Throughout this past week we have been talking about race and how it relates to society. i never knew that race was something that we all created in our own heads. but i don't think that its something we have created individually but society has shaped us to think about race in a certain way. This goes back t a few chapter ago when we talked about how society impacted the choices we make and how we live our lives. After reading that article i realized that race was not biological but instead something we create. I thought the story about how in Brazil they have many different names for a certain race that we might only call "black". This was an eye opener because i never knew why my old soccer coach never referred to the African American kid on our team as black. That coach grew up in Brazil and lived there most of his life and even played for the Brazilian National Team with Pele. He came to America and was a great soccer coach but his Brazilian ways came with him. He never called the African American kid black or even colored. He had a specific name for him and everyone on the team called him that. i dont remember the name but i asked him once what it meant and he said that back in Brazil it was a common name for the people of that color. I was surprised but also confused because i had no idea that your race changes depending on where you live or go.

Today in class we had the privilege to listen to the girl talk about her experience in the Marine Corp. I thought it was really interesting and she gave great insight on what life was like as a woman going through Marine training. The reason I found her presentation so interesting was because my great uncle went to college at West Point and decided to stay in the Army after his 4 years were up. Through the years he moved up through the ranks and now holds some prestigious position in the Army. I am not very close with this uncle so he has not told me very many stories but as I grew up my mom and her side of the family always wanted me to go to West Point and follow in my uncles footsteps. Her whole side of the family sees Jody (my uncle) as a hero. Through his service he has lived all over the world including germany, Chile, Uruguay, Panama, and various places in the United States. Although i didn't know how this girl was going to finish her service it brought back memories of Jody.

this past week we have been talking about social class. we watched the movie about the lady who lives in Ohio and works at burger king. this story was touching but i cant help to see how she can help herself. she doesnt have an education and grew up in a house with 21 other brothers and sisters. obviously she is at a disadvantage but she has to take steps to help herself. an experience i had with poverty was when i went down to the projects of chicago. it was a very humbling experience and i really enjoyed getting to see another side of life in the very bottom of the social rung. i was scared when i first got there but once i warmed up to the people i noticed that they were not much different than i was. i worked with them all day serving food and playing games with little kids. by the end of the day i was tired and ready to go home but i would definitely go back some day.

Today we briefly touched on the topic about the social worker who was being mugged and willfully gave up his wallet and offered the teen his coat as well. As the teen walks away he invites him in for dinner and to talk. I thought this was really interesting and definitely surprising! i would have never done that if i was being mugged but its the way i see society as a whole. When we wrapped up class with the discussion about random acts of kindness that can be considered deviant, i only thought about homeless people. so often we se people sitting on the side of the street and they are always asking for money. Instead i sometimes offer them food. This one time i was in the city and an old homeless man was begging for food outside a Mc Donald's. I went inside and bought him a meal and gave it to him. He was so thankful and only wanted to talk. i was in a big hurry so i couldnt stay around. But this experience was really surprising and i believe life changing.

This past week we have been learning about school shootings and how they relate to masculinity. I never knew that all the shooters had a couple things in common. i was surprised that they were mostly committed but middle class white boys. I always thought it they were committed by minorities like the Virginia tech shooting. On another note, i thought it was really cool when you brought me up in front of the class today and whooped my butt. I was slightly embarrassed because of what society has taught me about being a man. i never really thought about it but i am completely changed by the way society has an impact on my life. I love working out but i wonder if that is just the way society has raised me. I bet if it wasn't a big deal to be big and jacked i wonder if people would be even lazier than they already are? each week is another eye opener to the world around us. i never think about any of this stuff until we discuss it in class. i appreciate the class discussions because it opens me up to see the world in a different way.

This past week we have been talking about how the media shapes both young men and women. We looked at examples from movies, t.v. ads and magazine ads. I learned that the media uses women to sell sex and uses men to promote masculinity. At first i didn't agree that the media has a big influence on our every day lives but then i realized that we are exposed to around 3000 ads per day and most of them are some sexual reference. When we looked at the ads from the website i had seen some of those ads/commercials and never really thought about how they use women to sell their products. I like how dove is going about their advertising. I think that by showing young teen girls that its alright to be imperfect that its leading to higher self esteem. If i was a girl i would definitely invest in dove products. On a different note while i was watching t.v. tonight over an hour span i saw more than 50 commercials suggesting sex. I only counted the obvious ones and i'm sure i missed a couple as well. I also believe that the media promotes masculinity in guys. Every commercial you see its all about being big and tough and putting on his mask that nothing can bother you. In reality thats not how anyone should act. In every ad there promoting masculine products there is always a guy who is ripped with his shirt off and seems to have flawless muscles. In reality this image is almost impossible to achieve. I think its ridiculous how much sex is a part of the media these days.

This week we read about groups that had an influence on you. I would agree with the reading that family has the biggest impact on my life. The lessons that they teach me are both manifest and latent lessons. The manifest lessons are one that are taught directly. Some of these lessons include table manners, how to drive a car and be a good student. I never thought about these lessons but as i was reading the article i immediately thought of the table manners. my parents in particular have taught me to always be polite at the dinner table. They told me never reach for something rather t ask in a polite way. Lessons such as this one are only taught through perseverance. The other type of lesson is one that goes under the radar a little. These lessons are ones like political affiliation and how brand names. For example today in class we talked about how we use brand names to classify certain products. My favorite example was calling a bandage a band-aid. I have grown up for years thinking it was always called a band-aid never realizing its technically called a bandage. These are only a few examples but my family has had many positive impacts on my life.

Earlier this week we talked about the man who completely removed himself from society and lives in the national park living off the environment. I found this really interesting that a man even in today's society which is focused on materialism and wealth can withdrawal completely. Its amazing what a trip to a third world country can do for you. He went to work at an impoverished Latin American country which had not much going for them. But as he studied he realized that as they became wealthier their happiness decreased. I find it amazing that someone can be happy living off nothing and barely has a place to live. Im not saying that the life of the ultra-rich is practical either. I think we need to find a healthy balance between the two in order to live in the society we do today.

The past couple days we have been watching the movie Tuesday's with Morrie. Through out the movie Morrie seems to be very wise and full of knowledge. In one scene he talks about dependency. Morrie with his disease is complete dependent on other people. He can hardly do anything without the help of someone else. I am dependent on many other people. Since i play a sport i rely on my team on a day-to-day basis. As a team we reply on each other to be somewhere or help one another out. I do not think it is a bad thing to be dependent. I think it builds trust and can help one form a better relationship with others. Morrie is complete at the mercy of Mitch and his other helpers. He forms strong bonds with each person through the experiences together. Though out society today people criticize those who are dependent on one another as being lazy or incompetent. I think this is wrong because trust is formed when one is dependent on another person.

Yesterday in class we had the class discussion. I went a different route with the assignment. i chose to analyze America through the ideals that were most important to American's instead of saying what we focus most on. I think that the idea of opportunity is one of the leading values of America. America is the place where anyone can be anything they want to. this holds true to the social ladder that anyone has the opportunity to climb. Most of the class went on the route of saying what is wrong with American culture. I agree with what most people said how American's are ignorant, impatient and materialistic. I would agree with these assumptions because i feel that i fit into some of the categories as well.

This week in class we talked about how people from different countries do similar tasks but in very different ways. Although i didn't travel overseas i know that in different parts of this country people do things very differently. One experience i had with this is when i went to California this past summer. I went there to play water polo for the Junior Olympics. Back here in Illinois each team has a locker room to change in. This seemed very normal and logical to me. However, in California all their pools are outside which was a nice change for me, but even more strange is they do something call a "deck change". At first i was really confused where the locker rooms are at the pools. Then someone told me that there are no locker room in California! i was shocked. He then went on to explain that a "deck change" is where you literally change on the pool deck. This was so weird for me changing with only a towel around me at Stanford University in front of a couple hundred people. But as the week went on i became accustom to it and it was no longer weird for me. I could totally relate to the activities this week in class because i was in a very different situation and embarrassed about it. Even though i didn't go to another country, it was a really different world out there. Because this experience i became aware of what other people do on a regular basis.

I want to start off by saying that i loved the Bronx Tale. I thought the movie was well directed and the characters were great too. The idea of social classes and race was evident through out the movie. At the young age of 9, the boys in the Italian neighborhood were raciest towards the black living right across the town. As the boys grew older the hate for the African American's grew too. When Collogero was 17 his friends went into the black neighborhood and caused trouble by throwing the cocktails into the store. Their plan backfired and ended up killing them. The racial tensions only brought about more violence within the community. The quote "violence only brings more violence" is true here. Collogero was aught at a young age that the African American's were bad people and not to trust them. In the beginning, Their hate only was mental and no physical confrontations arose. But as he grew up, the tensions rose and Sonny ended up saving Collogero's life. It was interesting that the boys hated the black people so much that they would intentionally go out to try and hurt of even kill someone else.

This past week we did an activity in class where we had to chose all the groups we were a prat of. I chose my family, Stevenson, sim team, polo team, and all my friends. It was most difficult to decide which group i was most part of. I also had to chose which was my master status. i found this really tough too. I thought it was interesting that some group we belong to are voluntary and others are involuntary. I never really thought of my life as groups i belong too. I also realized that my groups change from day to day and from year to year.

The activity we did in class where Gillian spit on the spoon was very interesting. The activity we did in class was really thought provoking. I never thought about how our society views cleanliness. I always considered America to be a decently clean country along with the people living here. When Mr. S asked Gillian to slurp the spit back up i realized how disgusting it really was. I always knew that humans had saliva in their mouths and when it came out of the mouth it became spit. The part i didn't realize was often people spit. I am a swimmer and i know every time i breath i spit out the water i took in. I never thought about every other person doing the same. It is basically swapping spit with everyone else in the pool. i guess more than anything this activity was an eye-opener into a whole new realm of cleanliness.

A couple years ago i went to Cuba, New Mexico to do a service project through my church. At first I was a little unsure what I was getting myself into and if I would really go along with what ever I had to do. Upon arrival I noticed that life in Cuba was quite different than what life is like here. People were outside together and large families lived together in very small falling-apart houses. Many other kids, including myself thought this was so unique. You hardly ever see that around here. But our task was to go there and build houses for under resourced or disabled people. As the week progressed I noticed that my resident was a really kind person. She was so appreciative of our work and time. This experience was humbling because for the first time i realized that life here in Long Grove, Illinois was actually quite comfy. This experience was just an eye opener to what the rest of the world has to deal with on a day to day basis. I am looking forward to this service project as we adventure outside our community once again to see how other live and interact.

Who am I Post

Hey I'm Chris and I am a senior at a high school outside of Chicago. I play many sports including soccer, swimming, water polo and snowboarding. I am the person I am because the influences of my friends and family. My family has had the biggest impact on my life especially in the last few years. My goal right now is to graduate and go on to college next year. I plan to have a good time this year and get ready for next year.