Also for legal immigrants, businesses only take people to America if they want them to work. I think this is a good thing because only people who will better our society are being let into the country which may motivate lazy Americans to step up their game to compete for jobs.
I think that what they are doing for their family is courageous and I feel for them because I could never imagine being in a situation where I only got to see my family for a small portion of the year and waking up every day to do hard manual labor for little money. The thought to me blows my mind. Especially because every single person I had the honor of knowing always had a positive attitude because they only could think about their families. Personally I think that instead of criticizing illegal immigrants people need to see what they are doing and learn from them. I do not know how many fathers that I know in America who have the same dedication to their families, not saying that they are not close, but to have little to no communication with their families for such an extended period of time is so honorable. How do I feel about businesses controlling immigration policies? I think that it is unfair to immigrants that if businesses decide that they have too many people working for them or whatever situation it may be that they could send them back to their home country. On the other side I understand how businesses have the most pull on immigration because without business support, illegal immigrants would have nowhere to work.
I was not surprised to find out that business controls immigration policies. I was born in raised in North Jersey and am very familiar with the business end of illegal immigration. In class when Sam showed us the case about the illegal immigrant who was attacked by the dog I was actually most shocked by the fact that my friend sitting next to me from Pennsylvania said “I didn’t know illegal immigrants really mowed lawns.” This was the biggest culture shock for me of the entire semester. I had never thought of the fact that illegal immigrants did not work for landscapers everywhere. I have grown up so accustomed to this that I thought of it as a universal norm. I was not shocked to find out that businesses control immigration policies because I see firsthand how illegal immigrants help businesses. Working alongside many men from Mexico at the restaurant or talking to many men who work for my uncle’s landscaping business it is so inspiring. I have never met so many determined, hardworking and dedicated people in my entire life.
If I was a better candidate then the person who got the internship based on connections I would be angry that I did not get that opportunity. In the future I want to say that I would not take advantage of nepotism and get jobs and internships based on my credentials because of the unfair lead these connections give me over those just as qualified or more qualified then myself. One of my best friends is an art major and is extremely talented. She applied for an internship program but was beaten out by a girl with hardly any talent (not just saying that because she is not my best friend). The girl who got the internship ended up getting fired because she was not able to keep up with the skill needed for the job while if my best friend had gotten the job she would have been more than qualified and excelled greatly. I feel badly for her and the company because she would have been such a positive asset to them and learned so much but she missed out on that opportunity because of nepotism to another person. This is why I actively would try to avoid using nepotism to my fair in the future.
If the situation presented itself, I do not know how to answer if I would actively try to not benefit from nepotism. I want to say that I would not and only taking things I received strictly on merits but it is a hard to clear cut say I would not. There have been many times in my life when I have benefited from nepotism to gain work and internships. Last summer I interned at a law firm in the city and the only reason that they took me in as an intern is because they had done business with my dad for years. They would have never taken anyone in for an intern if it was not for him so they felt as if they owed him. Myself and my resumé benefited greatly from this experience and any job from now on that I get will benefit from that internship. The firm also pulled strings to get me another internship this summer that although I had to apply for it I still was given a good word and recommendation. At the same time, I took the place of someone else who may not have had the opportunities that I have had because they do not have the same connections. If I was them I would think this was unfair because I would want to have the same opportunity to get the internship and experience based on what I have to offer.
I never realized how bizarre that statement is when guys go out in jeans, shirts and jackets and girls are only wearing short dresses or skirts and a tiny top. The standards that societies live up to and follow are so strange and it makes no sense that no one has questioned these standards before.
Then I thought back to the weekend before. We had a few guy friends over to our apartment to hang out and I wanted to stay in sweats but my roommates talked me out of it even though the boys who were coming over all showed up in Nike track pants and tshirts. I do not understand how our culture and many others came to the conclusion that dressing up meant wearing heels that you can barely walk in, outfits that barely cover anything, and freeze in negative degree weather just to go to a party. I am also baffled by the remarks that girls make when asked why we do this. I am guilty of this myself by simply saying heels make my legs look good. In most cases when girls start to drink they can barely walk in their heels anymore and not only look less attractive but no one even notices what their legs look like anymore because they look so ridiculous bending over trying to keep their balance. It is also strange to me to think that guys complain about going to parties when it is cold out.
I had never put much thought into what I wore when I went to a party. Especially in high school I was always “that girl” who was rocking sweatpants and a sweatshirt. When I got to college I was roommates with a girl from high school and she picked out my outfit and heels before we went to a party every weekend. Just thinking that being an outsider was less accepted in college I did what I saw every other girl doing. As a sophomore there are so many nights when I want to wear the outfit I wore to class because it is comfortable and I don’t feel well or don’t want to change. My roommates always reply “That is not socially acceptable and we cannot be seen with you unless you change.” Until the last lecture I was never really bothered by the fact that they said this to me. Then last night when they made the same usual remark it dawned on me that our guy friends were dressed in more casual clothes than I was yet I was socially unacceptable. The guys standing in my living room “waiting for me to get ready to go out” were wearing jeans, a free t-shirt and sneakers.
I know that sounds very superficial but my reputation means the most to me over anything else and to have anything harm that would seriously upset me and I do not know if I could handle it. I also do not believe that my aunts and uncles would come to my wedding if I was marrying someone of a different race. They refused to go to my cousin’s wedding who was marrying a Jewish boy because he was not the same religion as us. I could only imagine what the uproar would be if someone married outside of our race. I would not be able to handle the fact that my closest relatives would be boycotting my marriage. I definitely would not be able to go through with it without their approval. Having a mixed race child would be difficult for me too. I do not know how I would feel if my child had dark skin because I would fear that he would not be accepted into my family. On top of that, I would like my child to have the same opportunities that I had in life and I would fear that his skin tone would hinder his opportunities. This is many of the reasons why I would not be able to date someone out of my race.
There are many factors as to why it would be difficult to date outside of my own race. The cultural norms in my family are very important to me. Growing up I can remember every Christmas getting excited to visit my Italian cousins. On Christmas Eve we would get in a car and drive to my aunt’s house for a traditional Italian dinner of seven fish. I could not imagine being in a family that does not appreciate the Italian traditions. There are also many values that come with different ethnicities and races. In my family I would be looked down upon marrying someone out of my religion but especially someone out of my race. My grandparents would argue that there are different values in every stereotypical racial family and if our family values did not match up we would not have a successful marriage so why date someone if you could never marry them. If I had children with someone outside of my race it would be difficult for me to deal with that. In my town of predominately white people, everyone would talk about me and would judge. I do not know if I would be able to deal with people talking about me and hurting my reputation just because of someone I was dating, married to or had a kid with.
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Opus