This class has really opened my eyes to new things that I really didn’t pay much attention to or didn’t even recognize before. Sam did a great job all semester just explaining how people think and how they react to certain circumstances. The biggest thing that I learned though was probably to not judge people. Just like the saying goes “don’t judge a book by its cover”, Sam’s main message in this class was exactly that. Race and or skin color should not have an affect on what we perceive someone to be like or act like. As humans, we have to dig deeper and get to know people and communicate with them. As we communicate, we are able to not only learn more about other people but also have a better understanding about ourselves. That’s sometimes tough to think about and looking back on it; this seems simple however a lot of people overestimate this aspect in my opinion. They tend to keep to themselves and not open up to people, which can hurt you in the long run. As people we are supposed to be interactive with people and continue to learn new ways in which people go about doing things. Also, we have to respect each other and where we have come from in our lives. No one is perfect and we all are different people who have different characteristics and came from different places. Therefore, we’ve got to respect that and learn from these differences to become better people and ultimately make this world a better place. Self will and determinism was a big part of this and a great example that Sam liked to use in class to help us understand this concept. Not all people are given the necessary resources to survive and live a healthy life. Some people are just born with a very grim situation and they did not wish this upon themselves. Yes, you have to work hard if you want to succeed in life, however you’ve got to be given a decent circumstance in order to be successful in life. Opportunity is something in itself and a lot of people are not given this. So, be grateful for what you have been given and really use this to your advantage so you can not only help yourself out but help others who are less fortunate out. Sam also stressed just being yourself. I feel this was a big idea that he brought up and even though its pretty simple, its something that a lot of people overlook. If you can just be yourself and not judge people then you should be fine in life.

I think that it would be very tough to actually go through with killing someone. There are a few situations that I can think off the top of my head where I would have no choice. If my life was threatened by another person and I had no choice but to protect myself, then I might have to do it. Also, if someone that I knew was in trouble and I had to help him or her. This question is tough though because there is so much grey area surrounding it. I would like to think that I would have the guts to protect my life or another person that is close to me. I don’t own a gun or intend on buying one anytime soon because I haven’t really found it necessary yet. Once I own my own home and have a family of my own I might consider getting one for protection, but that’s it. Having the ability to possess a gun can be positive and negative however. You could become really angry and lash out and accidently use it in a way that could get you into a lot of trouble. Killing someone is probably a lot tougher to actually do then just asking yourself if you could go through with it. If you go through with it then you have to live with the fact that you took someone’s life. After the fact, I think it would be hard to live knowing that you were responsible for that. Even though you are saving your life by doing so, it’s a difficult situation to fully grasp. When you’re put in difficult situations like these I feel like it’s even that much harder to go through with it. I would hope that I could have the courage to save my life or someone else’s if I was met with this situation. I don’t think there could be any other circumstances other than these in which I would actually be able to kill someone. The effects that killing another human being could have on my psyche could be pretty terrifying in my eyes. Overall this subject brings up a lot of questions and can have you thinking about what you may or may not be able to do.

Immigration is a complicated subject and there tends to be a lot of grey areas surrounding it. To start, I don’t think illegal immigrants should be allowed in our country. If they are not American citizens then I don’t believe that they should be here. This doesn’t mean that I don’t believe that immigrants should have the access to our beloved nation. Receiving a green card with a valid social security number or passing the Citizenship test should give you the right to live here. Too many immigrants bypass this system in my opinion, and it’s simply not good for our economy. Immigrants that come in illegally take away jobs from our already suffering economy. Unemployment is a huge issue that we deal with in this country. People continue to complain about how this number continues to rise and part of the reason for this is the immigration problem we have. Why should people that don’t pay taxes be allowed to receive pay for a job when there here illegally? I realize that this country is supposed to be the land of freedom and promise but we cannot let whoever wants to come in do so. People that hire these illegal workers should be given a harsh punishment and or sanctions. Obviously they are able to pay these immigrants much lower wages because they’re illegal and they wont complain about it. However, what there doing is against the law. This is not fair for the people of America who are actually citizens. As far as people that continue to make way into our country; my belief is that we need to beef up our border patrol and security throughout Texas, New Mexico, and other areas where this tends to be a problem.
I firmly believe that America needs the brightest and hardest working people so our economy can flourish. For this reason, immigrants that can pass the test should be able to receive a visa and have access to the perks of our society like every other citizen. However, it’s simply not fair for illegals to surpass the system with no repercussions. Stand in line with the rest of the immigrants who are trying to become legal citizens. Our nation is a nation of laws and should remain that way so that there is not chaos and anarchy. We cannot bend the rules just because they want a better life. America is giving them the opportunity to be a citizen and make a life here in this great nation. It’s truly in the immigrants hands.

Agreeing with what Sam said, contact between people is something that is very essential and underrated when interacting with people. Passing judgment when you see a group of people or person that looks different becomes a commonplace. If we are always judging people before we even get to know them then it’s unfair and biased towards them. Having contact with people also makes you more aware of what they are about, how they grew up, and basically where they came from. As humans, we all are different in our own ways and we have to respect that. Just because someone may have a different skin color than you doesn’t mean you shouldn’t associate with him or her. It’s very interesting meeting new people because it opens your mind to things you didn’t even know played a role in people’s lives. My freshman year I met an Indian on my hall that I never thought in a million years I would get along with much less be good friends with. Before meeting him I just thought that all Indians were the same and I didn’t think I’d have much in common with them. After getting into contact with him more I’d discovered that we actually had a lot of similar hobbies and traits that were very similar. Obviously there were differences between us, but I began to understand and respect him much more after getting to know him. We both enjoyed similar sports and loved playing the same video games as well. For some reason I didn’t think that this was possible the very first time I saw him due to the fact that I was passing judgment far too soon. This is why contact in life is so important in my opinion. Some people go their entire lives without opening up to another race or culture because they believe in some connotation that is unfairly given to a group of people. I grew up in a primarily all white neighborhood and as a kid was never really forced to have contact with many people that didn’t look like me. This was my choice because this was all I ever knew. However, college and this class especially have taught me to interact with people and get to know them in a way so I will develop into a better person. But, in the end I feel that contact has its limits and boundaries for other people. Some people don’t want to give others a chance to speak out and or listen to what they have to say. This is where prejudice and discrimination becomes intertwined in the whole ‘contact’ between people.

I would not mind approaching this student and beginning to start a conversation. He does look that he may keep to himself in a way, however he looks like he could be a pretty interesting guy. Even with the differences in our races it looks like we have a lot in similar as well. He obviously listens to music due to his beats headphones, thus talking about music might be a good outlet so start out on. I’m also an avid hat wearer and it looks like he has on a basketball cap of some sort. In my opinion, this fellow student looks very similar to what I’d be wearing except for the long hair. However, I don’t think his hair makes him any less approachable. I think this shows that he is his own person and very unique in that. In all honesty I think it wouldn’t be very tough at all to approach him. Other students have talked about an uncomfortable feeling when dealing with other races more so than their own. I tend to be a little softer spoken when it comes to other races because I think about it more than I probably should. Also, I feel I don’t know what their interests and what they enjoy talking about. But, this student is different due to the things he is wearing, including his headphones and basketball hat. With similarities, I find it much easier to communicate with someone. If you have a common base then you can always resort to that when first approaching someone that may look different than you. This is something that I firmly believe in. If you don’t see something familiar with someone that you see, you will less likely want to have to talk to them. What I’m trying to say is that even though people may look different than you, take another look and see what kind of person they really are before you begin to judge them.

Receiving my acceptance to Penn State main campus was a very exciting moment for me. However, one of my good friends who was black was not as happy when he saw that he hadn’t been accepted. We had very similar track records and grades throughout high school and it looked as if we were both going to make it to PSU. Both of us played sports in high school and had active attendance in extracurricular activities as well. He expressed his anger and disappoint to me at first and I felt pretty bad. It wasn’t till later that he actually began to poke fun about how I was the white person and he was black. I tried to explain to him that couldn’t be the case and that PSU is a tough school to get into. I had an older brother who went here and a few connections that really gave me an edge. Also, I grew up in a family that was upper middle class where he struggled a bit more to attend our Catholic high school. But I did feel a bit angry when he mentioned that I got in because I was white. I worked hard throughout my educated years and I felt that he was almost attacking my upbringing. I told him how I felt about it but he insisted that he was honestly kidding and didn’t mean anything of it. Even though he didn’t mean anything by it, the fact that it actually went through his mind was a little odd to me. I would have loved for him to get into Penn State and attend this outstanding institution with me, however it just didn’t work out in the end. I also believe that a majority of the reason was not that I was white and he was black, but the differences in when we applied. I was banking on getting into Penn State because that’s where I wanted to attend. Penn State was not first on his list and therefore he didn’t spend as much time on the application then me; I have to guess. Were still great friends and this didn’t affect our relationship at all, just a little miscommunication on our parts. This very miniscule example of affirmative action however shows us that it is a huge problem we are dealing with in the United States. Affirmative action can range from the getting into schools, scholarships, jobs, and lots of money in the broad picture.

My views of affirmative action haven’t changed much from this class. I still feel that giving an advantage to somewhere because they may be in a lower class is not right. Society as a whole is less racially discriminatory then decades ago. It will never go completely unnoticed, but that’s something we all as humans have to deal with. Life’s not always fair, but you have to stick with what you were dealt with and try to work your hardest. Affirmative action gives others that are struggling an edge, but why is this fair to other races that worked just as hard to be in a position to earn this job. Sam brought up in class that the wealth gap between whites and blacks is actually quite large. It is astonishing to actually be able to see these numbers on paper and realize that some people just aren’t given the same opportunities than others. I do agree with what Sam has to say about this. I just don’t think that affirmative action is the best approach for solving this huge problem that we have in this world. A huge problem about this ‘action’ is that it doesn’t work in all the races favor. Someone, whether they are white, asian, or black will be treated unfairly and or with bias. I don’t think you should be able to punish someone due to where they grew up or how much their parents made. I do think there should be some types of action though when dealing with things like job offers. If a black person has a better resume and credentials than his white counterpart, then the black person should be hired. If this isn’t happening then we as a society continue to struggle with discrimination. I feel like our country is still headed in the right direction at this point though. In today’s business world you can see much more diversity in higher positions in the corporate world. As this diversity continues in the corporate world then racial discrimination will go down tremendously in the workplace. In the end I just don’t think affirmative action is the best approach solely because it takes away job opportunities for those that do deserve it. The economy is terrible right now and job security is very scarce at this moment. It’s tough to get a job and maintain one for all of us out there. If you work hard enough it will pay off and you will secure a job.

Last weeks lecture was very interesting in my opinion. Some people are put in much better situations when coming into this world. We have no influence in whether or not your family comes from money or not. With that said, becoming successful can be much easier for these people because they have resources that surround them. Because your parents had money, you can now attend a good high school and even get a college degree. Most people in today’s world don’t even have this option so they are put at a lower stage on the stairs just like Sam said in class. I believe that this was a great example that Sam pointed out. Basically, you can move from different parts of the stairs but if you start off so far behind it’s very tough to get anywhere. If you grew up with no money and didn’t have any resources then working hard might not be enough. It’s a very harsh subject however it’s just how it happens these days.
I responded to the question about success with the combination of hard work and connections. I still believe that to have the best chance at succeeding in your career and making a decent living that these two things are the best to have. Yes, you can make a great living with just hard work, but having connections in life is a very underrated asset. Networking and connections gives yourself an upper leg when you’re applying for a job for instance. If your Uncle has a very high management position in Walbridge Corp. then you have seemingly a better chance at obtaining this job.
I grew up in an upper middle class family and a lot of things including schooling were not a problem. I was able to attend a Catholic high school and have most of my college paid for as well by my parents. Because of all this, I was given a much better chance of succeeding than a majority of my peers. However, my Dad’s parents were not wealthy and with hard work he was able to attend Dartmouth and become a very successful businessman. Basically what I’m saying is that in the end any resource or networking tool that you can have access to will ultimately help you in the long run. Other times hard work will be a complete payoff and work out in the end. However, like Sam said sometimes no matter how much work you put in, the tough situation that you grew into is very difficult to overcome.

In class we were shown a picture of a women from Ohio State with facial hair. To me, I see this as very strange due to the fact that I was raised where no women had any facial hair. To see this women actually have it and continue to keep it is a little strange to me. It’s strange because this is one of the very few encounters that I’ve had with this. I don’t know how she feels about it but she must not mind having hair on her face or she would shave it. I’m not sure most women even get hair on their faces but after seeing this some are just born with it. I find it a little weird because I’m not used to it and I probably shouldn’t pass judgment on her so fast. However, I feel like she might receive harsh criticism from people especially if she is living in the United States. Most US people would think very strangely of this and probably look at her different for something as simple as this. It’s not that I necessarily disagree with what she’s doing I just don’t see why she would go through all of this when it isn’t the norm where she is currently living. Obviously her rights give her the freedom to do whatever she pleases and I guess this is why she keeps it.
You also have to look at this in a religious and cultural perspective. Maybe she comes from a family where this is the ‘norm’ and she feels like it is the right thing to do. People from all over the world have vastly different stances on every topic in the world and this is what makes us all special in our own way.
Sam tried pointing out that most of us wouldn’t have the “balls” to date this women and I actually agree with him completely. However, I agree with him in the fact that most of us don’t find this very normal and that being the reason we would not date her. But, for people who have seen women with facial hair, I don’t they would think much about it. All in all, I respect that fact that she is brave enough to have facial hair and that she is ok with it. She is obviously a very strong person I hope that she continues to be the person she is.

Bringing Omar into class was actually very interesting in my opinion. He’s a very talented hip hop singer and it’s pretty neat that he’s trying to make a difference with his music. As far as bridging the gap between East and West, music definitely has the potential to do so. Everyone listens to music and it’s an great outlet to expressing feelings and emotions that you have.
To start, the East and West have been distancing themselves largely due to stereotypes. A lot of these stereotypes tend to come out most in music, especially hip-hop. Hip-Hop music can generate so many opinions and thoughts with lyrics. Music can be used to describe someone’s culture, heritage, and background and this is why Omar feels that he can make a difference.
However, I feel that bridging this so called ‘gap’ could be tougher than Omar thinks. It’s almost like racial issues in the fact that there will always be people that can’t understand or don’t even want to understand. People are always going to have different backgrounds and beliefs and when differences come out that’s when its tough to keep peace. For example, we are over in the Middle East because we are at war. Putting it more simply though, we don’t agree with they have done and are doing at this point in time. We want their oil as well and that’s just one of the many things that we view differently. I know that we will not be able to close this gap completely and that’s why I’m making this point. However, I do think that through music we can make a difference in people’s views and thoughts. Music has the ability to bring people together and people like Omar can truly make this happen.
Popular hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Eminem have done the same thing that Omar is trying to do. This thing is sending a message so that your point is made and people can react. These artists have so millions of fans that are brought together because of similarities in their music. People look up to Jay-Z because he sends such a powerful message and is very successful in life as well. Hopefully Omar can spread his word like he said he is destined to do. He is a very talent artist I only expect to see great things from him. I thought it was very awesome that he came to class and we learned something a little different.