First of all, I can't believe the fact that this is the last time I'm writing blogs for Mr. Paterson. I can easily bring back the memories of me learning numerous things in Mr.Paterson's class and being astonished countless times over the last three years. Although this course had some challenging assignments, like an essay or presentation, looking back, I really think that it has pushed me to a whole new level and I think that it really helped me to develop many skills that I hadn't had. I think that this year was the year where I learned numerous things about the world and the "real" structure of the world.
One of the most memorable classes was about Corporation. Throughout the year, we learned about different corporations and what they do to basically earn as much profit as possible. I was shocked to know that many corporations I trusted were actually evil. One of the phrases that are stuck in my head is the word "race to the bottom instead of pursuing the happiness of people." This means that the companies are trying to wage as little money as possible to make as much benefit as possible. I learned that companies hire children for the lowest wage people could ever think of and I was so stunned. Also, a story about Monsanto blew my mind and I have a fresh memory of back then, when I was so shocked, I even didn't know what to believe in. However, for me, the biggest astonishment was when I learned that IBM was making money out of the Nazi's death camp. At that time, I discovered that corporations aren't people and that it is better to not trust them so easily.
Another topic that stood out to me was the Politics problems. There are a lot of problems we discussed in politics such as "Iraq's missing billions," the Israel-Palestine conflict, the United Nations permanent 5 issues, the democracy issue, and so on, but one that stood out to me the most were "Iraq's missing billions" and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Before I took the class, I had an image in my head that Iraq is a savage evil country. For me, it seemed that it was dangerous there and people there were dangerous as well. However, it turns out to be 180 degrees opposite. I never thought that Iraq was a "robbed, poor country" until I saw the footage. It really made me think about the cruelty of the United States sucking up all the money Iraq gathered to make the country a better place and letting people in Iraq face the hard consequences owing to its responsibilities. It was heartbreaking to see babies die because of poor medical service and to think that they could have been saved if the United States use the money properly, it really made me aggrieved. It was also shocking to know the truth about the Israel Palestine conflict. Before I took the class, I really didn't know anything about the situation that was being held but learning it, it again, made me very frustrated. It was again, heartbreaking to see kids crying as their houses were destroyed, or can't get their education properly. It really made me think throughout the terms and really deepened my understanding of international complicated issues.
lastly, the Spaghetti and marshmallow class stood out to me as well. This workshop really made me realize how I had a fixed mindset and never thought of reaching out help to someone or finding ways to solve the problems. It made me understand why kindergarteners tend to be better at these things, and how business people tend to do a poor job on this. This game and the circle and the line game really made me realize to have a variety of thoughts and how I shouldn't be stuck on to a single idea, or make my own rules, just because it feels like there are those rules.
Finally, throughout the there year course, I learned countless important things that could greatly be used in our world today and in our future. I definitely think that these classes are one of the classes I'm going to remember for the rest of my life and something that I could use forever to better understand the society around us. When I first heard that Mr, Paterson wouldn't be able to teach us next year, it really made me sad, and miss his class. I remembered all the times I learned in Mr. Paterson's class and looking back, I think that I was enjoying it for the majority of the time. Although I'm going to miss him very much, I hope that students in his next school will learn similar things and widen their perspectives as well. Thank you for your amazing classes, and thank you for having me as your student. I'm going to miss you, and I hope we can meet once more!
P.S. I'm so sorry for the late submission.
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