My Class Reflection
Hillmon, Alisa (2010-03-10)

When I first signed up for this class, it was completely different than what I had envisioned. I thought it was going to be more about dealing with the history of Black Columbus, specially dealing with the near east side, the inner city aspect of that.

Once on the first evening of class when I found out exactly what it was going to be like, I was a little hesitant, but I was thinking that just because it was different doesn't mean that it won't be fantastic. It has been. 

I have really enjoyed meeting new people, not just my classmates but the interviewees as well. I have enjoyed getting a different perspective of the same questions and the same situations, but just coming from a different vantage point from the people I have been able to interview.

There's no one favorite thing I have enjoyed in this class. It just consists of lots of things that I have really enjoyed. I think I have become a better interviewer, because I have never considered myself an interviewer before. I have never asked a lot of questions. 

I was always told by my grandfather growing up that people let you know what they are all about just by their actions, and that has proved to be true. However, when you have to actually ask questions to people, it takes a little bit more thought. I feel more comfortable with people. I may ask them a few questions, and then they start opening up and revealing more and more about themselves and about how their specific story correlates to the question I may have asked. That's a good thing.

I do wish we had more time in order to do more interviews, because there is such a wealth of information out there, and I do realize that even though, as Professor Self said, this is the end of the class, it is not the end of learning. I plan to continue to do this on my own, and hopefully get some more fantastic stories that I will be able to upload. 

Again, I found this a very interesting class, a very rewarding class, a fun class, and I am really glad that I decided to continue with it.