Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert is a true inspiration in life. He was faced with some very hard times but managed to swim and live by a great philosophy. He wanted to make himself and others happy and thought that was the best that could be done in life. Happiness and joy are contagious and produce wonderful things in the world. I strongly believe in his philosophy and that crime starts when we are unhappy. When we are unhappy we don't really think, we just do things that we expect will make us happy again. This causes things to happen that bring other people down. If we all lived by Roger Ebert's philosophy, we might swim through a better and more fulfilling life.

When faced with a tragedy, I think that some people sink while others swim because of the people around them. I think that if the person is surrounded by people who love them and stand by them will swim. To make it out above, you have to want to get better for someone or something. I think some people swim because they have people around them that show them the light and the good things still in life. I think more people sink when they are left alone and are breathing in their own sorrow. Some people sink and others swim with the help of loved ones and their mind set.

Racism in America

Over the past few weeks with our class discussions, I have gotten a more developed understanding of racism. I realize now how much deeper and present it is in our daily lives. Before, I didn't really notice or comprehend the things considered racist I and the people around me would do or say. Now, I'm more aware of it happening. For example, I am conscious of my constant code-switching. I now recognize how different I talk to everybody at school and at home. The way I talk friends is different from the way I talk to teachers or to strangers. At home, I find myself talking to mom and sisters the same way but with my dad and extended family it is different. I think we all code-switch based on how well we know the person. The less we know a person the more formal we are with them. I think when we are closer to someone we allow ourselves to drop a barrier and talk nonsense. I know when I'm talking to my mom or older sister, I drop some letters and/or words, because I know I can and they'll still understand me. At home, since I know no one will mind, I will say "white", "black", or "brown" when talking about someone or something someone did. Whenever I say something like, I never mean it to be offensive or negative though. Code-switching something I think everyone does and will never stop.

Furthermore, in class we talked a lot about the concept of cultural appropriation. People taking things from a culture that they are not a part of. I don't think this is bad because more people are then being exposed and learning about different lifestyles and beliefs. I think that it is expected to have cultural appropriation in America, since this country is known for being the melting pot of people and culture. We are surrounded by different people every day and are bound to pick up a few things from them. When people say "acting white" or "acting black", it's probably because they are doing something that is commonly known from that culture. I don't think this should be a negative thing though. I think people just get offended too easily.

In addition to cultural appropriation, we discussed white privilege. In the beginning of the racism unit white privilege was a very controversial topic. I think this was just because it was approached the wrong way and a definition was not given. White privilege is when people benefit from the lightness of their skin. I think that it is not only light skinned people that have a privilege though. I think that every skin tone has some sort of benefit, just in different situations.

In my experience, having the mixed privilege is the best. When you are mixed people don't really know what you are and are somewhat confused. For me since I came out with a lighter skin tone and colored eyes, most people didn't know what race/ethnicity I was. My grandparents even thought I was the wrong baby when they first saw me. They thought the hospital had mixed up or something, because I had colored eyes and light skin. But I kind of like being a mystery and unknown to some people. Sometimes I get the light skinned white privilege, other times I brown privilege and sometimes I get the privilege of being unknown. But in the end, no matter what the color your skin is there is always at least one benefit.

Passion Project Update #2

The past two weeks I have researched and gathered more information on Paris and London. I recorded, in a list, all the faults I remember from my experience. Also, I began to look deeper into Italy and Bora Bora. I find it difficult to find information that the destination does not want people to know. I plan to look into tourist and reviewer websites where personal experiences are exposed. I am making pretty good progress so far.

Passion Project Update #1

So far I have only had one Friday to work on my project because I was absent one day, but I think I made good progress. I have settled on researching Italy and Bora Bora as my first destinations. I have collected pictures for both locations and put them in a PowerPoint. Also, I was looking at the traveler reviews for Bora Bora and concluded that there isn't much wrong with the destination. Now I plan to dig deeper into Bora Bora and find all the hidden stuff. I plan on looking into the food and traditions for each place I look into. Overall, my passion project is on it's way.

Empathy

I think everyone has the ability to be empathetic, but not everyone utilizes it. I think it is possible to extend our empathy to the entire world if we tried, but would that be a good thing? Empathy has its pros and cons. It can be seen as the key to solve many problems but also can be the destroyer. Empathy can bring us all together or tear us apart. If we all share the same feelings and all have the same mindset, how are we different? Being human means to "have good and bad qualities". If everyone is empathetic to each other, the majority of our human "bad qualities" are eliminated. Our ability to make decisions will weaken. People will try to solve one problem but end causing a new, then attempt to solve that one another erupts so on and so forth.  Furthermore, with empathy ruling the world the meaning of family will lessen because everyone would be family. The world will be lost and get nothing done if empathy was the priority. However, with the worldwide case of bullying, empathy would be for the benefit. If bullies were more empathetic they would understand how the victim feels and will stop their acts. Same goes for abusing of all types. Problems will be solved but many will be created. After all, too much of anything is bad.

Passion Project S2 Update

Over the past 5 passion project days many things have changed. The group of Usha and I has expanded to include Vaishnavi. Our idea of focusing on parades/celebration in each state of America has gone a different route. We decided to look at holidays that are celebrated around the world and look at the ways they are celebrated. For example, New Year's is celebrated around the world but differently in every region. We have compiled pictures of the different celebrations present on this event in some states of the US and parts of other countries. Vaishnavi will incorporate her original passion project idea of dancing by looking into the dances that go along with the holidays we plan to look at. We plan to cover a lot of holidays but the number might have to get cut down due to time restrictions. We still have a lot to do but hopefully it will all get done in time.

Passion Project Updates

So far our Disney passion project has made a good amount of progress. We made a list of all Disney Channel shows and the time frame they were on air. We have a list of 51 shows, but I think there are more. Also, we made a list of Disney movies. The list consists of 310 movies so far, but we have to add the newer movies to the list. In addition, we found a few things on Mickey Mouse, showing the older designs of Mickey. I think Vaishu and I did okay so far and made pretty good progress. Over the next passion projects days we hope to gather more information. We want to learn why the Disney characters changed so much. There are a lot of little things that we can and wish to research and get information. Disney is a large topic, so an obstacle we might run into is trying to cover all the main things.