Courses and key concepts of courses:
Sociology of family violence was about violence within society as well as families and how it is not always looked at as an issue. Introduction to social inequality and difference taught me how different people experience inequality and as well how society treats them. Sociological theory spoke on how sociology came to be as well as the different ideas people have had over time and how they relate to everyday life and how sociologists think. Marriage and the family spoke about divorce within the families, how life changes after marriage, and how this affects different people based on situations. Sociology of education spoke about schools and how these forms of an institution develop individuals as well as how they influence their actions

Change in writing: 

I have been able to create more ideas within my writings knowing about sociology and the concepts which go into it. I did not know much about sociology before I took the courses but compared to my first essays which focused on basic issues where I did not put in as much effort, my ideas have gotten stronger. I know more about the different social issues but also more about how society functions. I learned how to create deeper thoughts within my writings as well as how to develop better papers. I have created better structure within my papers as well with writing better as well as providing more information. It as well has helped me use ideas from other classes to develop papers for specific ideas in different classes. Writing these papers has allowed me to understand better what goes into writing as well as how to develop ideas properly and going in depth rather than just writing basics. I have gotten better on structure and writing more in general rather than meeting bare requirements within the papers. I realized that I need to create better structured papers to prepare myself for the world outside of university and prepare myself to have a job. The job I want will include writing and I need to write well to be able to express ideas properly as well as create well written material. I am able to easily come up with ideas for paper with understanding more about how society works and what is involved in the different aspects of society. 

How concepts have influenced me: 

I did not think about how different forms of institutions influence the way I live until I took multiple classes about the different institutions. Although I knew schools had a large influence on the way individuals grow up, I did not realize how much of an influence they had on them. Not only do they learn things within this, but this is where they are taught their ways of thinking. Although there are other outside institutional factors, this is where most opinions and ideas come from. After I took classes on education and looked at how those institutions influenced me, I looked back and focused on what I really learned and how that influenced me. I attended multiple institutions for schooling growing up and had a large amount of different views on subjects which helped me develop my own and use different ideas in my lifestyle. 

I as well come from a family filled with divorce in many aspects, and taking classes which focus on the family institutions helped me realize why people are the way they are in marriages. Learning about how marriages and relationships work helped me figure out what I want in life and how I view these different things and what goes into them. I did not realize what went into family issues and how this may affect lives outside of family such as work and social life. 

I as well did not know much about inequality and differences within society which were mainly affected by institutional matters. Learning how institutions influence how people think about inequality as well as race changed the way I view different things. Many people are influenced by inequalities but not just by race but gender as well. I did not realize the issues it raised in the workplace and other aspects of life for people. It made me look at the way people treat me as well based on my skin color and my gender. 

Within my sociology of family violence class, I learned about what issues go on within families as well as how this affects individuals on an institutional level. Many people do not look at what goes into families and the issues which may develop over time due to stress and other factors. Taking classes on this has shown me what to expect as well as understanding issues which I have gone through and what I will go through over time.

Using concepts in my job:

I can use the different things I have learned in the classes which I have taken to better understand how institutions work and the different aspects of them. I am looking to do something in cybersecurity and knowing about institutions and how they work can help me think about how people are doing things and why they would be doing these things. I am doing something to better society, and within that, I am watching for what people are doing in a larger aspect rather than individual. I can use what I have learned in these classes to understand as well how to apply ideas to the way I will live my life as well as balance my job and at home life. With knowing about how institutions work, I will better be able to organize my job as well and keep track of everything I need to do. I will also know how to deal with other people and communicate better based on knowing how society and people work. It will help me to be able to relate to people who are going to be part of my work and better understand what they are thinking and how they are doing their jobs as well. I will be able to better work efficiently as well as understand how to do different things in different ways. This also has shown me how to deal with different situations and keep calm when things do not go the way I may want them to.