Triple-entry Journal

For our service project, my team and I were tasked with helping the Georgia Tech Pride Alliance construct two Monthly Awareness Campaign (MAC) presentations for this semester. The majority of the work that has gone into this service project has been researching about the topics for the first MAC about same-sex marriage. Although I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable about the current issues facing same-sex marriage in the United States, I have also learned a great deal of new information over the past few weeks. In particular, my team has found many scientific journals which discuss research done on the upbringing of children in a same-sex household. This research shows that there is no difference in raising children by two parents of the same sex as compared to two parents of the opposite sex. It has been quite refreshing to learn that there is scientific evidence supporting the push for same-sex marriage and that my teammates are learning a great deal about the issue just like I am.

Overall, I feel that this class has been a great learning experience for every student involved. Regardless if a person considers themselves comfortable with the topic of sexuality or not, or if a person believes they are up-to-date on current issues involving sexuality or not, everyone can learn something new from the activities done in this course. Seeing as how this is my fourth year at Georgia Tech, I feel that I have learned a great deal since I first came here as a freshman. I know for a fact that I am more open-minded to new experiences and am not as sheltered as I used to be in high school. It has been very interesting to observe other students in the class, the majority of which are freshman, be exposed to new topics and conversations that they probably did not expect to have in an English class at Georgia Tech. This course has definitely challenged people to think outside what they are comfortable with, which I believe is a very necessary thing for everyone to do, especially early on in their college career. I have had the chance to see a great deal of people learning through the research that we are required to do for the MAC service project. Because everyone has been looking up new facts and information on same-sex marriages, a lot of information has been uncovered and new facts and philosophies supporting same-sex marriage have been brought to the table. One team member of mine is from China and it is his first year studying at Georgia Tech. I am not quite sure what the cultural belief about homosexuality and same-sex marriage is in China, but I am sure that he is learning a lot about the topic based on the facts that I have seen him find on the topic of same-sex marriage. It is really exciting to know that he probably would not have been exposed to this topic if he did not decide to attend college at Georgia Tech and take this English class this semester.

Over the years I have realized that I am not the greatest debater when it comes to topics associated with ethical or moral decisions. I tend to rely on emotional reasoning, or pathos, rather than sticking to logical facts, or logos, that have been proven by statistics or research. During this class I have be exposed to many new facts about domestic violence, the difficulties of being a mother, sex education in schools, and same-sex marriage in the United States that I was not familiar with before. Although I felt I knew the gist of these topics, I lacked the specific facts needed to make comprehensive arguments in support or against each of the subjects mentioned above. The documentaries that we have watched in this class are filled with many statistics and research-based facts about the topics they address and have contributed to a more comprehensive knowledge of the topics than I had before. One thing that I will definitely take away from this class is the ability to make an argument for or against a specific topic using all three rhetorical appeals, logos, pathos, and ethos, instead of only being able to support the emotional side of an argument. The facts I have learned in this course will definitely be able to help me in the future when presenting my side of an argument. I believe that in the future I will have a larger desire to research facts about a topic I am interested in because of the good feeling I receive when I know that I completely understand a topic and have the ability to argue it in a comprehensive manner.