Journal Entry #11

I'd say the most noticeable change that I have experienced is a change in mood or behavior. Now I am much more mellow and laid back, where as before I was pretty laid back but I was rather quick to anger or aggression. That might have been because of the things that were going on in my life but that is definitely not an excuse for behaving in that manner. I think the main reason I had a lot of anger the last year was based on when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is more than fine now, but that was a huge deal for me to go through. My attitude, grades, and even social life were what really changed I did not enjoy the usual interactions with friends. I did not care for academics at all really, and I was just in a funk so to speak. But this past year I have found that nothing seems to really phase me. I don't get worked up about the little things any more. It takes a lot to get me to really show that something's bothering me. And because of this I have been able to focus better in school and also enjoy pretty much everything a lot more. It takes too much energy being mad or angry with things that are going on around us, it is much easier just going with the flow and not let the little things bother you.

Journal Entry #10

Out of the four poems that we had to read for class today my favorite was most definitely "Soybeans" by Thomas Alan Orr. This was my favorite because it is rather easy to relate to being from the mid-west and while I have lived in the city my whole life kind of grown up around the agricultural side of things too. It is definitely apparent in South Dakota the whole chewing tobacco, old beat up truck driving, farmers that you run into around the middle of South Dakota. When I read this poem it made me think of a good friend of mine who does some farming on the side, and chews tobacco. I guess it is just easy for me to relate to this one and that is why I enjoyed reading it so much more than the other three poems. It is also weird thinking that someone does not know what soy beans are when you've grown up in this part of the nation. It's like how can they not know what they are, or why would they invest that much money in something that they know so little or even nothing about.

Response paper #3

Public Space
Walking through the halls in high school it is incredibly obvious that we are not a nation of one or two nationalities, but many. When looking at the incredible diversity that there is today it is no wonder that there has been so much progress in the last fifty years towards racial equality. In a nation that is steadily becoming more and more diverse, it becomes noted that the common language while it may still be English it is becoming more and more difficult to communicate with each other as we become more and more culturally diverse. While there is the issue of public space and what is acceptable or not acceptable in regards to one’s own language preference I think that it is imparative that there be some common ground.
Today our nation is faced with the issue of should there be a national language, and the answer is most definitely yes. With out the common grounds with language we are not a nation united but a nation divided into multiple different nationalitys. Until there is that common ground of being able to communicate with one another flawlessly and living together we will never have the unity that we strive for day in and day out.
The issue then comes into play of public space. Public space is the area where anything is acceptable when it comes to languages. That is perfectly acceptable. The issue at hand is not whether or not people are communicating with friends and family via Spanish, German, or French; however the issue comes in when there is no common ground between all of these, and there can be no cross over to communicate with those outside the specific nationalities. Public space is just that public space. People do have the freedom of speech, and they are free to what ever speech that may be. When it comes into an issue of communicating ones needs to another, there is the point when there needs to be some common ground.
Nationality is what makes the United States superior to the rest because in quantity we have the greatest amount of people and the widest variety of the world’s different nationalities and ethnic diversities. While we do have the most diverse crowd, we have the lowest quality of nationality, being that we struggle communicating with one another. Until there is the commonality of understanding a national language and being able to communicate with one another fluently there with never be a greater sense of nationality. It has been said that “United we stand, divide we fall”, we truly are divided, and currently we are falling, if we do not figure this issue out we are headed for disaster.

Journal Entry #9

My favorite song would have to be Lose Yourself by Eminem. To me the message behind it is about a man who is strongly to make his mark in the world, and trying to truly find himself as a person. It is a feeling that I believe everyone can relate with. Everyone has times in their lives when they lose themselves and do not know who they really are anymore, and it is this struggle to find oneself again that makes us who we are as people. Also the title itself means to just jump in and go with the flow of what you feel is right. Do not put so much thought into it just go with what you're inspired to do. Another great feature to the song is simply the beat behind the lyrics, its not an in your face rap song and that is the main reason I like it so much. The fact that it is not in your face talking about having sex with prostitutes and doing drugs is the key for me. I like that it actually has an intelligent meaning behind what is being said in the song. I could listen to this song over and over and not grow tired with it, where most rap songs you hear it three or four times and it kind of becomes old news so to speak.

Roots of Racism Response

The most important line that should be taken from this article is, "So, that's the bad news: we're all racists. But there's good news, too: we're all racists." This is the most important line in this article because it defines our society as it is today. Everyone is quick to stereotype or racial profile someone just by their appearance. A person that claims the opposite is should be accused of lying, because it is this closed mindedness towards the idea of racism that keeps it as a negative thing, instead of making progress towards it being a good thing. If people are more open minded and realize that their appearance does strike the minds of others as positive or negative then there will be room for change. You look at a man wearing baggy clothes with his pants half way to his ankles and you're going to think gang banger, or hoodlum, whether he is white or black. Now if that man has a positive impact on you somehow there will be a shift of the stereotype in your mind. Now I'm not proclaiming that everyone needs to fight for change or fight for their look to become positive but it should be so that people need to work together to make an impact on society whether that impact is negative or positive. Everyone stereotypes in some way or another it is the way of the world it is how we relate with those who are around us, this doesn't have to be a bad thing, it is what we make of it.

Journal Entry #8

When I was in my high school algebra class. I had a friend in that class who was hispanic, him and I would talk while class was going on and would seldom pay attention to what was going on in class. The teacher would always tell my friend to quit instagating the conversations when in fact it went both ways between us. Finally the teacher sent my hispanic friend to the office for disturbing the class and I immediatley got up thinking that I was supposed to go to the office as well. The teacher asked why I was leaving his class and I stated that I was talking just as much if not more than my friend. He told me to sit back down so he could get on with the class discussion. I didn't say another word I just left the room and walked down to the office with my friend. This was ridiculous how I blatently admitted to being the cause of the classroom disturbance but the teacher thought that I should stay in class for whatever reason as opposed to allowing my friend to remain in the class.

Journal Entry #7

The man in my life that I admire most would probably have to be my father. He has worked for everything that he's obtained in his life. He always knows the answer to any problem that I may be having with whatever the situation might be. Whether the problem is school, work, or just social problems he always has a way of putting things in perspective for me. Like most father and son we do not always get along or see eye to eye on things, but when it comes down to it I always know that he'll be there to help me through the rough patch that I find myself in. He has always been pretty supportive of all the activities that I've been involved with, and I will always appreciate that. He always made an effort to be at every one of my sporting events whether it was football, wrestling or basketball he always tried to be there. I guess the biggest thing for me was that I could always tell how disappointed he was if he missed one game. If he missed a game he always asked about the details; although at the time I found it annoying I greatly appreciate it now. No matter what I would do to disappoint my parents he was always the one who came forward and put it into perspective saying some clever remark like now you've learned. That is why my father is the male that I most admire in my life.