course reflection

       And the end is here....this class went by so quick! Going into this class, I was not thrilled. As cool as it is to learn, history has never been my favorite subject. But this class was pretty fun to be in. 

       Throughout the history classes I've taken, I've always learned pretty much the same things about Florida's history and involvement in certain events. But this class 100% gave me such a deeper understanding of how we began and got to where we are now. For example, I knew that the Indigenous People settled in American first and there were many tribes over the years, but I never knew information about any tribe or where they actually settled. Learning about the Calusa tribe our first week of school was extremely interesting to me and will stick with me forever. Another example is tourism in Florida. When I first heard that we were learning about Pre Disney Tourism, I questioned what in the world Florida was like without Disney. Learning about the different and quirky attractions we had before Disney, such as; Ripley's Believe it or Not, Southern Belles, themed hotels, and many more; It's so crazy to me because I've never thought about what attracted and entertained people here before Disney was created,

 Same goes for learning about race, class, and gender in Florida. The most interesting for me has always been race. Our country was built by white men, but black people have invented and contributed so much to our world, and to Florida, yet they were treated inhumanly. That will always boggle my mind. Women's fight with equality in Florida was crazy to me as well because the first Florida woman to vote was in 1920, yet we didn't ratify the 19th amendment until 1969. Like hello?? That's so damn late. But, it is still a part of Florida's crazy history. Without reading A Land Remembered, or listening to the podcasts, I don't know if I would have retained as much information as I have about Florida. Not to mention how much fun it was to have a blog. Those three elements made this class 10x more intriguing than I imagined it to be. Every assignment helped me understand how Florida was shaped and how it shaped our country as a whole. It gave me a deeper understanding of how we started out as a state, who lived and grew here, and how we evolved as a whole. Everything we've discussed has been rewarding to learn, and my appreciation for history and Florida grew immensely.

 I wish it wasn't over, but I'm grateful for the way this course was spread out, and for Mrs. McCoy. I wish you all success in the future, and it was great being on this journey with you!