Reflecting on Our Journey Through Juvenile Delinquency

Professor Andrea Hagan

Welcome back everyone. I hope you're doing well as we head into this final week. This lecture is different than the others because I want to reflect with you. Just as I'm asking you to think about your journey through this course, I need to do the same. Reflection has always been good for my soul, my peace, my preservation.

Professor Andrea Hagan

When I started designing this course, I knew one thing immediately: no textbook. I've never been big on textbooks, even when I taught AP and IB courses at the high school level. I've always believed that primary and secondary sources tell the real story. So I decided that even though this is a college course, I would bring my brand of teaching - viewing subject matter from entirely different perspectives.

Professor Andrea Hagan

I felt confident that studying juvenile delinquency through five lenses - History, Theory, Intersectionality, Law, and Geography - would teach us far more than any textbook could. And in my opinion? We accomplished that.

Professor Andrea Hagan

But here's what matters most to me: what you think. One truth I carry with me is this - many students never get the opportunity to express themselves. I don't want to talk at you. I want to talk with you. A conversation happens between two people. If I'm doing all the talking, how would I know what's important to you? How can I continue to grow as a person if I don't hear you, if I don't listen to what you have to say? Because what you have to say is just as important as a thousand words from me.

Professor Andrea Hagan

I believe we accomplished having dialogue in this class, even if it was limited to discussion forums. I felt your words. Now, as a stone-cold history buff and lover of mysteries, I'm a staunch believer in "follow the evidence" and "listen to the data." If there's no paper trail, I can't take what you say seriously. That's why I'm a stickler about citing sources, especially in the academic arena. It's absolutely key in the social environment we function in nowadays. And honestly, many of you improved tremendously throughout this course in that regard.

Professor Andrea Hagan

I learned a lot from you. Especially those of you who reached out during vulnerable moments - I felt you. I want you to know that we all have challenges, but things work out in the end. We bounce back. We continue to move forward.

Professor Andrea Hagan

I say all this to say: I really enjoyed our class. You were my first official students as I started my journey teaching in higher education. You taught me so much. I can't even begin to list all the lessons.

Professor Andrea Hagan

Thank you. Thank you for trusting this process, for engaging with difficult material, for showing up even when it was hard, for letting me experiment with this approach.

Professor Andrea Hagan

This is Professor A. signing off for the semester. Be well. Blessings!