Crash

       While watching the movie Crash in class these past few days, I have realized that people's opinions on race come from many different places. The police officer thinks poorly of blacks because he felt his father lost his business because minorities got preferential treatment. The Persian man in convinced that everyone is cheating him probably because of past experiences. Sandra Bullock's character is afraid of black men and the hispanic locksmith because of this she has seen done to herself and others. The black detective insulted his partner by telling his mom she was white, because she knew it would make his mom mad. Some of the characters in this movie get their views from their family, from experience, and from fears. I feel these characters correctly portray the different views on race we see everyday. I know my grandpa was raised in a way to favor white people. Fortunately he has loosed up a lot over the years, but sometimes he still makes comments about Native Americans because he used to live and work around many people to that race. The fact that he still holds on to some of the stereotypes he grew up with makes it clear that the views your parent instill in you and the views you instill in yourself when you are young, stick with you for the rest of your life. I know that I will never be able to get my grandpa to view everyone as equals. But that is why it is so important to make sure from an early age that children know not one race is better than other and that we are all people no matter what. God made everyone in His image, so no matter if one person has a different skin color than another person, God loves them all.

Seed Packing

       On Saturday April 17, I went with my mom and sister to participate in seed packing. This is my second time doing this service opportunity. From 10am to 12:30am I went to my church and helped with the process of putting seeds into little packages which would then be sent to other countries so that the people there can plant gardens for vegetables to give them a source of food and income. My family arrived late to this service opportunity so we could not get a designated spot and got split up, I guess it is a good problem to have too many volunteers because that means there are a lot of people that want to help. Because of this, I got a chance to meet other people I didn't know even though they go to my church. It was nice to be able to see different groups of people come together to help those we don't even know. I think sometimes it is harder to serve those we can't see because you can have less of a sense that you are making a difference when you aren't seeing a direct difference in peoples lives. But doing behind the scene service has shown me that you can help people just as much as working one on one with them.

Preschools

     With all of the talk about wealth and income, what stuck with me the most was how from the moment children are born, their wealthy parents are consumed with the actions necessary to make sure their children maintain their place in the social class they were born into. These parents make it a necessity for their children to get into the best preschool, then the best private education from kindergarten through high school, and ultimately get into the best college. This will help insure that these children have a proper education and make amazing amounts of money. I feel bad for these kids because their parents don't want all of this only for their children, but also to maintain their family image. These parents would be so embarrassed if their children didn't get into the best preschool and their friend's children did. I have seen on TV, sitcoms poking fun at this idea of parents striving for their children having prestigious education, but I have also seen shows where people are completely serious about this process. The fact that these parents put their families on reality shows such as The Real Housewives of New York City, makes me think that the main aspects of striving for the best education for their children is to maintain an image. It's one thing to want your kid to get a quality education, but it's a completely different thing when you broadcast your child's successes all over the country, just to make sure everyone knows you are the best. I feel so sad for these kids who don't get a chance to enjoy their childhood, but instead have to be put into competitive schooling since they turn two years old.

Wealth and Social Class

In class this week we talked a lot about social class and wealth. We found that the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. This was demonstrated through the coin toss metaphor. We talked about how a common myth about America is that you can be anything you want to be and there are no class systems. However, it is evident in America that although they are not as formal, we still have class systems in the United States. Based on how much money you family has made over the generations, and what jobs they had, that determines what social class you are in. We even see in the movies set in American when someone from a wealthier family wants to marry a blue collar person, the wealthier family doesn't agree with it. But we can't make a generalization about everyone in America, that they are all stuck in their position in this class system. People aren't lying when the call America they land of opportunities. Almost anyone can get a High School education if they work hard, stay focused, and if others are there willing to help them. There are also so many ways to get a college education; online schooling, night classes, scholarships, financial aid, work study, community college, etc. A lot of countries don't have these opportunities. I know it isn't fair if I say that anyone can succeed if they just work hard. There are so many unexpected factors that come into play and knock you down when you are trying to make it. But what makes America different than other countries with set social standings is that anyone has the opportunity to rise up to higher standards of living and people are applauded for doing this as opposed to being told to stay where they are meant to be.

Saints and Roughnecks

Reading the Article Saints and Roughnecks, there were students at Stevenson that clearly came to my mind that matched the descriptions of the Saints and Roughnecks. There are some kids that do well in school, are athletic, and treat adults with authority, but outside of the building they are quite different. And the same goes for roughnecks as well. I'm not sure if money is the main factor, but appearance certainly has a large impact. And money may play into the appearance that someone has. The students that come to school well dressed, with good hygiene, and sit attentively in class can seamlessly fool everyone. The students that are not well dressed and sit slumped do not have much expected from them, so they only need to live up to those few expectations. This can relate to the 30 days episode. Many People go to prison and they just become hardened criminals. And they return to their old ways because they have not been taught that anything more is expected of them. They have developed this image as a criminal and continue to live life with that appearance.

Deviance and Perception

When we read Saints and Roughnecks, we found that the Saints were never really punished for their misbehaving because the were from middle class families and treated the police with remorse and respect. The Roughnecks however got in more trouble because they were perceived as bad kids from the start and that's all they where ever treated like. I have noticed this over the years at school as well. There's always one student that walks into class on the first looking like a troublemaker and the majority of teachers are rougher on that student. I think this is either because other teachers have told them about this student and how he or she misbehaves, or it could also be because that teacher has had students in the past that walk around with the same attitude and look as this "roughneck" that walks into class on the first day. But in contrast, I have also seen teachers and other authority figures not notice that some kids act nice and polite in class, but outside they can cause trouble. I think as kids get older, they get better at hiding their wrongdoings as opposed to as when they were in elementary school and kids always got caught doing something bad. I felt bad for the roughnecks in the reading because no one ever gave them a chance to be a good kid and they were stuck doing what the other kids in their gang did. This reading has taught me that one day when I'm an adult, I might be put in a situation where I can either choose to give a roughneck a chance to succeed, or not; and I would like to think that I would make the right decision.

What Would You Do?

I wish everyone was as deviant as the man in the story "A Victim Treats His Mugger Right". This story was incredible, but I'm not sure if I could do what Diaz did. I'm guessing if I was in that situation, I would do what the majority of people do, give the mugger my money and run away. So I guess I wouldn't deviate from social norms in that way. Sometimes, it can be very risky when trying to make a positive difference when straying away from social norms. I don't know how Diaz knew the mugger wouldn't hurt him. Its sad that now a days we are more surprised by someone doing something nice when it isn't deservex as opposed to someone being mean. There is a show on ABC that I watch sometimes call "What Would You Do?" The show sets up different scenario with actors that everyone has heard of, but probably not experienced, and there is always someone in some kind of trouble. One time there was a woman being yelled at and pushed around by her boyfriend, and another time there was a cashier trying to rip off a blind person. The show records all the people who happen to be in the area or in any way involve themselves to see how they act. I've noticed that in every episode, there are only a few people who show exceptional deviance from the social norm and help whoever is in need. The host always calls these people heroes. But shouldn't this be how everyone is supposed to act? So how come someone is a hero for doing what they are supposed to do? Probably because the majority of people don't do what they are really supposed to do. And I admit to not doing the right thing all the time either. I hope that one day the social norm will no longer be ignoring people in need, but helping them.

Seed Packing

Every Saturday evening, I help out at the Junior High ministry at my church. Usually we go to service with the kids, and afterwards, all the leaders take a small group of boys or girls and expand on the service with them. But on Saturday April 10, from 5:30pm to 7:00pm, instead of having a normal service and small group time, we participated in seed packing. In the gymnasium of the church, where the ministry is normally set up, there the over 20 table set up as seed packing stations. At each station, there were people scooping seeding in to small envelopes and sealing the envelopes. There were also people who grabbed five packs at a time with a planting instruction sheet and brought them over to the baggers. The baggers put the sets of packs into plastic bags and taped them closed. The boxers then put all the bags in to a box. During this seed packing session, everyone participating packed 23 boxes of cabbage seeds. This will grow 15 million pounds of cabbage. Imagine how many people that will feed! These seed packs are going to poverty stricken countries that the church has partnered with. These packs will be given to people so that they can create their own garden. The food these people grow in their gardens will be used to feed themselves and their families. The excess can be sold to create a form of income. By giving these people these packs of seeds, we are not just given them food, we are giving them skills to increase their quality of life.

Compassion and Justice

On Saturday March 26, I participated in a service opportunity that I had never done before. Each year at my church, everyone participates in what is called Celebration of Hope. This celebration is three weeks long. One of the aspects of Celebration of Hope is the 5 day challenge. With this challenge, for five days the members of the church eat as millions of the poorest people in the world do everyday, on less than two dollars. You are supposed to eat a small portion of oatmeal for breakfast and a cup of rice and beans for lunch and dinner. During my serve, I came to church from 9:00am until 3:00pm and helped pack canvas bags with rice, beans and oatmeal. These bags will later be given out to the church attendees, so they will have the correct amounts of the food they need to complete the 5 day challenge. Each bag contained enough food to last a family of 4 for one day, and it was hardly anything compared to what we eat everyday. All together the group I worked with packed only about 4800 bags, that was only a small dent however in the tens of  thousands that needed to be packed. It was a cool experience to be able to work behind the scenes in an effort to help the members of the church see how fortunate we all are in all the food we have. This would hopefully in turn give them the compassion to participate in the other aspects of Celebration of Hope, which are giving so that the church can help the local and global community, and helping pack 50,000 seeds packs so that people living in poverty can grow a garden in order to receive an income and food for their families. This time of year always makes me excited to see all the people at my church come together with love for people we don't even know, but we are passionate about them receiving justice.

Femininity and the Media

We see and hear all the time from commercials and other forms of advertisement how females are supposed to look. But we also hear so often that the girls in these ads are photo shopped and retouched to make that result someone that is not really a person. But when you hear two opposite things so often, what are you supposed to believe? Is it true that these girls aren't real, or that we all should actually look like them? Just like every other girl, I'm not confident in myself all the time. It's true that the kinds of advertisements that are out there that we saw in the video Killing Us Softly 4 can make a girl feel bad, but while watching the video, I realized that I have learned to tune out some messages that these companies are sending. I think part of it is that I see the same kinds of ads over and over during the years so they stop having an effect, but also I've come to accept aspects of myself. For example, I'm barely 5 foot 1 so I know its actually impossible for me to be taller and have the "perfect body" the media portrays. I've found that stressing over literally unattainable things is wasted energy. I believe that God made every person with a specific purpose and we are all made in his image. God thinks we all are beautiful and knows the number of every hair on everyone's heads. By keeping that in mind, it puts things in perspective for me that if the Creator of everything loves me for who I am, then who do I need to impress or change myself for?  However, its tough for me too keep this mindset when people tell me they don't like things about me. I remember in middle school, another girl who wasn't even my friend came up to me and told me my hair looked bad, that was seven years ago and I still remember it and it still makes me self concious. So we don't only have the media to blame, its the people who we see in public, the ones who's opinions we worry about that make us see ourselves is poorly.

TV and Children

       In class for the past few days we watched a movie about how much advertisement affects children. It video also mentioned how children used to play outside until it got dark and wouldn't want to come in for dinner. For some reason that really struck me. It makes me really sad that kids don't want to go outside and just be kids, they are more entertained with virtual activities. But I also think that although there are a lot of kids who would rather stay inside and watch TV or play video games, I am certain that there are still a lot of kids who enjoy spending their time outside. My little brother has liked video games for as long as I can remember and I'm pretty sure he has every system possible. But he also goes outside all the time to play basketball and he has also been involved in sports his whole life. He has found a balance between being active and enjoying video games. What also struck me about the video was how kids are so targeted by advertisers. If you look at the situation from the side of the company, they are just doing what they need to do to make money. Unfortunately for parents, it makes the kids feel like they need all these things they really don't need. This video has made me want to think seriously about how one day my kids will be exposed to television and how I will make sure they don't get too enveloped in it.

The Growing Man

I definitely think the metaphor of the growing man is true. In class, we learned that when we are born we have the aptitude to do things, but its not until we are grown that we have been influenced by others in ways that help of develop who we are. Some of the stories from the Human Nature article were so hard to read because of the way those children were treated. They never developed into fully functioning humans because no one was ever around to influence them, guide them, and love them in order to become that way. I think there are also differences in what the final stage of the growing man is, based on your culture. In developing countries, there are not as many resources or media messages to influence how children grow up. Also we hear all the time about children in third world countries stricken into poverty and being orphans when their parents die of sicknesses that they don't have medicine for. Although we do have issues such as poverty and orphanage in America, it is not as much of an epidemic as it is in these other countries. But we also have a lot more media exposure that kids are exposed to growing up. Kids see messages on TV telling them its okay to do all these things that were once considered bad and telling them they have to look a certain way. These things can inhibit people from developing into the fully grown man.

Feed My Starving Children

        On Monday some of my friends and I went to Feed My Starving Children in Shaumburg. I have volunteered with this organization a few times before with my church and it has always been a lot of fun. What Feed My Starving Children does is they set up tables in a big room and on these tables there are four big bins, each filled with either chicken flavor powder, dehydrated vegetables, soy, or rice. Everyone at the table works together to scoop certain amounts of each ingredient into plastic bags. The bags are then sealed and packed into boxes. The food is then shipped to countries where there are starving children in need. One of my favorite parts about volunteering here was seeing how people who didn't really know each other until they got there, all work together for the same purpose, with compassion for children they have never met.

Work

       In Tuesdays With Morrie, we see that Mitch is consumed with his work. In the beggining of the story Mitch has taken on a lot of sports journalist jobs and it has caused him to loose touch with his girlfriend and old friends. Its only when he finds out his old professor is dying that he realized the big picture of his life and mellows out after going to visit him a few times. I feel like sometimes as students, we are the same way as Mitch. We are constantly working hard to reach the next level. You have to do well in Elementary School to get placed in advanced classes in Middle School. You need to work hard in Middle School in order to get placed in advanced classes in High School. Then in High School, you feel the need to keep up with everyone else taking accelerated and AP classes so you look good on college applications. I hear kids at school talk about pulling all-nighters just to study for one test. What!? You are 17 years old, you shouldn't be depriving your body of sleep, which it vital to your health in order to study for a test on something you won't even remember a year from now. All of a sudden, there are these kids entering college as sophmores because they did so much work leading up to that point. These students work so hard to get a good education and a good job, but what ever happened to being a kid and learning just to learn and better yourself, not to compete with others? For Mitch, he realized pretty early in his life that working hard is not the most important thing, you need to appreciate your life. I worry that some of these students who start stressing so early about how to get to the top won't realize until its too late that some things are actually more important.

The Beauty of Iowa

       In class on Wednesday, we talked about all the different subcultures we are from. I noticed a lot of people mentioned how the geographic subcultures they were apart of. I never really thought about how where I come from could be a subculture that makes up who I am, but it truly does. My family lived in Iowa from when I was one until I was about five. Because I was so young I honestly don't remember much of it except for some faint memories about the houses we lived in when we were there. But because almost all of my family extended family on both my parents sides live in Iowa, there is an attachment. We all are really close and my immediate family drives to visit our relatives in Iowa quite a few times during the year. There are a lot of norms in Iowa that would seem odd to others not from the state. It's not uncommon to walk into a gas station and see a few people covered in dirt that have that have an overwhelming odor of manure coming from them. Everything is also way less fast passed. When you're checking out at a store, the cashier will have no problem telling your their life's story. Some people even have a slight country accent if you get to very rural areas in Iowa. And a lot of Iowa is rural almost everything is corn, hay, grass, and trees for miles and miles, it is the most peaceful scenery. As you pass someone coming from the opposite direction in their pick-up truck they will always wave a you and give you a nod. I'm super excited to move back to Iowa when I go to Iowa State next year. After thinking about all the things I love about Iowa, I now understand how the other students seemed so attached to where they came from and how that makes them who they are. I feel like that was part of the lesson from the subculture activity, to really think about the subcultures you are apart of and how those connect you to other people and how they make you different from others.

Language Barriers

       In the Bible, Genesis 11: 1-9 says that at one time everyone spoke the same language.  But the people came together and tried to create an city that would make them dominate over all of God's creation and build a tower to reach Heaven. Because they were so rebellious, God then confused them by creating all the different languages and scattered the people across the Earth, so that they would not be able to do this again. Now today we as humans have discovered a way to learn all of these languages. But we use this knowledge of communication for good. Businessmen are able to go to other countries and share the products they have to help better the world as a whole. People are traveling to other countries to help clean up after natural disasters  and using their language skills to further help the people affected. Immigrants who come to other countries have to opportunity to learn the language so that they could become a cohesive part of a different culture. In sociology, we learned that sometimes we are closed minded when it comes to other cultures because it is too difficult to adjust yourself to something so different and the language barrier multiplies the problem. But I think an important thing everyone needs is patience. People don't normally travel to different cultures unless they want to better their lives somehow. In America, we should be honored when people want to live here and be a member of our society. I think it's so wonderful that people have the ability to learn English when they come here. In the present I don't think we have defied language barriers as another form of rebellion, but we have overcome these barriers in order to come together has humans to better everyone's lives.

A Bronx Tale

       For a few days in class, we watched A Bronx Tale. This movie is the story of Chazz Palminteri's life, growing up in New York, but was seen through the eyes of a boy named Calogero. This movie contained many subjects we have discussed in class. For instance, the groups he belonged to were he and Sonny, he and his friends, he and his family, he and Jane, and being Italian. The microsociologial aspects of his racism were what his friends and family said and a macrosociological aspect was the overpass that divided the two neighborhoods. Relating to the social construction of reality, some unwritten rules of the Italian neighborhood was that you didn't rat on on people and you stuck by your friends and family. All of these subjects are part of what shaped Calogero. He became who he was because of the choices he made, the location he was brought up in, and the people he surrounded himself with.  Perhaps Calogero would have had a completely different life it he told the police he saw Sonny shoot that man. I  bet we all think about this at some point, how making one decision would make a difference in all the other aspects of our life. This idea makes me think more seriously about the implications of the decisions I make. Because you never really know for sure what is going to happen in the future, I think it is important to contemplate how what you do may affect yourself and others.

A Class Divided

       In class the other day, we split up our class based on who was wearing black and who was wearing colors. We then made a list of why the other group was wearing what they were wearing. By doing that, we automatically were making judgments about the other people, assuming something about them that we didn't know for sure, just based on how they look. Eventually the reasons on our lists started to get a little ridiculous, but I think that's how prejudices come about in real life. People feel ownership of their own groups and make assumptions about others because if you don't know someone, all you have to go off of is how they look. So people see a person who looks a certain way do something and then they start to think other people who look that way will do that too. This is a horrible way to view people you don't know, and I'm not sure why people do this. Based on the video we watched, sometimes it's an authority figure that influences prejudices. The teacher was the one who told the kids the blue eyed kids were better and how the brown-eyed kids were to be treated. Someone who is influential with power has the ability to turn large numbers of people against a group. Some of the worst moments in our history occurred because someone with power convinced others that a certain group is less than them.

Abandon Ship

Yesterday in class we did the Abandon Ship activity where there were 16 very different individuals on a life boat and we had to decide to get rid of seven of them. On the micosociological level it could be seen that the boat consisted of poeple that were old, young, educated, award winning, criminals, successful, had families, and some who had no one. On the microsociological level, we used these characteristics to determine who stayed and who left the boat. We got rid of the old people first and from there we voted off the people who had less to live for than others. In everyday life, these kinds of interactions are seen all the time. In school on the macrosociological level we have teachers, students, janitorial staff, security guards, and food service workers. How well the school works as a whole is determined on the mircrosociologial level by how each group treats each other. Students need to obey the security guards and teachers and give them respect for what they do for us, and the majority of students do. The janitorial staff help keep the school a clean and save place for everyone there. The food providers give everyone the food the need to stay focused in their classes and to stay healthy. In order for things to run smoothly, students and teachers need to be respectful of these groups as well. In activity has shown me that in order for the best outcome to occur, each of the separate groups need to work together.

Sociological Mindfulness

In class we learned about the sociological imagination and sociological mindfulness. Having a sociological mindfulness means being aware of how the social world works and knowing how you can influence the world and those around you. During this week I have tried being sociologically mindful and it truly has made me more aware of those around me. What really stuck out to me in the reading was the idea that everyone is intertwined and because we are all humans, it is our responsibility to be aware of how what we do affects other people. We have all seen at some point how quickly one rumor or piece of gossip can travel around a group of people and truly crush a person's spirit. I believe this is part of what Schwalbe means by being sociologically mindful. Treating others right is treating our neighbors how we would want to be treated. Gossip can spread quickly, but kindness can spread just as fast.

Growing Up Online

    I agree with the fact that technology is here to stay, but I don't think everyone has to embrace every aspect of it . Our parents survived their adolecence without all the technology we have access to. But technology is around to make our lives easier if people use it the way it is intended. Its obvious that cell phones are a much faster way to conact someone than writing a letter is. The problem arises when technology becomes an obsession. I don't have a Facebook and many people have told me that it's good that I don't, but that makes me question why they have Facebooks in the first place if it's so good not to have one.
     Relating to school, I think we have no choice but to be taught about technology in order to be prepared for the careers we will be going into where technological knowledge is needed. You can't walk into a job without knowing how to use a computer. Doing this blogging in class is a way for us to get more familiar with computers and the internet while allowing us to voice our opinions in unique way. Blogging will help us inform others and be informed by the other members of the class. By applying the subjects we blog about to real life, it helps us connect to the material more than just memorizing it to pass a test.

Who Am I?

    I was born in California and used to live in Iowa before my family moved here.  My family goes to church every weekend and that is an important aspect of our lives. I feel very blessed with the family I've been given. At church I help out with the Junior High kids and the toddlers. I participate in track and cross country at Stevenson along with my twin sister. I enjoy running but I'm ready to be done with it competitively after this upcoming track season. I love the team and my favorite event is the 300 meter hurdles. I really like the practices, but the meets make me way too anxious. I am also a part of the Fellowship of Christan Athletes at Stevenson. I'm going to attend Iowa State with my sister next fall, a lot of my extended family has gone there so it's like a legacy in my family. The school is far enough away from home, but still near close relatives, that is one of the reasons why I chose it. At Iowa State I want to study veterinary medicine, but it's going to take eight years to get my degree, hopefully I can get through it.