Thursday, July 22, 2010

Second to Last Day of Class and Self Defense

Today went by very quickly as now I am considering how this whole trip went. It is kind of sad to think that I only have one remaining day here at Brown University for this summer.

Well, today for class we had a pretty interesting day of practicing our Action Plans and dealing with ethical situations and the kinds of decisions we would make in every single one of them. We practiced our Action Plans in small groups, in my group there were only two other people, Lindsey and Cara. It was fun to practice our Action Plans and get some feedback from our group members. 

Afterwards, in the same groups, we went into a discussion of six different situations where our ethics might be compromised. Most situations were basically of things people of our same age group could go through. For most of the situations I had a very clear grasp of what specifically I would have done, but for others I had to really think about it and the effects it would have.

Afterwards, Kisa informed us, just before we were dismissed for lunch, that afterwards we would be participating in a self-defense session. Kisa did not come with us to the session but My did and it was absolutely great. I really learned and it kind of encouraged me, like our instructor said, to seek a place to learn the techniques more in detail and so I could learn to master them. She personally said she has never really had to get so physical with anybody as to have to use the techniques she teaches. 

By the way, she teaches all of this here at Brown in two different kinds of sessions one is a twelve hour one. I liked the fact she was really open to our questions and gladly answered them. She also encouraged us to think up situations so that she could explain ways to get out of it. We practiced our defensive positions, shielding, punching, kicking, screaming, and combinations. We had to practice with her near the end and as always the entire class encouraged everyone.

After class I returned to Harkness to finish the details of my Action Plan and to get ready for the party that Harkness would be holding as a goodbye for everyone leaving. I had fun and it was terrific to spend time with my classmates once more out of class!

1 comment:

  1. Selene,

    You would think that the question of ethics would be cut and dried. That is, the whole issue of right and wrong—shouldn’t this be obvious to us all?

    History and current day events tell us otherwise. What we see coming from Wall Street these days with unparalleled greed should appear to be an example where ethics has run amok yet many of the Wall Street bankers still defend their actions.

    Politicians seem to wrestle with ethical dilemmas every day.

    If the difference between right and wrong is so obvious, why do so many people have such trouble with understanding the difference between right and wrong? It’s as though the line separating right and wrong, in some people’s minds, keeps moving. For others, that line is simply in a different location than where others might place it.

    This is where the discussion needs to be centered, Selene.

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