- What was your viewpoint regarding firearms, their uses and misuses, and legislation coming in to the project?
Coming into this project my viewpoints regarding firearms was one instilled from bias in that they are unnecessary. I do not shoot them for fun or sport and have never thought they were the most suitable for civilian defense. Due to this the legislation should be such alike gum in the classroom. If one person misuses it the privilege is taken away. In recent events of firearm misuse many emotions arise for me feeling unsafe in the same building I go to seek an education. These emotions perpetuate my views and lead me to believe these tragedies should spark political reform . I also believe that a lot of this questions on "what we talk about when we talk about guns" involves the people who are talking. For example in some places like Japan the culture around guns is in relation to war which is not a value or necessary for any civilian. The people have made a gun culture that makes guns harder to get because they believe it to be unnecessary for them to have. I understand that int he country I am in this isn't the case for everyone. This is why our conversation will look much different and involve a different set of values. I have told many gun using friends that I would wish to live in a world where every person that has a gun can be trustworthy but unfortunately this isn't the case. At the beginning of the project I was ready to take a giant bite into the oncoming questions and with an open mind take on one of the most controversial topics relevant today.
- In what ways was that viewpoint challenged by our class conversations, your research, and the exhibition? This unit in general challenged my viewpoints but a few specific examples own in on why this topic is not so easy to define into a clear cut box. During the unit a man who came to speak with the class told the story of an older woman who lived on a farm out of town who had a gun to make her feel safe. Being out of reach from police or having a mistrust in authorities can cause an unsafe feeling. I felt bad for wanting the things that helps her sleep at night to be less prevalent in our society. Another part of this process that tested my opinions was actually a personal conversation I had with my mother regarding the topic. Her husband owns a gun and she says she has never felt like she would ever use to for any reason. Until recently a bear had 3 paws in our living room and she screamed for him to get the gun. She now worries what she would do if she was alone and maybe I feel better that she has one around just in case. What I learned the most from these stories is maybe the real question is can having a gun in the right house for. just in case situations outweigh the fact that this makes guns more possible to get int he hands of someone who could misuse it.
- What adversity did you face during this project and how did you overcome it/make your way through it?
The biggest adversities for this project was the emotional attachment many of the students shared with the topic at hand. To deal with tip toeing around feelings from my own opinions and wanting to make people feel accepted I attempted to keep an open mind though the unit. The biggest part about it was I needed to remind myself that I could not change someone's opinion or viewpoint that was ingrained in them at most likely a young age. It was not even worth trying so the best thing to do was try and understand where they were coming from and what their beliefs were/stemmed from.
- In what ways did you contribute to your group and the class as a whole?
To the class as a whole I contributed my effort and thought in group discussions and participated in the building process. When I was in a leadership position I attended meetings at lunch and helped the brainstorm at the start of the project. As far as my group I contributed my specific country profile and helped others on formatting.
- What can you point to in the exhibition that is yours (e.g. something you made, researched, etc.) I can point to the design layout of the interactive final project and say that it was my idea along with in my specific section on country profiles I did one that was not put up and one that was.