One of the main takeaways from the last lesson we had was about the importance of a leader in a collaborative project. Taking Leadership 101 and connecting it to the introductory knowledge we have received, it was absorbing to realize how broad the concept of leadership is can be applied even to small things like a collaborative assignment.

Except for that, I was really passionate about the discussion we had about grading since I was generally surprised by the grading system my professors have here at the university and I truly wanted to hear others’ opinions about it. It was interesting hearing not only the different grading systems each professor has but mostly the conclusion of what grades actually are and to what extent they are meaningful to our lives. This changed up to an extent the way I approach classes and grading.

After the class, I read the 2 assigned articles regarding storytelling. The first one is titled The Stories Our Parents Tell Us. I generally know that the biggest part of our personality is determined when we are between 2-6 years old and therefore it makes a lot of sense how influenced we are by how others share stories that was the main point of the article. I found the second article even more interesting due to the depth of analysis it contains. It was fascinating reading how shaping storytelling is and was even hundreds of thousands years ago due to the fact that in the dark microexpressions can now be seen. And that made me realise firstly the human nature of people; how we need to share our stories and experiences with others as social beings, how challenging it can be sometimes and how a simple action like setting a fire can actually create a completely different environment for people. To be more specific, I also made the connection with the first lessons of this course where we had to share our stories by making eye contact with a stranger; that was awkward and challenging up to an extent but after that it was much easier sharing the same stories to more people as a circle.