John He

Professor Creaney

English 21002

3 February 2020

Introduction Letter Assignment

Hello, my name is John He and I am currently a sophomore attending City College. I come from a Chinese background and I am from Manhattan. In general, I can describe myself as a person that is plain with no motivation for anything.  I’m currently undecided but I plan on majoring in Business or Economics some time in the future just because a Business degree can lead to almost anything, or so I have heard. I have no aspirations and just live day by day with monotony. My school life consists of  me procrastinating a lot due to my laziness and lack of motivation, and as such, I’m currently writing this paper the last day before it is due. Although I have listed several things about myself, it is easier to describe myself in the lens of others as even I do not know much about myself. From what I can observe, people usually portray me as quiet, reserved, and unapproachable. Although this is mostly true due to my lack of energy, energy from me sometimes demonstrates itself when I am excited about something. An example could be me playing games with my friends, which is a hobby of mine, but to the extent that I play games, one could call it a lifestyle. In addition, I also enjoy sleeping, as I feel that there is  no such thing as too much sleep, and it would seem that I could never get enough of it.

I am not typically excited about the class as it seems like it would require a bit of effort in terms of moving out of my comfort zone and reaching out to people outside of class and observing them. Although I do not have issues interacting with people, I do get nervous presenting and talking in front of an audience. I can only hope the day never comes. However, I do not necessarily dislike the class either since the workload seems pretty manageable and straightforward. 

This essay prompted me to include the relativity of clothes to my identity, and while I understand where the idea is coming from since a person’s preference of clothes can say a lot about them, I feel that it does not really relate to me because I don’t really have much of a preference in my choice of clothes. I usually put on whatever is in my pile of clothes and wear it that day. On second thought, maybe that in itself reveals my carefreeness, though it could be interpreted anyway. From this introduction, the impression I have of myself and how many perceive me could conclude with me being labeled as apathetic and uninvolved. 

In the class, our main objective is to assume the role of a social scientist, which is to say, to study the behavior of people in society and their relationships to others. The article “The Role of the Behavioral Scientist in the Civil Rights Movement” by Dr. Martin Luther King emphasizes the need for social scientists to solve the social issues existing at the time, racism and segregation. For instance, the text states that “It is the historic mission of the social sciences to enable mankind to take possession of society”. This implies the need of social scientists to fight for civil rights. 

The role of a social scientist, from my understanding of it, requires observation of human behavior and to determine the reasons for certain acts . In my case, I do not find it difficult to observe people because reading people and seeing their intentions and reasons for their behavior is something that can usually be based off of common sense. It is not as if I am interested in studying people, but I don’t think that it is possible to not study people because they are a part of our daily lives and are everywhere. Even if you do not intervene with them, you can’t help it but to observe them. As someone who can put himself in others shoes, I think this quality would be able to help me in this work because comprehension and awareness is essential towards being a social scientist. It would allow me to empathize with others and ultimately, allow me to understand the behavior of a person. Upon taking this role, I am confused as to what my goal of being a social scientist is, because unlike Dr. King who wants to reform civil rights, all I am required to do is to observe as a spectator. With simple observation, just studying the behavior of a person does not show much applicability within the class. All in all, social science, whether we want it or not, is a part of our surroundings and our bias and perception of people are a part of it.