Although this letter didn’t really catch my attention at first, it turned out to be pretty sad as soon as the writer began talking about love. After reading a decent amount of the letters from lifers, I began seeing a trend in a prisoner’s yearning for love. I think love is something that everybody wants, and people spend years searching for love. This man, along with the rest of the lifers, will never again experience the love that any other free person can. In the beginning, he mentions the emptiness that his life has been reduced to. The bare concrete walls surround him with nothing but a cold, empty feeling. He tries filling the void with reading, television, and conversation, but there is still something missing. Love. It must be one of the most powerful forces known to man. People will do nearly anything to experience true love. It is so strong that it is the only thing a man desires after being in prison for years upon years. Whenever the writer finally exclaims that love is all he wants, the letter begins to take on a poetic mood. The way he described the feelings and connections between a man and a woman in love was quite beautiful. I’m continually amazed at how good a lot of these prisoners are at writing. It’s so easy to relate to what the writer is saying. You can feel the honesty and desperation in his voice. The last few sentences again change the mood of the letter. He transitions into a painful state where he is blaming himself. Though it is probably true that he brought the situation upon himself, it is hard to not feel bad for him. The man writing this letter clearly needs to find something to fill the void in his life before he goes crazy. However, as I am writing this, I can’t seem to think of anything that would give him the same feeling as the unconditional love from a woman. It’s a feeling unlike any other and it should be cherished by anybody who has it. We can only hope that he will find a similar feeling elsewhere.

Labeling is an everyday occurrence for nearly every body in the world, whether you are being labeled or you are the one doing the labeling. It’s impossible to escape. People pass judgments about others after merely walking past them on the street. I’m not saying I don’t do this, because I do, but I also feel like most honest people would agree that they have done it too. It is probably one of the most prejudiced behaviors we can engage in as humans. To make a conclusion about somebody based on appearance or actions is not just. Everyone deserves a chance to show his or her true self. It’s always interesting when you actually get the chance to learn about a person, and their story is surprisingly nothing like what you assumed it would be. Labels can be either positive or negative, but once a person has a certain label, it’s often hard to escape it. That person may either conform to the given label or try to fight it. In general, the latter seems a lot more difficult. The ability to lose a negative label increases exponentially if the label is something as serious as ‘felon’, ‘lifer’, or ‘criminal’. I can easily see why the Temple students were quite apprehensive about having prisoners in the same class as they were. Assuming the Temple students had never met any of the Graterford students, most of them probably made judgments the moment they found out who would be sharing their classroom. I think the professor made a great choice for the opening discussion in order to lessen the stigma associated with the students from Graterford, which most likely made both parties feel a little more comfortable. It would be interesting to hear about how the classmates interacted with each other as the semester progressed. I wonder if the Temple students were able to disregard previous notions and accept the Graterford students for who they are now, and not who they used to be. This would be a great display of character and we could all learn a thing or two from these students.

This is absolutely my favorite blog post to date. C. is obviously describing the “perfect man” and he does it with such eloquence and beauty. Most people will say that this description is unrealistic, but I think every man should want to strive to be this “perfect man” for the woman in his life. I believe everything C. says and reading this letter makes me want to be a better man, especially towards women. Reading this also reminded me of a song called “The Man I Want to Be” by Chris Young. He sings about how he screwed up in a relationship and how he wants to change and be ‘the kind of man she sees in her dreams’. My guess is that he is suggesting that that man he wants to be is a lot like the man described here. It just sounds very similar to the feeling of this letter. It also reminds me of love with an old-fashioned feel. I guess that is because chivalry is certainly not as popular as it was a long time ago. Personally, I wouldn’t even have to think twice about holding a door for a woman. I think it should be next to common knowledge in any man’s head. For C., I suppose it must have taken so much time alone for him to realize how special love is. And how fragile a woman’s heart is. It is quite unfortunate that it took life in prison for him to discover how a woman should be treated, because he will never get to act on his words. Hopefully the guys who read this will learn from what C. has realized and will want to improve their own relationships. I also hope the women who read this recognize that there actually are good guys out there, so find the one who will treat you right. If you’re not where you want to be, you can and should change it. Everyone deserves to find that person who would do anything for them.

Inequality is an inherent part of today’s society. In general, people who grow up in poverty will most likely stay there for the rest of their life. People who are brought up in wealthy families are very likely to stay in the upper class when they get older. Sure, there are some exceptions. But for the most part, I think this is quite relevant. Kids who are raised in poverty usually have less support and motivation from their peers and their families to excel in school, sports, and other activities. Therefore, they are more likely to remain in the lower class of society. Rich families, on the other hand, have money to give their children anything they need in order for them to succeed in whatever they do. They have enough money to send their teenagers to expensive schools and Ivy league colleges. They also probably have a lot of connections for the post-college job search. As a result, these wealthy kids have a greater chance of success in life. Since choosing what kind of environment you grow up in isn’t an option for most of us, it’s kind of in the luck of the draw. If you were lucky enough to be born into an affluent family, you will have a lot more opportunities than somebody who was born into poverty. The child born into poverty can certainly overcome the odds and live a successful life, but he or she is most likely going to have to work a lot harder just to have the same opportunities. Consequently, I think there will always be some type of inequality in the world no matter what. It is shaped by all kinds of variables including race, religion, and location. It’s hard to come up with a solution for the people who cheat their way into great deals of wealth because they are not always obvious. I have no problem with millionaires who worked hard all their life and are now living large. They deserve it. People who never tried or worked hard at anything in life certainly do not deserve to be millionaires. The inequality in America is not going anywhere and I think that’s how it should be.

Religion is usually taken to be an oversensitive subject in most discussions. It is always debated with a certain amount of heed, as to not offend anybody or any particular religion. This article makes a good point about the popularity of religion nowadays. It certainly does seem to be fading, especially in the age group of college students. Granted, there are some college students who join religious groups and attend church regularly, but I would predict that most kids are sleeping in on Sunday mornings. I think the overall prediction that religion will be extinct depends on a lot of different variables, including what specific religion and where it is being practiced. For example, I was in Arizona over spring break and learned about some of the Native American tribes who still occupy the land near the Grand Canyon. The Hopi indians, in particular, start every morning with ceremonies to make the sun rise. In their eyes, if they didn’t do this every morning, the sun would not come up that day. For these and similar types of people, I don’t think religion will be fading away any time soon. On the other hand, in countries like the Netherlands, data shows that religion is becoming less and less popular. Therefore, the statement that religion is being driven toward extinction is quite accurate for the Dutch. As for the United States, ‘no religion’ is a growing category of the population, but it is not nearly as large as it is in the Netherlands. I think Americans are so caught up in the day-to-day grind that they often forget about their faith. People are concerned with events taking place on Wednesday before Monday even arrives. I’m not positive that religion is going to disappear in America soon, but I could easily see it happening eventually.

Through his powerful and brave speech, Zach Wahls proves that a same-sex couple is capable of raising a child just as good, if not better, than any other heterosexual couple. He provides undeniable evidence through is personal experiences to support his argument. Zach sounds like an amazing person who must have some amazing parents. The fact that he was raised by two women has not caused him to become a different person. His family provided him with all the love and support that he needed while growing up. Furthermore, there are probably certain aspects of his life that are actually better as a result of being brought up in a same-sex marriage household. Most likely, he is very accepting of people that are different from himself and tolerant of their ways. There are a lot of people in the world who think gay marriage is not right, and I think they need to be more open-minded on this and similar matters. Anybody should have the right to marry whomever he or she desires. It shouldn’t affect any other people, especially those who think it is wrong. After seeing all the work and effort that gay couples must do to adopt a child in the video we watched on Monday, one would be hard-pressed not to believe that that couple would be perfectly capable of raising a child in a loving and supportive environment. A family just happens to be a group of people tied together with a common bond. Many people consider their sports team, sorority, or even a just close group of friends to be family because they are connected by important relationships. Who’s to say that a gay couple cannot build a family and provide the same strength, friendship, and support as your everyday heterosexual couple?

The power of the sun is one of immeasurability. The sun brings life to plants, people, and even personalities. Without the sun, the world would be a dreary, lifeless place. On the small scale, the past few days in State College have been unusually sunny and it is a great way to switch it up from the bleak, grey skies of winter. People just always seem to be much happier when the sun is shining, especially because it is so much more pleasant to be outside. It is clearly a mood elevator of the community as a whole. People are more active and friendly and the town comes alive. At first, it seems pretty crazy that the people of Helsinki have to organize light festivals solely to raise the emotions of the townspeople. But if 40% of the population suffers from some sort of SAD-like symptoms, it must be necessary. The lack of sunlight is showing increases in weight gain, appetite, and time spent sleeping. Any one of these conditions is not good in excess, so they must combat the problem. The invisible strings of the sun are quite evident in this situation. The outside force created by lack of sunlight is having such as strong impact on the people of Finland, and there is little they can do. Sure, they have light boxes and celebrations to lift the spirits of the people, but it seems to be only a temporary solution. One man in the interview said that he really notices the effects of extended darkness when he had not used the light box for a few days. He said he observed a lack of energy on days without it. It’s possible that some people could become dependent on these strategies to keep them alive, emotionally and physically. Living in Helsinki, though, the citizens have no choice but to resort to these radical measures until the summer comes around again. In conclusion, I think the Finns are doing a rather noteworthy task in keeping their city cheerful and lively despite being drowned in darkness.

I don’t think there is really a hard and fast rule for children talking to strangers or not and whether or not our children should trust them. Sure there are people out there who have the intention of hurting children, but they are not as common as some parents believe. I feel like there are a lot of good people in the world who would be more than willing to help a child if he or she is in trouble. The people you have to worry about are the ones who aren’t willing to talk to a child, but rather swipe them away from you in the middle of the street. Furthermore, I totally understand why many parents would be frightened after seeing this video. Even though the numbers suggest otherwise, it is still very possible for a kidnapping to occur. For the same reason, I don’t think statistics are enough to settle a parent’s terrified thoughts of their child being taken away from them. When it comes down to the emotional factor, it far surpasses any reasonable logic that should instead be employed. Because there are so many variables and different circumstances, it is hard to decide whether or not it is a good idea for our children to ask for help from strangers when they need it. I personally have had experiences where I have talked to strangers when I was in trouble and they ended up being perfectly decent people. I knew deep down that something bad could potentially happen, but at the time I thought I was being smart about it. It is important for a child to know HOW to talk to strangers. They should remain calm and try not to act scared. Although this is hard to teach young children, I think most older children could learn how to communicate with strangers effectively. We have to avoid scaring them while at the same time teach them how to deal with dangerous situations. Since there is no way to completely solve the problem of kidnapping, we need to educate our children as much as possible.

I found this video quite interesting. I had heard about cultures who allow men to have more than one wife but I never really knew too much about it. Now this group of people has women with multiple husbands. I don’t see anything wrong with this because it is how this culture has succeeded for many years. Obviously it is very different from the western culture of the United States, but who are we to judge? In many aspects, having more than one husband would be extremely beneficial to a woman. This is true especially if she has a lot of kids. There is always somebody to take care of them if she is unable to do so. One husband can work on the farm while another watches the children and the mother does some work around the house. It is very practical in a region that is so underdeveloped. Also, since the marriages often seem to be arranged by the families, the future spouses are not necessarily in love or romantically involved. As a result, there is probably not much jealously between the husbands because this type of marriage is normal in their culture. The speaker in the video also makes a good point about controlling the population by women having more than one husband. If all three brothers had their own wives, there would be a greater chance of one of their wives becoming pregnant. Not to be inconsiderate, but since this is such a tough lifestyle to maintain, one of the last things these families need is another mouth to feed. To me, these relationships/families seem a lot like a team, which is how it should be to some extent. Everybody contributes their help towards the family and they all reap the benefits of each person’s helping hands. If this type of marriage works for the people of the Himalayas, then they should continue with their lifestyle and traditions. All of the family members seem to be happy with their situation and it shows no sign of failing in the future.

We have been discussing this incident in class for quite some time now and it seems that most people agree that this occurrence was blown way out of proportion. The only reason the child had a gun in the first place was because of his stepfather’s negligence. There is a reason that there are laws restraining gun control and possession. Although we do not know exactly what the child thought when he picked up the gun, it is quite reasonable to believe that he had no intention of hurting anybody. Most likely he thought it was a toy and just brought it along with him, not considering the fact that he was on his way to school. It is highly doubtful that he thought about the fact that nothing even remotely resembling a firearm is acceptable in school. Obviously the incident is going to cause a stir at first, especially for the pre-kindergarten teacher who suddenly noticed a loaded gun on the floor in a room full of five-year-olds. I think they had no choice but to take him down to the principal’s office to ask him a few questions, but they should be pretty quick to realize what had happened. I’m not even sure if it was completely necessary to contact the police department at that point. Faculty should have immediately got in touch with the child’s stepfather to find out how the student came into possession of the firearm. The stepfather should be ordered to take gun control classes and pay some kind of fine for leaving a weapon within the reach of a child. On the other hand, the child should not receive any type of punishment, especially not a suspension. I’m sure he was scared to death by the arrival of the police department and that was more than enough to teach him a lesson. He had no clue what kind of trouble he could have caused because in all likelihood, he didn’t even understand what he was doing by bringing a gun to school. Simply send him back to class and get on with the daily routine.