As much as I would love to help out immigrants that don’t have any food or shelter, I honestly just don’t have the means necessary to do so at this time in my life. I’m a full-time student paying out of state tuition at one of the most expensive “public schools” in the nation. I absolutely don’t have the money to buy all of the food and supplies that a volunteer position like that requires. Nor do I have the time. I understand that the people from the video are insanely poor and hungry, and while I know that I theoretically COULD do more to help them, I just honestly cannot see myself taking on a position like that in my life right now. I would love to, but I just can’t.

Someday, once I’ve graduated and have put myself through law school and am receiving a paycheck, I could absolutely see myself doing something to help. Probably not as in depth or intense as the guy in the video, but I would try to do something. Occasionally I go to soup kitchens in Trenton and serve lunch or dinner to the hungry, and I would love to continue to do this once I am making more money and can contribute more to help.

I respect the guy from the video a lot for doing what he is doing, because Lord knows there are not enough people helping. The thing is, we can’t hate on the people that aren’t helping because they have their reasons. I know that the people receiving the food have far less than we have, but we are all busy and we do have bills to pay. Some people simply cannot donate money or food because they’re worrying about their own families. Everyone has their reasons for not doing more to help, and while some of those reasons seem trivial to the hungry, they are legitimate reasons for everyone else.

Additionally, I feel like a lot of people don’t help because they don’t want to help. As much as it is unfair and judgmental, a decent amount of American citizens see immigrants as people that are taking our jobs. While I guess technically in some aspects they are, they shouldn’t be punished for that. I did a servant trip to Texas after my freshman year of high school to help and hang out with a poor community that was made up primarily of illegal immigrants. In one house, there were 18 people who shared 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a kitchen and a tiny living room. The family and extended family had absolutely nothing, no TV, no telephone, but still their only goal was to make enough money so that they had enough left over after bills to send back to their family. Most Americans don’t see them as hard-working people though. We see them as illegal people that are taking our jobs. It sucks.

Because of having a personal experience with a group of illegal immigrants, it makes me even more apt to work with them and give food to them when everyone else is shutting them out. While I can’t at this point in my life, I absolutely can see myself helping them later in my life. Until then, I’m grateful for people like the guy in the video, and I wish we had more people like him that were willing to help.

If a situation presented itself where I could use a connection that I had to get ahead or to get a job that I really wanted, I would absolutely use it. Additionally, I really wouldn’t feel bad about it. I understand that by using a connection, I am taking that job from someone that probably deserves it more than I do. But truthfully, it doesn’t both me all that much. Call me heartless; I call it ambition.

The world today operates solely on connections. While skill and education are important, none of that will matter if you don’t network and if you don’t put yourself out there. That actually kind of bothered me about class: Sam was making “knowing people” out to be a bad thing, and I really don’t think it is at all. There is nothing wrong with having family members who are successful; if anything, we should be looking up to them and should be aspiring to be as successful as they are. I’m not going to feel guilty that I have family members who know important people. Networking is seen as a valuable skill in the working world anyway, and everyone SHOULD use it to his or her advantage.

Tying in with nepotism and that whole discussion, I completely disagree that affirmative action mainly benefits white people. There are no quotas for white people at jobs or colleges, there are no outreach programs for white people for schools, and there are no scholarships at this school for average white people. I’m all down for people getting scholarships based on economic need, like seriously that’s awesome that they’re going to school to try to be successful someday. But those scholarships shouldn’t be based on color. Also, from a personal standpoint, I know someone who got screwed out of a promotion, and lost the promotion to an Indian man who was far less qualified for the position than my person. At the time of the promotion, the state government was on a pay freeze, so there weren’t supposed to be any promotions to begin with, but before the pay freeze, my person and the Indian man were both being considered. My person had a higher education and had been working for the government longer than the Indian man, but the Indian man still got the promotion. So tell me, does affirmative action realllllly benefit white people? Not from what I’ve seen…

So, basically, if an opportunity presented itself where I could get a job only because I somehow knew the person that was offering it, I would 100% take it. I think I might feel a tiny bit shitty about myself for taking it after listening to Sam’s lecture, because I know that I took away an opportunity from someone else. However, that fact sure as hell wouldn’t stop me from taking it, especially because if I don’t jump on the opportunity, someone else will. There’s no escaping nepotism in modern-day society, so “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

Every time I see the commercials about the poor, starving orphans, my heart really does reach out to them. They look so incredibly sad, and so unhealthy, and I feel like hugging them. I couldn’t imagine what I would do if I had to face even half of the hardships that they have to face daily. Let alone the fact that they don’t have parents, and are left to take care of their younger siblings by themselves. My parents are everything to me, and they are the reason why I’m able to do half of the things that I do, and I genuinely couldn’t imagine what I would do without them.

So when I see those kids on television, I feel really bad for them. However, I don’t think that it’s right that organizations use the children’s sad stories for their personal gain. Granted, I know that the money that goes into those organizations really does go towards the children, for the most part, but I don’t think it’s right or nice that they make kids who are already going through hard stuff cry on television so that they get attention. I know that if I had just lost my parents and was left to take care of my younger brother by myself that I would want to cry about it on television for sympathy and pity. I’m all down for emotion-evoking personal stories and thusly getting the feeling of WANTING to help people or a cause, but I don’t think that making young children cry on national television is cool. It’s the same thing with those Sarah McLaughlin ASPCA commercials. The first time you see one, you sob your eyes out because those poor dogs look so miserable and you just want to take all of them home and love them and protect them forever. But after you see it 10, or 20, or even 30 times, you start to get sick of them and want to change the channel because they’re just too depressing.

I’m afraid that the Unicef commercials are going to turn into the same thing. People feel bad when they see them, but there’s only so many times that you can look at a sobbing child before you start to think “Okay, really, enough.” I’ve donated money to those organizations before, and while I haven’t actually sponsored a child, I’ve worked with under-privileged children. It is so unbelievably sad when a defenseless child has to deal with so many problems that I have never even fathomed dealing with before. I wish I could do more, but I don’t think that seeing a crying child on television is going to motivate people to do more. They will change the channel, just like they do with the ASPCA commercials.

Additionally, I wonder if the children know that their hardships are being exploited. They are already going through enough crap without having to cry on command or show off how hungry they are. They probably look at the well-clothed, well-fed camera people and wonder why they are following them instead of helping them. I feel like those organizations definitely have good intentions, but could do a much better job of implementing their goals without exploiting already unfortunate children.

(2) After listening to the lecture, especially the points about how girls convince themselves that they WANT to dress like that, I have to say that I disagree. We all know what we’re doing when we put on clothes and shoes like that. No one is really that jaded that they’re thinking, “I have to do this, I don’t have a choice.” We have the choice to wear sweats and Uggs out, but it’s honestly never going to happen. Girls are always going to dress like sluts with the aim of getting attention from our counterparts, and in all likeliness, we’re going to LIKE dressing like that. I, for one, am not going to stop wearing heels and dresses when it’s cold out. I’d rather stay in than go out in “warm, comfortable” clothes. Plus, heels totally make our calf muscles and asses look HOT, so we’re definitely not ever going to stop manipulating our feet into crazy positions. (I mean seriously, when a girl says she’s addicted to buying shoes, do you REALLY think she means sneakers and loafers? Uh, no.)

So, ladies, for those of you that are complaining about how you hate dressing like that, and how you wish you could go out in plain, boring, comfortable clothes…shut up. No you don’t. We enjoy dressing up and looking hot, and we’re not going to stop doing it, ever, so there’s really no point in trying to convince us, or yourselves, otherwise.

(2) After listening to the lecture, especially the points about how girls convince themselves that they WANT to dress like that, I have to say that I disagree. We all know what we’re doing when we put on clothes and shoes like that. No one is really that jaded that they’re thinking, “I have to do this, I don’t have a choice.” We have the choice to wear sweats and Uggs out, but it’s honestly never going to happen. Girls are always going to dress like sluts with the aim of getting attention from our counterparts, and in all likeliness, we’re going to LIKE dressing like that. I, for one, am not going to stop wearing heels and dresses when it’s cold out. I’d rather stay in than go out in “warm, comfortable” clothes. Plus, heels totally make our calf muscles and asses look HOT, so we’re definitely not ever going to stop manipulating our feet into crazy positions. (I mean seriously, when a girl says she’s addicted to buying shoes, do you REALLY think she means sneakers and loafers? Uh, no.)

So, ladies, for those of you that are complaining about how you hate dressing like that, and how you wish you could go out in plain, boring, comfortable clothes…shut up. No you don’t. We enjoy dressing up and looking hot, and we’re not going to stop doing it, ever, so there’s really no point in trying to convince us, or yourselves, otherwise.

(2) After listening to the lecture, especially the points about how girls convince themselves that they WANT to dress like that, I have to say that I disagree. We all know what we’re doing when we put on clothes and shoes like that. No one is really that jaded that they’re thinking, “I have to do this, I don’t have a choice.” We have the choice to wear sweats and Uggs out, but it’s honestly never going to happen. Girls are always going to dress like sluts with the aim of getting attention from our counterparts, and in all likeliness, we’re going to LIKE dressing like that. I, for one, am not going to stop wearing heels and dresses when it’s cold out. I’d rather stay in than go out in “warm, comfortable” clothes. Plus, heels totally make our calf muscles and asses look HOT, so we’re definitely not ever going to stop manipulating our feet into crazy positions. (I mean seriously, when a girl says she’s addicted to buying shoes, do you REALLY think she means sneakers and loafers? Uh, no.)

So, ladies, for those of you that are complaining about how you hate dressing like that, and how you wish you could go out in plain, boring, comfortable clothes…shut up. No you don’t. We enjoy dressing up and looking hot, and we’re not going to stop doing it, ever, so there’s really no point in trying to convince us, or yourselves, otherwise.

(1) When I go out on the weekends, I know EXACTLY what I’m doing when I put on a tight, short dress that makes my boobs look good and impossibly high heels. I am 100% trying to get a guy’s attention, preferably so I can hook up with someone that night. And I legitimately have zero shame. When girls say that they’re dressing up for themselves, it’s honestly such bullshit. We’re all trying to look as slutty as possible because guys, and girls, are judging us. We would LOVE to be able to go out in yoga pants and Uggs, but it’s just not socially acceptable, especially if you’re trying to get with a guy. Girls say that they dress like that because it makes them feel hot, and it does, but HELLO if you think you look hot, a guy will most likely agree, so you’re still inadvertently trying to get the males’ attention.

As far as guys dressing super casual while we get all dolled up: it’s the norm, so deal with it and get over it ladies. While we all love it when a guy gets dressed up in khakis and a polo, it rarely happens. The thing is though, jeans and a polo IS dressed up for a guy. If a guy tried to actually dress casually at a party in like sweats or something, he wouldn’t get any attention either. Girls make such a huge deal about spending HOURS getting ready and complaining that guys only take 15 minutes. That is sooooo not the case. I know guys that take longer than I do to get ready so don’t hate on the boys and say that they don’t try; they do and we like it just as much as they like it when we get dressed up.

When I go out on the weekends, I know EXACTLY what I’m doing when I put on a tight, short dress that makes my boobs look good and impossibly high heels. I am 100% trying to get a guy’s attention, preferably so I can hook up with someone that night. And I legitimately have zero shame. When girls say that they’re dressing up for themselves, it’s honestly such bullshit. We’re all trying to look as slutty as possible because guys, and girls, are judging us. We would LOVE to be able to go out in yoga pants and Uggs, but it’s just not socially acceptable, especially if you’re trying to get with a guy. Girls say that they dress like that because it makes them feel hot, and it does, but HELLO if you think you look hot, a guy will most likely agree, so you’re still inadvertently trying to get the males’ attention.

As far as guys dressing super casual while we get all dolled up: it’s the norm, so deal with it and get over it ladies. While we all love it when a guy gets dressed up in khakis and a polo, it rarely happens. The thing is though, jeans and a polo IS dressed up for a guy. If a guy tried to actually dress casually at a party in like sweats or something, he wouldn’t get any attention either. Girls make such a huge deal about spending HOURS getting ready and complaining that guys only take 15 minutes. That is sooooo not the case. I know guys that take longer than I do to get ready so don’t hate on the boys and say that they don’t try; they do and we like it just as much as they like it when we get dressed up.

After listening to the lecture, especially the points about how girls convince themselves that they WANT to dress like that, I have to say that I disagree. We all know what we’re doing when we put on clothes and shoes like that. No one is really that jaded that they’re thinking, “I have to do this, I don’t have a choice.” We have the choice to wear sweats and Uggs out, but it’s honestly never going to happen. Girls are always going to dress like sluts with the aim of getting attention from our counterparts, and in all likeliness, we’re going to LIKE dressing like that. I, for one, am not going to stop wearing heels and dresses when it’s cold out. I’d rather stay in than go out in “warm, comfortable” clothes. Plus, heels totally make our calf muscles and asses look HOT, so we’re definitely not ever going to stop manipulating our feet into crazy positions. (I mean seriously, when a girl says she’s addicted to buying shoes, do you REALLY think she means sneakers and loafers? Uh, no.)

So, ladies, for those of you that are complaining about how you hate dressing like that, and how you wish you could go out in plain, boring, comfortable clothes…shut up. No you don’t. We enjoy dressing up and looking hot, and we’re not going to stop doing it, ever, so there’s really no point in trying to convince us, or yourselves, otherwise.

Is it weird to answer your own question? Because I’m going to… I personally love interracial relationships. I think it’s awesome when people of different races don’t give a shit about other people’s opinions, and can completely ignore what color or race they are and just be happy and love each other. Plus, children that are the products of interracial relationships are easily the most gorgeous children in the entire world. There is nothing cuter than a baby with blue eyes, tan skin, and dark curly hair. Additionally, I love the confidence that people in interracial relationships have. Clearly our society isn’t super receptive to interracial relationships, and it takes a lot of balls for a couple to go out and not pay attention AT ALL to the stares that they undoubtedly get.

My ex boyfriend is black; his parents grew up in Ghana, so he really is African, and therefore super dark. When we would go out together some people would look at us like we were doing something wrong, and we would get disgusted looks. My parents were totally cool with it: I had been friends with the kid for at least 2 years prior to us being an “us”, so they were happy when we told them that we were dating. My brother was iffy about it, but only because the guy was one of his best friends, so he felt awkward. But as far as the interracial part goes, he couldn’t have cared less. I got really mix reactions from my friends though. Some of them didn’t care and thought that it was completely fine/normal, but some of my other friends didn’t understand how or why I thought he was attractive. They could not fathom dating someone that didn’t “look like them.” One of my friends was completely disgusted, and didn’t understand how I could kiss him or anything else. I feel like their opinions were almost naive and super sheltered. None of them have ever dated outside of their races before, and I guess because it was different to them, they automatically thought that it was a negative thing. My ex and I would joke around and talk about how pretty our kids would be if we had kids. With his dark skin and my blue eyes, they would be seriously gorgeous. We never really cared if people were judging us or if they thought that what we were doing was wrong. We actually laughed at people who would make comments about our relationship. F*** the haters, right?

So, clearly, I am a huge fan of interracial relationships. I actually don’t understand why some people are still so against them. Someday future generations are going to look at us and be like, “What the hell was their problem?” Maybe 50 years ago they weren’t cool, but times are so different now. People need to stop being so judgmental and recognize that if anything, interracial relationships are just going to get more popular, so they should learn to accept them, and see the beauty that is in them, just like in every other relationship.

For starters, I think that this is a really good question because everyone is going to have different takes on it based on where they grew up. I personally grew up in a fairly small town in South Jersey, and while my town was predominantly white, my high school was a pretty equal mix of whites and non-whites. In that respect, my high school was more “diverse” than Penn State, seeing as Penn State is 77% white. However, I think that the students here interact with each other way more than they did in my high school. At my school, typically the white kids hung out with the white kids, the black kids hung out with the black kids, and the Asian kids hung out with the Asian kids. Granted, there was some mixing of the groups, but it was minimal, and the kids who actually did mix were labeled as “white black kids” or “black white kids”. Seriously, what does that even mean? That a white person is “ghetto” or that a black person “acts white”? I always thought that it was bunch of bullshit, because there is no typical way for a person to act based on their skin color. I never really understood why it was necessary to label them in the first place, but whatever. So, looking back on the “diversity” in my high school, even though the mix was more of a mix, I genuinely think that Penn State has awesome diversity. Racial groups interact here all of the time, and I think that for a large part, people here don’t care what your skin color is or where you come from. Maybe that’s because we all see ourselves as part of the Penn State family, I don’t know. But I think it’s awesome that there are all different kinds of people at this school, especially that all of the different people won’t look at the differences of other kids. My freshman year in high school, one of the kids in my biology class said that I was “a stereotypical white girl.” Obviously, I wanted to know what he meant by that, and he responded that it was because I was blonde, dumb, and did ballet. Seriously, though? One, I’m absolutely 100% percent positive that there are just as many white brunettes as blondes, if not more, so FAIL on that account. Two, I was a freshman in an honors biology class with a bunch of sophomores, himself included, so again, no. And three, what the hell does ballet have anything to do with anything? He was so ignorant, and so sheltered, I guess, that he made such a dumb, assuming statement. That would NEVER happen at Penn State, ever, and I love that about our school. People here don’t care where you came from or what color your skin is. Everyone just accepts everyone else and is so chill with everyone else. We don’t care about differences or anything trivial like that. For that reason, I think the diversity at this school, and the acceptances of all of the differences at this school, seriously rocks.