Running head: REFLECTION ON MY EDUCATION

HES470: Methods in FCS Reflection on My Education Walaa Mouzayen Fontbonne University

REFLECTION ON MY EDUCATION
Part 1: Reflection on My Education

Since the beginning of my educational career, I was interested in biology and the sciences. I always enjoyed math problem solving but didnt understand how I could apply it to my career in the future as I was making a transfer from High School to college. I thought about medicine and helping individuals in that way, so I took many science classes when I started college. But the interest in medicine grew away from me as I finished my first year of college. I was unsure of what I really wanted to do for so long until I asked myself what about the sciences and helping people am I really interested in. I came to a conclusion that I was in love with nutrition and food and how it acts upon our body and affects our everyday lives. I would say that Dietetics is a combination of science and human environmental science major because it heavily relies on both subjects. My general education has greatly influenced not just my decision in studying dietetics, but also in developing me mentally and socially to become a better dietitian in the future. Ive taken a wide variety of classes that all tie to dietetics in one way or another directly or indirectly. Mathematics is an important part of dietetics. Calculating calories and reading labels, as well as BMI calculations all involve math problem solving and many algebraic equations. Taking an algebra class greatly helped me succeed in the different calculations involved in nutrition. Also, the sciences are crucial in studying dietetics. Chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, anatomy, biochemistry and microbiology all have something to do with dietetics. Chemical reactions happen in our body all the time to obtain food and nutrients from what we eat and we are living beings as we learn more about ourselves in biology. We learn more about the human body in anatomy and physiology to apply how it is affected by the food we eat. Biochemistry is also what happens to food in our body and how it gets digested. All the sciences go hand in hand with

REFLECTION ON MY EDUCATION nutrition and dietetics professionals, including me in the future, would not be able to understand the study of nutrition without understanding the science behind it. In the past Ive taken psychology and sociology. One wouldnt think that those subjects have anything to do with

dietetics but they definitely support the study of dietetics. Knowing the psychology of the human brain and how it affects peoples choices and how they react around food, which can change their habits and lifestyle, is the basis of all the classes of dietetics professionals. Sometimes a dietetics counselor would be confused about the way someone is reacting towards food without knowing the psychological reasoning behind why they are reacting that way. Sociology is the way people act around each other and that is affected by our eating habits and how we view food because society is very influenced by food and the choices we make. On the other hand, understanding the history of the United States and other parts of the world can influence the way we look at food and understand some of the habits and culture that are behind what we do today and how people view food and cook food. Knowing these things can help us educate people beyond what they know to make better life choices and live a healthy lifestyle. The communication piece of English studies is very important to dietetics. As a professional dietitian it is very important to learn how to communicate to people through writing and speech. Not only dietitians are food counselors and advisors but they also write diets and letters to patients and clients. I think that developing writing and speaking skills can improve the way a dietitian can communicate with patients, clients and peers. In the past, Ive taken an art appreciation class and it has changed the way I look at objects, people, and the world around me. The ability to be able to see things from an artistic point of view can change the way we view things in this world and help us appreciate what is around us. I think this ties to dietetics as a profession because food is not only about the nutrition but it is also about the way we see it and

REFLECTION ON MY EDUCATION what it looks like. Making food appealing artistically can be very important in the food choices of not just children but adults as well. Being creative enough to make visuals to educate people

and creating beautiful food can help many individuals try new foods that they havent before and improve their diets to more healthful ones. Lastly, the use of technology is all around us nowadays. Ive taken a computers class once in college and it improved my ability to use numerous computer programs and I appreciate the fact the help it has provided to me. Without technology, the world would be slow at communicating and I think that every profession out there is heavily relying on technology in one way or another. There are different jobs in the profession of Dietetics where clients could be interviewed online from long distances using Skype and other methods of communicating face to face through a screen. This opens up the opportunities for dietitians and their clients to help and be helped wherever someone is in the world. I feel like my general education classes have truly helped me shape who I am as a future dietitian because it made me a well-rounded person who has learned skills through a long experience in college. Part 2: Martin Luther King Jr.s Comprehension: My Reflection In the American Dream, by Martin Luther King, King discusses the Declaration of Independence and how all men are created equal was written by the founding fathers of America and how this is the American Dream. He argues that slavery and racial segregation have been practiced throughout the history of American despite the principle that all men are created equal. Martin Luther Kings speech was a moving speech to convince his audience that the American nation needs to realize this dream and stop the continued oppression of minority groups. He states that racial discrimination is morally wrong and sinful and it is causing destruction to our nation.

REFLECTION ON MY EDUCATION

King draws points from the liberal arts to support his points and to touch his audience. He goes through every subject of the liberal arts pertaining each member of his audience in order to develop an understanding of the issue and a movement towards the American Dream. Some of the liberal arts King used to support his thesis are religion, geography, literature, technology/science, anthropology, sociology, history, economics, and foreign language. King draws examples from each subject to connect with his audience to reach a full understanding of the situation. First, King makes a point that in order for the American dream to be reality we need to have a world perspective and make a brotherhood with all the rest of the world because nowadays the world is very interconnected through technology and science. He describes the world as a neighborhood now that we can travel far distances very fast and be in two different places across oceans in hours. This idea means that we all have to learn to live together loving each other because no one nation can live alone and therefore we are all dependent on each other. He makes this point to show that segregation denies all of us from being a whole as a world together. Along with that he also mentions political issues such as world hunger in India and how we are all Gods children and we all need to help each other in life because our destiny is tied up with everyone elses in the world because we are all interconnected. On the other hand, King ties in religion with anthropology to criticize the idea of superior and inferior races. He states that scientists have shown that there are superior and inferior individuals academically within all races. He reminded his audience that people turn to the bible and change its wording to justify the status quo of how minorities are being mistreated. King also draws an important point from a sociological perspective. He says that black people are not ready for integration because if this happens quickly then the white race will be pulled back a generation. King is very realistic in the matters he discusses. He states that criminal responses

REFLECTION ON MY EDUCATION are a response to segregation and discrimination in racial groups. And we will not see a change in those behaviors until we as a nation change our behavior and stop discriminating to reach the American dream that all men are created equally. Lastly, King uses foreign language and language arts to motivate his listeners who are of interest to the subject. He draws attention to the word love and how many meanings there are to it in the Greek language. He describes three different meanings to the word love with the last

one meaning the love of God. Because of the love of God, man needs to love all humans because God loves all men and therefore we need to love all men and act equally to one another. He also argues that we can hate the evil deed that the person does but not hate the person just like God because we love God. Kings ideas all tie together in his speech American Dream, they all connect together: religion with language, science with technology, anthropology and religion and so on. Martin Luther King has showed his audience how segregation effects us and the world around us in many different ways and it is impossible to achieve the American dream with segregation in action. Part 3: My Comprehension: Impact on Future Student Learning Looking at the liberal arts, I think they all have some way of strengthening my knowledge in dietetics. Without understanding science, math, psychology, religion, and English, I would be able to serve my clients the way I would if I was knowledgeable of these subjects. This would mean I could reach learners easily because there are different types of learners in this world that require me to understand ideas from different perspectives in order to explain myself to people learning from me in different ways. Teaching people who understand differently is important in the field of dietetics because I get to talk to clients who come from different

REFLECTION ON MY EDUCATION backgrounds and need different teaching tools. The various teaching tools and methods are learned from our teachers and mentors who have taught us different liberal arts throughout our course work. If we didnt have to take liberal arts classes we wouldnt have experience of watching different teachers from different perspectives to show us how to reach out and teach people.