Blog Homework #3

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/trayvon-martin-case-timeline-of-events/
From my understanding, Trayvon Martin is a 17 year old high school student who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain. Zimmerman said this was due to self defense but other allegations offer a different perspective of what happened. This could be a case of racism and scrutiny of how the police handled the situation. Zimmerman was not arrested for his homicide because the police took his word that he did this out of self defense. This sparked outrage among not only the local community, but also the whole country. My question is why does a neighborhood captain have a gun in the first place? I never knew there was such a thing as a neighborhood captain and even if there was why would this man even be allowed to be in this role. This man clearly was a bad man so I am wondering why the neighborhood even allowed him to be a neighborhood captain. I honestly think that it is absolutely crazy that Zimmerman was not arrested. Martin is a young boy who only had skittles and an iced tea walking back to his home when he was clearly a victim of racism. This is in a way tied back to the times when racism was extremely prevalent in society. Blacks would be killed for none other reason than for their skin color. There could be other reasons that could have resulted in Zimmerman thinking Trayvon looked suspicious but there was absolutely no reason to shoot this kid and take his life away from him.  I was actually really sad reading about this incident because Trayvon is only 17. Trayvon had his whole life ahead of him but it was taken away from a heartless criminal who deserves to be put in jail. I can't imagine the immense amount of pain his family is going through. Honestly If I was Trayvon's brother I would even want Zimmerman arrested, I would have wanted him executed. Why is this man still free after killing a child for no good reason? I hope to god that this man gets what is coming to him. This does not really relate to how this case could be products of ones environment because people like Zimmerman are found everywhere in the world.

Blog Homework #2

"How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents" is a novel that was written by Julia Alvarez. The story is about the lives of four sisters beginning with their adult lives in the United States and Concluding with their childhood life in the Dominican Republic. The family was forced to flee from the Dominican Republic because the father was opposed to a dictatorship rule at the time The author focuses particularly on Yolanda’s character which is portrayed as protagonist. "How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents" was a very interesting read. I did not fully enjoy reading the book because I could not completely relate to any of the sisters but I found each of sisters stories compelling to read. It is quite clear that the American woman is more independent compared to the Dominican woman. The American woman is free to do whatever she wants to do without having to follow someone’s orders and rules. In Julia Alvarez book, How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents, Laura, the mother of the four girls is described as “beginning to spread her wings, taking or learning adult courses in real estate and international economics and business management and dreaming of a bigger-than-family-size for herself.   It is therefore clear that Julia Alvarez has portrayed a great difference between American and Dominican women in terms of their social role in the novel, How Garcia Girls lost their Accents. It is evident that an American woman is more empowered and independent compared to a woman form the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic still lives by the traditional ways that dictated women to be passive, obedient and submissive. Laura and her daughters embrace the American way of life and hence gain the much desired freedom and independence that encourages personal growth.   

Blog Homework #1

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/09/08/is-a-college-degree-worth-the-price-census-bureau-has-the-answe/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/blog/is_higher_education_worth_the.php

http://www.startribune.com/business/yourmoney/137282298.html

In my opinion even though many students are in debt after taking up loans for a college education, the degree is worth the cost. With the economy currently in a bad state, there is great risk in investing in a degree for college education. Many critics argue that the value of college is inflated and for the majority, not worth the cost. This is a reasonable argument strictly due to the condition of the economy and employment rates dropping, but a college education opens up new doors of opportunities and provides numerous career prospects for its graduates. Although paying off student loans are troublesome in the aspect that the income of an employed is decreased and the unemployed are further in debt, based on recent statistics there is a trend that shows those who earn degrees are less likely to be unemployed. College education is a big leap forward for those looking to persevere in life. The tuition can be an obstacle that many face but thanks to government aided programs, student loans are offered out to the people who cannot afford the full college tuition. These loans will eventually have to be paid off but in the long term the investment is definitely worth the cost. Various analyses and statistics show that those with a college education not only benefit in terms of a lower unemployment rate, but the annual salary is significantly higher than that of a high school graduate with no college education. Even factoring in student loans into first year college graduates, the annual salary is still substantially higher than an employed worker with only a high school degree. At the current state the US economy is in, there is no surprise that these rates will continue to grow. That is why there needs to be an increase in the amount of people to graduate with college degrees.

Blog #6 (Make-Up) I was absent

The thing that you would recommend for everyone is...
I would strongly recommend for everyone is no matter what happens, don't let anyone tell you, you can't do something. No matter how cheesy or cliche it sounds if you are willing to work at something with dedication and diligence, the sky is the limit. Obviously there are some cases that may seem impossible for example getting into Harvard but even though some goals may be unrealistic you have to take what you have learned so far and make the best of what you got. The majority in this world are unsatisfied with how their lives are and how their lives ended up. This is because life is difficult and not fair in any way but one thing everyone can do is at least make an effort to make the best of things. We should all try to experience new things whether it be a profession, activity, or even love. There is always something out there for everyone. I believe everything happens for a reason and although controversial sometimes fate seems to cease to exist. If we can somehow change the way we live for a more positive outcome perhaps we can change what is destined to come later. 


The thing that annoys me the most is...
Personally a lot of things annoy me about life that I can't even begin to grasp the gist of these things in one paragraph. Since I can choose only one I will choose none other than the way the world works in my eyes and my life. My life is extremely boring and nothing ever happens. I don't really try in school and never have but I get good grades only for my parents. My mind always shifts and doesn't focus really on my life but on life as a whole. When I look at pictures on websites of photography or beautiful pictures that were created I always think to myself there is so much to this life I wish I could see and know it all. Life is indeed short and no one can experience everything in life. I think too much and I wish I could stop it but this was the way I was born. I feel like I just want to let go of it all and escape reality. It really annoys me how complex life can be. I wish it were more simplistic but it will never be. It annoys me how harsh school life can be and on top of that the after getting out into the real world it only get harder. Life is no simple thing but everyone experiences different things that make their life unique and interesting. These moments shape our lives and give us reasons to keep going in life just as I have been doing.


There are 3.5 months left of my Junior Year of high school (we hope). During this fleeting period of adolescence, before I leave for the summer, I plan to...
I can't believe how fast Junior Year is going for me. Although it is definitely the hardest year of my high school career it definitely went faster than I expected. I still have much to do including taking the PSSA's and the SAT's. I don't really care much about the PSSA's because it just doesn't seem to cross my mind or stress me as much as everything else does. I have been going to an academy every Saturday to study for the SAT's and I am really regretting not trying. I am wasting my time and my mom's money for something that can make or break my college application. As much as I hate studying it is what I have to do especially with only 3.5 months left in this school year. On top of SAT's I still have to take the finals at the end of the school year which I also hate. Before I leave for the summer I have to try my best so I don't upset my parents. I have to try my hardest and be willing to work hard to  make my parents happy. I also have to finish getting credits for my clubs and start doing community service outside of school. These are also very important in my college application. Hopefully I can finish everything that way I can look back and be proud of myself for the things I accomplished. 

Blog #7

A work of art I have enjoyed would be Epik High's Over. The first time I heard this song was last year and I really enjoyed not only listening to the music itself but the lyrical meaning of the song. I am a big fan of Epik High because their songs always have meaning. Epik High used to be a very popular Korean group so they produced Korean songs. One of the members from this group is a Korean-American student who graduated from Stanford University so the lyrics that he writes have a lot of literary and figurative meaning. Since he is fluent at the English language many times he writes songs that are in English and "Over" is one of them. One can tell just by hearing the lyrics that the artist thinks a lot about life and what it means to struggle after succeeding. One thing I do not like about the song is that not everyone can relate to this person but only a select few who have succeeded at a top level. This is understandable because he cannot relate to those who are average or those who do not even try. Like I said before, the person who wrote this song graduated from Stanford and the struggles and problems that he had to overcome were extremely difficult especially coming from a Korean culture. Him being at the top of his class and all those people who are the top of anything whether it be sports, business, etc., where do they go from this point? This is evident through the lines "You are an overachiever do what it take 'til it takes everything you are." Every line of every verse is beautifully developed with strong meaning to it. "Fate pushing you to the wall like a thumbtack" this line particularly sparks my interest because fate is a very controversial thing to believe in. Fate is the belief that the events and everything that happens in someone's life is already pre determined. As much as I would not like to believe this sometimes I am forced to. Many people wish to believe that one can determine their own fate meaning fate does not exist and the choices and events that are presented to us are based on what we perceive it as. To this artist fate is something that no matter how hard we try, we cannot change it. So instead, "Keep on going, and taste the stars, Keep on growing, and raise the bar". 
 

Blog #4 make-up (I was absent the day we did this)

Musicians and the concept of “selling out” - MIA’s Superbowl Halftime appearance:
This article is entirely opinion based. I chose this article because I remember seeing a movie called "Slumdog Millionaire" and the main theme song for that movie was called "Paper Planes" by MIA. I really liked this song so I knew that this article sparked my interest because I knew it dealt with MIA and I wanted to see another persons perspective of her because all I know of her is that she has an accent when she speaks English and her song Paper Planes was very popular. This article mentions during the Superbowl halftime show, MIA stuck up her middle finger to the camera. This making MIA seem like she is not someone that young people should look up to but she does represent a sense of authenticity. I can't really summarize the whole article into a short response, but what I can say is that the author seems to have a deep interest in MIA and her motives. It seems as though MIA's intentions and goals can somehow shift the views of people in terms of artistic vision. This article was very interesting to me as I read and got deeper insight on MIA.


Elie Wiesel challenges Mitt Romney’s Church:
I chose this article because Elie Wiesel is the author of a book called Night. I had read this book last year in literature class and it really stunned me to read about a first person perspective of someone who was suffering in the Holocaust. I think it would be very interesting to read about the life of an author of a Nobel Prize winning book. I would want to see if his motives are still the same. As a nobel prize winner for his book, Elie combated intolerance, in this case the posthumous proxy baptism of Jews. Wiesel seems to have taken a rather serious approach to this conflict. He says he objected fervently to this situation and hopes Mitt Romney will do something about it. I agree with Elie in the sense that the Mormon church is really doing something wrong. I personally believe that everyone should respect each other's religions regardless of what they believe in but what the Mormons are doing with their proxy baptism is an insult to every Jew, Christian, Muslim, etc. On a side note, aside from the proxy baptism I never really took into account the religious differences that Mormons have to other types of Christians (Catholics, Presbyterian, etc). I really hope Wiesel gets his voice heard because this is clearly a very serious case. 


One of the many current national “takes” on New York Knicks basketball star-in-the-making, Jeremy Lin:
Jeremy Lin is a true underdog story. Currently, he is the star of the New York Knicks but before that, he was just another wannabe basketball player. Lin graduated from Harvard University with a 3.1 GPA in Economics. It is true that if he failed his basketball career, he would have still probably succeeded in life but playing basketball was Lin's main goal. Lin played basketball for Harvard and even though he was a good player, he was never drafted after his college career. He was picked up by the Golden State Warriors and did not really stand out because his playing was not phenomenal. He was later traded to the New York Knicks where his true potential started to show. He lead the Knicks on an 8 game win streak and scored more points than Kobe in the game vs the Lakers. Lin is the epitome of a genuine underdog. Lin plays with much professionalism and is never hesitant when he is playing on the court. He makes big plays and does not hesitate in accomplishing them. Hopefully Lin can keep up his success because it is always refreshing to hear a story of a person that went from nothing to the next big thing. 

Blog #5

1. Sophia, the youngest daughter of the Garcia family who has caused an immense amount of problems in the family specifically towards her father. When Sophia was young, she was known as a girl who had non stop boyfriends. Her father Carlos was very ashamed and angry towards Sophia because it shamed the family name. Sophia eventually met a German man named Otto after she broke up with her previous boyfriend while vacationing. They would send each other love letters. These love letters very strongly sexual and Carlos got ahold of them. After reading the letters Carlos got extremely angry and yelled at Sophia. Sophia could not take living with her father anymore and ran away from home. She went to Germany somehow and met up with Otto. They got married and had 2 children. Currently in the story, Sophia is not a young girl anymore. She is a mother now who now makes her won decisions without the consent of her father. Even though Carlos and Sophia tried reconciling their relationship, Sophia made it worse by sexually biting her father's ear embarrassing at his own birthday party. This represented that Sophia was embraced in the American ways of sexual independence.

2. Laura is the perfect example of someone who brings much "positivity" to the story. She comes from a very wealthy family and is very proud of her family name. Even though her four daughters have gone through many problems making circumstances difficult to face, Laura defends her daughters individuality and constantly supports her daughters through their mental breakdowns. Although many problems are prevalent thus far that relate to the daughters problems, Laura shows that there is still good to a story full of negativity. I find it pretty astounding that someone can still make their children out to be great kids even through all the problems that were faced. These daughters are not some ordinary daughters that are faced with problems that many daughters face today. Each daughter as their own story that makes them an individual but the story of each of these daughters are not something to be proud about especially if you are the parent of these children. Laura is a good person at heart and represents a lot of what a good mother should be like.

3. Jeremy Lin is the epitome of one of the most influential stories of an underdog in today's society. Yes, he did graduate from Harvard and majored with a degree in Economics that he could have fell back on if he failed to succeed in the NBA but instead, he worked hard to become a top prospect for the New York Knicks. Jeremy Lin is the first American born Asian-American playing in the NBA. He wasn't even drafted and was originally on the Golden State warriors. He wasn't a necessarily a bad player but he definitely wasn't a good player when he played for the warriors. The warriors dropped him and he was eventually picked up by the Knicks. Lin is a success on the Knicks leading them to beat many defeats including the Lakers. No one really saw much potential in Lin because his first showing in the NBA was not very exciting and lackluster but he worked extremely hard at basketball to become a breakthrough success for the Knicks. I'm sure Lin will continue to work hard at his game and lead his team into the playoffs.