By: Elizabeth Trower
Controversial: giving rise or likely to give rise to public disagreement. At MSA you have 329 of Missouri’s highest academic students all coming together to share their opinions on certain issues. With that being said, that means you have 329 different opinions which makes for an intriguing, interesting, and most of all controversial conversation. Having these conversations is not a bad thing; in fact, it is good because it allows us to listen to one another with respect and know that it is okay not to think like everyone else. One of the biggest things that they challenge you at MSA is to always stay true to yourself and your beliefs. You are entitled to your own opinion and here at MSA, everyone values everyone for who they are.
To do some research, the Missouri Scholar’s Action News sent reporter Elizabeth Trower out to ask random scholars on what they thought has been the most controversial topic here at MSA so far. Although some answers differed, there was one that remained the same. The most controversial topic at MSA has been the “Red Light, Green Light” activity. This was an evening activity where the MSA scholars were divided into separate groups where they went around reading different statements and put a red sticker if they disagreed, yellow sticker if they were neutral, and green sticker if they agreed. Some of the statements were: “Are dress codes necessary?”, or “Is saying no to a dance rude?” After all the stickers were placed, it was time to talk about their opinions on certain topics. This was an excellent way for students to come out of their comfort zones and really express their true feelings and opinions on certain issues of our world. It was also a great way to allow students to hear all sides of the conversation by ensuring the students were listening to one another with respect.
Throughout the activity it became apparent that more students were breaking out of their comfort zones and sharing, for no one was judging them based on their opinion. Here at MSA everyone is valued. “Red Light, Green Light” was definitely controversial, because while on some topics most students agreed on similar opinions, there were definitely topics where the students opinions differed greatly. And that’s okay here at MSA.
One of the other responses of the most controversial topics at MSA was the stem cells presentation. The students that attended the presentation explained in their video clip why this presentation was so controversial.
Below is a clip of Elizabeth interviewing the students and receiving their responses. In this video you will see all the different, yet similar opinions of the scholars attending MSA 2019!
The one thing the scholars took away from this activity was the diverse opinions of our scholars and how each one of us feels valued and knows that our opinions matter here at MSA.
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