It is sad that I am scared to grow up, and I don’t mean I am scared to move out of mommy’s house or scared of the bills I will have to pay; I am scared because I do not know what the world will be when I get older. I am afraid the government is going to take my money, right out of my bank account if they need be…..I am afraid that humans will be over populated and run out of housing…..I am afraid that we will have no natural habitats left for the animals. It is sad that this is what our world is coming too. Now don’t get me wrong I do love all the luxuries and extra things we (humans) enjoy, but at what cost will we choose these luxuries? I feel like humans have become such hollow selfish creatures. We don’t care about anyone else on earth excepted ourselves; we would rather have a new and improved shopping plaza than keep the woods that once habited there. We would rather abuse animals in the food industry so we can make a bigger profit. Like I said I am a serious hypocrite for even writing this blog, because I love all the luxuries I am complaining about right now! I am not actively doing anything about how the animals are raised, not a thing I just go on eating my cheese burgers like nothing is wrong, I make myself sick sometimes. I know this is not the right answer but I am just following the crowd, I am not going to stop eating cheeseburgers or driving my car to help air pollution because it would be very hard to get through in today’s society if you were still in the stone age, as our technologies and things advance we as people must adapt our lives as well. For example, I wouldn’t be able to ride my bike to work; it would be socially unacceptable to go into work all sweaty. I sincerely hope that we as humans can find our balance in the world again. I don’t want us to become so reliant on technology that we cannot survive without it (not that we aren’t already there yet). Just think about all the new advances in technology we have had, most of which help humans out but at what cost. Another of many examples is a dam, we created them for a variety of reasons from making space for us to build houses to creating an energy source, but what has that done to our fish population? I want animals to actually have a place to live that wasn’t man made. I want to go to a real doctor later on down the road, not tell a computer what is wrong. I want to feel a sense of security that I haven’t felt in so long, a feeling that I get when I know I am doing the right thing, when I am not a all mighty human but just another creature on earth trying to coexist with all the other creatures on earth.
I absolutely hate the fact that we feel like we have to “keep up with the Jones”. Most developments are so focused on everybody looking similar that. They actually have rules on what you can do to your house or yard. Everything must look prim and proper. I know my mother is like this we try to go on a couple walks around our neighborhood a week, to get some fresh air and spend some time electronic free together, but every time we pass a house we have to stop and say why our house is better or what we need to do to improve how we look. The point of what I just said is we are jealous people, not just our family I mean our society in general. You may hate that pretty girl in school, not because of her personality but because you feel intimated by her. Same thing goes with why we hate the smart kids in school. Now I didn’t hate the smart kids but I wish I could be like them; they actually enjoyed doing their homework and I despised it. They flew through schools with A’s and I was just trying to not get expelled. I knew that they would get free rides to the schools they wanted, they wouldn’t have to worry about getting accepted and they would make a decent living for themselves and their families. Me on the other hand I’m struggling to pay for school and this may be for nothing if I can’t get accepted into the veterinarian program like my whole life is based on right now.
School just is not made for some people; in the 21st century you pretty much need a degree to live any sort of good life. Most jobs are requiring at least an associate’s degree. Some people like me have a hard time staying focused for so long or just need more time on certain things. I had a teacher in high school, who I absolutely loved, tell me that his secret to teaching his classes were he kept his lectures to about 8 minutes a point. He told me this was because that is about how long the average child’s mind was and after about ten minutes people start officially tuning out. He said he read a study saying must children were grown up watching television and they show about ten minutes of a show before a commercial hits (I just found that interesting). It must have some truth behind it though because I never met one student of his that did not enjoy his class. Also, students have different teaching needs and with our advance in technology I think the schools have been getting better about taking each students need into consideration. Majority will always rule, as it should but that doesn’t mean you don’t take the minority into consideration. Some people like to read silently, some like to be read to. Some people are visual learners other are auditory. Every teacher needs to find their teaching comfort zone but every student needs to find their learning comfort zone as well.
The story in our book makes a good point.. why have the obesity rates been rising so rapidly. You would think American being the modernized country that we are would be able to have enough research available for us to be able to be smarter and know what it good for us and what is not—but we don’t. I do not understand why there are so many views on what diets are healthy and what are not. Are carbs bad? Is high fructose corn syrup bad for you? I know for a fact I do not eat the best I think my favorite food is sour gummy worms, which I do not think there is any debate that they are not healthy. But they are ok to eat every now and then some people get so wrapped up in what are the right foods to eat they let it take over their lives. I have a lot of buddies who are into cross fit and paleo type diets. Which more power to them I would never be able to change how I eat that drastically in the world we live in now. But they refuse to eat anything that is not on their diet; they will eat a pound of bacon in the morning which I don’t think can be too healthy for their cholesterol or sodium levels. My father tried a no carb diet and his cholesterol shot through the roof and his lower legs would swell because of all the sodium in the meat he was eating. I have another buddy who only eats organic meats and vegetables, but I do think that you should be able to eat some breads or foods like that. He doesn’t eat fruit because of all the sugar in it but it is natural sugar and fruit is a main food group I don’t see how fruit can be viewed as unhealthy. I mean if you eat too much of anything I think it can be unhealthy but not a small portion a day. I would be fascinated to get compare their blood work to mine to see how all the diets and lifestyles compare. I have been trying to eat healthy but it is just so much easier if you are on the run to grab a granola bar on the way out the door or stop at subway, I can’t believe people can survive on these diets it takes some serious dedication. I think a little bit of everything is a well-balanced, good for you diet, but who knows for sure. Another point I wanted to bring up though was about children’s diabetes or “adult set” diabetes. The fact that we had to change the name for diabetes I believe should scream that there is a problem here! With parents and children’s busy schedules the quick fixes are the best option for them, the microwavable chicken fingers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Obviously the parents have a choice on what to feed their children but until we as a society decide to change our views on children’s’ food the marketing companies are still going to keep serving our kids the same old crap. I don’t think any child would pass up the opportunity to have chocolate milk and pizza, especially for green beans and grilled chicken; and no party is complete without pizza.
I am a female and am very proud of it, I do not wish I was a male, but sometimes I do think it would have made my professional life a lot easier. I don’t know if I feel this way because of old fashioned stereotypes or if it’s just the idea that the grass is always greener on the other side. I love high heels, shopping and getting my nails done so I guess I am happy to be a girl in that regard because it would probably be mildly frowned upon me walking around in my high heels if I was a guy. In the same sense though I am probably the biggest tomboy girly girl you have ever met in your life. I love to shoot things, being outside and camping. I grew up being the only girl in my family, I have brothers and my cousins are also males, so I guess that is the reason why I can be such a tom boy. The reason I think it would be easier to be a male is because I am in the military which as much as I hate to admit it, it is a man’s world. Everything is geared towards men from the fact that they don’t have “girl” sizes to people’s attitudes. Females have a stigma about them that we are not as strong and are all “no good” to be in the “man’s world”. So I feel if I put in the same amount of work as a male, I am not doing enough I need to go above and beyond just to be accepted that I am not just some sissy girl. I need to work twice as hard to get a promotion and we need to work twice as hard to gain the other soldiers trust. If I am in the same position as a male, the male will get chosen for the task instead of me; even if I am a little more qualified they would rather have men. It is so frustrating to put all my hard work and effort into something just to get rejected because I am a woman.
Like I said before I am not saying men have it any easier life or anything along those lines… I do not hold any resentment towards anybody; you cannot help what you were born with. I understand men have their own difficulties, I bet a male trying to become a nurse has some similar internal feelings that I do about being in the opposite genders “world”. I think if I was not in the military I would not have such strong feelings about the gender differences, though. In any other job or position in life being a female has not helped me succeed but nor has hindered my abilities to go where I would like in life. That is all I ask for is a fair chance to show my abilities and be able to succeed in my job.
I think we (as Americans) put too much emphasizes on different races and ethnicities. Yes, there are important reasons we need to understand the differences in different races and ethnicities. I am an emt-b and different groups of people have greater risks of certain diseases and health problems. So it is important to recognize that people are different and are built differently. Also, people from different countries, with different ethical backgrounds, may view the world in completely different lights; they may eat different foods and have different traditions. Also, like in our writing groups it is good to hear others opinions, you may be able to elaborate on your ideas in ways you may not have thought to before. These are all reasons that it is good to embrace our differences.
The reason I think we (as Americans) put too much emphasis on racial and ethnic differences are the fact that humans are humans no matter what color, race, or your beliefs are. All humans have the same basic needs being: food, shelter, water and air. It is true that some “groups” of people do tend to believe in certain ways, but I believe that is because of how people are raised. America may be the melting pot but we tend to live and be more comfortable with “our own”. An example of this is people of different races tend to live by each other, like southern Florida has a majority of Puerto Ricans. But a Puerto Rican raised in America will have more American values and views than one from Puerto Rico. I think with each generation that was raised in America they become a little more “Americanized” and less rich with a Puerto Rican values. They probably moved to American to achieve the “American Dream”, with this I mean freedom and not so much the white picket fence, so they are more apt to change their thought process and adapt to American views. There is a reason why we call Mexicans that live in America Mexican Americans and Asian Americans, because they have more American views on life. Obviously there are exceptions like the slaves that we brought over, but after living here and being free they have too started living the American dream, and I believe if they did not want that then they could easily leave. It is harder to get into America than it is to leave (I would hope but immigration issues would be a whole different topic) all I am trying to say is that America is not a prison, nobody is locked in so something must be keeping everybody here; and everybody includes all races and ethnicities.
With all this being said yes someone from India and someone from America may have completely different views but I just focused my blog on different races and ethnicities living in America. If I hadn’t then this could have gone a completely different way but I think most people can agree that someone who has grown up in especially third world countries is going to have different outlooks on life from someone from a more modernized country.
God do I miss being a child, you had almost no worries, no English papers due or exams to take. I think what I loved most of all of being a child is how selective our memories are. I can honestly say I do not really remember any bad times when I was very young. It is like our brains shut those out of our minds so we can grow up to lead a happier life. There are only a few memories I have and they are all happy ones. My parents are divorced and I guess I was a bad divorce but I don’t ever remember them fighting or anything like that. I do remember my mom taking me to the zoo and my dad taking me swimming which are all again happy memories. I am sitting here trying to understand why this could be and I think I have come up with a logical answer. People take pictures of happy times, you take pictures at birthday parties and concerts, but you never take out a camera during a fight or a funeral. So maybe my brain didn’t repeal the bad memories maybe I don’t remember anything at all, maybe I just saw pictures and created ideas and images of how I believed that day should have went. I just find the brain to be such a fascinating topic, it is what about a 3 pound organ and yet it controls everything we do from breathing to comprehending something. The brain helps us remember things but also helps us to forget things; it shapes our beliefs and who we are as people. I believe that our past memories help mold us into the people we are today. Being able to suppress bad memories and not let them control our thoughts is what keeps us sane and allows us to believe that there is hope in things and move forward as a better person. Your years as a child are most important to molding who you are and I believe that is why our brains choose to forget the bad things when we are young so we are able to have a fresh, happy look on life.
Every minute is a minute away.
christinelizabeth456 