Personal Reflection On Uncommon Ground Activity

Despite my general failure to take risks, participating in IGD taught me a variety of vital intergroup relations skills. In terms of course aspects, the Uncommon Ground activity was the greatest proponent of my development, as it forced me to realize the unfair assumptions I made about others and their lived realities. These assumptions were primarily rooted in more apparent aspects of identity, such as skin color and gender, and they were problematic because they led to a marginalization of the thoughts, feelings, and experiences of people who are so much more than what I could determine from appearances. In acknowledging this habit to assume, I have emerged with a new mentality, one that is much more open minded and empathetic towards …show more content…
Throughout the process, our group admittedly had a few issues with evenly distributing responsibility. On many occasions, meetings which were essential to the development of our ICP had only been attended by half of the members, without any indication from the other two that they would not be able to make it. This failure of participation made it relatively difficult to successfully move forward with our plan in a manner that was genuinely inclusive of all of those who were involved. As the project developed, another group member and I worked together extensively in order to make up for the lack of support. This truly encouraged a demonstration of our creativity, prioritization, and perseverance as we collaborated and took action to ensure the success of our ICP. Even more, I learned to practice patience and be as understanding as possible when communicating with our other group members, as personal issues and scheduling proved to be inhibiting factors to their participation. In terms of our organization itself, collaborating with Etc. Pictures proved to be an interesting challenge. As college students, our group had to work with Etc.’s schedule, and then come together to develop and lead workshops that enhanced the organization’s mission. While this was difficult at times, …show more content…
Already, I have noticed the manner in which I scrutinize nearly everything that happens on a daily basis, especially the occurrences that are generally glossed over and accepted as “the norm” by others. Whether it be an argument with friends over their prejudice and derogatory references to “townies,” the rejection of a family member’s “I don’t see color” remark, or an explanation to someone about how their general hatred of all white people is problematic, I have applied the need to listen, yet question everything to nearly every facet of my reality. I am more empathetic, but I am also much more analytical. Above all, I hope to apply these skills when approaching myself, and to overcome my battle with internalized oppression. Hopefully, this will result in my standing up for myself when someone’s comments attempt to make me feel insufficient in my identity. For, if I succeed in this, I will finally fulfill the evasive goal of exiting my introverted comfort