Social Context

My Social Context class has come to an end after about a month and a half. The class had many features that I really enjoyed about it: the material revolved a lot around the environment, the class size was small compared to others I have been in, I knew a little about almost everyone, and the students felt comfortable around the professor. It was a little reading-heavy, and a little more feedback on our blogs would have been appreciated, but the content and the projects were interesting anyways.

There are two particular moments in class that have meant a lot for me. The first is when a girl in our class made a comment that insulted me so much so that I think about it almost every day. I don't remember how it came up, but the class was talking about education, and she raised her hand and said that she was from Mauritius, and that she had to take a whole bunch of difficult school tests there, and that "you in Canada with your education system, you have it easy," or something like that. The reaction of the class was just some laughing, but I actually got really mad at that!! And it isn't the first time this has happened.

There are always exchange students that I meet, from Asia for example, who tell me the Canadian education system is a joke. And that really pisses me off. We're sitting in the same classroom, aren't we? We both applied to McGill University. We both got accepted. We got accepted because we are accomplished students and are obviously worth something to the institution and vice versa, right? So why would somebody say that? "You guys have nothing to worry about," please. Our population is much smaller than elsewhere, and a lot more people have access to education. If we compared the population of Canadian students to that of Asia, the competition is much greater in Asia than it is here. Nevertheless, if a Canadian student and a Mauritian student both apply to McGill, and both are accepted, then both deserve and are qualified to be there. I think about her comment every day, and every time I do I get frustrated that she said that.

The second concept that I will keep with me is the importance of being educated about helping the environment in order for action to take place. I feel as though you can't just tell people to recycle and expect them to comply. I think people need to understand why it's important to recycle if we want it to occur. They have to grasp the weight of the current situation they're in and see how recycling can help change that. I also think people need to have a sense of reciprocity; we like doing things only if they benefit us, which isn't always bad but isn't always good. Things like money incentives, or tax reductions, which are already available, might be interesting if there was more advertising about it. For instance I was in the bus the other day and I was reading the ads near the top of the bus, and apparently you can get something like $30 back from the government if you bought a composter or a rain barrel. That's not bad, right? You'd be helping sustain your own environment while simultaneously saving water consumption, or creating your own soil in a fun way. I used to have a composter at my other house, and it's not a big deal but I loved pouring this eclectic melting pot of orange peels, egg shells, and even cat hair, and then by the end of the year you're left with this rich, black soil that could help produce beautiful plants. I think people just really need an initiative, a starting point, and we could really get the ball rolling on changing the environment.

Writing a blog allowed me to try things I wouldn't have bothered trying, or to research things I didn't know much about. I tried a lot of health changes, and looked up green products that were of interest to me. I experienced foods I didn't like and pulled myself away from unhealthy habits. Even though I didn't enjoy all of my experiences, it allowed me to see different sides, or to learn about different processes. I learnt how to better myself as an individual within a collective. Social context allowed me to think before I act, to identify what I want out of my life, and to always question and explore things for myself before making a final decision.