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Joaquin Moreno

Dr. Karen Kwan

Psychology 1100

9 December 2020

What does your work on the signature assignment illustrate about you as a learner?

I choose this discussion not only because I am proud of my work on the topic, but how

much the topic means to me. Suicide is a topic that I’ve had in my life since middle school and I

lost many of my closest friends because of it. It is a very important topic that I don’t take lightly

and that I have fought for its awareness for years. I really feel like because of this I’ve gained a

lot of knowledge on the topic and know how Utah deals with certain aspects of it. Now in this

class, I am able to apply my own personal life experiences to the topic and am able to learn

more.

A good learner, from what I have always been taught, is able to take what they learn and

apply it to their everyday lives. Being someone who dealt with the other end of suicide, I always

looked for answers, I was always wanting to learn more because I wanted to understand. Not

being able to understand what my friends were going through really bothered me for years. I feel

as though this assignment illustrates that I am somebody who learns most when whatever the

topic I’m learning about has impacted my life or is extremely important to me. When a topic like

suicide that I care about so much is presented, I have such a drive to learn as much as I can so I

can understand and help others who are being first hand affected by it. I am a learner who is able

to fully store an idea in my mind when I am able to apply it to my life and experience it.

I would say most people are like this. People need to have a desire to apply what they are

learning to their lives, they need to experience the connection with what was taught to their own
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life. This is why subjects such as math in college, most students forget right after taking it. I

know for a fact I forgot the majority of what I was taught last year in college because I rarely

ever apply that kind of information to my life. However, with a subject such as psychology, I still

remember most of the topics I was taught in my freshman year of high school. Learning needs to

have experiences with it, that’s when I think people really can cement it into their minds.

I love learning. Having knowledge is something that I and many others pride themselves

on. But when someone is being taught something that they really care about, and know it will

affect them, that’s when it sticks for good. That’s when it can change their lives and they can

begin to change the lives of others.