Week 10 Social Change

Out of the 23 classes I have taken at De Anza, this class is definitely a class that has impacted my life and way of thinking. I will continue to use what I learned in this class this quarter to better myself and the people around. One of the most important things I have learned from this class to be sociologically mindful of everything going on around me.

Learning how to be sociologically mindful of everything and everyone gives you the ability to understand that not everything is what it seems. For example I feel that now I have the skills and knowledge to understand that everyone has a different situation and not everyone has an equal chance of meeting the same goal. I have also learned that the reasons these people may not have an equal chance of meeting a certain goal is not because of the person they are but because of the resources that are available to them. I believe this is a very important lesson to learn because people often have the misconception that everyone has an equal chance at success.

Another thing I have learned from this class is the concept of reading indexes. I never realized how a small action could have so much meaning and effect society as a whole. Knowing this allowed me to think about all the small actions the people around me do that effect everyone in the larger picture, such as smoking. I learned that smoking is not just personal choice because it effects everyone who comes in contact with the person who has made the personal choice to smoke.

I hope that with the knowledge I have gained from this class and all the readings we did that I can better myself as a person that can then better the people around them and make progress to society. Just by me being more aware and sociological of the things around me I will be making a difference to society. Change always starts with one person's action being different than everyone elses' around them.