There are many things that I will never forget about this class. One of the lectures that will stick with me would be the suicide one. I have had a friend attempt suicide and another that committed suicide. It was hard to think about death and what people who committed suicide experience. I still do not like thinking about it. I will also remember all the times Sam asked someone to pick the blackest person in the class, or pick people who are down with brown. It was entertaining and I loved seeing people feeling uncomfortable. I will also remember the last lecture of this week talking about the stages of being comfortable with different races. This lecture puzzled me a little, and during it I was thinking why not just encourage kids not to go beyond stage one? After all if you look at stage one and compare it to stage six there is really no difference. Both don’t care about race and both are very comfortable with people of other races. So why go beyond stage one? Even Sam said most people don’t even go beyond stage two. Why not keep the thinking of a little kid, where everyone is your friend and it doesn’t matter that a person looks different. And looking different is even cool. I think race relations would be solved if we had the thinking of children on this matter. Who said growing up is better?

To tell the truth I have only been with one person, my boyfriend. At first I would not tell him that I didn’t because he never asked. Then when he started to ask he would be disappointed and he ego was hurt. The thing is though that it’s still enjoyable. Like Sam’s wife said, girls don’t always need an orgasm, would we like to, sure but it’s not the most important thing. If a guy asks a girl, and she says no, he better be prepared to do a little extra work. If you don’t want to do extra then don’t ask.
I also have a theory of why girls don’t say anything. Like Sam said in class this is a man’s world. In movies, tv, and porn the girls always have an orgasm. If that is all a girl sees and doesn’t ask anyone who has experience then she is going to assume that every time she will get an orgasm. So when one doesn’t come she think that she did something wrong, or that she is not normal. So if she acts like she did or doesn’t mention her not having one, that would make her seem normal.
Also like Sam said relationships do matter. By being in a good relationship you have a deeper connection than just lust. Also your more comfortable talking about your likes and dislikes if you have been in a long relationship. Everyone is uncomfortable with their bodies so why would you have that discussion with a stranger? Or for that matter have sex with a stranger?

To answer the question, we are improving education every year. America tries to make better teachers to hopefully teach kids more efficiently. This doesn’t always work though, better teachers tend to gravitate to schools that succeed more than they go to low economic school regions. One step would be to give equal funding to every school. The only draw back to this plan is that this would require schools to be more government controlled than publicly controlled. Not many people know that most of the funding for schools comes from local taxes and not federal taxes. That means that certain places get more money than others. Many people would be against the federal government being more in control because it means our government will be more socialist.
Most of the jobs Sam was talking about were in the science and electronic fields. There is a reason why other countries are ahead of us in this field. That reason I believe is they get exposed to these kind of classes sooner than we do. I don’t remember having a class for science other than natural science until middle school. And the computer classes were had just taught us how to use basic programs. If we were to study these things sooner than our scores and interest would improve. There is so many components to the education system that no one can really say that fixing this or that is really going to improve it. And what’s to say that putting more emphasis on science and math, won’t harm our scores on things we are decent at now? More effort and research need to go into these questions. Then hopefully one day our education system will be the best in the world.

I completely agree with the girl in the video. Sitting here I can not think of any thing that would be a middle ground. In my view there really is no middle ground, you either help them or you don’t. To add to that someone in our discussion class brought up a good point. Why are we raising money for Haiti when the American people need help on these reservations. Not that I think it’s bad to help Haiti but it brings me back to something I have heard many times. You can’t truly help others unless you help yourself first. Meaning you have to fix your own problems before you can help to fix another persons problems. I also think that we just can’t give them money we have to do something more. If we just give them money than they will just learn to rely on that money. The problem will be fixed but a new problem will come out of it. We need to help them make businesses and other things so they will be able to sustain themselves without the government’s help. Only then will this problem will be permanently fixed and there way of living will be increased. But again that plan really is not a middle ground. There is no such thing in my opinion, so why look for something that is not going to solve the problem?

Hand outs are something that I have always been taught to stay away from. At a young age the idea and principle of working to get opportunities has been drilled into me. I come from a family of farmers, so there was never an uncle in a big corporation. Both of my parents have gotten their jobs by their ability, never because they knew someone. The only time I have ever gotten a job through my parents is babysitting. But with that kind of job they have to know you, they are not just going to give their child to a stranger.
It honestly annoys me when people try to give me money for no reason. I say no to my parents when they try to give me money for textbooks, because they are paying my tuition so therefore I feel that it’s wrong to take any more money from them after all I do have a job.
If I was in the situation the guy from class was with the internship, I would never had told my uncle or who ever that I applied to it until they were finished with the application process. I would have felt guilty otherwise. My family feels the same way. This past year there was a scholarship that was in memory of my great uncle. There were only two people who were recommended for it, me being one of them. In the end though I didn’t get it. The other person did more activities in school than I did and also had gotten slightly better grades. But he was the better choice.
In my family we have a strong belief that the better qualifying person should get the job, after all it’s the right thing to do.

Not everyone is uncomfortable talking about a women’s periods. Most of the guys I hang out with will actually ask questions about it to understand better. Most every time girls are together we talk about how much we hate our periods and about our cramps. It has also been an open topic in my house as well. I have no problems talking about it at all. In class I really truly did not have my period or I would have raised my hand.
When I first started buying my own pads I was embarrassed caring around a bag of pads in the store. But after a while I stopped being embarrassed. My logic was, at least I need them.
To answer the question though I don’t think that this is really part of our freedom. I think it’s more of women being considerate of the others around them. Women for the most part knows who is uncomfortable with the subject so they will not mention it. It’s more respect and curtsy to other rather than women not having the freedom. Most other topics that are as awkward to talk about are the same way, just being considerate. After all it is really rude to bring up a subject that know one wants to talk about. Compare that to having an atheist in a catholic church.
It’s defiantly not something to be ashamed about, like Sam said it is a very natural thing. It’s definitely better to have your period than not be having one at all. If you think talking about your period is awkward, talking about teen pregnancy is even more so. Anyway it is really fun to see someone squirm when they see you carrying a bag of pads.

In that day’s lecture it didn’t surprise me that no matter your religious believes or lack of, we still go to the same place. It actually confirms what I was taught in church. My church emphasizes that Jesus died for everyone’s sins. Not just Christians but everyone. If Jesus and God forgave everyone then why would we not go to the same place.
Again everyone reported the same experience. This whole class just confirmed what I already knew. I was even more fascinated about the concept of reincarnation. I had read many accounts of reincarnation. They were very believable to me, but I have always interested in the odd and strange things in this world. I have believed in reincarnation before that class and all the stories have heard just confirmed that as well. None of my beliefs have changed during that class, they have instead been reinforced.

If I were to wake up tomorrow and everything said that God did not exist, I would still believe. The papers and news channels already lie to us, so I would think that this was just another lie. To not believe in God would make me feel like my life has been wasted. I Would need evidence that God did not exist. Now some people may ask me to show them evidence of God existing, and I would not have a hard time showing them. I would show them the trees, and the flowers, and my niece and nephew. I would show them these things because that is where I see God.
Belief in a God is not just something you grow up with, at least for me it’s not. It’s deeper than that. Believing in a God makes me feel safe because there is someone watching out for me. When I go through a hard time or I’m not sure about something I automatically turn to God in prayer. It comforts me in a way. It also feels nice to know that there is a plan for me, it means that I’m important and have a purpose.
I also like the sense of community religion brings about. I like going to church. I have many friends there, old and young. Everyone in my church loves and cares for each other. If someone is having a hard time we come together and make sure meals or anything else they need is provided for. This is something you would not find anywhere else.
I have gone on a couple mission trips and the people we helped, they had the strongest faith. I guess if you don’t have anything, all you have is faith. Faith creates hope that someday everything will be better. It was cool to talk to them. One women had read the Bible cover to cover six times in her life. The Bible was the only book I saw in her house. A man and his very sick mom broke down into tears because we sung her, her favorite hymn. Religion touches people to the core. It moves people to do extraordinary things that they would not ordinarily do. I could not imagine my life without religion.
Again it is more than just believing in a God it’s a community, it’s protection, and it’s comfort. Nothing would make me believe otherwise.

The reason why America has this fear of Muslims is because of 911. The people who threatened us and killed many looked Muslim. Sure 911 was years ago but since then the government targets people that look Muslim. For example in airports people who look even remotely similar get pulled aside and get pat down. Or even in stores I have noticed them being tailed by worried sales associates. This makes others think that if they are doing this than maybe I should too. This reminded me of a friend from high school, she didn’t trust anyone wearing a head scarf. She had lived just a couple miles away from New York City and had seen the smoke billowing from the twin towers. After that she constantly saw pictures of the terrorists who looked Muslim. That connection has always influenced the way she treats Muslims.
Sure I saw the news and the pictures too but I was missing that personal connection with the whole tragedy. To me the twin towers were just buildings, and I didn’t know anyone that was killed, nothing about it was personal to me. As I got older I learned that the terrorists had no connection with the other people other than the color of their skin. I think a person will be more open when personal feelings don’t get in the way of logic. I don’t think that this discrimination is going to stop in our generation. There are too many who keep this issue close, but I have hope for the next. As long as our generation does not force these ideals on to our children then they will have chance to reverse and end this discrimination.

Joining the military has always been in the back of my mind for a while now because many friends of mine have joined. I respect everyone who does join, but I don’t think I would ever want to. Sure I know that there are jobs within the military that are not in the “line of fire” but my mind always goes to the worse situation possible. Which now would be worse, because of the new law being passed that makes women able to be put on the front lines. I know that it would be for our country, so that everyone can be safe and so on. But it doesn’t mean I want to put my life out there. Sure it might sound selfish but I want to live my life! I want to die an old woman not die on a battle field. I want to command my own life, not follow orders.
Only recently have I really come to terms with my boyfriend being in ROTC and signing up in the near future. Just because it scares me. The same questions would pop into my head, “If he goes into action will there come a time that I will never see him again?” But I understand why he wants to do it and I support him whole heartedly.
The only time I could possible think about joining the military is if a new law makes it able for women to be drafted. If that happens and we end up going to war I would sign up in a heart beat so that I wouldn’t be drafted. For people who don’t realize it if you sign up voluntarily then I will have a choice in assignment, but when drafted your most likely going to end up on the front line.
So it pretty much comes down to me valuing my life too much and wanting to live out all my years.