I remember when I was first able to glance over the descriptions of all of The Engaged Citizen courses offered at Hendrix College. They all sounded spectacular, but there was one that really drew my attention. The title read “TEC: Identity & The Need to Belong.” Underneath was a description of the course explaining how by understanding the importance of identity and belonging, the course would help students become better engaged citizens and better understand their own identity and belonging. Immediately, I knew this was the course for me, and boy was I right. This TEC course has taught me more than I could have ever imagined and has introduced me to a variety of new ideas—all of which have impacted my awareness of identity. Many of the topics …show more content…
We were reading Whistling Vivaldi and discussing how stereotype threat can undermine feelings of belonging and make victims so aware of their identity that they can choke under the pressure during a performance. For example, there is the common stereotype that women are bad at math. When women feel this stereotype threat while doing math, it can have negative impact on their performance because they feel pressure to disprove the stereotype that women are bad at math (Steele, 2010). Steele gives many examples of the negative effects of stereotype threat, but he also gives examples of ways to lessen the negative impact. Ultimately, the way to lessen the negative impact is to learn more about stereotype threat. If we are aware of the consequence stereotype threat can have, and if we are able to understand how we perceive others and others perceive us, then we are equipped to better control negative effects of stereotype threat (Steele, 2010). Simply having the knowledge that stereotype threat exists can severely alter the negative effects. Reading Whistling Vivaldi in the Race Unit of my TEC class has deepened my understanding of identity and taught me that awareness is everything. Not only is it key to combating stereotype threat, but having awareness is also pivotal to becoming an engaged citizen. Without knowledge of current events and awareness of what is going on in my surroundings, there is no way that I can be an active member of my society nor can I have an impact on people. Understanding that knowledge is power has truly informed me on what it means to be an engaged