Class Reflection

Overall, I am pretty satisfied with everything I have learned in this class this semester. I appreciated everyone who spoke up in class and shared their opinions during discussion, because comments made by others often sparked new ideas and thoughts that I would want to share. 

The topic that stood out the most to me this semester wasn't a particular topic that we covered in only one lecture, but the topic of fairness in sports in general. For me, I noticed this was a recurring issue in many of our discussions, including the discussions about sexuality, sex testing, and performance enhancing drugs. I came into this class thinking that I had solid opinions (eg. taking steroids to enhance performance is totally wrong, that sport is an avenue where everything is set up fairly so that people can compete together, that sport is inherently good, etc.), but they were slowly broken down as we had deeper and deeper discussions. For example, on Tuesday I realized that for issues like steroid use, I don't really know what my opinion is anymore, and I'm just kind of confused as to what is the best option (legalizing performance enhancing drugs or not). And even if there was a "best" option, is regulation even possible in the reality of sport in US society today? Even if there is a "Jedi" side of sports, does the "dark side" prevent what seems good in theory from every being practically applied? I feel like my perception of sports now is not a fair competition of who has worked the hardest or has been blessed with the best talent: It seems to be more of a competition of who has the most access to resources. Athletes with the best access to performance enhancing processes (legal or legal, acceptable or unacceptable), the best coaches, the best fanbase, the best of everything, seem to be winners most of the time. Society does influence sport, but it seems like sports is also a reflection of society at the same time. The problems found in sports are also found in other aspects of society: People with access to more resources, money, and power, "win," even though it isn't the same kind of winning as in sports.

Another thing this class has taught me is that for every issue that may seem black and white, there is a whole other complex situation behind the issue. For example, sex testing may seem like a black and white issue, but behind the idea of sex testing is the ideology that has been present in society for a long time: that women cannot be as successful or athletic as men, so there is a fear of the unknown.

Something that surprised me about this class (probably because I have never taken a class with Killick before) was that the Vegas rule was actually real in our discussions. I've had many professors claim that nothing we say will be used personally against us or leave the room, but I've seen that rule violated. In this class, I felt like we were allowed to talk openly and express our opinions regarding many "taboo" topics. 

Something that I appreciated about this class was how it challenged me as a writer and helped me learn to better express myself with words. I would recommend this class to any friend who is willing to work hard to learn more and stretch themselves in the area of critical thinking.