Who Am I? Final Post

For our last blog we are asked to re-evaluate ourselves by looking at our very first blog. My first blog reflected who I was on the surface mostly, for example my hobbies, my influences and my job. I wrote my greatest influence was my older brother. Looking back this is true however, there are many many more greater societal influences I had no idea about. The media and my gender influence me to think a certain way about my body or about how much money I need to be making in order to make me "happy." I learned that my social class influences almost everything about me even what tastes good to me! I discovered race is different in all countries and is not biological at all. Basically, everything I originally thought about myself, I now have to step back and wonder..."Am I really thinking this or is my community shaping me to think this way?" I have found myself thinking this multiple times throughout my semester in Sociology and I have opened my eyes to a new way of thinking. I no longer think that one person or even one group of people can influence the human you become and I think people are so narrow minded that they fixated on this one idea. Your culture, gender, class, race and so many other things are just pieces of the puzzle that make up the person you will become.

Race part II (Crash)

This week in Sociology we are watching a movie called Crash. This movie follows the lives of many people that connect over some period of time. These people have many different backgrounds as well as ethnicities. We see many issues in our society on the way we view other people. We stereotype them without getting to know them. For example, the white rich couple was getting their locks changed after a car theft, and the locksmith looked to be Latino. The woman got nervous and thought he would sell the other keys to his "homies". However, we see how the locksmith comes home to his 5 year old daughter to comfort her after she was scared. For me, this scene stood out to me because I have stereotyped workers at my house before and never thought to realize they could have a family and be wonderful parents. This experience has taught me to be more mindful about generalizations and not to make quick judgments of people I do not know.

Race

This week in Sociology, we are learning about race. Along with social class, this can also be an uncomfortable topic to talk about. We started our lesson with a spectrum of sports balls. Without talking we were supposed to sort them into categories. Our language has constructed our mind to put the sports balls into different sports rather than size, shape or color. The reason we did this was to realize that we have been socially constructed to think a certain way: in categories. So when dealing with race we do the same thing. We sort people into categories like white, black, asian, hispanic etc when in reality race doesn't exist. Race is not depended upon your genes and it is not biologically defined. Also, if we reflect on history we find that minorities in America have changed. For a while, the Irish were disliked because they were non-white, then the Italians and so fourth. I guess we group people by how they appear. For instance if you see someone with darker skin you would categorize them as black but they could be Jamaican mixed with Cuban. Just like I categorize myself as white but I am a mix of English, Irish, French Canadian, Bohemian and so much more.

Community Service (part II)

Over the past week I have completed 6 hours of community service. First I went to Bernie's Book Bank  on Thursday. When I walked in, I was hesitant because I didn't know exactly what this would entail. However, the woman working there explained the basics of how Bernie's Book Bank works. They receive donated books from all over and basically distribute them by grade and reading level. After you organize them, stickers are put on and any less fortunate school can call them and Bernie's Bank will send them. It was only me and another girl about my age. We were given a huge bin that we had to separate into reading levels. In the beginning, it was difficult but once you got into a rhythm, it was easy. Seeing all these books brought back so many memories of learning to read. My favorites were the Junie B. Jones books and to this day, I still have all those books. This community service made me feel really grateful for what I have because I was fortunate enough to have supplies of books while some kids are behind on reading. I was really glad to be able to help less fortunate kids receive the help they need to strive in school.
I also went to Feed My Starving Children, which sends hand-packed meals to malnourished kids. They make 3 different kinds of meals: MannaPack Rice, MannaPack Potato-D and MannaPack Potato-W. The day I went we were packing Potato- D, which is the world's only food to manage diarrhea, a killer worldwide. I was shocked at how many groups were there. There was church groups, girl scouts, university clubs and also just people who wanted to help like me. A person in charge explained how the assembly lines worked and put us to work. I asked if I could join a group because I came alone. My job was to scoop the Sweet Potato sweetener and the soy ingredient while another girl scooped the Potato-D ingredient. All the ingredients were combined in a bag and weighed. After they were weighed they were sealed and put in a box. Each box contained 50 bags of MannaPack Potato- D. They cranked up the radio and everyone is singing. We all had a lot of fun and when you filled a box, your team had to do a cheer so that they could bring you a new one. This experience brought me closer with complete strangers and it made me feel a sense of belonging even when I didn't know anyone there. When we were all finished all the volunteers packed a total of 62 boxes which is 37,000 servings! Just that one night helped so many starving children out there and I am so happy I went. I plan to bring my gymnastics team there over the summer so we can all do it together. It was a great opportunity and I'm glad I got to help out any way I could. This is at FMSC. There are the 3 ingredients that was put in the funnel and in a bag to be weighed.

Social Class part II

Today in sociology we further explored the idea of social classes. We did this by splitting off into groups and playing a game of monopoly. However, each player was supposed to represent a social class i.e. working poor, upper class etc. Each of us had a set income and wealth. I represented upper class (old money). I had the highest income and amount of wealth compared to each player which put me at an advantage. As the game went on and other players would stop on my property, they would have to pay me rent and I would buy any available spots simply because I had the money to do so. The lower- middle class and working class players ended up with less money then they started with while the upper- middle, lower-upper (new money) and me, upper class, made more money than we had started with! I had increased over $3,000. This simulation symbolizes how old money, people who inherit the family money and new money, people who make the money on their own really only get richer. In this game, it was almost impossible to move up in class just like in America it is difficult to move up in social class as well. I guess it is true what they say: The rich only get richer.

Social Class

This week we are learning about social classes in Sociology. In America, this is touchy subject that most people would agree is uncomfortable to talk about. Here in America, we believe everyone is created equal and while sometimes this is true in other ways it is not. Certain factors make up a person's social class: income, wealth, education, location and prestige. Obviously, more income means a higher social class but does education and location play a big role in social class? Surprisingly more than you would think! On average, if you graduated from a college you are in the 40th percentile and if you graduated with a masters degree 8.05 percentile. Location wise, where you go to school depends on where you live. So, if you live in a more successful district then you pay higher taxes to fund that school in order to get the best teachers. All these factors connect and are intertwined with each other. My family lives where the average price home is $765,000 while the average home in America was $175,000. Because I live in an upper middle class neighborhood, I go to a high school with an overall better education than other districts. All in all, this is an uncomfortable topic to write about, but I feel that it shouldn't be taken so offensively or expressed so that you feel bad for who ever is "under" you on the social class ladder.

Gender Panel

Today in Sociology, we had a some students come into our class and talk openly to us about being gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual...etc. Each of the students told their story on their journey how they discovered it and how they have been treated. With each and every story, I got more and more interested. I learned that not every person fits into a category like I thought they did. There were also gender queers who haven't quite found that lightbulb that they needed to understand themselves. I thought it was interesting that transgenders actually do have science to back up their claims but the tests are done post mortem which wouldn't help. I feel like my eyes were opened to a world that I never really paid much attention to. In the hallways, I would see them and think, "yea, they're gay" but it really didn't phase me much. It didn't matter to me their sexual preferences and I never bothered to ask to hear their story. Now that they have opened up, I am more mindful of my everyday experiences and encounters. They were very comfortable talking about their story and I thought it was really brave and mature of them to teach us so much. I learned a lot from them and I am glad they came into to talk to us today.