I strongly believe that I have surpassed any expectations and all goals I had prior to
taking HD 364, Community as a Context for Development. Going in to this course I believed I
had a pretty good understanding of the definition of community, after all I lived in several and
had been a part of one for many years. I understood the dynamics of different communities
around me, who had membership in certain communities and what different communities where
made up of or had to offer. Within the first hour into the first class meeting I was made aware of
many things I had ignored due to lack of information or simple cognizance. I left class that
meeting conscious and with a new way of seeing communities around me. Through this course I
was able to examine my development and those of others with identifiers of race, gender, class,
sexual orientation, ability and other social identifiers. I am now knowledgeable of my affiliation
to communities due to choice, birth and/or lack of agency.
This course added tremendously to my knowledge of community. I was able to grow
greatly through class discussions, sharing life experiences, community visits and in person
panels. Without any of these experiences I would not have been as successful as I was being that
I did not have opportunities to learn first-hand from a variety of individuals with such wisdom
and knowledge of things I lack in experience. I gained empathy with a diverse understanding of
life and its impact on individuals and their community. I acquired much knowledge from course
literature as well. All books chosen for this course were appropriate and useful to everyones
growth. Reading the course literature gave me an opportunity for in depth analysis of a wide
population and their theories for successful community building.
Being able to see community under a different lens after this course I am better able to
appreciate all of the new tools I have gained.Because I was placed in difficult situations where I
did question myself, my morals, my upbringing, my family and community I feel I acquired new
HD 497 Capstone | C. Franklin 1