Joseph Tawfik - 900182385

Reflection/Response paper
CORE 1010
Chapter 4
The "Who am I?" course I've been constantly studying, and contemplating has kept on

being vastly enlightening and provocative, amid the consistent revising of the material of the

course, I achieved the ability to find and decide my internal qualities, characteristics and traits.

Moreover, I had the possibility to find and shape my personality and add a wide assortment of

thoughts to help me in being shrewd and determined in my upcoming undertakings. That being

said, the topics discussed during this particular chapter of the course, although being extremely

educational and enlightening, were not as complex, stimulating nor exciting as the other

chapters discussed previously.

What was immediately apparent to me, was how much the topic of the social norms

resonated with me as an Egyptian. Arabs in general have a huge variety of social norms, I then

started to reevaluate the different social norms in Egypt, and I believe some of the Egyptian

norms are extremely beneficial and valuable, but on the contrary, some are damaging and

detrimental to the culture and people. The idea that eye contact is an important in Egypt and is

regarded as a norm is extremely crucial to the contents of this chapter as Egyptians believe eye

contact represents honesty and sincerity, furthermore, it could help people try and figure out

each other’s character and behaviors in a positive way. A social norm I believe is harmful

particularly to women is that women must be constantly covering their bodies, this social norm,

I believe can oppress a lot of people from expressing their personality and who they truly are
Joseph Tawfik - 900182385

from their sense of fashion, as a lot of people convey themselves and personality through their

fashion choices.

A more interesting part of this chapter was the group presentation about albert

bandura, that helped me improve my group working skills massively and gain a lot of dexterity

from my colleagues. The topic itself I found to be not as stimulating although very educational, I

especially liked the part of the Bodo doll experiment where bandura explains that aggression

can be consumed through observation. I found that to be extremely thought-provoking, but in

contrast, I also found it to be very frightening, especially in this day and age where we are living

in an extremely violent and aggressive world, the thought that the younger generation

observing that violence can lead to them being extremely vicious/violent themselves is very

terrifying to me.

Unfortunately, I found the values topic to be not as enjoyable nor enlightening as the

two previous topics mentioned, as I already was aware of the contents of the topic. I believe

that values are mainly formed based upon each one’s family and religious belief, that being

said, I thought about if these beliefs/values shape my life, personality and identity. I found out

that largely, yes, the values I abide by shape me as a human being, as my values and beliefs

forbid me from drinking alcohol, cursing, lying, stealing, and many more. I have faith in these

values and believe that they are guiding me on the right track as a human and shaping my

identity for the better not worse.

All matters taken into consideration; I concur with the subjects examined, finding out

about the social norms has been exceptionally enlightening as well as refreshing. The bandura
Joseph Tawfik - 900182385

group presentation helped be gain team working skills and build friendships, the values topic

although I felt was not as interesting as the others, although challenged me psychologically as it

helped me understand what shapes my identity and personality. I wholeheartedly trust that

these topics and course will help me into turning into a progressively open and astute individual

later on in my life. Now as the course is ending everything I studied is gradually starting to come

together and make sense, additionally helping me figure out who I am.