Do You Really Want to Be a Girl Right now?

Have you ever been incredibly aware of you gender? I have.

A girl in tech-ed is odd to say the least. A girl in woods class...more odd. The only girl in woods two? About as sufficintely akward to put it nicely. I would know. I'm that girl that didn't take sewing class or foods class but instead embarked into woods. I rocked. Not to be head-strong or whatever you call it, but it's true I just fit into woods. I have built everything from a clock to a large coffee table with a built in lower rack and Mr. Krinke loves the irony of a girl that is good at woods. Who wouldn't honestly?

Unfortunately, boys that don't ROCK at woods don't love it so much. They love having a girl in their woods class for the sake of being the guy that asks if I need help carrying my wood or other such tasks that are too "manly" for me, but when it comes to getting help from me, no thanks. Mr. Krinke would often re-direct the boys to come find me to ask for help if they needed something and more than once they just prefered not to know. Getting help from a girl in an area of expertice that isn't supposed to be a girls domain is not an easy pill to swallow.

Most boys choose not to swallow that pill and just move right along, and there just isn't much I can do about that except not let it get to me. Don't let other judge you for being a girl in a guys domain. And boys? Rock at sewing or foods, your wives will love you someday for loving it.

Do YOU have a race?

We as a class were asked to consider the question: "Do you have a race?" and to form an answer with a reasonable reason why. This is what I came up with:

I think No. I am very apparently white skinned and i'm not that person that has a perpetual tan all year round, unfortunately. However, I don't think that I have a race. I am not defined by my white skin or my blonde hair and green eyes; I am defined only how I wish to be defined. When i stand next to my best friends who are asian, mexican, and caucasian I don't see anyone as different. I don't walk through the mall thinking i'm above or below anyone because of my skin color and I certaintly hope not to be judged because of what I look like.

I think growing up in a town where 95% of it's occupants are white with a random spattering color amongst us helps to be quite honest. Most people would assume the opposite, that being from a town where you look around the the majority of color you see is white would shelter you into a belief system that everyone that isn't white is much different than you, but really with the color I do see I see equality. I see the black kids, the asian kids, and the mexican kids just like a see myself.

Mind you i'm not a saint, there are black people that steal stuff and there are asian people that rock the world with their super human math skills and I judge them just like the rest of you. But really there are a lot of white people that steal crap too and there are wiz kids that are white. I guess it's all about the eyes you chose to see through.

Girls Will Be Girls

"With puberty, girls face enormous cultureal pressure to split into false selves. The pressure comes from schools, magazines, music, television, advertisements, and movies. It comes from peers. girls can be true to themselves and risk abandonment by their peers, or they can reject their true selves and be socially acceptable. Most girls choose to be socially accepted and split into two selves, one that is authentic and one that is culturally scripted. In public they become who they are supposed to be.

Authenticity is an "owning" of all experience, including emotions and thoughts that are not socially acceptable. Because self-esteem is based on the acceptance of all thoughts and feeling as one's own, girls lost confidence as they "disown" themselvs. They suffer enormous losses when they stop expressing certain thoughts and feelings."

We were given this prompt and asked to give our opinion on how we feel about gender and how that affects us and this is what i thought:

Being yourself isn't something that has a room in a girl's world. Yes, I do understand that we genuinely like our clothes and that our hair styles are our own; however, I do believe that WHY we like things the way we do is something entirely not our own. Sitting right, talking appropriately, and knowing simply how to BE is what is needed. Girls will pick at eachother, at what someone is wearing, at what purse they carry, and what store their jeans came from. Don't be yourself, be who THEY want you to be. Being perfect isn't an idea it's an action for girls in high school.

Yes, I did say girls. I do understand that boys care what other boys think. But girls are raised in a war of survival, a king of the mound sort of experience. Boys don't sit at lunch and say wow..I can't believe she thought it was OK to wear those pants in public. They clearly have a social ladder much like girls do but the difference among the rungs is much smaller and much less of a big deal.

Be strong girls, wear those pants out in public if you like them! Just be aware that someone that cares is always watching...

A Soldier's Letter

We're doing an activity in class where we interpret letters from soldiers to their families. We were assigned to go on line and find letters that soldiers had sent home and analyse what they were saying and what I found surprised me.

I came across a letter that was more powerful than I personally was prepared for from a son to his mom and dad. I attached the letter and I hope you read it. This particual soldier is fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom and wrote the letter in 2004. The pure emotion that comes forth when read isn't just because you're a family member of a soldier, it doesn't matter who you are I promise you it's worth the read.

Fear and passion are both attributes of a soldier and Dustin is of no exception. In his letter he describes the memorial service of a fallen soldier and his "final roll" being called and tears are eminent for anyone reading. Imagining being the familiy of Dustin when this letter arrived is impossible and something I wish nobody ever has to endure.

I don't think a letter like this is meant to be analyzed, mearly absorbed.

God bless our soldiers.

A Passage In Time

Billy had a framed prayer on his office wall which expressed his method for keeping going:

May God grant me
The serenity to accept
The things I cannot change,
The courage
To change the things I can,
And the wisdom
To know the different

Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future.

I chose this passage to think about because I thought it was kind of ironic. Billy often times relates things to death in some way, if you haven't noticed it you should think about it while reading later. Billy claims that this passage helps him get through life when in reality he wants to stop living it? And also it is for some reason vitally important to add a poem to the book pages for our viewing pleasure a poem about change. A poem encouraging to have change in general and the next line he says there is no change. I found it ironic, loved the line, but still think this guy's a crazy nut.

Should You Be Reading This?

We read a story called Palm Sunday by Vonnegut on the topic of censorship of books, particullarly in schools and I have opinions about that.

As a high school student myself I firmly believe in my right to choose what I read. This does not mean that I believe that students have the right to refuse assigned reading or that students can simply go without reading because they simply do not enjoy reading. I myself am an avid reader and I believe that everyone should, and possibly be required to, read. However, I do not believe that someone else should have the right to say i'm not mature enough to handle the content of a book.

I am not scarred by the vulger language in a book but i'm scarred by the vulger language used against a person. Everything is about perspective and if you can look at a book objectively, read it. No panel of adults should say I cannot handle the language or idea of a book. That, in my opinion, is absurd. Some books are not OK for children to read but if students have a reading level that enables them to read a book, make it available to them.

Education is about the interpretation and acceptance of new ideas and concepts. By law students are required to meet that goal, yet that very same law is not letting us accept the ideas and concepts of books they claim are not worthy of attention due to unadulterated, honest language.

If you can't handle it, don't read it. Nobody will force anyone to read anything, but don't take the right to read away.

A Clean, Well Lighted Place

I think a motif of this piece is placed apon the word "hurry".
The young waiter is often in a hurry and isn't ashamed to tell everyone that he is. By bieng in a hurry he is disrespectful and rude to those around him, especially his customer. Mind you, I do understand the want and need to go home at the end of a long day but one might learn from patience. When the young waiter comments about the deaf man's depression being unreasonable because of his wealth I think it needs to be brought up that when someone is in a hurry, someone elses' needs get put on the back burner. Patience can go a long way when someone needs care.
I think the idea to be learned here is this: when time exists, use it wisely.