My name is Matthew Nykolichuk and I am a second year International Business student minoring in Sociology at the University of Calgary. I am here to write about and provide a fresh view of sociology from a university student’s perspective.

I first was exposed to sociology while taking it as an option in my first year. At the time I was only majoring in International Business and didn’t have a clue what sociology was, till I sat in on a few classes. Our SOCI 201 prof, Dr. John Manzo, was a comedian! His first lecture was him telling jokes for 50min and how it related to the course outline.

For the entirety of our second lecture, he discussed what sociology actually was! Normally in chemistry or math you know what it is, but sociology is different. Chemists study chemical reactions, mathematicians study numbers and equations, so one would think that sociologists study society. But anthropologists study society, economists study society, political scientists study society, and even psychologists study society to an extent. But sociologists put society as the priority in their research. In economics, people study how society uses the ECONOMY. In political science, people study society as it relates to POLITICS. In religious studies, researchers study society on how it relates to RELIGION. Sociology is just the study of how society itself works.

Naturally I was intrigued by the concept! I always wanted to know how society as a whole operates. And it goes beyond learning about society, it sociology can be applied at a micro level with individual groups, such as a church, a sports club, and groups of friends…and even enemies. I also sat in on another soci lecture my friend was taking, it was on crime and deviance. Again I was intrigued.

After sitting in on those two courses I decided to make Sociology my minor. It wasn’t a spontaneous decision, but I did make it rather quickly. I loved the material so much and saw a world of applicability for it. It even worked out perfect for my business program and I do not have to take another year.

And that’s my story about how I became involved in sociology. Ever since, I have been constantly observing groups of people and how people behave. One example is when I was at a seminar in an auditorium and everyone was standing up clapping. After clapping for a few seconds I noticed a few people start to sit down. Now normally that’s a normal behavior that goes unnoticed, but I asked myself why certain people sat down first as opposed to others, AND when it was considered an appropriate time to sit down in the first place (Remember no one tells people to sit down, the group has an automatic gauge that allows them to determine when they all should sit down).

Sociology does that to you, you begin to notice stuff that happens in a group you haven’t before, and you start to observe and question cultural norms more often. It’s really fun!

Well I hope you keep reading my posts on my perspective on sociology. There will be a unique perspective and I aim to provide lots of value to my readers.

Matt

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