Emily Roman) Blog #2

    Throughout the last couple of sessions, our class has been seeing and hearing our final presentations for this assignment. All presentations from all groups covered important and relevant topics, spreading awareness about them. These presentations resulted from 4 different groups, including mine.

    While working on this project for our group, Group 1, we had to adhere to a few guidelines. To start off, our 2 main topics that we chose were focusing on healthcare and immigration. We needed to have the following sections for each topic: background information, how the topic is dealt with in the U.S compared to outside the country, local and national organizations dealing with said topic, and lastly, an interview with someone experienced in that topic. After splitting our parts among our group members and working on the presentation, we were finally finished and ready to present.

    Before our group went up, all the other groups presented their parts first. We started backwards with Group 4 going first. Their group was focusing on the environment and education, and they talked about how the U.S handles it. This brought up environmental issues such as pollution and unsafe water, which are not just affecting everyone but also students and schools. They also discussed ways to address these issues by recycling or utilizing clean energy, which would help create a healthier learning environment. Their presentation effectively connected the two main topics, demonstrating how both can influence students' development and well-being. Group 4 helped me understand that protecting the environment also helps protect students' health and learning.

    After Group 4, Group 3 went up to present their project. This group focused on healthcare and families, presenting on how the U.S healthcare system functions and how it affects families' well-being. They described how the health system is structured by showing all of the medical professionals involved in providing care in the U.S. What I liked about this group is that they went into a deep and excellent deep dive about the history of the U.S healthcare system, developing over time. They also made sure to connect both of their topics to one another, with strong healthcare systems providing support to families in need. Another part of their presentation talked about healthcare organizations helping each other to improve care and push for better policies. Overall, they ended by mentioning that the United States does lead in medical innovation, but cost and access an issues, which is why both students and young adults should use their voices to spread awareness of these issues for future change.

    The next group, Group 2, covered more than 2 topics, 3 different yet strongly connected topics: human safety, the environment, and the economy. Their presentation demonstrated how these topics combine with each other and how the condition of our planet not only impacts nature but also people's health and daily lives. They explained how environmental issues such as pollution and climate change can cause illnesses such as heart and breathing issues. This explains how protecting the environment equals protecting public health. To add on, they also explained how the economy ties into this, including how money, capitalism, and the cost of living and surviving affect the way we deal with environmental issues. Their conclusion emphasized how climate change is real and is affecting everyone right now. If society wants to make a huge difference, we'll have to do policy changes, spread awareness, and use long-term thinking.

    Lastly, Group 1 presented, which is my group! We focused on both healthcare and immigration here in the U.S, while comparing them to how Spain handles it. While we worked on this presentation, we all split the work into smaller sections since it was 7 of us, including me. Each of us researched facts, how the topics are connected to one another, and to the country. Personally, while researching, I found out that both healthcare and immigration overlap more than I expected. I also researched my part of the project, which was figuring out some local and national organizations for the healthcare aspect. I found out that these organizations aren't just about doctors and hospitals but also policies, rights, and equal access. Even though it felt stressful at times organizing ourselves and finishing everything, the final product made it worth it. Overall, our group's presentation allowed me to understand how complex these issues are in real life.

    Honestly, this was a great experience of watching every single group present their information along with their interviews and learning how all of these topics connect to real-world issues happening right now. This project also showed me how important it is to spread awareness of these issues because change will not happen unless it is talked about. Even though each group focused on a different topic, each was still connected by showing how our world has major problems affecting people's lives. While this project allowed us to work on our presentation-making and speaking skills, it also allowed us to see that just a small research helps to think deeper and consider how these challenges could change our future.