1.One experience I see overlapping is that of the last quote by Rodrigues, “when a Jain is educated by a Jain about Jainism, he or she is also learning how he or she is different from non-Jain”. This quote resonated with me because the more I thought about it the more I was opposed, I even tried replacing the word “Jain” with “Hispanic”or “Hispanic culture, to make it a more personal comparison and to see if the meaning would remain the same. And I found it to have the same idea and I was still against it. Growing up I was exposed to both sides of this argument. I had more traditional relatives tell me that the best education I would ever receive about my own culture/race would be through family, close friends, or through those individuals within my culture. This argument was quickly proven wrong when I got to high school and even college and started taking Spanish classes. I learned so much from people “outside” of the group. I think if we can learn to branch out and meet new people who are not like us, we can learn so much more even about ourselves. By sticking to only those who look like us, we are limiting ourselves.
2. If I am completely honest, I had no idea what to expect from this class. I thought maybe I would learn about about religion in a more expected manor where we sit in class for the entire time and are lectured and it would be taught by some old annoying professor on the verge of retirement. I signed up for this class to take it with my friend to fulfill my full time unit requirement. So far, I am really enjoying the class. I love the fact that our professor is so fun and free-spirited, she says what she wants and that really takes the pressure off class. It makes for a really fun environment and it makes me actually want to participate and listen to what she has to say other than spacing out the entire 2 hours of class. I'm looking forward to what's in store for the rest of the semester!
