Before coming to the first GEOG 495 class in January I expected the class to be very similar to GEOG 395. After the first 5 minutes of class I realized how completely different it was going to be. We were a small group of students and it was necessary for us all to discuss, participate, and share. At the time, I was not very comfortable with this these thoughts and didn’t know if it would be the best class for me. But, as the classes went on I started enjoying it more and more each week. By about the fourth class I absolutely loved it! It was way more about just reading articles and discussing them, discussions brought out emotions and feelings in people every day. We would have some discussions that would take me way out of my comfort zone and have me thinking for days after. These sorts of discussions taught me not only about Latin American geography and culture, but also about myself.
I believe that all of the students in the class will say how awesome it was every week. We were lucky enough to have a small group of eclectic students with fascinating thoughts, along with a fantastic professor who was able to bring me to appreciate my thinking and trust myself when it comes to my thoughts. Overall, this class has taught me more than many of my lectures I have taken so far!