Honestly, I was never for the war. I understand the feelings of revenge and showing to the rest of the world that what happened on September 11 is not acceptable in the United States. However, I’ve always believed that a full on war is not the answer to prove such thing. I applaud the men and women that have the courage to risk their lives to defend our country and assure us of our security and the great possibility of a great future. But it isn’t fair for those young men and women to risk their lives and only get to live a short life and not have the chance to pursue other dreams. They weren’t able to experience what we are able to experience in the future. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for sacrificing so much to make sure we all have a chance to the live the life they are not able to live. But there must be an alternative to war. We cannot solve everything through total domination and violence just to get a point across.
I have lived in the Philippines and I sometimes imagine that what if I still lived there and in some type of situation we are being attacked; how would I feel about that? How would I feel about my country being attacked for its beliefs and resources and to assure that we know who is on top? I would be devastated to be in such a situation and see my family and friends being caught all in the middle of the war. There must be another way to stop all this hatred and to make sure that the world continues to turn besides having a war and ending the lives that caught in the middle of it all.
The class about the war it made me see the war in a deeper sense and I stay still with my opinion of we should have never got into war. The damage that was done to our country will always leave a scar on us but we can only heal from now on. However, the war it only planted more seeds of hatred not only those who are already radicals but those who were still hoping for a chance of peace in the world. The hatred of one another only increased due to the war and the mistreatment from both parties to the civilians of the countries. The war was a selfish move by our government just to further the American domination and to stabilize the power of the country. But in the long run, the relationships between the people of society with crumble because of the misconception and further stereotyping.

It takes an open mind to actually to learn something. Others are too close minded to take away something more than just anger and rebellion. I learned that despite our pride and loyalty to Penn State, our identity as an individual doesn’t come from our school, well not all of it. We are the people we choose to be and only made better or worse on the influences we have from our peers and community. The crisis that has occurred does not define our future or the people we are, but it is the way we handle it according to our morals and beliefs.

Despite the great pride and the loyalty to such an institution, I learned that I must clear my eyes of such things and view the issue in different point of views to actually understand what is going on and know what is right or wrong. I also learned that in a time of crisis, the whole scandal no longer matters; instead it depends on how we handle it and what we will do to make sure that we show the public eye that we are better than how we are being portrayed in the media. Sometimes we have to learn from what has happened and make sure that we can prevent it from ever happening again even in little ways. I’ve learned that it takes each other as a whole community to make a difference. Sometimes we use that strength in a negative way such as the riots; however, we also used it in a positive way by the vigil and supporting the team and the school in such a rough time.

It is said that every event in our lives we can always take away a few positives and negatives. From the crisis that just occurred in Penn State, I would have to say that I learned a few things about the community and about myself. Coming from the city, we never had the whole school spirit and my school was never into the athletic program as it is in Penn State. Therefore, school pride and the whole idea of giving all my energy and time to the school was not a big priority. However, I am now a sophomore; slowly I understand the whole concept of such ideology. After being immersed in such pride in the school, I have come to love the school even more. When the scandal occurred, it hit me that I am very passionate of protecting the reputation of my school. I am a member of a community that will be with me the rest of my life. However, I learned that there is a limit to how much one supports one’s school.

We all can say that recent events here in the university have definitely stirred strong emotions from every single person part of the university especially from the student body. The majority of the students have chosen to go to Penn State for the reason that it is such a prestige school with a well-known football program and a great legend leading such a program. People have been outraged by the fact that the figure we have all seen as a father figure. We have been known to be a very passionate school especially when we have the best student section and we the greatest loyalty towards our school. Now that we have felt a piece of us has been taken away, the student body reacted the way that was expected. The students here in Penn State feel so much connection with the school and to the father figure that it seeing it suffers is a great pain to the student body. As one unit, the students have formed a bond built upon anger and betrayal. From the class, SOC 119, I heard about the reactions from the individual students and they were all on the similar state of minds. All the negative reaction is because of the hurt the students are feelings. They all feel lost and find comfort in the fact that if they all come together and riot they could make a difference. But sometimes, when acting with anger in the heart could lead to actions that are done without thinking. The negative reactions have caused further criticism towards the university because it has been squeaky clean for so long. The people around the world are now starting to form opinions because of what they are seeing now because others haven’t heard so much about the school. It has created great negative views from the other parts of the world especially when the story of the negative reactions is being run in the media 24/7. Sometimes the media even portray the university and the students in a negative aspect just to gain more viewers and stir more chaos. The negative reactions here in Penn State are because of great passion and anger but it doesn’t define who are as individuals. The people around the world are only seeing what the media displays and because it is such a well-known school, others have forgotten who we are before the scandal. It continues to affect the students because we are proud of who we are and willing to defend ourselves which is mistaken by the others to be stupidity and rash actions. Yes, others are doing it and letting their emotions lead their actions but it is such a tough time that it is an easy target critics.

I do not in any way feel uncomfortable when people speak another language because I am a part of that end of that spectrum. I speak my native language because my parent taught me when I was young. I am expected to talk to them in that language because it is the national language. Some people may not experience this, but whenever I talk to my dad in our native language we seem to communicate better and really get to express what we are trying to say to each other. Sometimes my friends would make fun of me when I am talking on the phone with my parents in a different language but to speak in the native tongue makes us all feel a lot closer. That is why when other people speak a different language around me does not make me feel uncomfortable. It is a way to express oneself better because some expressions are different in English in other languages. Another reason why people speak in their native tongue is because their parents would expect them to speak in that language and other family members only know that language and not English. I guess I do understand why other people feel uncomfortable when people around them start speaking another language because they feel that they are talking about them and decide to speak in that language because that person doesn’t want that person to know what he or she is talking about. The first tie my friends here in Penn State heard me speaking my native tongue to my parents they felt uncomfortable I could tell and asked me what I said because they felt that I was talking about them. I didn’t feel insulted because I understand because I have other friends who also speak a different language and makes me wonder what they are talking about. But later on I got used to it because I realized I do it to keep some information private and also it is the only language my dad would speak because he tries to avoid speaking English. In my opinion, having other people speak in another language is fascinating. There are so many languages out there that it would be great to know it all. I can see how it could also be rude at times to speak in another language around people who wouldn’t be able to understand it but people just need to understand that it makes communicating to others easier. Being part of both ends of the spectrum, I understand it and everyone should speak English so everyone can understand but we must also understand that language is part of one’s culture so it is a part of their daily life.

Nowadays, racism is not as noticeable as it was before. People are freely throwing out comments about other cultures and about their ethnicity and religion. Before a simple statement could be racist and it would create some sort of chaos. People before would take so much offense and feel insulted by statements that we would consider funny. Today, if one sits in a conversation of a group of friends made up of people from all sorts of background, jokes about each other’s race, hometown or their culture would always be present. To me racism is the point in which one says a comment or statement towards another person out of malice and the intention of hurting or excluding that person from an activity. I grew up in New York which is very diverse and I was friends with people from all sorts of color and culture; there was so much diversity that jokes about each other’s culture like nothing because it feels like we are used to it. As a minority I am a target of such jokes and I do not see it as a racist comment or feel insulted about it. I laugh at it constantly and even poke fun at my own race because to me it is part of the learning experience. Through stereotyping these days it makes us understand more about someone but at the same time it makes us know whether or not it is real because people would usually explain further as to why they are perceived in that manner. But I do admit that I have experienced some sort of racism and even witnessed such a thing occur. Being in a white dominant school and be a minority it does feel at times that I am out of place. But I do not let it get to me. One time, I felt some sort of way when I thought I was being excluded from own group of friend just because of how I see things and my background. Don’t get me wrong, I love my friends but they all in a way come from a very stable and safe family and lifestyle that with me in the group I bring other things in life that they wouldn’t immediately understand or expect to happen because they don’t live the same life. Racism could not be solely being based on someone’s race but also where they grew up or the lifestyle. I believe that we are slowly getting where we need to be as a society but we just need more people to be open minded and judgmental. We cannot all based everything on our first impression or the stereotypes we hear all the time but we need to focus more on the individual how that person is the person he or she is today.

As a minority in a predominately white university, I now have a group of friends that are all white with only an exception of a Mexican and few other African Americans. The other day, my friend from home asked me why I am with friends with all white people when back home I had a very diverse group of friend. In New York City it isn’t that hard to make friend with people from all kinds of ethnic background. Over here at Penn State though, I ended up in a dorm that was a majority of white people and to me it didn’t matter. I would be friends with any kinds of culture as long as we get along and have a great time. The group of girls I am friends with is all white and I am the only one with a color. It doesn’t bother me at all because they are great people. Since I am a person of color, do I see myself as a poser? I absolutely do not. I do not try to forget about my roots and I do not change the person I am just to fit in and just be one of them. I contribute my own ideas and point of views and they are all willing to listen; which is why I am friends with them. Sometimes when I go back to New York my friends would sometimes say that I have lost the New York accent and sound a little be white. I just laugh it off and explain that it just rubs off but it doesn’t mean I’ll always forget about where I am from. When I am with my friends in Penn State, they would always make fun of how I sound so New York and at times ghetto. Sometimes they would correct me but I just ignore it because I like how I sound because that is where I am from. I don’t pretend to be like my group of friends because that wouldn’t be true to me. People who are with mixed crowds, I see them as people who are open-minded and don’t really care of the other people’s race, gender etc. Being in a mixed crowd brings excitement and more learning in life because I learn so much from my friends here and New York because they are all from a different background. Not just ethnic background but also how they were raised. You become a poser once you forget and ignore who you are as an individual just to try to fit and be like the crowd. I always say never pretend who aren’t just to be someone’s friend or to be accepted. Being with a mixed crowd is ways to open horizons just don’t lose you along the way.

I want to say that my race has not affected my point of view in life at all but then again that wouldn’t be completely honest to me. I am very proud to be Filipino and especially when I was raised in the Philippines for a long period of time my race and everything about my culture affects how I view life. The Filipino culture is all about family and loyalty. We see people to be honorable enough to spend our time on and extend the family loyalty to them as well. According to my family, we see people in America as very blessed to have life style that people back in the Philippines can only dream of but could never make it come true. My race doesn’t have a big impact on how I personally view the world but ever since I came back here to the United States after living there for 5 years; the experience was eye opening view the rest of the super power nations differently. Living in a country in which corruption is the only way to survive and to advance in society, it made me understand more as to why people are so greedy. The Philippines does not really make a great contribution to the rest of the world, the leaders are all corrupt and the people are left in the dust because of poor quality of education and the lack of resources. Before I thought the world was all equal and everywhere people lived the same way. That was a very childish way of thinking because once I moved back here I saw how much the children of America have, all the resources they have to succeed and further continue their stable and safe lifestyle. The culture of the Philippines, taught me how to view life in a more appreciative manner. The other views of life are from other life lessons I learned while just growing up. My race doesn’t completely affect all my views. I am not racist and willing to hang out with all sorts of culture. Living in New York is the greatest to expand one’s cultural education because it is populated of people from all over the world. Just by working at American Eagle in Times Square, I learned more from the tourists coming in and out of the store. Not only that, I learn a lot from my coworkers as well. They all come from different parts of New York and others are from different state. I have to stay my point of view of the world and life is because of my race also the equal amount of knowledge I get from people I meet in my life so far.

In today’s society, the expectations of women are so high that it puts a lot a pressure on women to reach such expectations. The pressure on women from society before just kept increasing during time. In the past, women would be covered from head to toe and just the sight of an ankle would be considered unladylike. Then women with courage broke the trend and started wearing shorter skirts and hold a cigarette freely in the streets. Today, there are women dressed as men and others covered in tattoos from head to toe. But why is it that women still have to be and act what society also known as men expect women to be.
Here at State College, in the weekends, it is expected to see the girls in their short skirts, crop tops and stilettoes walking all over downtown. Even if the weather is freezing cold or pouring or snowing the girls here at State College still manage; I am guilty of such a thing. Meanwhile, the men are in sneakers and hoodies and looking like any ordinary day just with better looking shirts and cleaner sneakers and ironed jeans. Does it seem fair for us women; of course not. But we women still do it no matter what. My reason is because I like dressing up and heel are appropriate during certain climate but if I can’t walk in them there is no point in wearing heels at all. I agree sometimes, women do go overboard and still wear inappropriate clothing attire despite the weather but they all have their reasons.
I was discussing such a topic with my friend last year as to why can’t women just show up in sweat pants and sneakers just like the guys do to parties. And my friend who is a male answered, if a girl ever showed up at a party like that will be judged and not a single male will be attracted. The reason as to why guys won’t be attracted to such attire is because men like and expect to see straight girls to be in short dresses and skirts.
Then I asked him as to why guys do not sacrifice such a thing like women do. All he had to say is that he got the common sense to wear appropriate clothing and that he is a guy; therefore, society doesn’t expect a lot from a guy nor requires the approval of others. Some girls just want to be seen as attractive and get the guys attention. Guys feel that they don’t need to be so dressed up because already see them attractive and seek for their attention. Over time I believe it wouldn’t matter but till this day women still has to be up to par for society’s rules also known as men’s expectation.