I thought that the class Global History of World War II was a very unique experience to get to know other students in a classroom setting, as well as a social setting. I greatly appreciated Dr. Zalar’s teaching style of the Socratic seminar discussions held each class. I felt that learning through primarily a Socratic seminar method furthered my understanding of the material. The classroom was mixed with students of different majors and different ages. The diversity encouraged discussion with different viewpoints and opinions. I felt that I was able to better understand the material as a whole, because the class was so dissimilar in comparison to a class of nursing students my age. I believe that even though my peers may have had different opinions and interpretations of the material, we respected each other. As a class, we were united by our curiosity and interest in World War II. Our respect for one other and the material carried over to our international travels where we were able to enjoy each other’s company throughout the trip. Respect for one another is the basis of any friendship. This class fostered many new friendships forged through learning.
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This course unexpectedly furthered my understanding of my role as a future nurse. Throughout the war torn world, I learned that human beings submitted to their darkest impulses and tried to dehumanize their fellow man in every possible way. My role as a nurse is to make patients feel cared for and wanted, while respecting their human dignity. Learning about how Jewish people were forced to urinate and defecate in one small bucket while being packed in a small compartment train disgusted me. This semester I learned to change bedpans every hour to make sure patients weren’t sitting in their own excrements. I learned how to change wound dressings on the hour in my nursing class while simultaneously reading in history class that the wounded Japanese had dressing changes done once every two weeks. All of these lessons placed into perspective the importance of a nurse’s actions, no matter how small. The significance of doing the little things such as timely changing bedpans and bandages has a greater impact than I imagined. My role as a nurse is to help remind patients of their inalienable human dignity and rights no matter the situation.
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Here is a sample of the work I did this semester. This was my final paper on the atomic bomb. The prompt for my paper was, "Should American have dropped the atomic bombs to end the war?" I chose to showcase this example of my work because I feel that it accurately summarizes and complies the information that I learned this semester. This course involved over 3,000 pages of reading throughout the semester, in my paper I intergraded quotes from multiple sources showing my understanding of the material.
My trip to London and Paris December 11-18th, 2015
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Location: London, UKSt. Giles Hotel
Bedford Avenue, London WC1 3GH Day 1- Arrived in London around 3:00 am, took the Tube to our hotel, dropped bags off, visited Convent Garden, had lunch at a pub, ordered fish and chips, visited Hyde Park (Christmas Wonderland), dinner at Jamon Jamon Day 2- Visited HMS Belfast, saw the London bridge, Big Ben and Parliament, had lunch at Red Lion, ate sausage and mash, visited the Churchill war rooms, visited Buckingham Palace, had dinner at a pub Day 3- Visited the Imperial War Museum, lunch at museum cafe, ate pizza with french fries, went to the Camden locks market, dinner at a pub, saw Wicked, had dessert at the hotel |
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Location: Paris, Normandy, FranceHotel des deux Avenues
38 rue Poncelet 75017 Paris Day 4- Took the Chunnel to Paris, picked up at the train station by a coach bus, taken to our hotel, lunch/dinner at an Italian restaurant, walked the streets around our hotel, visited the Arc de Triumph Day 5- woke up at 5:30, visited the Museum of Con, had a guided tour trough Normandy (Omaha beaches, American cemetery), there we saw a flag cermony and were able to explore old bunker ruins, dinner on the trip back to the hotel Day 6- Visited Versailles, lunch at McDonald's (had self- serve order machines), visited the Eiffel Tower, visited Notre Dame, shopped through the markets around our hotel, had dinner with the whole class, visited the Eiffel Tower again to take a trip to the top Day 7- traveled home |