I honestly don’t think that there is one clear answer as to why our society is so fearful of change. I believe that there are many people out there who focus living their lives based on comfortably, rather than opening themselves up to other people, cultures, food, or even lifestyles. Earlier today I spoke with my friend on the phone about dating and relationships, and why things tend to go sour/why people end up getting divorced. The two of us talked about our previous relationships with our boyfriends (who we thought were our soul mates) until the whole “growing up” thing had to happen. After being in a seven-year relationship, I confused me being “happy” to me being “comfortable.” Even though Sam was joking in explaining that if you want to eat Macaroni & Cheese for the rest of your life, then great, eat Macaroni & Cheese for the rest of your life…sad thing is, is that this joke sparked an interesting thought. If one doesn’t try to be adventurous and experience new things/take even the smallest step outside of their box, they will miss out on how much there is out there in the world. And this thought made me think about my previous relationship, with me realizing that the comfortably I was feeling, was essentially killing the relationship. Same fights over the same things would cause a majority of couples to call it quits.

There is a quote that my older sister told me about that immediately opened my mind in terms of life, and how to live it. It was something like…”to live, not exist.” Living and existing are two very different words. The term “exist” relates to the actual being…the model of the human self without the thought, personality, or other characteristics that make us unique and different. The term “live” has so much power that it can stand alone as a quote itself. It embodies the heart and soul of individuals. Those who “live,” go on adventures, try new foods, meet new people, and travel to places that they have never been to. There is an absence of spontaneity and desire in the minds of many. In today’s society, it seems that a majority of children would rather stay in and play video games, or go on their iPads, then go outside and play in the dirt. I feel like technology can also be intimidating, which is why many choose to stick to their old phones, cars, and everyday routines. Stepping outside of the box can honestly open more than eyes…it can open doors to new opportunities, and can even lead us to find the love of our lives. There are endless possibilities that the world has to offer, it is ultimately up to us to go out and simply live.

What would it take for me to kill another person? This question is probably one of the heavier ones/blog responses that I will ever have to write, but it certainly gets my mind going. I think that if someone were to enter my home and violently threaten one of my family members or myself, I would have the mindset to kill. Not only is this idea one of instinct, but it is also our right to practice self-defense. Even the thought of someone harming someone close to me makes me feel very uneasy and disturbed. We are supposed to live in a country where race, culture, and religion are accepted, when in reality/going by history, I feel that a large part of the world we live in focuses on hate. People are tormented for things ranging from sexual orientation to the way that they dress. I feel like I can go on about seven different tangents right now, but it is important to focus on the question. In all seriousness, I don’t think it would take too much for anyone to kill. One personal story that hits home involves my cousin, Tony, who was shot two summers ago in York, Pennsylvania. Tony was only 19 years old. Supposedly the incident occurred over a stolen cellphone, when a 15-year-old boy shot and killed my cousin. A random act of rage like this can change the lives of so many. The point I am trying to make by telling this story is that shootings and killings happen around the globe every single day. Our society is even exposed to shows such as “Too Young to Kill,” or movies focusing on ways to seek “revenge” on others out of lust, jealousy, hatred, and greed. Watching these shows can not only put ideas in the heads of each viewer, but it can make it seem OK for people to commit these crimes. Going off of the idea of social media, bullying through cell phones and the Internet can lead young people to harm themselves or others. Even though the ones tormenting an individual aren’t “technically” the ones guilty of murder, their words were enough to turn that once living and breathing individual into an innocent victim. After attending my cousin’s trial and seeing the kid who shot and killed him, I looked at my uncle thinking to myself, “How is he being so strong and not jumping over the aisle and killing this kid?” But at the end of the day, I realized that good people like my uncle are put on this earth to show people how important it is to be kind, loyal, and to simply be a good human being in life. Good triumphs over evil in the end.

This topic of “putting myself in someone else's shoes” definitely hits home in the way that I think on a day-to-day basis. I will sometimes take a situation (whether that being good or bad) and stop and think to myself, “hey, what if that were me?” However, this topic specifically channels a connection to race, looking at the world through a person of color’s eyes. It was noted in the question that several challenges arise when doing an activity like this, possibly dealing with the every day comments, stares, and judgments that are made. In reality, many of us are guilty of making racial comments, however, it is almost certain that racial thoughts and questions enter the minds of all races on a daily basis. The question posed in the video blog asks us to put ourselves in the shoes of an Arab/Muslim, which definitely triggered some thoughts in my head. Immediately, the thought of head scarves/wraps entered my mind, in addition to full body coverage with the exception of the eyes. This detailed description represents the general visible depiction of an Arab/Muslim woman. While many women choose to wear colorful garbs, others wear all black, covering as much skin as possible. The reason why I am focusing on the women of this culture is because not only can I relate to their gender, but I can also compare their cultural fashion trends to the typical college girl getup. We have all seen (perhaps in photos or with our own eyes) girls walking on campus doing the classic “walk of shame.” Normally, girls in college like to strut their stuff by wearing skimpy skirts and sheer tops. So, after a long night of partying and a drunken hook-up/sleepover with a random guy, the girl borrows a pair of his sweatpants and t-shirt while carrying their heels and sloppy selves home at the crack of dawn. What would happen if someone were to see an Arab/Muslim girl doing a walk of shame? She would have her head wrapped, but say she was wearing a guy’s sweatpants and hoodie? I can almost guarantee that people would stare a few seconds longer in this situation, or question her religion/other aspects of her culture. This example also ties in with our discussion of “PDA” and how our society looks at relationships. During lecture, a male and female couple came to the center of the room and started making out. The class reacted by laughing and thought it was super funny. When two boys walked across the floor holding hands, 100 Thomas was quiet as everyone’s eyes slowly monitored their actions. I think it is obvious that when our society sees something out of what is considered to be “the norm,” we immediately give our full attention to what is happening, rather than being able to look beyond race or sexual orientation.

The topic of abortion poses several questions, causes, and concerns to begin with. Adding in the idea of rape leading to a possible pregnancy would be an absolute nightmare, in addition to a painful, lifelong reminder of the trauma that a woman endured. In class discussion, Sam tapped into the idea of how women tend to dress slutty or provocative, which could essentially “lure” a man to commit the act of rape. There are several young girls here at Penn State who go out on the weekends, dressing in barely any clothes and four-inch heels, but their intentions are not to get raped. My personal opinion involving this issue is simply this: I would not get an abortion if I got pregnant by my significant other, however, I would absolutely 100% get one if I was ever raped (which I pray to God never ever happens). I just don’t think that I could personally deal with that type of trauma in addition to carrying a baby that was created from an act like this. It is just awful to think that the babies born as a result of rape could turn out to be amazingly talented, smart human beings, triumphing over the way they were brought into this world. Me even typing that definitely puts things into perspective. I mean, it’s not the fetus’ fault that its little soul was implanted in the mother, yet I think that it would make it hard for the mother to fathom the idea of her baby containing the same features, traits, and blood of her attacker. I have actually had this conversation with my mom, who is the mother of three girls (myself included) who told me that her biggest fear/nightmare is the idea of one of her daughters being raped and killed. And when talking about future generations (like my potential/future daughters, nieces, granddaughters) I plan on instilling them with strong morals and values while also giving them the freedom to make their own decisions. I think that both of my parents would definitely support my decision. I think that the way a person is raised/brought up from birth can attribute to how that person will grow and form a personality and healthy mind. A baby born out of rape may not be given the same amount of love compared to a baby that was planned with the love of one’s life. I think that this issue is hard to discuss regardless because I am sure that a majority of the students in class have not experienced rape or a violent criminal attack. Yes, we are all familiar with this unlawful/forceful crime, but I believe that the only solution to this situation would be to spread awareness to all (especially the young).

I am not one to pass judgment or base any opinion/criticize someone because of his or her physical appearance. You may not believe that statement, because we are all guilty of occasionally “judging a book by its cover,” but I truly feel that the world we live in is completely judgmental (which I have stated multiple times in my previous blog entries.) This dude looks extremely chill and approachable, and I would have to get into conversation to determine more of his characteristics. He could be funny and be the biggest party animal out there, or he could be the valedictorian of his high school graduating class and be super shy. Either way, people have their own story and a past that we are all unaware of. That fact alone has allowed me to drop the stereotypical teenage attitude and learn to appreciate every person for not only who they are, but for what they have been through. In terms of dating, we would all be lying if we said that looks didn’t attribute to a large part of a relationship, because there has to be some type of attraction there. A lot of my really good guys friends stay strictly friends because I don’t have that certain feeling when I am with them. Last weekend I went out to the bar with these guy friends and was completely amazed by how they still rate girls on a 1-10 scale (which is probably the reason why girls hate guys so much.) When I questioned them about it, they looked at me as if I were crazy for not knowing that guys still follow this little scale almost every single time that they go out. During our class lecture, three students (two from Hong Kong and one from Korea) stood in the center of the room being somewhat ranked on their looks by a random, white female. It was not only awkward for the three guys, because I got a stomachache and felt so incredibly bad for the dudes. Honestly, if I was picked to stand in the middle of a classroom that holds up to 700 seats and had to get eyed up and down in addition to being called out for my looks, my self esteem and nerves would be shot. The reality of this exercise was to openly show the inner monologue that we all deal with on a daily basis. I think that a lot of this stereotypical judgment has a lot to do with the media and the way people are “supposed” to look. In my COMM 465 class, our teacher was explaining photographs and the importance of lighting and how to capture someone in an image. He pointed out the 1994 Time Magazine cover (featuring OJ Simpson who was accused of murdering his wife, Nicole) where his skin tone was manipulated and darkened, making him appear violent and menacing. When the audience/readers of the magazine see an image like that, they almost immediately jump to making assumptions without knowing the background information. Maybe if we took the time to educate ourselves and to be understanding of one another, our world would be in a much better place.

The video we watched in class was a little predictable in my opinion. I mean, in terms of racism and discrimination, I think that our society is pretty judgmental. The first test was to put a white male in a scenario where he was stealing a bike from a road sign/pole. The passerbys walk about and mind their business as if nothing wrong was happening. Another students response commented on the setting of the video, which definitely puts things into perspective. The location appears to be an upscale park area, not very close to a city, where the majority of people who walked by appeared to be middle-aged Caucasian couples. Did they jump to conclusions and assume that this young man was stealing a bike? Absolutely not. The thought of this kid stealing the bike probably didnt cross the minds of half of the people that passed by with their dog or significant other. When people questioned the male, he simply responded with, Well its not your bike, is it? The interesting twist was when the segment switched things up and put a black male into the place of the white male. As soon as the image of this young man wearing baggy jeans and an oversized red tee, the entire room of 100 Thomas let out a good laugh. There is your answer right there. Before our class even saw the footage of what would happen with a black male trying to steal a bike, we all immediately get the gist of where this experiment was going. To our surprise, the black male was instantly badgered with questions concerning what he was doing and why he had a bag of tools with him. I think the most interesting aspect of the film was seeing how infuriated the people walking by became when they realized what his intentions were. Many people even whipped out their cell phones and even raised their voice at the male. When the host/TV crew came out of the woods to get feedback from the people questioning the black man, one older man proceeded to yell (at the crew) explaining the story about how this kid tried to steal the bike. The final test was to add an attractive, blond chick into the mix. As expected, both younger and older men offered assistance and even flirted with the woman. Literally every person who walked/rode their bike passed this girl, they immediately flocked to her as if she were injured or something. This, my friends, is the reality of our society. I think that people who automatically make assumptions about people of color are considered to be somewhat racist. People pass judgment every single day. When walking on campus we see hundreds of different faces, silently judging looks, appearance and demeanor. That is just reality.

I definitely agree with my classmates in saying that personal choices that you make and what happens to you in life are a result of both free will and determinism. When I was a freshman in high school, I knew that I was definitely going to go to college, but that fact alone was my own personal life choice. My original plan was to go to Hofstra University in Long Island to pursue (my current major: Broadcast Journalism) while playing field hockey. I liked everything about the school except for one thing....it wasn’t Penn State.

Throughout my college experience, I have had two internships that will hopefully benefit me in terms of getting a job when I graduate. On the first day of my summer 2011 internship with Lifetime Movie Network in Los Angeles, California, I was introduced to two Penn State alumni, which instantly made me feel at home. It was because of free will and determinism that I was able to connect with individuals who shared that same PSU pride that runs through all of us penn staters. Now, as a senior, I feel that time seems to be ticking away even faster. The past four years of college have honestly gone by in a blink of an eye, highlighting on some very positive, sad, life-changing, tough and memorable events that will be with me for forever. What I think has led me to my own path has been to simply live each day as it comes. Even if there is a set plan for everyone, there has to be some type of meaning behind it. Instead of questioning the choices that we make day to day, we should just embrace whatever comes our way with the satisfaction of learning from our mistakes. I think that we would all look at the world a little differently if we actually just lived instead of constantly wondering why things happen the way that they do.

100 Thomas (a room that holds roughly 700 students) turned silent when students were asked to identify as being rich/coming from a rich household. I think that there are without a doubt several students in our Soc 119 lecture who come from money, or have wealthy family members or loved ones. This issue of money is something that our society is thinking on a daily basis, however, our economy is doing nothing but sucking the financial life out of every single one of us. When I was in high school, people used to think that my family was “rich.” And for some reason, I used to get really upset and mad at the fact that they thought of my family and I that way…and I honestly don’t know why. I had a large house, in ground swimming pool and a hot tub. My dad has a Volvo, my mom drives a company car, and my sisters and I have cars (mine at the time was a Mercedes Benz.) People automatically assumed I was a spoiled little rich girl when pulling into my high school parking lot in a little black Benz. Truth be told, I had one windshield wiper, had to open and lock my car through the trunk, had tinted front windows, and someone stole my Mercedes emblem on the front of my car (which made it look like the most ghetto fabulous automobile on the road.) Now that all of my sisters are out of college, my parents have taken financial steps to better our lives. My family is not even close to being rich, but we do what we can to make our home, well…homey. My family has recently downsized into a smaller property, and everything has been wonderful. People need to realize that money isn’t everything. At the end of the day, spending time with family is all that truly matters.
In my Soc 424 class, we have recently discussed several readings dealing with the issue of “parental guilt,” which pertains to parents who are constantly working and don’t make/have time for their kids. Those parents end up spoiling their children, which can completely give them the wrong idea about how to earn their own money in addition to being responsible. My sisters and I never received an allowance, we were just expected to clean our rooms and help around the house. Yes, we definitely asked for toys, clothes and whatever popular trends that were being advertised, but having a solid relationship with your family gives you the best sense of reality/how the world works. Being “rich” can only get you so far in life. But to me, an almost 22-year-old senior in college, I know I am going to come out of school with a nice chunk of debt, but I have a strong support system and family there to support me, which is something that money could never buy.

The guessing game exercise gave the whole class a little taste of reality. We are all guilty of passing judgment at least one time in our lives. Even if we were three years old eyeing up the kid who had the better toy than you at the park/playground. In terms of culture, growing up makes everything more complicated. When were young, characteristics like skin color, height, weight, hairstyle or even birthmarks seem to be the farthest point of focus. In todays society, people are judged for what they are wearing, how squinty a persons eyes are, or for the color of their skin. Lining the Asian students up in class and deciphering where they were born/the specific location of where they were conceived brought up a somewhat uncomfortable yet extremely real game that is played a few times each day. It is almost ironic that this specific exercise has the word game in it, because this scenario occurs on a day-to-day basis. For example, if a malato person was walking down the street, one could stop and wonder if they were black, or if only one of their parents were black. It may be a simple question, however, it stirs the idea of being quick to judge. My next-door neighbor Amy is Indian and completely owns it. When my new roommate asked for her last name (so that they could become friends via Facebook) her response was, Its Patel&just like every other Indian persons last name, and then she laughed. Being able to laugh at the common assumptions of your heritage, race or ethnicity shows that you are comfortable in your skin, which is something that I completely respect. All people have their insecurities and it is sad to think that were being judged for our genetic make up, which is something that is completely uncontrollable. And instead of embracing uniqueness, people point fingers and make comments to boost their own self-esteem and make themselves feel better. There was one aspect of the exercise that definitely made me question Sams way of thinking in a sense. He asked the entire class, Who in here has a 4.0 GPA? A girl raised her hand and she was then selected to determine the specific ethnicity of each individual Asian student standing in the line. To be honest, I think that a student with even a 2.0 GPA couldve gone up there and made accurate guesses. Ironically, some students who arent considered book smart are super street smart, so I think that whole idea of having a 4.0 student make the guesses was kind of pointless and a little bit of a slap in the face. I mean, the seven hundred students that sit in this class are enrolled in college, we cant be that stupid.

Music is an art form that breaks racial and ethnic issues and binds love, harmony and peace. Two summers ago, I encountered one place that I consider to be the center of (west coast) soul. Just a few strides away from the Pacific, locked in between the sea and the eccentric Venice Beach boardwalk, lies the drum circle. Every day hundreds of people can be found on the sand close to dusk, drumming and dancing their worries away. This bohemian mix involves no status among society, heated arguments, or unnecessary problems. Negativity is insignificant. The drum circle exudes a carefree nature in which everyone gets along and becomes one giant sight and sound of equality. The circle consists of a diverse range of human beings; the homeless are banging on trashcans while professionally trained musicians are rocking out at their drum sets. No one would dare to point or call anyone names. Our class discussions referring to “people of color” are washed away by the infinite amounts of colors flowing from every angle of the circle. When Omar Offendum came into our lecture, students were drawn to his energy before we even knew his background or specific ethnicity, which is what made me immediately think of the drum circle.
Omar’s upbeat sound and passion brought a sense of togetherness in our class. For how large our class is, students certainly aren’t afraid to stand up and explain their beliefs with confidence. In a way, Omar’s lyrics are deeply rooted to his culture, which make his songs that much more personal and spiritual. I feel that musicians like Omar can be the hope and “bridge” that will form over the gap in order to create that equality that we’re searching for. There are so many different genres of music, (which can somewhat relate to the different races/ethnicities.) For example, when two people meet each other or go out on a date, music is definitely a topic that is discussed. “So, what kind of music do you like?” That question alone can determine if there is some type of compatible aspect, which may lead them to go on a second date. Ultimately, I believe that being open-minded can be the cure to a lot of the negativity involving race or discrimination of any kind. Music may be the answer by drowning out the hate and cruelty with sounds of passion and jubilation.