Step 1: Create a page in your E-Portfolio where you list out the different courses that you took that dealt specifically with different institutions. For each of those courses, write down some key concepts that you learned from that class.

Deviance: SOCL 205

• Cultural norms and behaviors
• Special Victims of crimes relating to sexual assault and family violence
• Mental health in relation to crime and behavior
• Addictions
• Theories related to deviance and crime

Marriage and the Family: SOCL 241

• Marriage as an institution
• The analysis of marriage
• The process of marriage and process of divorce
• Marriage and divorce outcomes affecting others (children)

Sociology of Education: SOCL 320

• School organization and structure
• Theories associated with Sociology of Education
• School hierarchy
• School shooter motivations and typologies
• Response to school shooting from police and school admin/teachers

Race and Racism in the United States: SOCL 333

• Race is a social construct
• Structural and institutional racism
• Racism in different social institutions

Medical Sociology: SOCL 370

• Inequalities and inequalities in the medical field
• Healthcare
• Ways to help your community
• Comparing differences in health behaviors and healthcare between the US and other countries
• How it is easier to choose unhealthier styles of living because of the prices and accessibility
• Fundraiser, ways to help your community

Sociology of Sport: SOCL 377

• Organization and structure of sports
• Budgets for sports
• Inequalities and inequalities in sports
• Issues in sports
• Behaviors with sports
• History and origin of sports
• Theories associated with Sociology of Sport

Step 2: From those classes, find three papers that you wrote that reflects learning that you did in those classes.  Discuss how you think your writing about institutions has changed over those three papers.  You can talk about how your writing has become more sociological, the structure of your writing, or your writing ability in general (250 words)

Over my college career, my writing has changed significantly in many ways. Looking through these three documents, my tone, style of writing, and grammar are vastly different in each one. It was interesting to look through these papers and see how my writing has become more professional and overall better. In addition, I noticed that my writing has become clearer and more concise, rather than using language or phrases that lose the reader. Furthemore, the lack of structure and organization is clear in my writing at the beginning of my college career. Whereas looking at the last document, the Policy Analysis on CIT training, there is a significant difference in better structure and organization used throughout that paper. It is apparent that my writing has become more sociological, as I have been able to write with different sociological perspectives. In addition, as I reread my writing over the last 3 years, it has been apparent that I have far less grammatical errors and I tend to have better transitional words and phrases to help my writing be more smoother and easier for the reader.

Step 3: Create a page in your E-Portfolio and discuss how the institutions structure your own behavior, attitudes, and beliefs. Utilize the concepts from those classes to help you explain that relationship. Focus on about 4-5 concepts (750 words or less)

Throughout my college career my attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs have changed in numerous ways. One of the biggest concepts that have affected the way I behave is cultural norms and ideals, due to deviance. I have been more likely to back out of certain activities because I did not feel comfortable violating social norms and conforming to deviant behaviors. Furthermore, understanding inequalities and inequities has been a significant part of changing my beliefs towards different issues. Pursuing Sociology in college has made me understand and look at different issues in our society through many different lenses, due to concepts I have learned in many of my courses. One of the biggest inequalities I never thought of or understood until now would be medical inequalities and inequities. Through learning about different concepts relating to inequalities and inequities in Medical Sociology, I believe we should have universal health care due to the inequalities in paying for health insurance, having access to health insurance, and more. In addition, understanding how race and racism are portrayed in society and social institutions has opened up my eyes to many issues that I have not thought about. With that being said, understanding that race is a social construct has enhanced my belief that everyone should be treated the same, no matter what race they are. I find it incomprehensible that individuals are not offered certain jobs simply because of what race they select on an application. In addition, it has been interesting to learn about the different concepts relating to the Sociology of Education. Two of the biggest concepts that have stuck with me since that course have been the different typologies of school shooters and how teachers and officers are supposed to respond to emergency situations like school shootings. Being that I am also a Criminal Justice major, looking at the different typologies and motivations of school shooters was very interesting to learn about. Learning about those different typologies and motivators has changed the way I think and look at school shootings or even mass shootings in general. Another concept that has stuck with me through that course has been the different styles of teaching. My attitudes and beliefs surrounding teaching and teachers have enhanced due to understanding the stressors teachers have to overcome and the different issues and people that they have to deal with. Furthermore, learning about the history and issues related to the Sociology of Sport has changed my attitude towards sports in that sports have changed quite a bit since the beginning. I am not the biggest sports guy, so I do not know too much about sports but this class has enhanced my understanding of sports and makes me want to watch and play sports more.

Step 4: How could you use the skills and knowledge learned about different institutions to help you perform the duties of the job you are seeking? (250 words) 

I could use my skills and knowledge learned about different institutions to help me perform the duties of being a police officer by looking at different situations through multiple views, rather than being biased about a particular issue or case. Furthermore, understanding the behavior of individuals and why people do what they do will help me be a better police officer overall. In addition, looking and learning about different inequalities and inequities could help me make more connections and build relationships in communities, to possibly gain trust from diverse backgrounds. Furthermore, building those relationships and understanding the inequalities and inequities from different backgrounds can help me understand why someone may be doing what they are doing. In addition, it could also benefit me to try to help someone get on a better path. Furthermore, learning about behaviors and norms can help me be more proactive in policing. Overall, the different concepts that I have learned through being a Sociology major can help me perform my duties of becoming a police officer better through learning about social behaviors, social change, social life, and issues in society.