During this class, my eyes have been opened on many a different levels. Sam made me think in ways that I never would have previously done so. Before, I would have been a close minded simple ass follower that would pick one of a few generic opinions on matters to support and argue and vouch for. Now that is not the case. This is not to chant sam’s god or anything of that matter. As a matter of fact I do not necessarily agree with everything he says and that is the beauty of this class and what people get out of it. They and myself learn how to think for themselves in the mold of how sam does and that is what can be life changing. To question everything and greet everything you see and hear with calculated skepticism, even previously unquestionably trusted sources like the news or your own parents is what sam teaches you how to do and that is nothing short of amazing. This is no easy task. I was a hard headed individual for 18 years of my life and it has taken me taking soc 001 and soc 119 so be able to think for myself and it really does make one a much happier and content individual especially with issues such as and regarding race. I personally am much more of an open minded person when it comes to other races and I could harp on this subject with a bunch of cliché’s and not to this any justice but instead ill give you an example. I used to not be a fan of gays and not understand or like them at all. I considered them to be attention hungry and I was so convinced and immersed in my own logic of the fact that man and woman fit together sexually and are built to reproduce so obviously we were right and the same sex couples were ungodly sinners. Then I began to think hard about it after sam’s lecture. I could not believe my lack of empathy for a gay man who at a very young age would look at playboy and only get aroused by the men. Me being the idiot I am ignored that for so many years. There is this internal feeling of arousal that can not be manufactured or faked, and you have that feeling towards men opposed to women and that is not one persons fault. This example opened my eyes as to how gay people are some of the most regular polite and kind people of these world that have no interest in attracting attention and just want to live their lives in quiet. This class changed me so much from how I used to thing.

It is intriguing and puzzling to me that so many people are so sick of this ordeal after a little more than a week. Despite all the tragedy, range of emotions, frustration, exhaustion, etc., I am definitely not sick of this. Every single day of this crisis at penn state ive learned more than I could have ever imagined on a regular day of school. First of all, I am from Harrisburg and the patriot news of Harrisburg has been reporting on this since back when I was in high school and I am a sophomore. They knew almost everything that was in the grand jury report back in april of this year. What is crazy to me and the lesson that I have learned is that the media has no boundaries when it comes to hits and ratings on their websites and television shows. The very moment they read the lone sentence in the grand jury report that the legendary and pristine joe paterno was informed and did not follow through extensively and that that could turn into a huge story, they went ape shit on the story. To see it first hand, to literally see media flock to the middle of fuckin nowhere and stay here to this day and camp outside of joe pa’s house and old main is absolutely fascinating. These people had the chance to be a part of the story of a lifetime, the fall of an icon, just to better their exposure and careers and make more money and they didn’t think about thinking twice. The lesson here was for us to definitely think twice about what the media is feeding us and consider the motives and benefits they would have from reporting on a story and also the way they report on it. It greatly helps in determining how valid and reliable the story is. I don’t know what more people want than this as a learning experience, the biggest story in the world, is being handed to us on a platter to dissect. This is not in the least bit to take away form the very serious life altering experiences these children went through. In fact, this can be used as a tool to further our education on child abuse just as Sam attempted to do on Thursday. It is amazing how many people’s first reaction was to take to Joe Paterno and express their disgust as to how he was being treated and as to how he was fired. We rioted in the name of Joe Paterno as if our father was taken from us and maybe that does ring true. But the victims definitely took a backseat initially and that was absolutely intriguing to me. There is little doubt that joe paterno essentially harbored a criminal, yet we defend him and that speaks to the sheer impact that penn state has on our identity. Sam may have been right, penn state is our identity and that might have been the biggest thing I learned throughout all this.

This is a somewhat difficult subject matter for me to talk about because I always find myself teetering on both sides of this argument. Does money have to do with happiness and is happiness directly related to money? I like to believe that true happiness comes from within and that we, naturally, are not really meant to be happy all the time. I have learned that that idea is relatively new but anyways, people of all socioeconomic classes can achieve happiness and actually have happy moments and the number of those moments does not vary greatly. I have experienced some of the greatest happiness during some of my most trying times. There might be problems that come with having a lot of money and that may help even out that number. More money more problems, diddy always said. Happiness, I feel like does not need anything special for it to occur, it just needs the universal moments that people have had since the beginning. Overcoming some type of adversity and doing well, having a loved one do something special for you, a birthday party, your favorite team winning a championship. Happiness in this sense does not at all require much money at all. However, something that has stuck in my head for a very long time is a scene from a movie you might have seen, john q. the premise is that denzel washingtons son needs a heart transplant but they are poor and had little stature so they were placed very far back on the list. John q (denzel) took matters into his own hands and held up a hospital and took hostages and said he would release them when his son got a heart. Towards the end, he tells the doctor to kill him and take his heart and give it to his son. When he is saying goodbye to his son, the line I remember clearly is him telling his son to do whatever he can to get some money, because money makes everything easier. Get some money, because money makes everything easier. That is a powerful quote because if they had the money, they would get themselves put on the top of that list. With money comes a lot of power to do a lot of things and solve a lot of problems and that is where I wonder and think that money actually really could affect my happiness. What if your mother had cancer and there was special treatment that you could not afford but would most assuredly help her live out a comfortable life and reduce the pain and suffering. That would definitely bring happiness and theres plenty more situations like this one. I still debate this everyday

When I put myself in the shoes of, say, a farmer in texas and I have an immense amount of daily work and cannot go extended periods of time without laborers to do the long hours of work in the fields under the beating sun. I would put this job description out there for anyone that would be looking for a job. Then I could put myself into the shoes of a regular united states citizen that has recently lost their job or is young and wants to go out and make a name and living. When I see that description of anonymous intense labor with long hours that payed minimum wage and compare it to the job at the local fast food joint that also payed minimum wage but you could work your way up if you performed well and you did not work those arduous hours. You can be damn sure that I am doing whatever I can to get that mcdonalds job. Now I can put myself in the shoes of a Mexican family with a young child that sees a bleak future for their little boy, who they would do anything for for him to have a better life and future than they did, who heard about people jumping the border and that americans actually do employ a large number of illegal aliens. There is a man that almost guarantees they will make it across for a reasonable sum of money. There is no way I am wasting any more time, I am going across the border if it’s the last thing I do because I need to make sure my family lives better. After a tumultuous journey filled with gunshots and running away and hiding in the dark, we finally make it across and I get a place to stay in a texas town. I look around for work but see nothing that I could do as a united states citizen but then I get to speaking to this farmer who is in need of labor. I am elated and I tell him that I am willing to work for him but I just want to be able to feed my family. The farmer agrees and takes me along and tells me what I need to do. I work for a day and he pays me just like that! I go back and tell my brother and then the other Mexicans that I came across the border with. We all go back the next day and the farmer brings them all on board. Now, taking in the entire picture, the fact is that the farmer desperately needs work and is forced to put an ad out and wait for someone who wants to take on the dirty work and hard labor that he needs. People really see no reason to do so at the salary that the farmer can afford to pay when they can make as much or more somewhere else that is a much easier job. The Mexicans are eager to do work for whatever you wanna pay them. This elates the farmer and he hires them and all is well. If I was the farmer I would do the same damn thing and why not? It doesn’t harm anyone.

The statistic that white people will soon no longer be the majority in this country is actually a pretty big deal. There is a lot that comes with being the majority group. In a lot of situations and places in the united states, white people are currently the majority. They get to have that power that comes with being the majority. All the obvious racial factors such as people hiring only white people or discrimination because of skin color and even all the subtle issues such as the innocent lack of understanding of minority cultures are made okay because the majority has little or no problem with it. If in the future these situations have increasingly less white people, they will lose majority status and the playing field will be leveled. I do not mean this with any ill will or bitterness but it is going to be a damn wake up call for white people and I can not wait for this transition to occur. They will literally be forced to assimiliate into OTHER cultures for once. Inevitably, some of the higher ranking positions that have been passed down from one white person to another will be taken over by people of color. To me, its not surprising because a country built on immigration and made up of people from all over the world should expect at some point for there to be a time where you are met with situations where you are uncomfortable because you are surrounded by something different. This will affect more racist white people more because they will be very uncomfortable with this transition. Although it will be easier for white people that are okay with their identity and accept other cultures, it will be interesting to see how they respond when they are discriminated against by a majority for the first time. Whats scary is that some people will respond fine and they will deal with the situation accordingly, but others in different situations may resort to more extreme measures and even violence. I am interested to see what will happen because even just sitting in this class, it is kind of crazy to hear the white people talk and really see how they have very little idea as to the different types of racism that is dealt with on a regular basis by minority groups and they really are blind to it if it not in front of them. They generally say they would react to it differently in our position and I am interested to see them put their money where their mouths are. Also, the dynamic of having this country be predominantly brown and black is very interesting. I have no idea how that will play out and I am interested to see how WE react to being a majority. I wonder if we, knowing how it is being minorities, will be more sympathetic to white people and if we are, what about our kids moving on? Only time will tell.

I completely acknowledge that there are people of every different race that have that sense of pride in their own culture and ethnicity that they see those that try to identify with other cultures and ethnicities in the way they talk, act, and dress as posers. That in itself has some basis to it and makes for a very interesting study as to why these people act the way they do. But to be as narrow minded to judge the person as simply trying to want to be like that group and undermining their own is not the best way to be. Consider a situation such as mine. I am an Indian born in the United states to indian born immigrants. I lived in the same house all my life so I went to the same school district from kindergarten the whole way through graduation. The area in which I lived had very little diversity and there were no other indian kids through middle school in my class so my best friends became all white. I had very little choice in this but when my parents would take me to get togethers with other indian families, I had very little in common with the other indian kids who had each other. But I really could not help it so in my mind I knew that I was okay. For other situations, like that of so called “wiggers”, it is a lot more interesting that white people would want to identify with black people. But in a setting where it is predominantly black people, it is not surprising to see white people trying to be like the majority especially if they get made fun of or singled out for being different so they feel like they have to prove themselves. When white people in a predominantly white society still try and be like black people it is more difficult to understand, but not impossible. If the black community is more accepting and they hold more common interest, it is seen why these people could lose their original identity and forge a new one. Does this make them posers? Im not sure. Black people are almost rewarded in society for acting more white so to speak, so not only is it understandable for them to posers its almost recommended. As long as there is inequality there will be posers so basically there will always be posers. I grew up in an all white community and hung out with all white kids so does that make me a poser? Call me what you want, I am just going to call it reality. That’s just the way it is. There are the kids simply having an identity crisis or going through a phase but if true friendships are formed by people of different races, why do they have to be labeled and put down? It is very narrow minded and though one should have pride in their own heritage, skin color, and culture, they should not have to limit themselves to each other.

This was a very kind of shocking article that definitely threw out some crazy statistics but I think there are a few main points. First off, it has only recently been declared for some reason that happiness is an expected right of sorts. That has never been true and continues to be basically a fabrication. There is no one I have ever met that has been happy every day of their lives or even the majority. I would be impressed to find out that the majority of people spend even half of their time happy. When people pursue happiness like its some tangible goal and go through hurdles and obstacles with the not so concrete goal of happiness on the line, they tend to be very disappointed. The amount of stress and decisions that had to be made to get to where you thought you wanted to be may have overwhelmed you so much at the time that it carried over and made you wonder if you screwed up or if it was worth doing all that just to get to this. I know I have been in that situation where ive looked forward to going on vacation so much and how great it is going to be and how much fun and all this shit I was going to do, but then it turns out to be not so eventful. That could take away from my happiness. A good example that related to my personal life so I can speak freely with confidence that I am not skewing any facts is my current relationship. In the past, there has been so much emphasis put on changing myself or changing my significant other to act the “right” way or becoming facbook official or not flirting with other people or all these restrictions and expectations and pressure. Now, I have found someone that I can honestly say I connect with and like to devote all my time in furthering the social bond I have with this person without the added pressures of expectations or labels. We let ourselves be who we are and accept that. That understanding that we use that neither of us are perfect and the world isn’t perfect and maybe we cant always be happy, helps us actually be happy. And I really have been happier than ive ever been with a relationship right now. It is very cool and it is one of the most intriguing things that has ever happened to me because it went against the social norms of liking a girl, letting it be known, asking her on a date, meeting the parents, etc. We didn’t really follow any of those rules at all and I would pit us against any couple in a “happiness” test because its never been better for either of us. This also ties in to what one of the experts say in the article and I am speaking of when she tells us to concentrate on the social bonds between people rather than anything.

I personally believe that stereotypes always come from somewhere and that holds true even for the stereotype that I would like to disagree with. The stereotype I speak of is that all gay people are flamboyant and excessively proud of their identity. This is really kind of stupid because this only holds true for the flamboyant and excessively proud gay people. The majority of gays that I have encountered in my life are definitely not the typical gay pride parade homosexuals. They are honestly regular people and I would not have been able to tell that they were gay. Shit, my best friend has more “gay” characteristics than the gay people I know and he is straight. There is a gay couple in particular that work at a pool store that my friends work at and they are some of the best fun loving people I have ever met and they never ever show off their identity like they would be expected to do. The only reason people think that most gay people wear tight ass jeans and pink shirts and wear makeup is because those are the ones that the media likes to show when they are parading around and rioting. I would venture to guess that we all have encountered at least one or two gay people here at penn state and have had absolutely no clue that they are gay. These people are not different form us in the sense that they are human beings that try and make a good living and live happily with their significant other and watch football on the weekends. It is simply the sex of their significant other that makes them so different from us. Regarding the group of homosexuals that like to flaunt around and show off their gayness, they are also fine. They are there to be provocative and make people talk and take attention to them and they are a necessary and real part of gay people; but generally they are just a sub culture of gays. Just like straight couples that are nudists or swingers or porn stars or whatever, they are just simply a sub culture. Just because they are more provocative and different from our norm, they get a lot of attention, but they are not so prevalent that they deserve to be the stereotype for all gays because that really isn’t how most gays are. I am indian and I bet a lot of the Indians you have met own a dunkin donuts, gas station, or are doctors. That is a legitimate stereotype because it is actually prevalent but when you group all gays as outward, public displays of affection, flamboyant, and loud you are probably incorrect because it is not really true for the majority.

Even after class, the Haiti project was very much a question mark to me. I was not sure of the goal that was in mind in dealing with these entrepreneurs and how we could help but then I got to watching these videos and the work that is being done there. I realized that these people really are supporting their own families and also employing others that are supporting their own families and so on. It is actually amazing to me that for us to give so little to any of them could make such a difference in their lives to the point at which they had a decent shot at making a decent living and getting by. When speaking about the lady that is making bags out of jeans and embroidering shirts in a “sweatshop”, Sam suggests that she could potentially lower the prices on her goods. In a poverty stricken country like Haiti, there is very little incentive to want to spend twenty five dollars on a hand bag or ten dollars on a shirt. It is even harder to convince someone to buy it. Something so basic as making it easier and more affordable for people to make, sell, and buy these shirts could be an immense help. Instead of having Chlorene pay a premium for textiles and fabric from the Dominican republic, we could find some way to get it to her cheaper. Something that is key here is that although we are helping her out, we don’t want to have her be so grateful to us. That brings in to play a sort of God complex and that should be avoided. We are simply lending a hand and some resources that can be microfinanced and she can gradually pay whoever back for it at her own pace. That way, she can move on and better her company yet she will not have to feel like she owes us or whoever anything. She is after all an entrepreneur and entrepreneurs don’t have to answer or feel obligated to anyone but themselves and their families. This is the same with the lady selling lunchboxes and other bags. She has a family to worry about and support and simply providing her a means of getting better equipment and tools could literally alter her and her families lives with the efficiency and potential earning power that would give her. Figaro, who pays tuition and travels and works all day for her children to live better lives and to create more jobs dreams very big and it would be very difficult to have those dreams realized without some external help and it should be our duty but it is instead a project for us to do just that. Count me in.

I have previously taken a course directed my Sam Richards and I do credit Sam for having changed my ways of thinking for good and I mean that in almost every aspect of life, but anyways, this is one of those topics that he had a profound effect on me with. Previously, I was the guy that would say that no matter what, you, as a person no matter who you were had a chance and could do whatever you wanted if you put in the necessary work. As a person of color, I did not see race as an excuse and was ignorant. Ignorant of the fact that I was born and raised in the suburbs and had no problems with money. I went to an accredited high school and was raised by a family that gave me little choice but to go to college. It was as if that didn’t count for anything and I somehow took credit for shit that I was born with. If you ask me whether I believe more in free will or determinism, I simply can not give you a concrete answer. The only answer I can give is there is no answer. It is definitely always a mixture of the choices you make and the situation you were predisposed to. When thinking about this subject I like to think of myself who would look at an inner city black kid and say, why can’t you just go to college and be successful, I am doing it and it is not that difficult. This is where the science nerd in me comes out because I think of both of our situations as equal reactions. For a reaction to occur there must be a certain energy put into it to activate the reaction; hence, when the energy of a reaction is graphed, there is an activation energy curve. Think of that curve as a hill that is to be climbed before you can reach your destination. Enzymes speed up reactions by lowering the activation energy without changing the starting energy and the ending energy. Me and the black kid start at the same place and are going to the same exact destination, but my enzyme is in the shape of having a family with money that has engrained the idea of college in me and are willing to do anything to help me succeed along with teachers and counselors that help me along the way to develop the skills necessary for college. The hiill that I have to climb is much less steep than the black kid’s whose parents are drug addicts and are living on welfare and a part time job and whose school has a fifty percent attendance rate where teachers hand out grades without teaching and there are no counselors that are willing to help. The kid could overcome all of that and get there with the choices he makes, but there is a higher probability that someone like me will get there more often.