and audience favorite dress, that Jenny modeled, and it just hit me once again that Bumpsters are everywhere and so involved on campus! I wonder if it’s something about the class that churns out such dynamic and active UT participants or is it just the people who want to be there that take this class. Is it a combination? For the last part of my DB I want to try to figure out what this class has done for me, in terms of leadership and ethics, and figure out an answer.
When I thought about the two topics, ethics immediately came to mind as the one which influenced me the most in this class. I have always been an ethically conscious person (if I can say that without sounding presumptuous), but I’ve realized that until now I never really put my thoughts into action. Yes, I’ve always been the girl who couldn’t kill a fly (I seriously can’t), but what does that even mean when I ate meat every day with relish and didn’t really think about how my actions affected animals? I sometimes felt like a contradiction whenever I sat down to a steak meal, but I never had the courage. Earthlings gave me that courage...or at least the nausea I got whenever I saw meat long enough to stick to something that I feel right about. I’m still tempted—for some reason every time I see taquitos, which I never even liked that much before, I’m just ready to give it all up—but I’m strengthened by the fact that I shared my experience with all of you guys. I would not want to let myself or the ideas I felt in class down by giving that up—at least not yet. I think what was most important about our approach to ethics in class was the wide breadth of issues we were exposed to. It’s not enough to just say “discrimination,” talk about some standard examples of prejudice and move on. Sure, we all care about ethics and social justice—we wouldn’t be in this class if we didn’t—but we all can’t proclaim that we understand or that we’re really even going to act on this understanding unless we give each issue some real attention. I really liked reading the gender and immigrant short essays the past few weeks for this reason. They opened my eyes to issues that I would have never thought about: what does it really mean to be biracial and how do some people react to their children coming out? In the looking glass world, it seemed like everything was backwards and strange to Alice, but she often figured out that things were really not as different as they may seem. When she first saw the Jabberwocky book, for example, “she puzzled over [it] for some time, but at last a bright thought struck her,” (Looking Glass, 148), and she realized that all she had to do was read it through a mirror! Like Alice, I want to be able to figure out how to “read” people and ideas that I don’t understand. What this class most taught me about ethics was to think about issues in much greater detail and to try to think about them through other people’s perspective.
When I thought about the two topics, ethics immediately came to mind as the one which influenced me the most in this class. I have always been an ethically conscious person (if I can say that without sounding presumptuous), but I’ve realized that until now I never really put my thoughts into action. Yes, I’ve always been the girl who couldn’t kill a fly (I seriously can’t), but what does that even mean when I ate meat every day with relish and didn’t really think about how my actions affected animals? I sometimes felt like a contradiction whenever I sat down to a steak meal, but I never had the courage. Earthlings gave me that courage...or at least the nausea I got whenever I saw meat long enough to stick to something that I feel right about. I’m still tempted—for some reason every time I see taquitos, which I never even liked that much before, I’m just ready to give it all up—but I’m strengthened by the fact that I shared my experience with all of you guys. I would not want to let myself or the ideas I felt in class down by giving that up—at least not yet. I think what was most important about our approach to ethics in class was the wide breadth of issues we were exposed to. It’s not enough to just say “discrimination,” talk about some standard examples of prejudice and move on. Sure, we all care about ethics and social justice—we wouldn’t be in this class if we didn’t—but we all can’t proclaim that we understand or that we’re really even going to act on this understanding unless we give each issue some real attention. I really liked reading the gender and immigrant short essays the past few weeks for this reason. They opened my eyes to issues that I would have never thought about: what does it really mean to be biracial and how do some people react to their children coming out? In the looking glass world, it seemed like everything was backwards and strange to Alice, but she often figured out that things were really not as different as they may seem. When she first saw the Jabberwocky book, for example, “she puzzled over [it] for some time, but at last a bright thought struck her,” (Looking Glass, 148), and she realized that all she had to do was read it through a mirror! Like Alice, I want to be able to figure out how to “read” people and ideas that I don’t understand. What this class most taught me about ethics was to think about issues in much greater detail and to try to think about them through other people’s perspective.
Our class is inspired to be active members of our communities.
My leadership experience in this class is most instrumental in helping me to respond and act upon my ethical values. Our in depth look into the issues we addressed in class reinforced in me a confidence to express my opinions, even if they are not what everyone else thinks. Many times in our discussions—what it means to be human for example—each of us had a different opinion, but we were all able to respect to and listen to what our classmates had to say. Furthermore, in being exposed to so many controversial issues, I was instigated almost into wanting to act. Action is not a solitary act, however, and I was made aware, through the community we built in class, how much group effort and believing in a cause or condemning a wrong together does to strengthen one’s belief that something may be done to correct society. It’s easy to read a startling article about sweatshops for example, feel terrible for the people involved, but just close it when you’re done because there’s “nothing you can do.” It’s another thing entirely, however, to research sweatshops as a class, really look into what they are, and talk about what needs to be done as a class and not at least try to do something about it. In true leadership fashion, when I leave this class I will be inspired to bring this understanding of ethics to others and to voice my opinions about ideas or practices that bother me and that I want changed. I’m young, I still don’t know the answers, but all I can do right now is act and try and have courage to support what I believe in. I disagree with Alice when she says, “I think you might do something better with the time [...] than wasting it in asking riddles that have no answers.” (Alice, 72) That’s exactly what I need to do: ask myself the questions that I don’t yet know what to do with!
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