Culture Shock

Growing up where we do really shapes what we think and how we act. The things we naturally need to do can be done in so many different ways, like eating, bathing and going to the potty! Sometimes it's hard to think that other cultures could be different than ours and when we find they are, we feel we our culture is correct. That's why we need to be mindful of other cultures and realize it's just another way of living life. I haven't really been anywhere too different from my culture, but my sister went to france a couple years ago and told me they wouldn't let her shower. She had to bathe and she thought that was really different that they never showered.

A Bronx Tale

What really stuck out to me in this movie was the in and out-groups. There are a bunch of groups in this movie. Sonny and his gang, C's family, C's friends and Jane's neighborhood. Looking in at another group that a character was not involved in led to judging. C's friends judged Jane's family and neighborhood; they beat up her brother just simply because he was black. C's dad always judged Sonny and saying he was not trust worthy. It's really easy to judge a group of people, or even one person, when your looking in from the outside. When you don't really know someone you make assumptions which lead to judgements. In Stevenson there are a lot of different groups and it would be impossible to get to know every single person. So how does one go about not judging? You just have to realize that your assumptions might not be true and you don't know what's going on in that persons life. It's really difficult to stop at just assuming and not push it to a judgement.

Gang Leader for a Day

When I first started reading Gang Leader for a Day, they talked about different types of sociological research. They mentioned the scientific type and I thought, well obviously that is the best way to study, using constant data from multiple sources. As the story went on and Sudhir tried to use this method, I saw that it really wasn't working. Using data does help see constants, like with the abandon ship results Salituro has from over the years, but having just that data gets you no where. You need to go deeper and figure out why people do things or feel the way they do. Just like we discussed in class why we chose who to get off the ship to understand why, Sudhir tries to get to know the gang members personally to understand more. I really liked that chapter of Gang Leader for a Day.

Social Construction of Reality

Social construction of reality is how the society we are in makes us see things in certain ways . It's weird to think about how society molds you to think things. I actually had an experience of social construction today. I was drinking tea on the way to class, but I had to go to the bathroom. I thought to myself, is it weird to bring my tea into the bathroom? Society molds us to think that certain things are good or bad, or clean or dirty. Social construction in our high school has made it weird if someone doesn't have internet on their phone or have an ipod. The cool thing about social construction is that it's different everywhere you go because society differs in location.

Sociological Mindfulness

This is the face of a thankful child.

This week we learned about sociological mindfulness, and that is how I personally, or any other individual, is impacting the world. I think that a lot of people understand how someone else could impact them, but don't really see as much how they could impact another. Every decision you make in a day can affect some one else. Understanding that our actions could affect another's chance of having a good life is really important. I went on a mission trip last summer, I didn't know it was called being sociologically mindul, but I started to realize that I was making a difference in those kids life. All of the bible studies and fixing up schools, I was making a change. I was influencing them and making their lives a little better. We said in class that sociological mindfulness can be kind of selfish because you want to leave a legacy sort of in the world, but in some ways it's the complete opposite. That mission trip did make me proud of myself, but I know that I helped improve that city.

Who am I?

I don't know who I am yet because as a teenager, I am searching for who I am. I am finding out things that work and things that definitely don't work. I am changing constantly because these are the years that it's okay to change. In life, I try to be that person that people can come to about anything. I am really good at just listening.  I like really connecting to people, and not just talking about normal stuff. Family is the most important to me, but family to me doesn't necessarily mean being related. The person that influences me the most is my sister, she's four years older than me and she is my best friend. I see that she has a really good life, successful and happy, so I follow after her in a way.  My goal in life is not to have the biggest house or the best job, but to find true happiness. My purpose is to make a difference and not just live life for myself. I want to be an educator for impoverished children. In my opinion, they are the ones that are most grateful for it, or anything they receive.