Final Paper-Culminating Reflections of Experience

Please submit a paper (2-3 pages) reflecting on your experiences and what you have learned about the plight of many Americans in the land of equal opportunity that has been the envy of many around the world.

In the paper Include: 

1. If and how this course has changed your perceptions of those struggling every day in America.
2. What do see are some solutions for improving their plight?
3. Have you been inspired to make a difference? If so, in what way do you see yourself doing so?

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Information about course:

This course (AC 364) purpose is for Students to explore the objectives and consequences of the U.S. federal tax system in relation to the working poor, especially the Earned Income Tax Credit. In addition, students will study common misperceptions of those living in poverty. This course will consist of readings and discussions, tax preparation training, completion of a tax certification test, and volunteer tax return preparation at a community-based site. The course is open to both business and non-business majors and assumes no prior knowledge of accounting or tax. The course is a service-learning course and will satisfy the experiential learning requirement in the Collat School of Business. 

Course Objectives (CO):

Upon the completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Serve as a volunteer tax preparer at a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) site.

2. Discuss and suggest ways to reform predatory business practices, including income tax return preparation services and certain lending practices.

3. Discuss and suggest ways to reform educational disparities in the United States and in your home state.

4. Correlate the poverty levels in your state, particularly the disparities between different races, ethnic groups, and sexes.

5. Discuss the impact of the welfare reform legislation on the working poor. 

6. Evaluate the impact of the U.S. criminal justice system, especially as it relates to the war on drugs, on the prison population, and its impact on poverty and the U.S. economy.

7. Explain the plight of the “working poor” and those living in poverty, especially the challenges and stresses they face daily and the impact that it has on their decision making and performance on jobs and as parents.

8. Discuss the impact of the physical living conditions experienced by those living in or near poverty levels on their: emotional, physical, and mental well-being.

9. Analyze, study and discuss the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the working poor.