Sociological Makeover

Before:
What defines me? Who am I? Can anyone really answer this question? Well, to put it in some words, I am simply a high school student trying to relate sociology to my life. This blog is about my life and sociology. Sociology is about the study of groups of people and I could definitely fit into the norm of a typical high schooler. I love fashion, hanging out with friends, and doing well in my favorite sport, track.
I recently started a new school year. One class, in particular, is sociology. The first day of class was really interesting. It started with a teacher, who started the class not at all like a normal teacher. When the bell rang, he sat down in one of the desks and didn't let out a word. All the new students were confused by this action and the class quickly filled with awkward laughter. "What was this?" we were all thinking. "What's going on?" Eventually, our teacher rose from his chair and explained to us that we were apart of a sociological test. Our reaction proved that we were all trained to think that when class started the teacher would teach and we, the students, would sit there and listen. We took the silence as awkwardness, which was also something we trained to think. This made me think about how society has trained or even brainwashed us to think that certain things are normal, even when they may not be.
Scary huh?
Even though I am basically a typical high school girl, I still have qualities that make me different. First off, I'm tall..really tall, 5'9" to be exact. This has helped me excel at running and probably part of reason I'm good at it. I love taking photography, writing, I quit almost every hobby I do, and I have a fascination with the human mind and helping helping people with their problems. I am passionate about psychology and that is why I want to be a psychiatrist. I have been working to get to that point by taking certain classes. This is probably why sociology interests me so much because it is very similiar to psychology.

After:
Before I took this class (in my first blog), I mentioned many facts about myself. I wrote how tall I was, my hobbies, and quirks. I never considered my society or the norms or taboos that impact my life. The biggest change about myself after taking this course was my sociological mindfulness. I am aware of EVERY little thing I say now. I call my friends out when they make racist jokes. I try to avoid stressful thoughts that my society has made norms (being the perfect stevenson student). I feel that I am more at one with myself, as cheesy as that sounds. Sociology is one of the best classes I've ever taken, not because it was a "blow off class" but because I actually learned so much about myself. I learned how I viewed people, what I thought was my individual thoughts but really everyone elses, and the reality of the way I live as an American. This was a useful, life class. I liked this class because I got to understanding why things were the way they were. Understanding is key to living a peaceful and wise life style. After taking this 1 semester class, my mind feels 10 years older. I feel old in a good way, of course. I also realized that I am not a quitter at all, I am hardworking and I try the best in everything I do.

So who am I? I am Andrea. I am an individual apart of many groups and norms and societies but I am still an individual. I am hardworking and appreciative of myself. I am wiser, kinder, and smarter than before. I have new goals of breaking the norms and living, not a just rich life, but a happy one. My life goal is to find fulfillment and pursue my passion to its fullest. I am ready to mature from the fantasy of school life and enter the real world. I am ready to be ambitious and ready to meet all the new and interesting and diverse people. I am ready to apply my sociological mindfulness more in reality and outside the classroom.
That's me, Andrea.

The computer told me I was racist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvO6FJoQPA4

Views on races is a sensitive topic. Many believe that they should avoid saying racial slurs. Many also consider themselves as not being racist. Studies by many sociologists show us that we make stereotypical assumptions aboutcertain races, whether they are good or bad. This tends to be linked with a comfort of who a stranger is or their identity. In my youtube video (excerpt from Everybody Hates Chris), it shows that because Chris was black, the coach wanted him on the basketball team. The show shows Chris as nerdy and uncoordinated. It's funny because many of us assume African Americans are good dancers, rappers, or athletes. We do this subconsciously. America needs to stop categorizing people and judge them as individuals.

Many media shows have touched on this issue humorously as well, such as King of the Hill. I took the test and was surprised when I scored as moderatly preferenced towards european Americans. This is weird because many of my best friends aren't european american (Asian, Black, and Iranian). I am always the person to call people out on their racist jokes. I don't see much accuracy in this test because as long as you believe you aren't that way then a quiz shouldn't tell you you're worng. I do believe that the media and family and peers put some some rascism or preference towards a race in your head, but the answer from the quiz shouldn't be so far off that it surprises you.

Life is like a Game of Monopoly

In Sociology the other day, we compared the game of monopoly to life. There were so many similarities. In the end,the rich stayed rich (or got richer) and the poor stayed poor (or got poorer). I was surprised that when the lower classes went into welfare/debt that the rich didn't help out. I was new money but I was losing so munch that I dropped down a class but the old money was getting richer. I thought it was rude that they weren't willing to donate some money to the poor because of their circumstances. Realistically, there are both types of upper class: the donators and the people who keep all their money for themselves. Also, life is a big game of chance and needs a big deal of luck to be successful. You need to be born into the right family, go to the right school, and meet the right people. The sad part is that that leaves little to no opportunity for the lower close to move up the social ladder.

People, like Tammy from the movie we watched, could be hard working and ambitious and motivated and never get any richer because they lack the money and the opportunities to take risks.

I now feel very privileged to be in the upper middle class and I am glad that I have the opportunities to be successful. Once I am able to make it, I will constantly be donating to charities and helping those who are less fortunate.

The Apple Doesn't Fall too Far from the Tree

It's true that the apple fall too far from the tree. American society may say that we do't have a class system but when you really look at it there is. And these American citizens tend to stay in the same exact class they were born into in the first place. In the past, there was segregation and prejudice of the races, now it is of incomes. The rich and the poor are separated on planes (1st class and coach), sporting events (box seats and "nose bleeds"), and the type of sports they can afford (horseback riding and basketball). People with wealth feel that they have to act a certain. We learn, if you have money, spend or show it off as much as possible. I realized that, with my family being upper-middle class, I am able to a better ACT score because my parents can pay for a tutor. I am able to go to lots of places because I have my own car. But still, all my friends range in different social classes and I have a job as a waitress. I do know that my parents have influenced me to go high paying job and I will mostly likely go to medicl school. I just think it's sad that most other people do not interact with people outside their class.

Today in class we watched a show called 30 Days, where a guy spent 30 days in a jail while showing its viewers what the system was all about. The show revealed the overcrowding of the prison, the isolation, and statistics of a typical criminal. Most prisoners, over 60%, will return to prison after leaving. That made me ask the question, why do we use this system if it overall doesn't really work? Or why are we spending all this money on people who do more harm than good?

Personally, I think the jail system should be redone. The people with disabilities need to be taken a mentally ill institution and that would solve all overcrowding. Our society always talks of change and this is definitley something that needs change the most. I am shocked to how corrupt it has become.

Am I Normal?

In Sociology today we learned about "norms." What is truly normal? There are answers to this question but they are all different. We learned through a survey that even when asked what our whole society views as normal, all the answers varied. When you go to a different country, norms can be taboos and taboos can be norms. This made me realize how ignorant it is to judge something from a different culture. It comes back to the fish bowl concept we learned earlier, people are always looking in on you. It is important to respect other peoples' views and appearances. Stereotyping is stupid because different identities mean different things to different people.

I cannot wait to perform the random act of kindness. Many people forget how a small act of selflessness can make someone's day. It got me thinking...if everyone did atleast one R.A.K. everyday, the world would be such a better place. We don't realize that the little mean things we do can affect people greatly as well. It is good to always be sociologically mindful.

Stevenson Swine 09

The Swine Flu, as we all know, is an epidemic sweeping the nation. Sure, it is affecting all of us physically but let's stop and look at it sociologically. Stevenson has trained us to believe that we should put education before everything, maybe even health. Students at Stevenson are stressed over their grades so much that they bringing themselves to school so they don't fall behind but they are putting others at risk of catching their sickness. I would know because even though I am definitely too sick to come to school, I did. Why you ask? It's because I simply couldn't fall behind in class anymore; I had three tests and 3 quizzes to make up after missing 5 periods of one day and one full day the next. How ridiculous is that? Not to mention, I had to cut down on my resting time so that I could do all my late homework and copy down class notes. I gave into the Stevenson expectation of all being on top of things and came to school, putting myself and their's health in harm's way. I learned that last Wednesday (November 4, 2009) 27% of our school was absent. I joined a facebook group that day that had over 40 Stevenson Juniors who had stayed home that day because of illness. Stevenson needs to learn that their students can't go on anymore. It needs to close for a week to recover. Our society is so competitive on its "perfect atendance" or individualism that it's not regarding the health out what makes up most of it. It is insame.