I think it was great to have that skype session with Maziar because it opened my eyes and I am sure I was not the only one. I was pretty sure that there were a few kids in the class that were ignorant to the situation and would have probably assumed that all Muslims and Iranians are the same and are all in this terrorism together. I felt warm and happy that Maziar took his time to skype with the class and to send his prayers to Boston. It is unfortunate such a tragic event like this occurred but it has happened and the only thing we can do now is learn how to handle it in a way where to will not hurt any innocent people. When the skype session happened, we still were not sure of whom the suspects were and people all over the social media networks were assuming it was either the Muslims or the Koreans and having people think like this already had me scared that I am afraid hate crimes will occur. It is the last thing I was but who am I to control everyone and how they think.
When Sam said that during 911 when the terrorists attacked, Iran told America that they will help us find the terrorists because they were looking for them as well. But unfortunately America had a horrible president at the time and he declared war. It has been over 10 years now, I really can’t believe it has been this long and Obama has to fix this mess Bush created.
Maziar’s message has taught us all that hate breeds hate and we shouldn’t have hate in us. I also find the media the main reason there is so many different stories going around and the way they portray situations are always negative. They never get the accurate information before blaming someone and it causes so much confusion and false information. I remember being on facebook and different people were making up stories such as the government was in on this shooting and we all know how ignorant people over facebook can be sometimes. Just reading the comments made me think about how word spreads so fast and sometimes in a negative way.
It also sickens me that the media showed the one child who died in the marathon but over in Afghanistan where 11 children were dead, no one knows about it. Yes what happened at the Boston Marathon was a big deal and America is probably the most watched country around the globe but we still need to be aware of other situations that happen in other countries. I have no one else to blame but the media.

After watching the trailer, I would not feel more or less sympathy for Tammy if she was Native American. To me, if I see anyone that needs help, I would help them regardless of race, skin color, or any of their traits. Seeing the struggle Tammy go through on a daily basis, I really pity her and wish I can help. Having to walk 10 miles every day to work is a struggle for sure because I participated in a walk for the fight against which was 8 miles long and I was already dreading it. Not only that but it took me over 2 hours from what I remember. I cannot imagine how early she needs to wake up every day to go to work at a fast food restaurant cleaning the bathrooms. Not only that, but the comments she receive on her way to work from the people who are rude and disrespectful. I give her a lot of props for doing all she can to keep food on the table for her kids.
Tammy gave birth to 21 children and that is a lot, along with living in the trailer with her poor kids with crooked teeth, I cannot imagine what the kids go through on a daily basis as well. It was sad to watch one of her son say that he wanted to be a lawyer but he will probably never get the chance to because of his situation at home. Not only that but without a car, I feel as if the kids are missing out on going to many great places that can teach them things in life.
Whether she was Black, Asian, Latino, I would still have sympathy for her because she is still human and seeing how her life was is just hard to watch. It makes me really grateful to have everything my parents have provided me. Watching this video also makes me realize I need to stop acting like a brat sometimes to my parents and just be happy with what they have given me so far. To be able to attend one of the nation’s best universities and having my parents pay for my rent rather than myself getting a job while in school just to pay for rent or grocery. Not only that but it makes me think how ungrateful I was when my parents bought me a new Toyota Camry and I wanted a Lexus or an Audi. I am also sure I am not the only one out there thinking like this at the moment. I believe everyone needs to watch this video or even go do community service and see how lucky some of us are compared to others. It is true that we might have it bad sometimes but there are many people out there who have it worst than we do.

If there is one message I can send out to people in America, it would definitely have to be”be kind to one another regardless of color, religion, size, or race.” Now I am not telling everyone to love one another but being kind can really make a difference in today’s society. It is rare to come across people who are nice to each other because everyone is selfish and wants what is best for their selves. Even coming across a random act of kindness is rare for people. Just the other day after I left my house to grab breakfast, I paid for the lady’s order behind me in a drive thru just because I felt like it and it was a beautiful day so why not make someone’s day start of great. We should teach everyone to be kind to each other and stop all the hate that we learn from the media. When children see hatred from their parents or elders, they believe it is the right thing to do and imitates their actions. I hate seeing so much hate go on in this country because we are a melting pot and there are so many different type of people in America.
Being kind to someone is as easy as being polite and helping out when someone needs help. I personally have heard many cruel actions from people and I don’t understand how one can be so cruel. I know that when a kind act has happened to an individual, it can make them really happy because I remember walking past a computer and it had a note which read “You are beautiful and keep your chin high!” I kept the note and the same night, I came across a girl who was crying over the phone with her boyfriend and I gave her the note. It made her smile and I am pretty sure it made her day. Something so small can have a big impact on one person. Kindness rubs off and it is a trait we should spread to everyone and make it contagious like yawning.
Not only do I want to spread that in America, but I would love to spread this across the world to every country and every human being on earth. There is too much hate going on in this cruel world and we all need to learn to be kind to one another and help each other out because if we come together as one, we can be very powerful and there would be less chaos going on. No more hate, no more wars, just peace, love and unity.

Being in America a very diverse country, affirmative action plays a big part because everyone has different opinions on it whether they are against it or for it. Me personally, I am for it because I am an Asian and I have benefited from affirmative action before. But when it comes to the situation where one person will get hired for a job over someone else because of their ethnicity over their qualifications would be wrong. But how I see is no matter how great your resume is, it is how you present yourself for an interview that should determine whether or not you deserve the job. I would be disgusted if the employer chose one candidate over another because of their race because it shows that racism still exists till this very day and if that were to be the case, that is definitely someone I would not like to work for to begin with because it shows how closed minded they are.
One thing that does upset me is when people get hired for a job only because their family member got them the job. It is unfair to others that are better qualified for the job to not be able to have the chance to even present themselves. What if the person that never got the chance to even get an interview turns out to be someone who could’ve brought more to the position? But another way I see is even if someone were to get me a job, it is still up to me on how I present myself during the interview process to see whether or not I would be a good fit for the position. But it would just disgust me if I found out there was a bribe in the process.
I feel like with affirmative action, it provides a free ride for many minorities because if you think about it, many whites are privileged to everything they have. Throughout history whites have always had it better than every other race because they were the dominants in this country and they never had to go though any racist torture like the blacks or the Asians went through. Now if I was a white individual, I would probably be against affirmative action because it has not benefited me in any way. Hearing what everyone else has said about getting scholarships for their race and many other reasons, it is rare to hear white people benefit from this.
Overall, affirmative action is a very sensitive topic and some people may not have much to say but many others have strong opinions which will lead to many disagreements. But we should all understand that where we go in life depends on how much work we put in. Because you need to understand that you cannot be upset at the results you get with the amount of work you put in.

Female’s menstruation is a touchy topic and it is not something we like to flaunt and tell the world about. I don’t agree with the comment the girl made about “it gives me an excuse to be a bitch”. How I see it and how everyone else sees it, when girls say they are on their period, only one thing comes to mind and it is blood. You ask why most girls aren’t open to let the world know is because it seems embarrassing. It is also something I don’t see as classy. We girls were taught growing up that when we have our period, we should keep it as a secret to ourselves. Even when we view commercials, they portray the message as to keeping the news to ourselves. Many tampon and pad companies are making the items smaller so it is easier to hide in our purse or bags and make it less noticeable. Not only that but when we view the commercials for pads, the companies demonstrates the leakage of our “period” with blue liquid rather than the actual red like blood.
Another reason I believe why female likes to keep this to ourselves is because when we are on our period, our biggest fear is having it “leak” on our pants because it is embarrassing walking around with a big stain and not even know about it until someone tells us.
I think everything would be much different if the media and everyone didn’t make it seem like having our period was such an embarrassing thing. If this was the case, many girls would be more open to telling people and in class, more girls would’ve raised their hands when Sam asked “how many girls are bleeding right now”. Another point I want to bring up is the way Sam asked the question, he asked in such a vulgar way that made me felt weird. Instead of asking is any girls in here were “bleeding”, he could’ve just simply asked if any girls in here are either “on their period” or on their “menstruation cycle”. Asking if we were bleeding grossed me out and it probably grossed out a lot of others as well.
I would say that the statement about women not being freely to speak is false. It is a matter of privacy and whether we choose to speak about certain things or not. Clearly our menstruation cycle is not something we like to speak about because it is private matters but this does not mean that we aren't free to speak about anything. This subject is also not an appealing subject to speak about to men. Many men thinks it is gross and unnecessary to be brought up.

I am not shocked that people, mainly women are in love with whitening beauty products for their skin. Growing up in the Asian culture it is better to have whiter skin on you. The reason behind that is because in Asia, farmers and lower class people tend to be dark from working in the fields under the sun. Therefore if you have whiter skin, it portrays you as wealthy and higher class. That is why you would see Chinese people carrying umbrellas over their heads even when it is sunny out. It is because they don’t want to get darker. Even when I would go out to the beach for a day and come back tanned, my mother would tell me to stop tanning because being tanned is ugly and it is better to look white. I can see why she would say that. But over here in America, it is the other way around. Everyone wants to be tanned because that is what is known as “good looking”. People think being pale is disgusting.
Every culture is different and everyone have different views on skin color but within the Asian culture, it is best to have whiter skin. This is why whitening products are more popular in the Asian countries. In Korea, BB cream which is a whitening cream to cover your blemishes and other marks on your face is the top seller and even American companies have started to create them to sell such as Loreal and Maybelline. I don’t think it is a problem with people using whitening cream because it is what they choose but I think if you look pale, it is unhealthy. For me personally I would use a whitening cream to cover up my acne marks and such but never to purposely whiten my face with products that has bleach in it.
Another reason why some people might use whitening cream is because they want to be like a white American. An example would be Michael Jackson, I think his transformation was disgusting and scary and he should’ve just embraced his skin color along with who he was. I am also sure he is not the only person in the world who has gotten their skin color changed to a lighter color such as white. People all over see being white as a higher class and having more privileges. Even within the black community, a lot of people prefer the lighter skin complexion over the darker ones. I feel as if people think being dark is ugly because you look dirty and no one wants to look dirty. Such as in the Asian community, Cambodians are the darkest Asian race and many other Asian cultures think they are dirty and poor while the Koreans, Japanese and Chinese are mightier because they are whiter. They are portrayed as wealthier over the others.

When interacting with a different race, I would act the same I have my whole life. Growing up in a diverse environment my whole life, I have learned a lot. From learning how to tell the difference between certain races to knowing what not to say to offend people. When I was younger I would witness events where a wrong statement or word is said and the opposite party would get offended, in which this will then leads to a fight. With the United States developing as a melting pot, many mix babies are being produced and there are some people who aren’t just 3 race but many more than that. I have met multiple people where I would ask what ethnicity they were and they would tell me that they are a mix of 6 things and I would think it is crazy but there are people out there. It gets really tricky sometimes when you come across someone and they look a certain mix but end up being something completely different. One thing I learned as I was growing up is to ask politely if I am unsure of someone’s race. Some people get really offended when you assume. When you assume, it makes you ignorant. Learning to ask politely, people hardly get offended.
But let’s all face it, we all judge before we get to know someone. There are people out there who have a great hate towards one race would automatically show hatred if they looked like that certain race. I personally think it is wrong and it shouldn’t happen but it does happen. I remember growing up around a big population of Latinos and many of the Latino guys would have really chinky eyes and their own friends would make fun of them calling them chino because they look like they are Chinese when in reality they are full Latino. Not only that but when we did the activity in class, I was so shocked learning that some people are not what they look like, such as the girl who was half Chinese and half African along with the guys who were Latino but the girl assumed he was Middle eastern and paired him up with the middle eastern girls.
I am still shocked that we are all 99% similar and that Latino is not a race. It is crazy how ignorant I am until I took part in this class. I must say, I learn more and more everyday and it is worth every second. But how I see it no matter who you come across in life, you should always treat people how you want to be treated regardless of their race because everyone has a special story and you might never know, the next stranger you turned away might actually have a lot in common with you and it could’ve turned into a great relationship.

I give the Iranian girl props for voicing her comment in class on Thursday. I completely understand how she feels and why she feels that way. When September 11th happened, it was chaotic and anyone that looked Middle Eastern were having the most horrific time of their lives. People were being killed and threatened and you would think that after 12 years things would’ve gotten better but they really haven’t. Just recently in New York, a Latino woman pushed a Muslim looking guy onto the train platform right as the train was approaching because he looked like a terrorist. The man was unfortunately killed and this is devastating news. I am not sure what is behind her doing such an act, maybe because she lost someone due to 911 but it gives her no right to do such a thing to an innocent man. Till this day there are many people out there just like this woman and it is a shame. This is exactly why I felt as if the Iranian girl in class felt like she should introduce herself as Persian instead of who she really is. Also, going off the comment the white male made in class about how he will not hate her if she told him she was Iranian, that is not the case with everyone. There are many areas in America where people of Muslim looking decent are being discriminated because of ignorance. Many people are ignorant to race and it makes me mad when they assume every Middle Eastern person is a Muslim and every Asian is Chinese. I am tired of everyone pulling the ignorance card and saying “Oh well they are just ignorant so they can’t really be blamed for their action.” There are people being killed because people are not educating themselves.
I saw how uneasy it was for her to speak her mind and voice her comment but she wanted to and I think it was an eye opener to a lot of people. It could have turned ugly and someone within the 700 students could have said something rude and ignorant but I am glad everyone seems to have respected her and her comment. The world is a cruel place and it will never be perfect nor will there ever be peace amongst all race. Hate will live on with people and the ones who were affected by 911 will always have hate towards anyone that looks Muslim or of Middle Eastern descent here in America. I do wish one day people will learn that because of one person’s doing, it should not affect anyone else. These innocent people never asked for September 11 to happen nor do they wish to be treated so terribly.

After class that day when Sam asked us who has an eating disorder and who cuts themselves, seeing the results from the clickers really shocked me. It also worries me how well people can hide their problems. Sometimes even if you notice slight changes in a person and you confront them about it, they will deny it. I personally do not struggle with these issues but I know for sure if any of my friends are going through this I would definitely try my best to help them overcome this. It will be hard to understand what they are going through since I personally don’t understand but what I would do is sit down with them and have them talk to me and tell me why they do what they are doing. Sometimes it is their past that haunts them and this is their only escape. It is also going to be rough for that person to talk about it because these are touchy topics and not everyone will feel comfortable about speaking up because not everyone is as open as I am. Sometimes people don’t even realize they have an eating disorder until someone brings it up as asked them why they are doing what they’re doing. I will make sure my friend feel comfortable first and make sure they know that I am there to help. Many people going through these issues feel alone. I think the best way to handle these situations is to have a lending ear and send them to the right people to talk to about this. There are many people out there who specialize in speaking to people with these issues and help them. Just recently my best friend’s boyfriend passed away and the only thing she wanted to think of was killing herself because she didn’t know what to do anymore, she really loved him and she wanted to be with him. I told her that there are many people who love her and she cannot do this to us because that is just selfish. She received a lot of comfort and support from her family and her friends. I am very glad she is getting better and has put suicide off her mind. I am pretty sure if this were to happen to someone who did not have as much of a support as my best friend did, suicide will be the only answer they would have. I really hope the people in class that are going through these issues know that there are people here to help and you can always speak with people privately where no one will judge you. It is all about speaking up and asking for help.

came across you on IG and i am so excited to see more recipes from you. i love eveyrthing you have up so far and i cant wait to try them all out!!