At the beginning of the semester we put a lot of focus on the media; how it is used, how it is received, and how we, as students, utilize it. Class began with a few documentaries and articles on people who criticize the media, as well as reading “The Influencing Machine” by Brook Gladstone. We evaluated how much media we have around us and how much we pay attention to it. As a class we learned what major companies control the media and how it is manipulated to match what consumers want. By the end of our extensive research and critique of the media, I came away realizing that to really understand any topic of debate (such as gun control, abortion, vaccines, etc.) you must be willing to dedicate time and research to it. Simply reading an article by your favorite news station is not enough to consider your opinion entirely educated. You have to be willing to branch out, read all sorts articles, and open-mindedly approach others with views and opinions that differ from your own. One of the first assignments given this semester was to track what types of media we devote our time to. In completing this assignment, my tracking showed that, though I have my phone on me at all times, I was a terribly useless media consumer. The media I did use did not expand my knowledge of local and federal political issues. I spent most of my time on the typical social media platforms, and very little time researching the issues that concern me. Realizing this I tried to expand my boundaries by taking in more media, viewing a variety of articles from news stations from all over the country, and even a few from outside of our country. Thankfully most of our assignments revolved around a variety of controversial issues and our professor directed us to insightful articles, furthering my personal research. Our final assignment was to identify a topic that had been up for debate among the public, research all sides and arguments, and come to a defendable, reasonable conclusion. I chose to research the vaccination of children. Being a “pro-vaxer” myself, I felt I would find little information that would sway me from my opinion. I turned to academic research sites, pouring over news articles and papers published by doctors, trying to understand why people would not want to vaccinate their children. The more research I did, the more I realized the real issue was NOT that parents were not wanting to vaccinate their children, but that parents were afraid of losing control over what vaccinations their children were given. After researching papers, articles, and blogs of differing opinions, as well as informative articles on how vaccines work, I turned to my own primary care provider with questions. This meeting with my doctor proved to be the most influential part of my research, as she was able to tie my research back to my own experiences. This process of researching all sides and arguments showed me that I was not even fully aware of what was up for debate. And having devoted so much time and effort to a single issue, you would think I might feel rather educated on the topic of vaccines, but I have discovered that this extensive research is almost the tip of the iceberg. That being said, I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to learn how to research topics of debate and come to informed conclusions on them.