David Martinez

EPOL 199

Instructor Nick Jones

April 2019

Final Reflection Paper

In my first reflection paper, I repeatedly hinted at Bobbie Haro’s “The Cycle of

Socialization”. I wrote about recognizing the social identities that I was born with through my

experience in elementary school. More importantly, I spoke about the transition to high school

and how I was exposed to the labelling of my people and the drawbacks they have. In my first

reflection paper, I utilized Beverly Daniel Tatum’s “‘The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am

I’?’”. In it, Tatum wrote, “Integrating one’s past, present, and future into a cohesive, unified

sense of self is a complex task that begins in adolescence and continues for a lifetime” (Tatum

2000). It was through my transition to high school that I was exposed to this “complexity of

identity”. My past experiences, although significant, are just my past experiences. The present is

where I can truly take action, and the future is where I can aim and shoot my shot when the

opportunities present themselves. Throughout the duration of the course, I found myself inching

towards my perception of the present. More specifically, I focused on my present self. In one of

the classes, we created our own cycle of socialization where we wrote down factors of our

identity and evaluated their impact on us today. I have reflected on my past before, but this was

the first time I appreciated it and saw my present self as the end result of those past experiences.

This activity not only boosted my self-esteem; it also made me eager to see who I am in the far

future after enduring even more experiences, whether they are positive or negative.
 In my reflection paper, I shared two concerns I had before taking the course. My first was

that my fellow classmates would be afraid to be challenged, and the second was how people

would approach and deal with discussing sensitive, triggering topics. After taking a majority of

the classes, I was surprised to see that we were able to engage in respectful, civil discussions and

share personal stories with ease. I will acknowledge some minor tension during a few

discussions and the need for some to exit the room because of the topic. However, the purpose of

these discussions and the topics discussed was to create difficult discussions, so I was pleased

with everybody’s openness and understanding as well as their willingness to share personal

stories. These stories and the truth behind them really opened the discussions to effective,

thought-provoking conversations.

In my first reflection paper, I wrote about how the conflict between social identities

within groups should be approached by a leader. I first mentioned that leaders have to establish a

solid understanding of themselves: their strengths, weaknesses, values, and perspectives. This

way, they recognize their own bias. A strong understanding of intersectionality and the role it

plays in both separating people and bringing people together will make a leader knowledgeable

and, therefore, more able to handle situations when they arise. Leaders hold influence within a

group, so they are able to create more positive environments through promoting acceptance and

respect of all members. I still strongly believe in the leader’s role in advocating for change, or

simply being a positive role model. Even further, I now believe that in any group setting,

ordinary group members also hold the power of influence, the depth of their influence varies,

however. In some of our discussions, I have witnessed some of my fellow classmates emerge as

influencers and changed the direction or view of a certain opinion or group of people.
 In order to create a welcoming and accepting environment in a group setting where

differences are relevant and barriers exist, we have to identify shared values and interests.

Developing these shared values and interests will create a foundation for us to work on. This can

be accomplished through ice-breaker activities. In order to adopt an ally mindset, we have to

keep in mind that allies are not just supporters. They aid in pushing towards and enacting change.

The first step in becoming an ally, however, is understanding the hardships that others face as

well as the privileges they hold. Only then are we able to effectively empathize and understand

others. It is then easy, however, to divide people based on their background. Instead, we are

trying to create an inclusive community. We have to educate each other about identities we are

not familiar with, support each other academically, help each other develop a strong sense of self,

motivate others to get involved in community service or other forms of helping the community,

and educate each other about social injustices and why they exist. As a strong and inclusive

community, each of these goals is achievable.

The takeaways that I value from this course are there is always a backstory, there is a

difference between a debate and a conversation, and further questions can always be asked.

There is a backstory, or reason, to anything. Instead of overreacting to situations, I have learned

to ask and evaluate what things out of their control have affected them to the point that they

commit this act. I have learned that while debate is the ideal type of conversation, every

conversation should not be treated as a debate. It could enforce defensive or offensive feelings

while a simple conversation could be just what is needed. No idea is fully developed, so either by

asking others questions to challenge another person’s idea or challenging yourself with questions

that further your thinking, we can push each other to develop stronger, more clear ideas.
 Works Cited

Tatum, Beverly Daniel. “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’.” Readings for diversity and

social justice (2000). New York: Routledge.