Week 8 Putting It To Use- Dave Polanski

Wow, what a class. It is hard to believe these 8 weeks are already up. I feel like this class helped me a lot with my understanding of development. We pretty much covered the entire human development from conception to death, the best part of this class was the reflection on our past experiences. Every week when I would sit down to blog, I felt like I was the kid in Slumdog Millionaire. Each chapter in the text brought up many memories; some bad and some good, all learning experiences. As we all depart on what is next in our lives, we will face many trials and tribulations but we must remember they all shape our development.  

"I believe that to meet the challenge of our times, human beings will have a greater sense of responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for his or her own self, family or nation, but for the benefit of mankind."- The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet 

This quote is what all development is about in my opinion. We get so caught up in self-gain that we lose sight of the world around us. We are driven by time and money, we have succumbed to living by the almighty dollar and if it is not making us money it does not make any 'cents'. When you turn on the news, all you see is someone against someone else. Black lives matter, blue lives matters, it is all bullshit. It is societies way of pinning us against one another and taking our ability to think for ourselves. People get so caught up in the moment, they jump to whatever side they agree the slightest with. We get this idea in our minds that we just have to be right, even if we are wrong we just never want to admit it. Ego is a dangerous things because it prevents us from doing the right, right thing, not just the right thing as we see fit.  As we venture onto our next journey, we have to try to always remember 'the greater good' of things. Take an extra second to help someone, lend a hand even if you're short on time. Remember to be the change we want to see. 

I would like to share one more quote with you all that helped me ties everything together.  

'Despite everything, I still feel people are really good at heart."- Anne Frank 

It was a pleasure working with all you during our time together. I wish you all the best and hope we all can continue to develop to the best of our own abilities.