Information Overload!

Information is always at our fingertips and it comes in unfathomable quantities. This has potential to be a great help to us, but in some ways the overload of information makes fact searching slightly overwhelming. When we were asked to find articles about a topic that matters to us I thought that we would do one activity with them and that would be it. I was so wrong. It was only the beginning and I found myself questioning our professors (in my mind) on their decision to get us to do so much work with one piece of writing. I did not see what direction they were going with the tasks they were presenting to us. I now have more insight into what intentions were/are. It makes so much sense that they are asking us to question what we assume to be truth and factual and to get us to search beyond our current knowledge of a subject to a new place of learning. The methods that we have learned to effective researching have proved to be very helpful to me in all of my courses.

Michael Camp made a comment that has really stuck with me and it has seemed to crack open my mind to the many possibilities that surround all situations. When we were discussing genocide it was apparent that many of us had some preconceived opinions about genocide, etc. He asked a question to the extent of ‘what makes genocide worse than war?’ I am not sure why, but that one question seemed to resonate within me and I realised that I need to ask such questions (controversial, unthought of, etc) of other situations. His question seemed to get my mind to work in a more diverse way. I know it probably sounds ‘weird’ but it is all a part of my learning process.

When I began in the Truth in Society Aquinas Program, I thought I was in way over my head. However, I did not once consider backing out on my decision to be in the program. I knew that although it was a whole new experience for me a lot of good would come out of it. It is truly amazing how much one can learn and discover in a small time frame. I, for the most part, consider myself to be a well rounded person and I am accepting and open to new views, thoughts, opinions, and so on. Although, I guess coming from a small rural school where most people have similar views and backgrounds it is easy to get sucked into ‘one way’ of thinking. I knew that attending STU would really help me to gain more perspective in many areas – and already it has! Let me explain how . . .

In our groups while working on Prompt #6, I had an ‘aha’ moment while we were engaged in conversation. We were discussing the topic of genocide. This is a topic that I know is controversial, but at the same time needs to be discussed as it is currently taking place in countries such as Sudan and Congo. I was under the impression that most of us in the group had similar thoughts and opinions on the matter. Such as it is an atrocity that needs more attention and the perpetrators of genocide need to be punished for their actions. As I was stating my thoughts on the matter, one of our group members opposed what I was saying by defending the case of the criminals and their reasoning for carrying out these hate crimes. I was taken aback by his comments and to be honest I was ticked that he would say such things. The conversation ended up having a positive conclusion as I had more of an understanding of his view point. However, that conversation allowed me to finally understand that if I say if believe something or if there is a matter that means a lot to me, I must be willing and able to defend my reasoning’s for thinking the way I do. I also came to understand that it is okay to set aside my ways of thinking and think in a new way for a little while. I am not abandoning my opinions or beliefs, but I am allowing myself to be more open to change and gaining new perspectives. Plus, I am a firm believer that you have to know what you don’t believe, in order to know what you do believe.

To be honest, I was both confused and excited with the way our professors have decided to evaluate our work and our progress. I was very sceptical of this at first, mostly because it is unlike anything I am accustomed to. I did not understand where our marks were being generated from and I was worried that this new method of evaluation would result my marks dropping. I know, I know, I worry too easily. However, now that I have been in the program for two weeks, I understand why the professors have chosen to orchestrate the class in the way they have. We aren’t required to digest huge amounts of information and then regurgitate it out on a test. We are required to become diverse thinkers, precise and articulate writers, seekers of unanswered/wrongly answered questions. We need to challenge and defend. This course goes above and beyond the walls of our classroom. This is a program designed to help us become better human beings who are not afraid to ask questions that may sting or to go places that have been left undiscovered.


Overall, I have been very challenged in my ways of thinking and how I support what I say is truth and what I believe. This course has already given me the tools and the confidence to be a more effective communicator, listener, debater and so on. I have more confidence to state what is on my mind because I know that all of us in Truth and Society are in this together- we are becoming a family.