I become more surprised each time as I read these letters from lifers. These lifers actually try to change their life around in jail, even though they know they are never leaving jail. I wonder why a lot of the lifers try to become “good” and connect with God even though they will be in jail for life, whether they become a better person. When this lifer started to discuss love, this made me feel such empathy for him. I see the yearning for love is a recurring trend throughout most of the lifers (those that I have read.) I can’t wrap my head around that the lifer possibly could have killed someone and now just sits in jail and thinks about his one desire in life is to love. Love is something that every human desires, and spend years searching for. It is so sad that this man, along with the rest of his fellow lifers, can never experience the feeling of love ever again. The closest thing these lifers can get to love is the connection to God where they believe God is actually caring about the lifers. When he stated that his life is so empty, it made me very sad. He is constantly surrounded by bare concrete walls, which remind him of what his life was reduced too. He tries to fill his life with reading and conversation however he still feels that something is missing. Love is one of the most powerful things in the world. It was so genuine when he described the connection between a man and a woman. I am shocked that lifers are so poetic and such deep and inspiring writers. I have been in love once in my life so it was very easy to relate to what the lifer was saying. I was surprised at the end of the entry that his emotions transitioned into such a guilty state of mind. Nothing is going to fill the emptiness of his life. Nothing can compare to the love that someone can give you. Being in love is unlike any other feeling and it should be cherished by anybody who has experienced it.

This article reminded me of the five potential sexes story in the Intersection book. Society only gives two options on forms, male or female. It should be a blank line where anyone can choose from the five different options just like the Intersections book suggested. Even right out of the womb, society is so forceful to clearly show the distinction between girls and boys. Newborn girls are drowned in light pink clothes, toys, accessories, as the boys are drowned in light blue clothes, toys, and accessories as well. The toys for a baby girl will consist of dolls whereas a boy might receive a toy truck. Why is it looked down upon when a boy plays with Barbies or a girl asks for a GI Joe. As the two genders grow up, society only gets worse. There is a clear distinction (for the most part, most straight people) between hobbies, taste in music, favorite color, and dress. Why does society always single out those who are a shade of both genders? When a girl is wearing long basketball shorts with Nike sneakers and a hat, often time’s people will accuse her of being a tomboy or even a lesbian. Why do people often have these opinions right off the bat? Why does it matter if the girl wears a hat, does that automatically change her sexual interest? Often times, I hear that parents will have a nervous breakdown if their five year old wants to play dress up. I believe it is because the parents are worried about the child having gender confusion. This is what frustrates me the most! If a boy wants to play dress up, let him. Whether or not he plays dress up, this will not change his sexual preference. He is a young child filled with energy and love for life. The social stigma of gender is something that we must fight to change. The problem with changing this stigma is that this stigma dates back so long ago. According to anatomy, a penis belongs on a male whereas a vagina belongs on a female. However, if this man in the article has his mind telling him one way, and his body telling him another, he automatically feels pressure from society to change. In order to be accepted in the world, he felt so pressured to surgically alter his body. It is so sad that he faces such hardship in life with his job. Just because he is different from you, doesn’t mean anything! People need to mind their own business.

As I was reading this, I couldn’t help but think about my boyfriend. My boyfriend truly possesses all of the qualities that I expect of him. He is loving and caring with a heart truly made out of gold. The beginning of this post almost reminded me of a “wanted” ad in a newspaper or a spouse requirement on a dating site such as eHarmony or J-date. Luckily, in my 19 years of life, I have only placed myself in the “stereotypical” healthy relationships, the relationship that the lifer vividly described. When I compare other guys to my boyfriend, I really feel lucky. I always remind my friends that are single that nice, respectful men do really exist, they are just hiding. Over the past two and a half years of being in relationship, he has become my best friend. A friend who I can tell every single thing to and I know that he will offer the best advice in return. When I am stressed, all I need to do is video chat with him and somehow and in someway all the stress rushes out of me. There are nice gentlemen in this world; however, girls are often attracted to the good-looking, over-confident rude ones. Unfortunately, the media has such an impact on society today. The media offers either a “fairy-tale” image of what the perfect relationship is and on the contrary, a disaster of a relationship. I am assuming this lifer had a disaster of a relationship and in jail as he connects with God has realized that the media is a man’s worst enemy. However, there are men who were brought up with great values and have not allowed the media to affect their views of women. I truly am so lucky to have solely placed myself into healthy relationships with boyfriends, and friends. I believe my morals and values of picking the right people are largely influenced by my parents healthy relationship and the environment of friends that I surround myself with. There is so much more to a relationship than just sex and power. It is so important to have open communication, honesty, loyalty, and respect for one another. I often remind my best friend that she is so beautiful and such a catch that she must be picky and never settle. So many girls are looking for the perfect relationship, but I have learned it is so much better to let the relationship look for you. Similarly to the way my parents raised me, I will mimic their parenting techniques with my children. Chivalry did not die. This lifer claimed he didn’t know what the girl wanted, so it is very important in relationships to have open communication and clearly discuss and make sure both of you are on the same page. I promise, there are good men out there, just be patient.

I was very surprised that this letter was so heart felt, emotional, and sincere. I could not believe that he lived on his own at the age of 18. Right away, this caught my attention that there must have been problems with his relationship with his family. I am sure that living without the love and support for one’s family can destroy a child from the inside out. At the age of 28, he has been in jail for 10 years. Doing the math, he has been in jail since he was 18. I see a clear parallel between him not living with his family and his placement in jail at the age of 18. After reading countless letters from the lifers, I have learned from both the letters and class that jail is nothing really like what the media portrays it to be. The connections that the “lifers” make with God and the words and passion they portray in their letters are so inspiring. These letters are written by intelligent people, which I believe is often overlooked by society. The stigma that society has on criminals in jail is sour and I believe often times false. I have learned through class that older prisoners will often times become a role model or a father figure to the younger inmates. I think this is so inspiring. This just proves that inmates are definitely filled with some positive traits that can be taught to others. I think it is extremely admirable that the inmates feel that each day is a new opportunity to better them and get closer to God, one step at a time. It’s sad that when people like “C” are in prison forever, even after they completely change into a new human with new morals and values. We waste so much housing prisoners, some of which don’t need to be locked up forever. Its letters like this that I read and feel such empathy for those prisoners who really have changed for the better. It is very sad that society makes judgments on a person solely on one stupid decision. For example, if a person was drunk driving and made that horrible mistake to get behind the wheel and kill someone, they are in prison for life. Is prison for life the correct answer? Does that one mistake truly measure up to the consequences the judicial court has in store? However, if my family member or friend were the one killed, I would want that person who was drunk driving in jail forever. I am torn between my feelings. I am not exactly sure what the right answer is. If this man is receiving letters form his teachers and friends, what type of a person was he before prison? When he stated that inmates are judged by one mistake, does this imply that he believes what he did was not intended? The strings are constantly formed by outside forces. These strings are definitely impacted by life experiences such as getting raped, or even the trouble someone got in throughout their life, even if it was a costly mistake.

This story was extremely disturbing to read. After reading this story, I have such chills running up and down my spine. As the tears fall down my face, I am utterly shocked at the fact that the child was a boy. It’s incredibly surprising to me that any parent can be so vicious and cruel towards their child. How could a mother watch her husband rape her son? This is truly mind-boggling. After my false assumption that the abused child was a girl, I don’t think my mind truly grasped what actually happened. I feel like stories like this are always portrayed in horror movies. I cannot truly understand how parents could do this to their child. How can the parents be so manipulative to actually make their other children believe that their actions for okay and acceptable for that matter? My heart goes out to children of abusive families. It is so sad that children get so brainwashed to believe that the abuse they receive from their parents is actually normal and okay. How could the parents hid this abuse from their other children, friends, and family? It is important that if you see a person who has any signs of abuse to report it. My mother is a first grade teacher and she has reported that two children in her class of twenty-three are definitely being abused. Little did my mother know, she became a superhero of these two children’s lives. These two abused children were taken out of their houses and are now living with grandparents and friends families. I believe many people, unlike my mother, are so afraid of falsely accusing thus they often keep their mouths shut and let a severe situation slip right through their fingers. I find it incredibly difficult to believe that such severe abuse is actually possible. I feel ashamed for the siblings to just sit back and watch their brother be abused like this. I feel as though if I were abused in such a way, I would definitely feel that murder would be my only way of redemption. Sociologically speaking, I believe he cannot be held fully responsible for his actions. He had a very obscure childhood, which altered his “strings.” Due to his past, the likelihood that he was going to grow up and be a murderer was very likely solely based on his environment as a young child. Of course, he can have various physiological problems that force him to lie, and lie very well; however, I do not believe he would make a story like this up. He realizes what he has done. I think that because he is in prison, he is now able to overcome such trauma from his life, and he can truly connect to God and slowly become much more emotionally stable.

My parents have always instilled in me the importance of respecting all others with equal respect, no matter if one is black, white, Asian, lesbian, gay, or a transvestite. Growing up in an environment where many other Americans do not value the same morals as my family, has really taught me how hurtful and vicious people truly are. I think it is so important to embrace differences, not shy away from those who are different. This video really shows that there are various people who truly wonder how gay families can actually function. My heart goes out to those children of a LGBT couple. Society is often so harsh and ridicules those children who have gay parents. After our discussion in class, I hope that other Penn State students can realize that LGBT families actually function the exact same as a heterosexual family. The only difference that separates a heterosexual couple from a gay couple is simply the lack of a civil union of marriage. However, do people need to have a paper from the government that states a couple is “married” to raise a family? Whether one is gay or lesbian, who is to say that they will be worse parents solely, based on their sexual preference? I could not agree more with Zack Wahls on the basis of marriage; simply love and support one another through good times and bad. I believe I have the two most amazing parents in the whole entire world. They have supported me and loved me unconditionally. I believe that even if my parents were to be gay, the love and support would never die. The definition of a family often changes from person to person, however a family does not need to be the typical father, mother, daughter, and son family to be considered “normal.” Who defines the word normal? What is normal? Is a “normal” family the typical heterosexual couple with two children just because that’s what is most common? One day in the future I hope to see a freedom for LGBT couples. Also, I am not religious at all, and neither is my family. I wonder if there is a parallel between not being religious and the values and morals that my parents instilled in me ever since I was a little girl. My best friend in the whole entire world is gay and I hope for his sake, and all other LGBT that society eventually gives up this ridicule. LGBT couples can start their own families and deserve the same rights as a heterosexual couple.

It is hard to believe that factors outside of our control can have such a large impact on our daily lives. I never realized that sunlight has such a strong influence. The lack of sunlight had a large impact on the people of Finland. The long hours of darkness put a physical drain on the population, making them more tired. The people in the video said that they feel more depressed, tired, and hungry during the wintertime due solely due to the fact that there is less light during the winter than in the spring or summer. It would be very interesting to see if the amount of suicides is higher during these months. I agree completely with the conclusions. In addition, many people in the video said that the darkness could lead to a level of depression. The sun is uplifting to the human spirit. In summer, when the air is warm and the sun is shining, I am truly happy. On a very dreary and dark day at Penn State, I always find myself very lazy, tired, and in a bad mood. I never realized that the weather had such an effect on me until I came to school here. I was surprised when the government responded to these people by issuing lights in order to enhance their mental and physical health. Each person is supposed to get about fifty minutes a day with one of these lights. It’s hard to believe that this is a necessity, but it makes sense to need some form of reminder of what sunlight was like. I was shocked that lights and mental health are such parallels. There is a direct correlation between sunlight (or lack of) and a person’s mood, and this relationship exists for most people.
The invisible strings, which can ignite depression, can lead people to suicide. Constantly surrounding oneself with depression can only force everyone to assimilate and become depressed too. How about the young children? Are the children going to grow up in a depression too solely due to the fact because everyone else is? I wonder if the depression is so deep for these people that there is nothing but light that can fix it. Usually a depression can be cured by exercise or practicing a hobby however, I wonder how severe the depression truly is. Obesity, another prevalent problem in Helsinski, can also be a leading factor for the high rates of depression. These invisible strings are provoked by the darkness and can lead to very dangerous and severe behavior. However, this problem seems to be monitored by the people and the government, and that is a very good sign.

Ever since I was a little girl, my parents have always instilled in me to “never talk to strangers!” Everyday Halloween before I left for school, my mom always reminded me to never eat the candy I received until I came home and she checked it. As I have grown up, I find it very difficult to trust strangers. Everyday in the news, it is always stressed of how dangerous the world is. The news will never broadcast good things in society, however the complete opposite. Due to the media and movies such as Taken, this forces all Americans to be very apprehensive towards the unknown. After watching this video, it becomes clear to all of us that it is possible for awful things to happen. Even after learning about the true U.S. abduction rate, I would never allow my children to walk to school alone, even if it was only one mile away. My children will always hold hands as the cross the street, and will never talk to strangers. As I have learned in class, chances of awful things happening to my children by a stranger are slim to none, but, why take a chance? As a society, we are so scared of the unfamiliar. Even if the results are rare, there are people in this world who would kidnap and hurt a child. However, even though I feel as strongly about not talking to strangers, if I am in need of desperate help I would of course ask a stranger for help. I guess all we can do is use our best judgment of who to ask and who not to ask. I think it is very important for all children and teenagers to carry a whistle just incase a child must get attention immediately. It is really sad that before I came to Penn State University, my mom gave me a whistle for those “just incase moments.” It is really sad that the world that we leave in is like this. It is very sad that my mom wouldn’t let me stay home alone until I was at least thirteen. It is really sad that when I have children, I am unsure if I will let them ride around the block on their bikes alone. My parents always remind me of the Natalie Holloway story, the young girl who went missing in Aruba. I am very happy that the news alerts society. It is important that people are cautious. If only there was something in this world such as world peace, but until then, we must carry whistles.

People differ from each other due to various social classes, environments, family backgrounds, and so on. Similarly to the majority of people who play the lottery, these lower socioeconomic people often live in a world in which they are unsure how to handle money. Therefore, these people bet on the lottery, with the hopes and dreams of entering a higher social class. Similarly to the ignorance of the lower class when it comes to gambling, I find a parallel of ignorance within this inmate. Like any other human being, we often like to blame others for our wrong doings. He blames his father, sex, and drugs as the three reasons as to why he is the way he is. As we learned in class, most people who are raised a certain way will end up in jail versus those who are raised a different way. However, the way this man was raised makes me think that he would not end up jail. Even more so, I would think by having such a strong childhood, it was very rare for him to grow up into this “bad” person. It was extremely admirable when he came to the realization that he could not blame his incarceration on the bad neighborhood he grew up in. He realized that it was his personal choice to join a gang over alternative choices such as sports. It was extremely mature when he stopped blaming others for his wrongdoings, and started to take responsibility into his own hands. When he gets help from a counselor, I believe he will accept himself again. After twenty years in prison, I think he has had enough time to think and think and think a little more about his actions. I often wonder if his actions as a teenager could have been prevented. If so, I wonder to what extremes someone would have to go through to try to change him. It is clear that he loved and truly respected his father and definitely felt an extreme amount of guilt. Although no one will ever know, it is questionable if he had sought out help prior to the crime, if he could have been stopped.

Wow! This video was extremely interesting and definitely made me really think about the world in a different light. To be completely honest, I never knew the exact meaning of empathy. The example of the spider is very near and dear to my heart. Whenever there is a bug on my friend, or on my roommates’ side of the room, I start to get itchy and start to feel creepy when I am on my side. Society is “soft-wired” to feel what others around us are feeling is such a unique thought and defiantly something every single person can relate too. I always considered myself to be empathetic, but I never realized the true meaning of the word. My sister traveled abroad as a junior in college and said that her whole view of the world changed after she went to Morocco. Heather said, “The people of this community were the sweetest people I have ever met.” Heather also stressed that often history texts refer to the people of Morocco as terrorists. Thus, why is that there is still so much conflict in the world today? After watching the video, it is clear to concur that all brains produce the same neurons. If everyone can empathize with each other on such personal levels, why is there war? Why is world peace such a topic of imagination? The man in the video pointed out immense global empathy within moments of Hurricane Katrina. Similarly, I question, why can’t the people of America and the people of the Middle East realize that we are ALL the same, and have the same genes? This video truly opened up my eyes. After watching this video, I am inspired to stop judging someone by the way they look. As a freshman in college, it is important that I learn to embrace and love diversity and not stray away from it. I want to share with people this new vision. I think this vision of similarity within everyone is so much more important than learning how to solve a calculus problem. I want to help make a difference in this world. It is important that I begin to be more empathetic towards every single person I encounter from this day forward.