For me, this lecture really didn’t really change my perspective about the war, simply because I’ve always known that the United States government was interested in oil, plain and simple. The people of the United have a fascination with the United States military, don’t get me wrong, the military does a great service, its protects its people. But what I don’t get is why people support it, when they are destroying another country. It’s horrifying what’s going over there, people are suffering, and innocent people are getting killed, over what? OIL? That’s total BULL (Sorry for my language), The US cannot take whatever they want by threat of force and fear. The USA is probably the richest country in the world (Like Sam said), so why do they need to take Oil from another country? It’s just frightening to see how a country and many lives are being destroyed, over Oil. I’m Venezuelan, born and raised, my countries main source of revenue is Oil, and my country does not have a very good relationship with the US government. But that’s not the point, and I’ve always feared that the US can decide to invade us and take our Oil. That brings me up to another part of Sam’s lecture; he showed a picture of an Iraq native shooting us military personnel, he asked the class, if they thought that this was ok, and let me say that I was really shocked with the outcome. The majority of the class thought that what the native was doing was WRONG, that he shouldn’t shoot at the US invaders, that he should just surrender his land to the US and give them HIS oil. It’s ridiculous, clearly if my country was being attacked, I would definitely fight back, is just that simple. Like Sam said of course they’re going to fight back, it’s their country, and it’s being taken from them. When you push somebody into a corner, expect them to fight back. That’s a saying that my uncle used to tell me, I never quite understood it, but after Tuesdays class, I can tell you, I get it now. Tuesday’s class was definitely my favorite class of the whole semester, I felt that Sam did a really great job talking about the war, and making us see it in a totally different way. I really think that many people came out of that class feeling differently about the war, and that’s pretty hard to do. I think what Sam did was pretty awesome because not many people have the ability to persuade and maintain interested 700 college students for an hour, so congratulations to Sam; after all this actually was THE BEST CLASS OF THE SEMESTER.

But that’s not the point, and I’ve always feared that the US can decide to invade us and take our Oil. That brings me up to another part of Sam’s lecture; he showed a picture of an Iraq native shooting us military personnel, he asked the class, if they thought that this was ok, and let me say that I was really shocked with the outcome. The majority of the class thought that what the native was doing was WRONG, that he shouldn’t shoot at the US invaders, that he should just surrender his land to the US and give them HIS oil. It’s ridiculous, clearly if my country was being attacked, I would definitely fight back, is just that simple. Like Sam said of course they’re going to fight back, it’s their country, and it’s being taken from them. When you push somebody into a corner, expect them to fight back. That’s a saying that my uncle used to tell me, I never quite understood it, but after Tuesdays class, I can tell you, I get it now. Tuesday’s class was definitely my favorite class of the whole semester, I felt that Sam did a really great job talking about the war, and making us see it in a totally different way. I really think that many people came out of that class feeling differently about the war, and that’s pretty hard to do. I think what Sam did was pretty awesome because not many people have the ability to persuade and maintain interested 700 college students for an hour, so congratulations to Sam; after all this actually was THE BEST CLASS OF THE SEMESTER.

The USA is probably the richest country in the world (Like Sam said), so why do they need to take Oil from another country? It’s just frightening to see how a country and many lives are being destroyed, over Oil. I’m Venezuelan, born and raised, my countries main source of revenue is Oil, and my country does not have a very good relationship with the US government.

For me, this lecture really didn’t really change my perspective about the war, simply because I’ve always known that the United States government was interested in oil, plain and simple. The people of the United have a fascination with the United States military, don’t get me wrong, the military does a great service, its protects its people. But what I don’t get is why people support it, when they are destroying another country. It’s horrifying what’s going over there, people are suffering, and innocent people are getting killed, over what? OIL? That’s total BULL (Sorry for my language), The US cannot take whatever they want by threat of force and fear.

This past week in Penn State has affected my life in such an important way; I might not even realize how BIG these past few days have been. I’ve been part of one of the most depressing weeks in Penn State history. The horrible accusations stating that Jerry Sandusky violated young boys over a period of 15 years, and that faculty members in the Penn State organization knew (Including Joe Paterno) but didn’t do anything about is just frightening. I came to this University with the understanding that it stood for something huge. That they’re job was not only to educate, but to form young men and women with high moral values. The thing is that over the past few weeks evidence shows me that this is not true, but the thing is I still believe that this school does stand for something bigger. About the riots and all the violence, I believe people outside of the university don’t understand what Joe Pa meant to everyone, he pretty much made this school, and he worked for 60 years in the university and made the football program one of the most successful in the United States. So when I hear on the news that everyone is saying that Penn State should fire coach Paterno, they’re pretty much saying that we let go part of our identity go, and of course many people are not going to accept that, like Sam said yesterday in class “Joe Paterno is Penn State” and of course that people are not going to be happy with such an important figure out of their lives. Regarding about what other people think about the Penn State community, I’ve had many friends from Venezuela ask me, why we’re making such a big deal over a football coach being fired. That’s a clear example about people being misinformed and not understanding what this “simple” football coach meant to each and everyone one of the Penn State community. One thing I am certain of is that nobody can question the greatness that comes with Penn State University. This school is going to define me as a person (I want to add that I mean that in a good way). These first few months at Penn State have already made a very big difference in my life, they’ve made me a better person and it has opened my eyes in a lot of various ways. I will always be grateful to this great institution for letting become what I believe is a good person. I will always defend my school because WE ARE PENN STATE.

I do not feel in any way uncomfortable when people are speaking another language around me. I think that language is such an important and personal aspect of a person’s life that I can perfectly understand why people need to talk in another to communicate with certain people. For instance, I am an international student from Caracas, Venezuela. My native language is Spanish. I think that going to college is a tough adjustment for anyone, and especially if you’re moving to a different country. For me it definitely was hard at first, because it had a lot of different things that I had to adapt to, the weather is different; the culture is different but the main issue I had to adapt to was the language. I knew how to speak English very well but I never had to use for an entire day, it was the only way I could communicate with people. At first it was kind of hard because after all it is my second language and I thought I had to get use to the idea in order to make friends and talk to my classmates. In the end I made some American friends but I also established friendships with people from other Spanish speaking countries like Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Dominican Republic ……the list could go on for a very long time. So naturally when I’m hanging out with them I speak Spanish, it’s only natural because it is the best way I can communicate with them. So sometimes when I hang out with both my American friends and my Spanish speaking friends I kind talk both English and Spanish. I do this because I don’t want to make my English speaking friends uncomfortable, because I can really notice when something is bothering them, and believe me it bothers them a lot when I’m speaking Spanish with my other friends ,because they don’t have the smallest idea what I’m talking about. On the other hand it’s really weird for me to speak English with my Latin friends because it’s not normally how we communicate. In the end I think it’s a matter of opinions whether or not someone is comfortable when someone speaks another language in front of you. In my case I do feel comfortable when people speak different languages in front of me, but at the other I can also see how some people might feel a little bit uncomfortable with that situation. Another example is that in my English class, many of my classmates are from middle eastern countries, so when they’re are discussing something they speak in their native tong (I don’t want to sound stupid but I think its Hindu or Arabic, I really can’t tell the difference ). Sometimes I want to know what they’re talking about, because they laugh really hard and I have to admit it intrigues me a lot. So I guess that it really depends on the person whether or no they feel comfortable with that situation.

I believe that the United States of America is what it is (the most powerful country in the world) because of the immigrants. I think that immigrants bring a lot to the table; they provide different customs, different ways of thinking and different traditions. I believe that a lot of countries have problems with immigration, but the US has in my personal opinion the biggest problem. I believe that immigration is good (I’m from Venezuela so of course I’m in favor about immigration), but there is a proper way of doing things. Immigration is divided into two groups’ illegal immigrants and legal immigrants. I know from personal experience that the process of becoming a legal immigrant is very time consuming and expensive, nevertheless it is the right way to do it. One of my best friends, who is Venezuelan, is now a legal immigrant in the United States. He told me that it took almost a year and a lot of money to get a visa for him and his family. Another thing that I found really interesting is when I asked him why his family wanted to move to the US? He told that they really didn’t, the only reason why they were moving there is because of the quality of life and the opportunities that a country like the United States can offer. Sam said that in class this Thursday that sometimes people really don’t want to become immigrants, but sometimes due to the fact that their country cannot offer the quality of life that they want, that’s why people decide to move to the US, because they offer the best quality of life possible. I know that many people say that immigrants take job opportunities from American citizens, that might be true but they have to see all the good things that immigrants bring to a great country like the US. After all it is the land of opportunities.

I don’t think that a person can be called a “poser” just because he’s hanging with people of different ethnicity or culture. I think that we have to take into consideration many facts and acts. I’m going to give an example from personal experience. I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, I’m white and I’m catholic. I attended for 12 years to a catholic school called San Ignacio de Loyola. It is one of the best schools in Venezuela (I just want to say that schools are really bad in Venezuela, and I was lucky enough to have a great education there), because they prepare you academically and they help you become a better human being. My school was not very expensive, quite the contrary, the tuition was very affordable and it was worth the investment because of the level of preparation the students get. That meant that many of my classmates had different cultures, ethnicities and economic situations. Since I could remember my school was always very diverse, so obviously our teachers always told us that we were all the same, that we had the same rights, that the color of our skin didn’t really matter,…. etc,etc,etc. So obviously I didn’t care about if my other classmates were different than me. In the end I made a ton of friends, some of them were very similar to me, but a lot of them weren’t. For instance my best friend is called Daniel, we’ve been friends since we were 6 years old, he’s the guy I tell everything and he’s the guy who knows me the best. Daniel’s father is a native Indian from the Sabana in Venezuela and he’s catholic. His mother is French and catholic. Daniel has a really weird color, because he’s brown but he has very light green eyes and kind of blond hair. Daniel and I have a different color tone and culture, but that doesn’t make me a “poser” because I hang out with him. I see a lot more than just his skin, he’s a great person and I always enjoy his company. But I still know that sometimes people aren’t really genuine and they act differently when they’re in the company of certain people. An example is that I have a guy in my floor, his name is Wes and he is an American, and every time I walk by he always gets nervous and starts talking to me in Spanish, saying racist comments like: Hola Paco or Donde esta la biblioteca Pedro?, and it really pisses me off because he doesn’t get that it’s not funny but it’s really racist. He acts and pretends like he is really my friend, but really he just acts as my friend, he really feels uncomfortable being around me and doesn’t act like himself and that bothers me.

Do I find myself using racial labels when I’m telling a story? YES. Do I do it on purpose? Not really. Before this class I never really thought of the fact about using racial labels in a story when it’s totally unnecessary. I realized that I do that all the time without really even noticing. So I asked myself why do I really have to use a racial label when I’m telling a story? Is it a really important detail in the story? And the answer is it really isn’t important to the story to add a racial label. So why do I do that? Why do I need to add that to the story? It really bothered me for a second. For instance if I’m telling a friend a story about a kid that accidently spilled a drink on me at a party, I would always say this black, Asian or white kid spilled a drink on me. I would have never said this kid spilled a drink on me. I always had to add the race. I think I did this because race is such a huge part of our life and we don’t even realize it, since I was little I think I’ve always used racial labels, I never realized it, but I definitely used them. I was born I raised in Venezuela, where in the last ten years our president Hugo Chavez has destroyed the Venezuelan society by stating that white people are the devil because they have all the money and that black and brown people are good because they work hard and they don’t steal. I believe that this is a very important aspect in my life because it’s all I’ve ever really known. In Venezuela race is such a big issue that subconsciously I use it on regular day basis. This class has brought to light what racial labels really are and when it is okay to use them. Sometimes racial labels are necessary but most of the times they really aren’t. I think I really recognize that now, and I’m going to fix that about myself, and I’m going to learn to use racial labels when they are really actually appropriate. Overall I think there are so many people like me that use racial labels when they aren’t really necessary, I guess it’s something really hard to overcome by the fact race is so present in our day to day lives. I think this issue won’t go away until race is no longer a factor in our lives, and honestly I think it will never go away, I think race is going to be present forever and there’s nothing that can make me think otherwise.

I thought the bike thieves’ video was really interesting but I wasn’t really surprised with the outcome. First of all the whole experiment was really well done, first of all they found two guys about the same height and age, they dressed them the same way and they robbed the bike in the exact same post, the only thing that was really different was their skin color or race, one was white and the other one was black. Then they found the most innocent white women in the world and put her to do the exact same thing as the male robbers .The first part of the experiment was seeing the reaction of the people that passed by the white thief. At first the video was hilarious, I couldn’t stop laughing, people just passed by and didn’t do anything, they would just look at the guy and mind their own business, some of them thought it was weird but didn’t do anything about it, only a few actually asked him what he was doing but with a vague response he easily got rid of them. Only one couple actually stopped and accused him of trying to steal the bike, one out of like a hundred people actually thought he was stealing the bike, which is outrageous if you asked me. It was now turn for the black thief, it only took a couple of minutes before the first person passed by him and immediately accused him of stealing a bike, it was crazy it only took a few minutes for the black thief to try and steal the bike and already somebody was accusing him, with the white thief it took about an hour until somebody decided to do something about it. The last part of the experiment was the only part of the experiment that really surprised me; they put a beautiful white woman to steal the exact same bike in the exact same post. She spends a few minutes trying to steal the bike and then suddenly a women appears is the first to accuse her of this crime, but the robber was very fortunate because the women was not alone she was with her husband, this is the part that actually shocked me, the husband HELPED HER steal the bike. It was crazy I couldn’t believe my eyes, at one point I even think the guy asked her if the bike was hers and she responded if it really mattered, and the guy still helped her out, it was shocking to say the least. In the end the experiment was a great success but like I said before I wasn’t really surprised (not including the women robber experiment). I think everyone believes that white people are incapable of doing something wrong and that black people are always associated with doing bad things, just like Sam said in class. The same thing with the women, white beautiful women are always associated with good, so when you see a women and it looks that she’s stealing a bike, you would never think that this was actually happening. This way of thinking needs to change but I think it’s going to take a lot of time to do so.