The last post, weird. Each week I ramble on and on about my thoughts on each topic and how it relates to me. However, as each week progresses I learn more and more about myself as well. In my first blog in the fall, I discussed who I was. I said my age, sex, and hobbies/interests. I have learned in class that that is very common. We introduce ourselves with simple generalizations to better categorize ourselves with others. Yes, I do love to shop and be with my friends, but that's not all of me. I have learned that there is so much more to each individual and it never ends. Our past reflects on us today and inspires us for tomorrow. Before I took this class, I always lived in the moment. Not to say that is such a bad thing, but I was becoming nieve to other aspects of my life. I was not aware of accepting my past and understanding that it has shaped me to be the person I am today. The way my parents have raised me have been different than every other person out there. I have now opened my eyes and finally saw how this affects each one of us. We are all different, but in a way, similar. Race, sex, class, none of those things define who we are. They do identify our physical aspects, but they don't create a difference between people. Overall, this class has made me have a more clear understanding on the world around us, but at the same time opens new doors for many more years of endless possibilities.

This week in class we discuessed race and how many people think that it is biological, but infact it isn't. We, as society, create race and the image that comes with it. We have a certain picture in our head of what African Americans are suppose to act, sound, dress, and be like. Same for Asains, Indians, and all other races. I found it very interesting and eye opening that race is something we have created, rather than something that someone is born with. Like Sal said in class... Our blood is the same as African American's, so there really is no difference. We have judged other races and came up with these ideas of them. Not too long ago my cousin began dating this African man. He had just come here from Africa with no money. At first, I judged him and thought of him as a "gangster". But after I got to know him more and more, my opinion of him drastically changed. Not only was he FAR from gangster, but he was more like me than "them". He told me that both of his parents were killed in a genocide in him hometown in Africa. He decided to move to America to better his life. However, his brothers and sisters still live back in Africa. So every month he splits his low income paycheck and send halfs of it back to his remaining family members. I was shocked when I heard this. I had totally misjudged him. He was so kind and so not what I was expecting. I think the moral of all this is to not judge other races because of the steryotypes society gives them. People can amaze you when you least expect it.

This week we talked more in depth about social class and how in society today the poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer. We watched a video for several days and observed the lives of different social classes of people. It was such a drastic difference between the people of Apalachia and the people of the Hamptons. I thought about how this relates to my life and how I will carry this on to next year at school. Being a part of the Stevenson community, I have been brought up a very different way than the typical high school student. Besides being exposed to difficult school work, my social skills have developed much differently. I had never really noticed this difference before until I took my first official college visit. I was visiting my friend at Iowa and staying the night with her. The girl who I was staying with lived just down the street from me growing up so we had very similar lifestyles. However, I could not say the same for her roommate. Her roommate was VERY nice, just very different. She had grown up on a farm in the middle of rural Iowa. She was the first in her family to attend college, so her being there was a big deal. It was always a given for me to college in my family. Although my dad never went to college, everyone in my extended family had been very educated. While my friend was at Iowa to have fun and go out, and go to classes of course, her roommate rarely went out at night and focused on her studies. The different social classes were very apparent here and for the first time I saw how it played into my life. I'm sure it will be very interesting next year when meeting new people coming from all different backgrounds and social classes.

This week in class we talked about social class and how it affects our everyday lives. We tend to sometimes think that class doesn't control our actions and behaviors, but after studying different class's for a few days, I learned that our social class makes us who we are. In the video we watched today, we heard this ignorant "WASP" talk about his high-end social class. At first I thought he was kidding and making fun of himself. But as he continued to talk, I took him less and less seriously. He actually began to believe he was the best and superior to others. About a year ago I went to New York. I met this guy there who seemed to be normal... at first. He came off to be very wealthy and well-mannered. Of course, me being me, I stuck around and kept talking to him. I later then learned his family is part of the WASP community. I didn't really know what that meant until today in class. I always knew he was very rich by the way he presented himself. The way he would talk about himself in comparison to me amazed me. I had never talked to someone before who had purposefully talk to me as a person of less value. As an example, I told him how excited I was to work at my childhood camp this previous summer. Instead of responding with "Oh cool, how long have you gone there" or some friendly comment, he quickly turned the discussion back to him and how he would be spending the summer on the family yacht. Not only was I extremely jealous, but I was quite annoyed with the ignorance he presented. I have learned that different class's do play a large role in how we encounter others and really do teach us a lot about ourselves as well.

This week in class we discussed deviance. We talked about the difference between the "Saints" and the "Roughnecks". We talked about how although both groups of guys did bad things, the Saints wound up getting out of the punishment simply because of their "clean" background. I thought about his this relates to my life and to me. I took this same concept and twisted it a little to relate to my family. In my family, my sister represents the Saints and I represent the Roughnecks (obviously). For example, when I do something bad, I instantly get punished. My parents know that there is no question about what I did and that I was in fact wrong the entire time. However, on the other hand, when my sister does something wrong, my parents wait a few days and then sort of "let her off the hook". She is typically a "good girl" so they never question her motives about being deviant. When this happens I get REALLY mad and just yell,"YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT SHE DOES WHEN YOU DON'T WATCH HER!!!!". The whole situation isn't fair because in the long run my sister is getting away with much worse things while I'm getting yelled at for little stupid things. This relates perfectly to the article we read for class. The people with the cleaner reputation usually get of a lot easier than the ones with the more shady background.

This week in class we finished up talking about socialization and how it related to teenagers. We spent a few days discussing teenagers role in society. We then learned how society expects us to magically one day transform into an adult. This transition may be more difficult for some people because they grew up depending on others. I had that exact problem. Although my parents raised me to be independent, I always knew I could fall back on my parents when I struggled. I remember a few years ago my mom said to me one day, "Gillian, you can either let that laundry sit around in your room, or you can do it yourself." Not only was I shocked that my mom was now forcing me to grow up, but I had no idea what I was doing. I brought my clothes downstairs and honestly had no idea what I was doing. For about 2 loads I forgot to put soap in. Then my mom finally showed me what to do and ever since then I've known what to do. She allowed me to learn on my own, but was still there for me when I needed help. I have used this same idea with my sister. She was in the same position as I was, and instead of just doing it for her, I let her mess up a few times and then finally stepped in. This is much more valuable than just doing it for her because she essentially doesn't learn anything from it.

Today in class we talked about different sorts of socialization and how in many situations we are forced to be built back up to a different person. It was interesting to understand the logic behind boot camps and how they tear one down to only make them stronger. I never thought of it like that. It was very ironic that we discussed this topic today because just yesterday my dad and I were talking about his situation. His story plays hand in hand with what we talked about in class. For almost 30 years my dad hasn't had 1 sip of alcohol. He had faced many life threatening experiences in his time before he decided to clean up. To this day, my dad attends AA meetings. Up until recently, my dad has increased his meetings from once a week to twice. I found it strange because he hasn't drank in such a long time, so why would he need to keep going? I asked him and he told me that the meetings don't only teach him to not drink, but they shape him into a stronger person. He then told me that giving up the alcohol may be the easiest part, but finding who you are and who you want to be can be the most difficult. It is amazing what these meetings can do to people. It has changed my dad from an unstable guy to a very strong person.