I suppose there were plenty of factors that contributed to my choosing to go to Penn State, most of which were by chance. Growing up, the thought of college rarely ever crossed my mind because it was assumed that I would never be able to attend college. Sure, I had the capacity, but I lacked the resources and the support. I mean, what’s a foster kid from Kansas supposed to do with their life? Grow out of the system, get a mediocre job, and reproduce. However, completely by chance, a family from Connecticut stumbled across my profile and decided that they wanted me to join their family. They were a well educated family that expected me to graduate high school and go on to college, and so the pressure was on. They insisted on going over colleges and their reputations as well as which was best for the price and distance, so I didn’t really have a choice as to whether or not I was going.
However much I may love my family and my home now, I miss the Midwest, and that played a large role in my choosing Penn State. Sure, Pennsylvania’s not as flat as Kansas, but the atmosphere and the countryside just remind me of home. Most of the people I’ve met here are very laid back and have warm personalities, which is what I grew up around. Connecticut is quite the opposite and I missed the closeness of people, even when they’ve just met for the first time. The only thing I didn’t miss about the Midwest, was the lack of diverse cultures. Ever since moving to Connecticut, I’ve met so many people from so many backgrounds and I love meeting new people and learning more. While Penn State doesn’t seem very diverse, it had higher percentages than other colleges did for the major I wanted to pursue. I originally decided on a Business Management major and had heard that Penn State’s Smeal program was really good for business. I had also heard that it was a good place to network.
However, the ultimate reason I chose Penn State, which may seem silly to some, was how I felt the first time I saw the campus. I don’t really know how to explain it other than it took my breath away. I saw cheerful students making their way to class while chatting with new found friends. I saw beautifully manicured lawns that seemed to invite me to lay on them and soak in the warm summer sun. And even when it started to rain, the campus continued to look beautiful and inviting. It seemed like a beautiful oasis that I could lose myself in so that I could then find myself.

I believe that you have the option to choose which gender to express yourself as. While you may be born one gender, there are now medical procedures that can partially change your anatomy. The option is also there for you to choose the gender that you are. I was born female and I choose to express myself as a female because that is the gender that I am happy being. At the same time, I enjoy things that may be considered masculine such as playing a friendly game of football with my friends. Just as there are women who prefer to dress as men and men who prefer to dress as women. I believe that in some cases, you can choose your sexual orientation and in others, you can’t. It’s a fine line. I know women who recognize other women as being attractive, but prefer men and I know men who recognize other men as being attractive, but prefer women. At the same time, I feel that sexual orientation is like love in that you don’t really choose who you love or are attracted to, but you can choose whether or not to act on those feelings. There was a question last week about dating outside of your race and I feel that this is the same thing just with gender instead of race. There are people you just are or are not attracted to, be it because of their race, gender, hair color, height, weight, or what else have you.
I feel that socially, the idea of someone expressing their preference in their own gender is becoming more acceptable. Sure, there are still people out there who will ridicule, harass, and attack those who act on the choice to express themselves as a different gender, or prefer their own gender. At the same time, there are a lot of people who support them and their decisions, like me. I am convinced that there will be more acceptance of this as a couple more generations pass. The more that people accept the differences between themselves, the less acceptable bashing them will become and then, this too shall pass. The prejudice against African Americans has proven just that. Sure, there are still racists, but to publicly voice that opinion is looked down upon and acting upon it is now illegal. And after the African American racism was deemed immoral and illegal, sexism was deemed immoral and illegal, and I believe that eventually gay bashing will be deemed immoral and illegal. Just in time for some new difference in humans to become the new prejudice to fight about.

I have absolutely nothing against interracial couples whatsoever. I, myself, have dated outside of my “racial group” and have been attracted to men of other colors as well as my own. The color of the man’s skin doesn’t have any sort of impact on how I feel about them as a person and I don’t see why it should bother anyone else. Sure, I have my preferences of what I consider to be attractive and that happens to be tall and medium dark, but I’ve been attracted to, and very happy with, people who don’t fit that description whatsoever.
I also have friends who have dated someone of another race and their relationships have been just as happy and complicated as anyone else’s I know. To be honest, it warms my heart and I get a happy feeling when I see couples of different races because it shows acceptance on a whole new level. I suppose another reason that interracial couples and children don’t seem unnatural to me is that I have a half sister who is half black and I love her to death. Her race doesn’t matter to me, nor does her mother’s race and mine and my father’s doesn’t matter to her. She is my sister and that’s that. End of discussion.
The only things about dating outside of my “racial group” that I have a difficult time with, are the hateful people who have said horrible and racist things to one or both of us. Unfortunately, one of those hateful people is another sister of mine who is all white. She doesn’t accept our half sister either and this has caused our relationship to become tense. While it hurts me that our relationship is only hanging by a thread, being able to be romantically with whomever I wish of whichever race they are is more important to me because it’s the rest of MY life. I’m the one who will wake up to them every morning and go home to them every night, not her, and not anyone else.
What does skin color matter anyway? As Sam said in class, all of our features were most likely developed as a means to survive and there is no shame in combining features. We have less need to keep the “preferred” features alive with all of our technological advances so we have no need to keep like features together. I could understand if we were all cavemen fighting for survival of the fittest, but we’re not. I also understand if your preference happens to be your own “race” because that’s your decision and your life and no one should be able to influence that other than yourself. I can’t understand the people who do it to please/appease their families though, but I suppose that’s because I have a very different idea of what family is because I have had very, very many of them. I’ve been a foster child since I was 5 months old, so for me, family means acceptance and love of someone for just being who they are and nothing else. I feel the same way about couples because it’s essentially the same thing as a family.