Final Post

Throughout the semester I have changed the way I think about certain things. I am very Sociological Mindful now and I never would've known how to be mindful until this class. I still have the same goals in life and that is to become a Special Education teacher later down the road. At the beginning of this semester I didn't know where I would be going to school in the Fall, now I know I'm going to Bradley University and that is where I wanted to go to pursue my higher educational goals. My mom is still my biggest influence because she has always motivated me to do my best and that's all she expects from me. I think she has taught me in some ways to be Sociological Mindful as well.

Race Panel

This week in Sociology we had a race panel come to talk to us. The panel was made up of students at Stevenson who are all different races. They each had a different story to tell our class about how being a different race can effect your everyday life. For some of them it works in positive ways but for others it works negatively. It was interesting to hear all of their stories. Some of the people were born in other countries and they had to adapt to the American lifestyle which they said was difficult at times. I also learned that within all of these different races there are different traditions and customs.

Crash

This week in sociology, we watched a movie called Crash. It was all about racial and social tensions that is prevalent in modern day. I thought that this movie did a great job of depicting a clear and accurate representation of this. An example of this was a conversion between Jean and Rick:
"Jean: I would like the locks changed again in the morning. And you know what, you might mention that next time we'd appreciate it if they didn't send a gang member... 
Rick: A gang member? 
Jean: Yes, yes. 
Rick: What do you mean? That kid in there? 
Jean: Yes. The guy in there with the shaved head, the pants around his ass, the prison tattoos. 
Rick: Those are not prison tattoos. 
Jean: [Interrupting] Oh really? And he's not gonna go sell our key to one of his gang banger friends the moment he is out our door?" 

The movie related back to what we discussed in class about how race is not something you are born with, but more of social construction. I really liked this movie and believed it showed the reality of how race affects many individuals, regardless of their social class.

Community Service

Over the course of the semester I did a lot of Community Service. The hours that I'm counting are from a Best Buddies Friendship Walk and Project Dance. I was at the Best Buddies walk from 8:30-2:30 (including driving time). I went with my buddy and we participated in the walk and then did some activities once it was over. While I was there I felt like I was making a difference because I knew my buddy was having a good time. She wanted to do all of the fun activities and encouraged me to join in with her. For my other four service hours, I did project dance. I've done Project Dance every year that I've been at Stevenson. Each year it is more rewarding because we raise more and more money each year. When I was a Freshman I didn't know what Project Dance really did, I just thought it was a big dance party with all of my friends. But by Sophomore year once I got involved more I  realized what it was really about. My community service goes together a little bit, I was helping Intellectually and Developmentally disabled people but in complete opposite ways.

30 Days

We watched a movie by Morgan Spurlock. It was about Morgan his fiance, Alex, leaving rich lifestyles behind to see what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck in Ohio. Morgan and Alex worked at multiple minimum wage jobs for 30 days earning only $5.15 per hour. They get to experience first hand the struggles minimum wage earning families face and the grueling reality behind it. It was sad to really see what it's like for people who literally run out of money. By seeing this it makes me what to help. I know what it's like to work hard and just not have enough money, but nothing like these people. My parents still support me financially, but not for my social life- that I have to use my own money for. There are so many organizations out there to help people in poverty, and I believe it's important to help. Now that I know more about this cause, I will do what I can to help those in poverty.

People Like Us

This week in sociology we watched a video called "People Like Is'" which related to the idea of hierarchy is social class. There was a family who told their story going back to this theme in the movie. It was about a family being raised by a woman named Tammy, who lives in Ohio. They lived in a house that could definitely use some repairs. Tammy said something while she was telling her story that stuck out to me, "it's not my fault I'm poor, I was raised poor." That just goes to show how where you grow up impacts you for the rest of your life. However, I admire her ambition to try to, not necessarily change social classes, although that is what her son would like, but to make her life better. Instead of collecting welfare, she walks 10.5 miles to work at Burger King. That is admirable, in my opinion. Where I grow up and in my family, education is extremely important. It's expected of me to go to college, without question. In Tammy's society, it's not "frowned" upon if you don't put education first. Or even if you don't graduate high school. Where you grow up, will constitute the actions you make.

The Panel

This week in sociology, we were given the opportunity to listen to a panel of glbt students. There were four people who shared their stories and all of which were very powerful. They all are going through similar things, but their stories were all unique. It's so sad to hear all of this hatred that they went and still go through simply, because they do not share the same sexual orientation as another. By hearing their stories, it made me feel so bad. Obviously, you can have an idea of what they've been going through since they came out. However, it's nothing when you actually hear the stories. I'm so glad that we were given the opportunity to listen to the panel. I believe people may be ignorant because they just don't know enough. The hatred can stop if the knowledge is there, and I think the panel did an excellent job of not only telling their stories, but talking about what it actually means to be glbt.

Role of ads

This week in sociology we discussed how the role of ads plays a major role in our society. We watched a video today, saying that two years of our life in consumed by commercials. That is two years of staring at advertisements, that is crazy! We learned that genders play a key role in the way ads play out. For instance males and females/boys and girls are portrayed completely differently. A boy is characterized as the dare devil playing with his truck outside, while the girl is playing with her kitchen set in her room. I never even played attention to how even the setting of an ad is major. Girls grow up thinking that the ideal way of living is being a double zero with absolutely no blemishes, while a boy grows up thinking they can be adventurous and life will just take them where it will take them. Here is the Dove video of how the media fools us to believe models are perfect. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U. Through watching this video, it upsets me that our world has this mindset that if you don't look like the models on the cover of magazines, then you aren't beautiful. We also learned how there are phrases that characterize genders.

Nothing

This week in sociology, we were given a very interesting assignment. The homework was to do nothing. This sounds easy, but I found extremely hard. You had to do nothing for a minimum of ten minutes, and it look at least six minutes to stop people watching. I did it in school at the Point, where there were people constantly walking past me. I just couldn't focus on the task at hand. It helped to keep reminding myself to do nothing, and just have a clear mind. It didn't exactly go the way I would've hoped, but for like 30 seconds, it kind of worked. In my life, I've mediated, through an elective at a convention, a couple of times. There was a professional who helped us get to the mediation stage. There I found it very easy to mediate, and I loved that feeling of just having a clear mind. Therefore, I anticipated this assignment to be easy, but to my surprise it was very difficult for me.

G-d grew tired of us

This week in Sociology, we watched a movie, called "G-d Grew Tired of Us." It was about African American men from  Sudan who were living in poverty and hardships. A couple of those men were given an opportunity to leave Sudan and come to America, where their lives were changed. They hoped to come to this new country to work and get an education. With their new experiences, they had the goal to help their friends and family back in Sudan. When the men arrived to America, they experienced Cultural Shock. They were confused of how everything worked and of the new cultural and people surrounding them. I have never experienced cultural shock to this extend, however I have experienced cultural shock, in a very minor way. When I was little I went over to my friends house, who was Indian, and ate dinner there. Their dinner was a meal that I've never experienced before. All I was used to was grilled cheese and pasta, they served me a traditional Indian style dinner, which was filled with curry. I wasn't used to this style of cooking, but it opened my mind up to new ideas.

Culture Shock

This week in sociology, we discussed the idea of cultural shock. Basically this is the idea of which when you are exposed to a new/different culture it shocks you. It may not be a shock of weird but of disbelief, because of the differences a society has that yours may not. An example of this is in India (as well as other countries) many of their meals are eaten without the use of silverware.They just eat their meals in a different manner than us, Americans do. Another example is one that we talked about in class. This would be the different toilets around the world. To be honest, I never thought a toilet wouldn't be the same as the one I've been used to, until today. In Japan they have a very particular type of toilet. Culture shock is a very interesting concept and you don't have to go to another country to experience it. For example, if you slept over at your Chinese friend's house, you might be shocked to see them serving fish for breakfast. Culture shock can be found on much smaller scales as well.

In or Out?

This week in Sociology we talked about "In" and "Out" groups. When we got to class we were supposed to sit with a group of people wearing blue jeans if we were wearing blue jeans, and if we weren't wearing blue jeans we had to sit at a different table. Each table had to come up with different ideas on why the one group was or wasn't wearing blue jeans. Some responses were that they didn't have clean jeans, they didn't like jeans, they thought jeans were nice looking, etc.. This experiment reflected one done by Jane Eliott. Jane was a third grade teacher and one day she decided that everyone in her class with blue or green eyes was better than the people with brown eyes weren't as good. The children with the blue or green eyes were able to go to lunch first and were able to have five extra minutes for recess. One child took his authority to the next level and started calling one boy "brown eyes" just for the day. This experiment showed that once someone gives you just a bit of the upper hand, you take advantage of it. In today's society we see it with people stero-typing others or thinking they are better because they have something that the other person doesn't have. Even at school we see it, the Freshman at school always assume the Seniors are going to "penny" them because they are the new kids at school. It has always been what Freshman hear and it rarely happens (I've heard of it happening once) but Freshman are terrified to come to school. If you aren't a Senior you aren't on the "in" group and you could be looked down on just like in Jane's experiment the brown-eyed children weren't allowed to do the same things as the others.

Conflict Theory

This week in Sociology we learned about the Conflict Theory. Karl Marx studied how different classes have controlled society throughout history. To see how this theory effects others, in class we watched an episode of the TV show Freaks and Geeks. This show has a lot of different social groups in it. The "freaks" in the show are the burnouts who smoke during the school day and cut class when they feel like it. The "geeks" in the show are the guys who get good grades, aren't very athletic, and get bullied by the "jocks" in their grade. Throughout the episode Lindsay, who is one of the "geeks" sisters, steps up to help her brother who is being bullied by the bigger guys in the grade. She also asks this boy Eli to the homecoming dance because no one will say yes to him. This shows that even if you are from a different class of people, we are all human and know what is right to do in situations.

Sociological Mindfulness & Sociological Imagination

This week in Sociology we discussed sociological mindfulness and sociological imagination. Sociological mindfulness is why people act the way they do while sociological imagination is what and who has influenced people to become the people they are. I would have to say that my biggest influences are my parents and my brother. My mom is a teacher and always has been, when I was in 7th grade I went to school with her just for the day. Seeing the way she taught and the love she had for what she did most definitely influenced me into deciding that I want to go into education. My dad has influenced me in a different way. Since I was little he would say, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." All it took was for him to say it once to me and it makes me think about everything I do and if I don't do something in that moment will I have the opportunity again? Even though my brother is only two years older than me, I look up to him SO much. My brother pushes himself to do things others may not do. He is very determined and I strive to be like him. He doesn't give up when people bring him down and I think that is a very important quality to have. If I didn't have these three people in my life to influence me and the decisions I make, my life would not be the same and I don't think I would be anything like the person I am today.

Who am I?

10 facts about me:

1. I want to be a Teacher
2. I love the Chicago Blackhawks
3. My family is very important to me
4. I love Giraffes
5. I am a very organized person
6. I like warm weather
7. I have an older brother 
8. I like all bright colors
9. Country music is my favorite kind of music
10. Pizza is my favorite food