Overall, I have enjoyed and appreciated my journey in the Flourishing class this past semester. I learned not just new information, but also how to define and explain certain sentiments I felt regarding things such as the American education system and my general outlook on life.

Through this class, I learned terms such as grit and learned helplessness, read about studies that looked at college students and quality of life, and examined vulnerability and elements of empathy in the context of our community. All of this helped me understand my frustrations over what our national education system values as well as what essential life skills students fail to learn. The studies and polls were satisfying to read because while I knew I wasn’t the only person feeling the same way that I did about this, I never really heard anybody else talking about the issue.

This class taught me about optimism, friendship, emotional intelligence, and vulnerability. It also made me more self-aware. I generally do not see myself as an outwardly optimistic person, so it was helpful to learn that there is not a single way optimism manifests and it is possible to essentially train yourself to be more optimistic. With friendship, I learned what makes a good friend, things that strain friendships, and ways to maintain relationships. This was another area where this class helped me articulate my sentiments more precisely. Before, I didn’t know how to explain why I might have found it difficult to hang out with a certain person. Now, I can say that there was excessive emotional involvement in our relationship or that we had a complaint-driven friendship. Through learning about friendship (as well as emotional intelligence and vulnerability), I was able to identify certain areas that I could improve on in order to maintain my relationships, avoid barriers to healthy friendships, and be an overall better person.

Moving forward, I hope that I can keep all of this filed away in my brain. The disruptions that have happened this semester have certainly been a good test of sorts regarding everything we’ve learned in class. Looking back, I’m almost positive that I would be having a much harder time adjusting and handling the situation had I not taken this class. This month I brought back the sleep journal in my bullet journal, and I want to start up my gratitude journal once more. I also enjoyed making the positive portfolio and will probably make more in the future.