How Learning Shapes Behavior by Folasade

How Learning Shapes Behavior by Folasade - September 2024 Scholarship Essay

In a psychological context, learning can be defined as a permanent change in behavior. When I embody the role of somebody to learn, it greatly helps me. Roleplaying has played a great role in my educational career, as it alters my behavior and helps me understand broader perspectives on issues. For instance, we frequently debated historical events in my AP World History Class. In these debates, we would each be assigned a country or person to embody for the discussion. In the debate about the Silk Road, I was assigned the Netherlands. In a debate about World War 1, I was assigned Italy. To this day, I still remember the intricate details of these countries that I would not have remembered without roleplaying and taking on the characters of these countries.
Roleplaying has taught me that not everything can be viewed from just one perspective. Throughout my social life, I have struggled to put myself in other people's shoes, and I am still learning how to do so. Roleplaying opened my eyes to how issues can be viewed from so many different perspectives, and that not every equation is linear. This line of thinking has come in handy in many disagreements, even those that I have with my closest friends. If I can take a moment to reflect and put myself in someone else's shoes it allows me to come to a better conclusion.