Final 2nd 6 Weeks Blog

I did not pay for anything I am wearing today except for socks and boxers. I am wearing a shirt and hat that I got for free from sponsors,a jacket that I got as a birthday present, a pair of shorts that I found at my house, and an old pair of shoes from a friend. I think it was just nurture how I put all of this on. I have been around the snowboarding culture for the last 6 years of my adolescents and I think the style of clothing that most snowboarders wear has just grown on me. I now dress like what a "typical" snowboarder dresses like. I think this plays into my future job. I know that I am going to do something with snowboarding. It is my favorite sport and it is hopefully going to be my job too. I think it is nature how I like the cold. I have never really been a fan of warm weather. I think that nature and nurture balance out because nature takes over where nurture has failed.
As kids grow into their adolescence they also seem to have this need for social status power. They all need to fit in somewhere, and this is why we see different clicks start to form in high school. Different clicks have different ranks of power for each kid, and every kid is trying to make it to the top. To many adolescents, their ranking in their social group is the only form of power that they have. This is why it is so important to so many kids.
Today, kids have different ways of socializing. It is almost all through technology. Through the use of texting, facebook, and myspace, kids have nearly eliminated face to face conversations. This raises many concerns among adults, such as internet safety and exercise. Kids need to go outside and interact wit each other, not sit inside and socialize through a computer screen. Kids back in the day were forced to have face to face interactions because there was no such thing as the internet or cell phones. I think these concerns are pretty valid. I find myself on the internet too much. Even this blog I'm doing right now is obviously over the internet. I think adults are right to not want their kids on the computer so much.
Girls and boys socialize completely differently. Girls gossip and hang out with other girls, while guys play sports and don't talk about their feelings...at least thats what the stereotypes say. Stereotypes play into the roles of socialization a lot these days. Its what makes girls dress and act certain ways and it does the same for guys. I think that these gender roles have definitely played into my life. I act and dress the way that most of my guy friends do. I also see it affect most of my friends and other people I associate with.

Infantilization

I see infantilization all the time. Whether I see it on TV, in school, or at home, I feel as if it is all around me. Examples of how I see it on TV is in commercials. They always seem to appeal to the inner child in everyone. Mostly I see it in credit card commercials. They tell their customers to reward themselves, even though they only get rewarded by spending their money. They encourage people to spend money just so they gets points towards a reward, and people actually buy in to this.
Another place I see this is in our school. I actually encountered an essay prompt today that relates to infantilization. The question was, "Should students be graded on their ability to know facts or should they be graded upon effort?" In other words, should we reward students with good grades if they give it their best try? Also I think that students are given too much responsibility, yet we still receive punishment as if we were younger. We are expected to go and live on our own in a year when we transition into college, yet we still get i trouble with the deans over miniscule things.
Finally where I see infantilization probably the most is at home. My mom thinks that she is rewarding me when she lets me drive, even to work. Going to work is an adult responsibility, therefore driving to work and getting there on time should be expected. Teens and Adults are constantly being infantilized whether you realize it or not. It is throughout our everyday lives and we need to start realizing it, or else we will be taken over by these thoughts that we can be controlled as if we are infants.

Water In My Life

Something in my culture that is similar to the "water" is how everyone seems to be stuck on this concept of instant gratification. Everything today is given to people so quick that when we actually have to wait for something we get upset. For instance, if someone goes to a McDonalds and orders nuggets and they say it will take 5 minutes to get them, the person who ordered them will get upset that he or she has to wait for the food. Another example is all of the speeders in this country. I myself know from personal experience that people speed because they feel like it gets them there faster, and to them faster is always better. And finally my last example of this instant gratification is the internet. If we want to talk to someone or order something, we don't even have to get up off the couch. With the click of a button we can order a new TV, talk to friends, or even order groceries just by going on the internet. This has definitely affected my behavior because I am also a person that enjoys this instant gratification and I am not used to not getting things rights away.

To navigate around this I think we just have to slow down and say that its ok to be patient. Like the saying goes, "patience is a virtue." I think that it is difficult for some people to adjust to having to wait for things, especially if you are like me and you grew up in this era of total instant gratification. If I were to go to Africa and I had to hunt for my food and be patient, I think it would be hard for me and most others. It would bring a whole new respect to me about how everything around me is so readily available. I think to adjust to this you would need to be in an environment in which you could not have everything so quickly first. I don't think somebody who lives in the poorer regions of the inner city take advantage of how they can get things as easily as most others who live in the suburbs and have some money. The only way that I navigate around this is by telling myself that its ok to have to wait for something. Sometimes waiting even makes stuff better and there is more satisfaction when you actually get it.

When I was younger I think that I valued my freedom from my parents. They would let me stay out in the neighborhood late and go play with friends whenever I wanted. This type of freedom seemed great at the time, and it was, but now I see my freedom completely different. I have adjusted my values and I am now thankful that I am able to drive where I want and stay out late. I have more freedom now than I did as a kid and it still feels great. I think that most people today would say that they appreciate their freedom in different ways and for different reasons, but there is no doubt that everyone in America should appreciate it in some way. Another value that I hold close to me is equality. Again, when I was younger I never saw anybody as different. In fact, one of my good friends had a mental hadicap when I was young and I saw him no different than any of my other friends. Now that I am older I hold this value even higher. It is important to make everybody feel equal because we were all born equal. Nobody should be discriminated against based on gender, age, race, sexual orientation or anything else. Because I have experiences more in this world I have seen firsthand how unequality can hurt people and it is not right. I have truly found happiness in all of the values I hold and throughout all of my life experiences.

A Bronx Tale: Groups

I think that Collogero belongs to many different groups all throughout his experiences growing up. First of all throughout the whole movie he was in the group of Italians living in the Bronx. When he was young, he was at first just one of the average Bronx kids. He didn't get what was really going on around him in his neighborhood, for example, when the man was shot over what Collogero thought was just a parking space. However, after witnessing the man getting shot and killed, he kind of shifted groups when he earned Sonny's respect. He switched into the group of Sonny's "crew" When the movie transitions to Collogero as a 17 year-old, he is no longer with Sonny's "crew" but he is more in his own group of just him and Sonny. Yet at the same time he still sort of belongs in a group of him and his father. He is split between the "hardworking man" group, which involves his father and mother, and the "dishonest" group, which involves Sonny and his crew. While still in these two groups, he is catagorized in another group of the younger "wannabe" mobsters. I ddon't actually think that Collogero liked this group though. He does not really know what group to side with because he has grown up being told different things by all groups. Sonny's group tells Collogero that the working man is a sucker, his father completely disagrees with this, and his friends of wannabe mobsters influence him to do bad and immature things that will get him in trouble. However, even with all of this influence of the groups around him, I think that Collogero sticks with his own beliefs. He does what he thinks is right most of the time and he acts like himself, however there are times when he gives into the pressure. He gives into the pressure when the wannabe mobsters are beating up the black guys who came in their neighborhood. He also gave into the pressure when they were going to burn down the record store in the black neighborhood. The different groups he was involved in molded his life into what it was at the end of the movie. Without some of the groups, such as Sonny and his wannabe mobster friends, Collogero would have turned out completely different. But overall it was the groups that made Collogero different throughout the movie.

9/11

I can't believe it has been 8 years already since the towers fell. I was talking to my Mom about it and she actually told me that my cousin's neighbor and friend was there when the attacks happened and he actually took some of the most famous pictures of the event. His most famous picture of the second plane hitting the tower was actually on the cover of time magazine. For more information check out his website and hear his views on the topic!

http://www.owerko.com/index.php#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=0&a=1&p=0&at=0

I have to warn you though that he also took some powerful yet graphic shots of people desperately jumping from the towers. Just be aware but also remember this is real life and it actually happened so please be respectful. I think that even though this event knocked us down, it also brought us so close together as a nation.

My College Experience

So because I wasn't here for sociology class on last Friday, Mr. Smith has asked he to write an extra blog. Why was I not in class? I left school early (sorry Mr. Smith) so I could go visit my girlfriend at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. So I'm lazy and instead of driving 5 hours I took a 30 minute flight and an hour bus ride. Of course I get so excited to see my girlfriend when I get there that I get off the bus and forget my suitcase. It drove off with it so for the first hour I was with my girlfriend (whos name is Danielle so I'll just call her that from now on) I spent trying to get a hold of my suitcase. I finally got it back and the weekend began. She showed me her dorm, which at first I thought was small but then I got to thinking of all the fun stuff I could do with it. I could get bunk bed and then there would be so much more room for activities! But anyways, she introduced me to some of her new friends and then we walked her classes. Let me tell you that if you think traveling in Stevenson high school is bad...just wait till you get to college. I think I walked 4 miles in total. That night we went to a couple parties which was pretty fun but then we just got tired and walked back to go to bed. For the rest of the weekend I just basically was like a college student having fun on the weekend. It was really fun and I'm glad I got to experience it. The sad part is that 3 days later a student was killed after he was hit by a car crossing the street right next to where Danielle's dorm is. I crossed that same street three days earlier. Scary Stuff. You should always live life to the fullest!

THUG LIFE

So after I started to read the article about the sociologist who went into the projects to study the gang, I was so interested. I really wanted to see what the hell would happen to this person who was just walking into basically a gangs territory and asking them right away, "Whats it like to be poor and black?" I would never in a million years think of doing that. There was a serious risk of him getting killed, yet he was so persistent that he actually gained the gangs respect! I thought it was supposed to be hard to get the respect of a gang. But then again he did risk his life just to get some information. I had such a respect for him after that and I admire how he did what he thought was appropriate to get information for people.

What is the Hirschy Lab

The Hirschy Lab is a backyard terrain park located in Vernon Hills, Illinois. The creator, Nick Trotochaud, along with the co-owner Mike Hirsch, has set up various terrain features ranging from easy to more difficult in ability level. The Hirschy Lab team includes Josh Jacobs, Mike Hirsch, Nick Trotochaud, Mike Jost, Kevin Jackson, Benny Kaufman, and Colin Muller. Since its creation in the 06/07 season, the Hirschy Lab has progressed in status and has increased the variety of features. The Hirschy Lab currently has custom boxes and rails, picnic tables, a quarter pipe, a wall, and multiple jumps. With the Hirschy Lab crew of groomers, the park always stays perfect. The park is constantly being added to and is also constantly progressing. The Hirschy Lab really is "a dream come true."

http://www.snowathome.com/contests/2008_2009_winners.php

The above link is to a video that one a national contest for the company Snow At Home

For more vids check out www.youtube.com/user/rockerfella3000 or search Hirschy Lab on the internet!!!!!

The Hirschy Lab Site!!!

www.hirschylab.webs.com