Making Connections

There are a variety of mixed messages in college that everybody will experience. Students sometimes get mixed messages about such things as sexuality, drinking, and the value of education. An issue where I've gotten mixed messages is sexuality. As a child, I thought being homosexual was abnormal. I didn't think it was wrong, but it was something I didn't understand what it meant. I wasn't prejudice against homosexuals. I just didn't understand the mentality behind it and I wasn't exposed to it enough. As I grew up, I soon learned more about homosexuals and the struggles that they go through for being who they are. Soon enough, I came to realize that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being attracted to the same gender. Love is love; people should not be judged based on who they choose to be with. For example, on my soccer team I have two friends that are homosexual and I know people who cringe at the thought of homosexual. Today, people still are homophobic and are scared to associate themselves with homosexuals. One thing I think our community needs change in is acceptance and appreciation. I believe if we could all accept one another than it could be a better environment for everyone to be happy and be proud for who they are. And it's good to know that there are many people and  organizations in the world that promote gay rights and gay marriage as this issue is brought up daily in our society. 

Chapter 2: Earning and Learning: Are Students Working Too Much? by Martin Karmer

In the article, "Earning and Learning: Are Students Working Too Much?" by Martin Karmer, he questions if students are working too much. He talks about how students are over loading their schedules and how it negatively affects their learning. I think he's blaming college and aid offices for the problem that students are working too much to reduce their college debt. Kramer believes that the increase of college tuition and the aid offices are giving less and less grants to students, so this forces them to find a job, which also causes overwork with school work and other duties. Kramer states "so the aid offices expect students to cover a larger percentage of their budgets through earnings (and loans) to meet expectations of "self-help." Based on my experience as a college student, I think Kramer's indictments are valid, because I'm only taking 4 classes and sometimes I feel over scheduled and occasionally forget important events like activities around campus and even my soccer events. I'm currently unemployed and I took loans which makes me want to get a job, but after reading this article it makes me worry about my social life and how it would lead me to a really stressing schedule. Many students who have a full-time job and attend school, usually don't have enough time to socialize, join extracurricular activities, and even just experience the college life. So, I believe that students can become more successful and reach their fullest potential if they weren't overloaded with school work and having a job. 

Chapter 2: Universities Seeing a Gender Gap in Enrollment by Erin Mallants Rodriguez

In the article, "Universities Seeing a Gender Gap in Enrollments" by Erin Mallants Rodriguez, she talks about how fewer males are attending college and why this may be. In all the universities she listed in this chapter, they all had less than 45% of undergraduate students that were male. Albert Cruz was highlighted in this chapter of how he tried going to college after graduating from high school, but says it was too much for him. Cruz says that he chose to forgot college for two reasons: "I was trying to work and go to school and work would interfere with my classes" and he's already making "more money than some people who go to college. The income is unlimited." I believe Cruz's reasons are legitimate and well thought-out, because he already tried going to college and it just wasn't right for him. I think it was a good choice for him to proceed is his career of working as a sales consultant. When asked if he ever plans to go back to school, Cruz says probably not. He's happy with his career. I believe that if someone is happy with their career and wants to wake up every morning and go to work; that is all you need. You don't need to waste years of your life and thousands of dollars if you already know what you want to do. 

Chapter 2: We're Lying: Safe Sex and White Lies in the Time of AIDS by Meghan Daum

The article "We're Lying: Safe Sex and White Lies in the Time of AIDS" by Meghan Daum, she discusses her main concerns about AIDS and provides a thorough explanation of the communities interpretations, perception, and reactions towards it. Throughout the article, Daum often refers to people as "we or "us". The "we" that Daum kept repeating refers to everyone. I believe this is an issue that everyone should be aware about no matter how old you are and the sooner you start learning about safe sex and the consequences of AIDS and STDS in general, it will only benefit you and your partner. Daum's main concern she argues is how teenagers are careless or just simply scared about AIDS, because we are not taught or even taught properly about what these type of sexually diseases are, how they are transmitted, or the consequences. I would consider myself apart of the "we" and "us" Daum is talking about because she is mainly targeting teenagers. But I don't think Daum is trying to offend us by saying "we" she is just using it as a tactic to make everyone feel more connected to what she is trying to express. Which is a great way to get the readers attention, because it made me feel like I can relate to what she was talking about on another deeper level and it did make me want to take what she said into consideration. Daum states "It's not that we're reckless. It's more that we're grasping at straws, trying like hell to feel good in a time..." I strongly agree with this quote because we're in college and still trying to figure ourselves and what we want in life, so we need to explore different aspects and go outside our comfort zone.

Chapter 2: Drinking Deaths Draw Attention to Old Campus Problem by Mindy Sink

In the article, “Drinking Deaths Draw Attention to Old Problems” by Mindy Sink, she begins the article with two stories of underage college students who both died of alcohol poisoning and she quotes “less than two weeks apart and an hour’s drive away from one another.” I believe she opens with this to obviously catch the reader’s attention, which certainly it does and to make a statement about how important alcohol abuse is. The introduction of death will always shock the reader into wanting more and makes the story overall more intriguing. I found this compelling mostly, because it was two students my age and trying to experience the same college life as I am. This is most frightening for me, because it puts me in a position to imagine what it would be like if this were to happen to me or any of my friends or classmates. We all barely started to live and to figure ourselves out and it would be terrible for it to all end, just like that, over something that could've been prevented. It also has an enormous effect on me as a reader, because it sets more responsibility for my actions and to be more aware and cautious about things like alcohol abuse. 

Chapter 2: Could Your Facebook Profile Throw a Wrench in Your Future? by Rebecca Dince

In the article, "Could Your Facebook Profile Throw a Wrench in Your Future?" by Rebecca Dince, she addresses a collection of feedback on whether or not employers should review Facebook profiles before hiring their employees. From my perspective, since I have a Facebook account I think employers should be able to inspect your profile to some degree. Personally, I have not posted any private information about myself on Facebook, because it's public for anyone to see so I wouldn't mind for an employer to investigate through my profile. But for some people, they don't understand that the whole world can see their profile. So there are certain things I wouldn't put on my Facebook profile such as my address, cell-phone number, information about my family, etc. Unless your Facebook profile is on complete lockdown and no one but you can see it, then you should never put these things private and personal information on it, because anybody can see it even criminals and offenders. The one thing that everyone should know about the internet is that once something is available to the public, its pretty much impossible to remove it completely like photos, videos, and posts. Theres no way to know who's seen it, saved it or sharing it with someone else.

Chapter 2: Focusing on Friends by Steve Tesich

While most of the body paragraphs of this essay focused on his friendships with males, Tesich spends a lot of time talking about female friends at the beginning of this essay and then returns to this topic at the end. I believe Tesich chose to structure his essay this way, because his female friends didn't really have a huge impact in his life, but still important to him. For example, Tesich says, "they're looking right at me, these women in these extreme close-ups; the lighting is exquisite, worthy of a Fellini or Fosse film." In this part of the essay, he talks about how clear and vivid his thoughts were about his female friends, but not with his male friends. In the body paragraphs, Tesich describes his memories with 3 of his best male friends and how he couldn't explain to them in words how he felt so he did with his actions, whereas for the women he could just tell them in 3 simple words. Also, he never went into depth about his female friends like exposing their names or experiences he had with them. He showed that it was easy to express his emotions to his female friends and being an important part of his life, but they had a different value than his real male friends. So, I believe he chose to end this way, because he had to find a way to prove to his male friends that he loved them too just like he does with his female friends.