Final Blog

Well 16 short weeks later and we are finally here, the last week, the end, summer! It sure has been one heck of a ride, not only in this class but in all my other ventures. It seems at the beginning of the semester that the end will never come, but as soon as you get on a roll the end come swiftly. It honestly crept up on me and I found myself a little unprepared for this week, and completely overwhelmed. For example I was up until 6:30 in the morning doing chemistry homework and quizzes; needless to say I’m a bit tired (haha). This class was certainly not the easiest class I have ever taken by any means, but I am glad I took it. Being able to read and write adequately will carry over into all avenues of my life, academically and professionally. Prior to this class I hated reading with a passion, although this class didn’t completely change my opinion of reading, it did help. I find that the subjects we researched and read about in this class were more relevant, unlike the reading I had to do through Elementary, Middle and High School. I hate reading but I love research (if that makes any sense). For example although the research paper was very time consuming and stressful, the topic of Nuclear Power in Iran was exceptionally interesting, and it kept my attention throughout the assignment. I think the ability to properly do research is something I am going to use for the rest of my life. Although I’ve done research projects before, I never put time into truly understanding how to adequately do research and grasp the concept that I was researching. Research papers aren’t by any means my favorite thing to do, but I think one every now and then won’t kill us. It’s going to be weird not writing a blog every week, I think I might continue doing it just to maintain (haha). I also like reading everyone else’s blog; I find it very helpful to read about what your peers are thinking, because it gives me a better understanding about the subjects we are discussing. I have been taking more classes this semester than any other semester, I am enrolled in 23 units, and it is hard to give any, one subject the attention it deserves. Rather than improving my understanding of a few subjects thoroughly, I understand a lot of different subjects vaguely. I do not recommend ever taking this many classes, sure it’s good to get them over with, but it takes away from living life. I completely regret it in that regard, it has stripped from things I should be doing at this age and I will never take this many classes ever again. I just wish I could focus on a few subjects that fit my major, rather than work on a ton of subjects that don’t catch my interest. I just wish I could’ve had more time to put into this class, so I could have gotten the most possible out of it. That being said I did learn a lot, and I’m glad I took this class. Good luck to all of you, and have a good summer!

My Writing

I do feel as if my writing has become better because of this class, and I feel as if writing now comes easier to me as a result of this class. For example I used to get 500 word essays assigned to me in High School, and I would freak out as if that was a lot of writing, and now I write over 500 words just on these blog entries every week. I like writing more now as a result of this class, because before I would be worried if something sounded right, and now I just love putting my thoughts down and expressing them through my writing. This class has carried over in to my other classes in that regard and it has helped me with format and substance. I’ve had to write countless essays in my other classes this year and those assignments are better because I know how to structure an essay. The tests we do in Political Science are only two questions every time, but those two questions have many questions within and in order to answer these questions fully you need to develop an entire essay that communicates your thoughts, the teachings of the class, and research you do on your own. Well now that I have an idea of how to properly put these down on my paper it has increased my grades dramatically. I always had the problem that my thoughts always sounded better in my head then they did when I read them aloud off of paper. In other words my essays and paragraphs didn’t fully communicate my thoughts. Now after I read my own essay, I realize that it sounds the same being read as it did in my head. This is very important because I can now thoroughly communicate my thoughts through writing and I feel that this is going to be a much needed skill throughout the rest of my college career as well as throughout the rest of my life. I was never completely lost when it came to writing, but I never felt adequate enough to where I was comfortable writing essays and assignments and turning them in. I feel that taking this English class has given me the confidence I desperately needed to help me complete assignments and communicate thoughts. I use writing on a day to day basis, and this was a much needed class for me. I benefited not only in my academic life but in my home and social life as well. My Mom is a teacher with a master’s degree in English, and My Dad is an administrator with a master’s degree in education. I always felt embarrassed to present my essays and assignment to them, in fear of them picking it apart. Now I am happy to show them my assignments, because rather than criticize the essay and point out all my mistakes, they just help me fine-tune my writings. I have had to make some pretty important emails as of late, and I feel now as if I can adequately communicate my needs or concerns through the email, and whoever is receiving can understand exactly what I am trying to say. All in all I am glad I took this class, it has pushed me in the right direction.

Research Project ups and downs

For some reason every time I hear or read the words “research project” I cringe, mainly because they have not treated me well in my past experiences. That being said when I start them I find them to be interesting and compelling (as long as I somewhat enjoy the subject. I had to do a research paper my first semester at Antelope Valley College on a classical composer, needless to say that research project did not help my opinion on research projects in general, and I tend to make assumptions that I’m going to have a miserable time whenever I am assigned them. However I have matured since my first semester and I find now that research projects can actually be a good way to express something you might feel strongly about. You can give opinions and back them up with facts that you researched, this is what makes research papers so powerful. Usually when you try to make an argument in person with someone of opposing ideas, you usually have limited ammo (I know I do). But when you research a topic and write it all down, there is no room for counterpoints, and people have to read the paper in full before they make assumptions. I realize I am making it sound like a “persuasive paper” and not a research paper, but you can argue and make valid points in research papers, and people not even know it. I am glad (kind of haha) we got the assignment and choice of the modern day topics involving Iran. Ever since we were attacked on 9-11 and declared the “War on Terror”, I have become very intrigued with Middle Eastern countries, and it became such a relevant topic ever since that incident. I realize Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan are all very different countries, but ever since the eye of America was turned to that particular region of the world, it has become something we now pay attention to. For example, before the war happened I honestly couldn’t find the Middle East on a map, let alone know what was happening over there. I think we need to realize that we as Americans do have it very good compared to many other countries, and I think we tend to jump to a lot of conclusions about other countries and cultures because they are unfamiliar. That aside, I think there is a lot of mistreatment and corruption going on that is against humanity, and when dignity and humanity is being tampered with I think that gives us the right as the most powerful nation on Earth to step in. I have chosen the topic of “Iran’s Nuclear Power Program” because that popped out at me as a subject that I would like to research. Also because I think Nuclear power raises a lot of eyebrows, and given the recent events in Japan I think it is a topic that deserves and needs a lot of attention. As far as the project, as of now it is going ok, I need to do more research and it is turning out to be a very hard subject to grasp. Other than that I should be ok.

My Online Communication Style

Growing up in the “tech-savvy” society that we live in today, I find it necessary to be updated on online communication styles and lingo. If you’re not up to date you can become lost very easily in all our forms of online communication. I am not completely in love with all of the different forms we now have of communication relating to the internet, so I try not to spend too much time glued to my computer, and I think this is communicate through my use and choice of words when I’m communicating online. That being said I do use the internet in various forms in order to communicate, like Facebook, skype, texting, email etc... Some people love to use letters to express whole words to try to make what they are saying smaller. I think this is somewhat ineffective, because when I get a text or email filled with these abbreviations and symbols I get lost and ultimately don’t know what the person is trying to say. I abbreviate as well, but not to the extent that I make the email or text hard to read. I have noticed that I usually go into detail when I am communicating through the Internet. I do this because I am a pretty thorough person as it is, but I realize that something being read can sometimes be received different than if you were to hear it. This accounts for a lot of misinterpretation and in order to avoid that I spell out the word and use punctuation, so that way the person reading can almost hear it as they are reading it. I have received numerous text messages and emails that I thought were offensive or rude and when I asked the person about it, they say they didn’t have that intention at all. I think my style of online communication reflects me as a person, I am pretty direct with what I say and I try not to beat around the bush. My online communication reflects the way I talk as well as my sense of humor, so people who don’t understand me in person probably won’t understand me online. Different situations call for different styles of communication. For example when I am trying to be fast when I’m typing or texting someone, I will probably say the least amount of words I possibly can in order to get my point across, which is the same for real life situation. If there is a fire in a building you’re not going to explain the fire, your going to yell “fire” and get the hell out of there. If you are late for work and someone messages you on Facebook wanting to talk, your going to say “late for work, bye” and not explain to them or talk about it. These different styles of communication we use verbally and in person have trickled into our online lives. I think this makes it a more effective and realistic way of communicating. 

Political Cartoons

I’ve never really been one to get offended by political cartoons because I realize that all political cartoons target a select group of people, more or less small interest groups. So I take that into consideration when I see a cartoon that could be perceived as offensive. I just think that this cartoon wasn’t speaking to me; it was speaking to people who agree with it. That being said a lot of political cartoons are meant to be offensive. I especially dislike political cartoons aimed at war, particularly the war on Terror. It just seems very arrogant of someone to be making fun of something that is costing thousands of lives and billions of dollars. I can understand having an opinion on the war that you would like to express, but I have no patience for making fun of this issue, or making it out to seem lesser than what it is. Because the fact is, we are in a war; I think that is often forgotten among our citizens. I think recent event have changed that somewhat, and I guess we need reminders here and there to help us realize. These political cartoons aimed at war, are often aimed at Middle Eastern citizens and Middle Eastern cultures. Because we are in a war in the Middle East, we affiliate all Middle Eastern countries and put them into one group, we generalize them. If this wasn’t going on I think we might feel sympathy for the innocent citizens and want to help them, like we help some other third world countries. After reading this book I do feel somewhat more of a connection to what is happening in the Middle East, as well as the day-to-day struggles they face. This book has brought to light issues that I was unaware of. For example I had no idea women were and are treated so badly, as they are in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan. It sort of puts into perspective what we here in the US take for granted, like education. We wake up everyday and go to school like it is a chore that has been forced upon us by “the man” when women and children from other countries would go to the ends of the earth for an education. The little freedom of being able to buy and wear any clothes we want to, and eat any food we want. We expect these things, and we would be shocked and upset if they were taken away from us, but the truth is we are just a percentage of people in the world who are able to do that. I think the lessons that we can learn from reading this book as well as modern articles and magazines relating to this topic, is that we are blessed and we need to extend a hand who those who might not be as blessed. I am not saying that America should get involved in everybody’s business, but I think the advantages we have could do a lot of good in the world, and we need to realize that.

Proposition 8

As we all know as Californians there was a proposition made to try and ban gay marriage in 2008. Proposition 8 also known as the “California Marriage Protection Act”, was a good indication of the beliefs of Californians, because we voted for it. Californians vote that marriage should be between a Man and a Woman, no same sex marriages allowed. The fact that such a radical proposition was supported by Californians was quite a shock to say the least. California is known to be very accepting of other cultures, and other states view us liberal left wing democrats, which is usually the case, or it has been in the past couple of elections. That’s why this proposition was such a shock, because it showed our true colors. I’m not trying to criticize our state, and that that our majority is wrong, but I am baffled as to why we care so much about this particular subject.

            This seems to be a very sensitive issue, and no matter who you talk to they have an opinion about this. I love that people get fired up and have opinion, it keeps our voters aware and involved, that being said I think there are bigger problems within our country and within California, that we don’t need these laws and propositions to distract us. I think if two people love each other then it should be their right as human beings and especially as Americans to get married. It says in our constitution that we as Americans have the right the “Pursuit of Happiness”, and marriage in my eyes is part of that pursuit. Who are we to take that away from people? How in any way would it affect me if two Women or two Men decided to marry each other? It wouldn’t, plain and simple. That’s why I don’t understand why this is such an issue. Banning Gay Marriage is a form of institutional racism; the government is discriminating against a minority group and throughout history when this kind of thing took place it never turned out good. If the government can tell us who we can and can’t marry, what’s next, what other freedoms are they going to control or take away?

            I remember seeing commercials on this very issue trying to sway people one way or another. Think about all the money that went into campaigning for this proposition. People for Proposition 8 would say things like “think about the kids”, “family matters” and “family values”, meaning that if you supported gay marriage you didn’t care about kids, you didn’t care about families, and you had no family values. This is pretty harsh and can certainly sway a person into supporting this proposition. On the contrary people against Proposition 8, would say nasty inhumane things about people who were against gay marriage. My point is that this kind of language set us back rather then taking us forward as a state, and as a Nation. I am against laws that infringe on our rights as Americans, and this proposition did exactly that. I think if we viewed it more as something that would take away a right rather than the actually subject of the proposition; we might have had a different outcome.

Sources: Reliable or Unreliable?

            Every generation seems to have that one outstanding event, where each person can relate, and tell you exactly where they were and exactly what they were doing when said event took place. For my Parents generation the assassination of president Kennedy seems to stand out as that unforgettable moment, for my grandparent, the attack on Pearl Harbor seems to stand out. Well for me, and probably for anyone in my generation, the event that we can all relate to and tell you exactly where we were and exactly what we were doing, as well as where or who we heard the news from, is the attack on the World Trade Centers in New York City. I remember I was talking with my friends at school, and they were all talking about the “explosion” and the “plane” and the “attack”, I was very confused, until class was back in session and our principle got on the loud speaker. She explained what happened and we all had a moment of silence. I will never forget that moment as long as I live, or the expression of worry on everybody’s faces when they found out.

            For me I heard this news first from my peers at school, which were all a bunch of elementary school children. As you can imagine the stories were embellished a little, and usually very flawed, but they still knew what had happened, just not all the facts. Being a young child, I didn’t really understand the magnitude of what had just taken place in our country, in fact it wasn’t until many years later when I realized what exactly had happened to our country, physically and psychologically. I was in my own little world in Palmdale, so I didn’t realize the kind of panic that our country was going through.

            Hearing a million different stories from people, I turned to my parents for enlightenment on the situation, which I think is a normal thing for children. They explained to me the actual events and told me about it then they turned on the news. I remember they kept replaying the collision, over and over, as if they didn’t believe it, and then the building collapsed which was even more difficult to comprehend. I didn’t realize it at the time but now thinking back I realize how vulnerable everybody was on that moment, nobody knew how to react, because how can you plan for something of that magnitude to happen.

            The reason that I believed the News, is because it was actually happening, all the events were taking place and they didn’t leave it up to interpret, it just was exactly what it looked like. There was no room for embellishment, because it was happening in real time. I know now that those children at school were not a good way of obtaining information they were in fact not a credible source. When you are young you are very naive and susceptible to lies. I know now not to believe everything I hear, and before reacting I do research of my own. The way you know something is a credible source, is because it is recognized as a credible source. Major news networks and newspapers have to have facts and not opinions (for the most part) because their reputation is at stake.