General Education Reflection

During my time at Iowa State University, I have taken many general education courses.
These courses have helped me broaden my knowledge and develop life-long skills that I
otherwise would not have gotten if not for taking these courses. Through this, I have developed
my critical thinking skills, my problem-solving abilities, and my interpersonal communication, all
of which have allowed me to become a more well-rounded engineer. These courses have also
allowed me to learn more about how I should approach problems in the world, value different
perspectives, and understand the impact my work might have in different cultures.
One of these general education courses that I took was RUS 375 (Russia Today). This
course covered the evolution of Russian society and culture from the late soviet-era to its
current state. This course is pretty far off from the typical curriculum of an electrical engineering
degree. However, while this course is very distant from engineering concepts, it still taught me
valuable concepts. One of these concepts is how different cultures will view the same product or
technology differently. I learned how important it is to take into account how different places in
the world will look at the work or projects I am doing. This idea has taught me how to approach
the work I do with sensitivity and awareness of other cultures. Even as we as a species grow
closer thanks to the internet, our ideals, cultures, and societies will continue to differ. That is why
in future problems I face, I will have to be sure to take into consideration how others will view
and benefit from what solutions I provide.
Another general education course I took was LD ST 322 (Leadership Studies in a
Diverse Society). This course was incredibly influential in how I both view and utilize leadership
in my life. It taught me the many different types of leadership styles, along with how leadership
can be approached. Through this course, I was able to identify what style of leadership I
resonate the most with and try my best to incorporate it into my life. That style of leadership is
the transformative style of leadership, which is essentially creating a positive environment that
encourages followers to be their best selves and eventually leads to them developing into their
own leadership roles. As I grow into leadership positions in the future, I will try my best to
incorporate this leadership style, so I can prop others up to be the best version of themselves.
One more thing I learned from my leadership course was the importance of diversity in a
workplace or group. A group with different cultures will provide different perspectives based on
their own experiences in life. These different perspectives lead to a greater pool of ideas, and
from that, better solutions arise. This is important to keep in mind as our current society still
faces the problem of encouraging and valuing diversity. As such, I will make sure in my future
workplaces to push for and help facilitate diversity so as to make sure all voices are heard, and
better outcomes are achieved for everyone in the world.
Throughout all of these general education courses, I have gained new perspectives,
knowledge, and skills that have allowed me to approach problems in a new way. I learned why it
is important to think about how different cultures will perceive the things I work on and to be
mindful of designing products that help all people. I learned the importance of diversity in the
workplace and how it will lead to not only more voices being heard but allowing for better
solutions to problems to be worked out. I also developed my leadership skills and learned how
to be actively aware of what I am doing and the impact it has while being in a leadership role.
These courses have broadened my perspectives, allowed me to approach problems with a new
mindset, and helped me think critically about how the work I do impacts others, all of which, in
turn, will make me a more effective engineer in the future.