en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/6217559 Comments by Wyleisha http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/05/voices-from-the-classroom-290/#IDComment614178648 I definitely plan on working abroad at some point in my life, or at least that’s my like overall goal. I’ve known for a long time that I basically don’t want to stay in the US forever. Ill obviously come back every once and a while to see my family and friends but I know that I’d much rather people around the world helping people that need it. I want to travel to third world countries and work as some sort of medical profession, whether it be a nurse, doctor, whatever I can do. But as for the rest of America and why they stay, I think it has a lot to do with being comfortable. I know I’m terrified as to what’s going to happen when I leave and where I’ll end up and being in a new environment but I also know that that fear isn’t going to stop me from what I want to do with the rest of my life. I personally feel like a lot of people aren’t ok with that and not knowing whats going to happen or more importantly that they’ll be successful. Because its basically in our bones to have to strive for more and more and more. Im definitely not saying that working abroad you cant do that, but most people have this need to live up to expectations of your families or parents or whatever. I think that everywhere else in the world people are obviously more okay with going out of their comfort zone to achieve their goals, which is definitely evident in the amount of foreign students there are throughout the US. Mon, 8 Apr 2013 03:53:36 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/04/05/voices-from-the-classroom-290/#IDComment614178648 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/21/voices-from-the-classroom-274/#IDComment603155340 I personally think that it’s really really hypocritical for someone like this guy to say he would take a handout and yet hes against other people getting handouts. I hate to jump to conclusions because I don’t know this kid but the handouts that hes probably so against are those that come to minorities in the schooling system because most of the time that’s what people are against. How can you be so against something and then do exactly what you yourself in basically every aspect of your life. I couldn’t believe that kid that was bitching about med school. Even if he is at a “disadvantage” he’s guaranteed going to find a way to get in whether it’s his mommy and daddy to pay for his way into whatever school he wants anyways. And if they do do that, which they probably will, wont that increase his chances because schools are always looking for people with lots of money that would be able to donate back to them later on. And even if that isn’t the case with whatever school that he wants to get into, he shouldn’t be worried about others getting an advantage because if he is the best for the job then he would get it. I don’t think people realize how affirmative action actually works, because it’s not there to put someone ahead of another, it’s there to give everyone an equal chance. People everywhere are ignorant to the inequality that still goes on and most that do witness it come up with some way or another to say that that isn’t what’s actually going on around them. I also think that kids like this are especially annoying because they always want someone else to blame for their problems, nothing is ever just because they didn’t work as hard as they should have or expect everything to be handed to them. Or even better yet now that they do finally have to work for what they want in life they cant figure out why while everyone else around them has been working harder than them to get where they are which is still probably behind the kid complaining. It’s just ridiculous how kids like that can never really be satisfied with anything and they wont be until they step on anyone and everyone until they get to the top no matter who it is, as long as they end up on top. Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:46:09 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/21/voices-from-the-classroom-274/#IDComment603155340 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/16/voices-from-the-classroom-273/#IDComment598135729 I think that we should definitely keep giving aid to others. The reason that comes to mind is, what if we would ever be in that same position of other third world countries that we help now. What if one day we end up switching positions and we are the country that needs aid? Even if it wouldn’t be aid from those same counties that we give aid to, would other countries like England or China or Japan or anyone that would be able to want to actually give us aid if we never did the same for others that needed it. And obviously other nations probably wouldn’t be that petty if we were really really in need but what if they were, we have no way of knowing. Secondly, even if we are having economic problems right now in our country it is nothing compared to countries like Haiti that barely have anything. And the worst part is that we have a part in their poverty so obviously we owe them in some way to make up for what we’ve done in the past, how much help I don’t know but to just leave them in that position that we put them in is sort of heartless in my opinion. And even if that isn’t the case for every country that we do help I think that it would also be kind of heartless to just sit back and watch as another country struggles. And if we were to eventually stop giving other countries aid then I would hope that we would have at least made sure that they were completely stable and would be able to “fend for themselves.” And I definitely don’t think we should ever have as much power in a country like Haiti where we have to be a part of their government decisions. Even if that was necessary in the beginning I don’t think that it should continue for probably as long as it has, because at some point they need to be able to be on their own just so that they can get out of such poverty and everything else that they are struggling with now. Mon, 18 Mar 2013 02:54:41 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/16/voices-from-the-classroom-273/#IDComment598135729 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/01/voices-from-the-classroom-265/#IDComment591984181 I wish I could be like Sam in the fact that death wouldn’t bother me and that I could just live life however it happens and not be worried about what happens at the end but I definitely do. Not in the kind of way that it would keep me up at night or anything or prevent me from doing petty tasks but it does affect my life in some ways. An obvious example would be that I don’t ever plan on trying to skydive or go cliff jumping or swim with sharks or anything crazy like that, because even if my chances of dying are pretty slim I’d rather not take the chance. But I guess in a way being scared of death can be beneficial in some ways because it makes me think twice about some decisions I make in life. For example I don’t want to ever regret a decision I make if I would get sick tomorrow and only live for the next year. I want, like most other people in the world, to be able to say that I loved the life that I lived and that this is what I wanted out of life. Nobody wants to look back and be disappointed with how things went especially if we only have one chance, because to me no matter what you believe in there’s no way to really know what’s going to happen in the long run after you die. Which should really in some ways probably make me want to do more crazy things like skydive or cliff jumping or whatever but it always makes me think twice about the big decisions in my life, like what school was my final choice and what major I wanted to be to get to my overall goals in life. As for my actual death I guess in a way I’m scared it will be painful or unexpected or something. Like if it is unexpected I hope that its because im old and in bed asleep not because I got hit by a bus walking across college on my way to class. Like I thank god every day that I haven’t been one of the unlucky students that died while they were out partying or anything like that so that my mom had to find out while I was away at school for the year or something. And I also hope that Im not ever one of those people that you see on TV shows that just gets involved with the wrong people or happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I just hope that I’m lucky enough to live a long enough life with my family and all that other cliché stuff before my time is up. Mon, 11 Mar 2013 03:33:02 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/03/01/voices-from-the-classroom-265/#IDComment591984181 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/20/voices-from-the-classroom-251/#IDComment578755739 Personally I think that knowing that what makes someone else look differently or the same as you is only determined by 0.1% of our genes would really open the eyes of a lot of people out in the world that are racists or very judgmental of those that are like themselves. And since this class is really about opening your mind to new ideas and thoughts or at least be able to eventually formulate new ideas about race and everything that you haven’t thought about before. It really makes me think of this one time I was telling a friend from home about SOC 119 and some of the stuff going on in class and it was right after the Iranian girl was talking about how she doesn’t understand why Americans hated those from her country and how others from similar middle eastern countries, and at some point or another she made a comment about how I should’ve been worried about someone blowing us all up and I just couldn’t believe it. And I honestly blame it on the fact that we come from such a small town with such little diversity, so she like half of America have biased opinions because of what you see on the news and everything else. So when Sam said that the only reason that we all look different from one person to the next is 0.01% of our genes, I was baffled. It kills me to think that the reason people like my friend at home instantly judge people by their looks is literally 0.1% of their genetic makeup. I think that everyone should know that the reason that basically everyone from the Middle East trying to get on a plane gets instantly judged is because of only .1% of their genetics. The reason that African Americans in the 50’s and 60’s were treated like less than nothing was because of 0.1% of their genetics. Its mind blowing that such a little amount of ourselves can count for so much, when there is so much more to a person than how they look. Mon, 25 Feb 2013 04:54:46 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/20/voices-from-the-classroom-251/#IDComment578755739 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/07/voices-from-the-classroom-240/#IDComment568320455 Personally I think that knowing that kind of information is dangerous. To me that’s like knowing everything about your future, where sometimes it can be helpful but it can also be hurtful. There are certain things in life that everyone in life needs to find out on their own and figuring out your sexuality is something that everyone needs to do on their own because it’s a part of who you are. At our age you wouldn’t want to know who you’re supposed to marry because that would affect who you are with before that person. You wouldn’t get to know anyone else until that person, which could make you a different person for the one you are supposed to be with. Because those that you date before the one would affect you in ways that would probably change your personality and in the end making you the perfect person for that special one. Knowing that kind of information would affect how you approach basically every situation in life. As a parent I don’t think it would be something that you shouldn’t tell your child. I mean yea it might help them to I guess come to terms with being different than most, but it could also make them feel even more like an outsider than it would if they would figure it out on their own later on in life. Because even if a child would know that there was a reason that they thought or felt differently than all the other kids, there’s no way to tell that other kids in their class would be as accepting as say their parents, assuming that their parents are okay with it. What happens when there’s a parent that finds out that their child is gay and they aren’t okay with that? What happens when said parent treats their child differently just because of their homosexuality? It’s bad enough that most parents can’t handle it when they find out that their child is gay when they’re are a teenager or something but the way they would teacher them as a child could cause more suicides than there are now. Being homosexual should never be something that defines you so to know that about a child and debating whether or not to tell them seems kind of pointless. It shouldn’t even be an option, because as a parent you should love your child no matter who they love or what they want to live their life. In my opinion the main concern of a parent should be to raise their child right to be a good person that accepts everyone and is considerate and everything else, and that can be done whetehr or not they are a homosexual or not. Mon, 11 Feb 2013 03:41:26 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/02/07/voices-from-the-classroom-240/#IDComment568320455 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-237/#IDComment560351118 Personally I think that when it comes to race the way you act is more important but not in the way that most people would probably think. I hate that most other people would probably think that when I say it matter how you act, would think that I mean if you’re black you need to act like it and wear the baggy clothes or that fresh pair of Jordan’s. Or if you are Asian you need to eat at china dragon at least 4 times a week and you can never eat with a fork only chopstick. What I really mean is the complete opposite. I think that people should be themselves but not to this or do that just to impress someone of another race or gender or their own race and gender. The best example that automatically comes to my mind is that when I was younger my older brother and my mom and I were at a hair store and they sold du-rags, so my brother all of a sudden decided that he needed them and demanded that my mom buy them for him. The only reason this story qualifies for this situation that I’m talking about is because we live in a basically all white town and to be honestly couldn’t even tell you the point of a du-rag other than to keep the waves in your hair, which my brother had none of, as a matter of fact he probably cut his own hair half the time and really had no need for them, but he got them anyways. And I remember the next time he wore the du-rag was probably to go out to the movies or some basketball game at school where everyone could see him wearing it. We all knew that that was the only reason he was wearing it, was so that people would think he was cool and that he was basically good enough to really be that legitimate “black friend” that everyone from our town probably wanted him to be, because for whatever reason that fact that he was already their friend and he was also black wasn’t good enough. Not saying that he couldn’t wear one if he just wanted to, I just know my brother and he did whatever he could to fit in and for everyone to love him. Which is why I say that how you act is the most important part of your race. I really don’t understand why there are people out there trying to overcompensate for not being black enough or Asian enough or white enough or whatever their race. And I’m definitely not saying that black people that are too loud or wear ghetto clothes or whatever you want to say are too black, or that Asian who eat too much rice are too Asian, I just think that you shouldn’t try to conform to what everyone else expects of you, because their opinion shouldn’t matter that much. And if it does bother you than I would definitely say that that’s an inner struggle of finding out who you really are in this world, because besides that nothing else really matters. Fri, 1 Feb 2013 23:19:06 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/31/voices-from-the-classroom-237/#IDComment560351118 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/23/voices-from-the-classroom-234/#IDComment555819064 Part 1: I think that if the Civil Rights act hadn’t have happened, then no we probably wouldn’t be where we are today. I think that African Americans and other minorities would have some sort of education but probably not much more than what they did before the act. I think that because I think people at that time would have taught their kids to believe the same things that they did and that those children would grow up to believe that we aren’t all equal and that we don’t all deserve to be equal. In some places there would probably be more equality than others but overall I think that there would be some sort of oppression present. But I also think that if it didn’t happen then, then eventually someone would have stood up for the rights of minorities, because there’s no way that people would have put up with the inequality that they had to live with before. And even if equality was given without all of the sacrifices that have happened in the past, I think that it wouldn’t be as much as there is now. For example, I don’t think that there would be a chance in hell that there would be an African American president. Part 2: As an African American I think that something like BlackPeopleMeet.com is ridiculous but there probably no difference between that and going to say eHarmony and saying that you are only interested in other African Americans. I think that it is a little obnoxious and does make us look a little uppity but it’s honestly no different than ChristianMingle.com and there’s no huge deal about that. We all know everyone has a preference and what should it matter to you or me who that is? It honestly doesn’t make a difference in my life or yours whether or not this person is attracted to someone who is African American, Puerto Rican, Caucasian, or Indian. It shouldn’t be anyone else’s business. As for the scholarships debate, I personally think it’s pointless to get so upset about it, it’s going to happen. What difference does it make to get a scholarship if you’re black and you can get a scholarship for being left-handed? To me that’s like saying I should feel bad for my lineage and I should not take advantage of an opportunity given to me when so many before me didn’t have that same chance. And honestly half the time I know that some of the money I get through the government has to partly because of my family, so who are you to say that I should give it back. And who else who gets those benefits would honestly give it back if they knew that’s why they got the money in the first place. It wouldn’t happen, nobody would do that. Mon, 28 Jan 2013 03:53:44 +0000 http://www.worldinconversation.org/2013/01/23/voices-from-the-classroom-234/#IDComment555819064