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.