In Annie Leonard's video what most people would feel she is trying to say is that the government is destroying our world through a "system in crisis". The government should be worried about the people and the world or the environment they live in but instead they are worried about what are we going to build next & where are we going to build it and what are we going to buy for it. It's a continuous cycle of make make make,produce produce produce,buy buy buy,& then we all just end up trashing it all. We're always buying new things just as new things are always being created. But what everyone doesn't realize is once we are over the nice things we buy, we then trash them which then puts them in our waste creating pollutants in the air. All of these things are harming to the people & the environment. Reality has taken a wrong turn and instead of being cautious to these harming things & cycles, the "things" we all want in life have taken over. Nobody seems to have control over the things made or bought anymore. It's almost as if it is uncontrollable due to a small addiction to not needing but wanting new things so often.

Leanoards text is definitely informative and factual with proven statements. But she is definitely trying to persuade us to see how the government has lost control and how it is affecting our economy. She brings up very valid information,with numbers and stuff she found during Her research and how the things being made that we love and use daily are actually harmful and almost wasteful. Her overall point was to persuade us into believing we shouldn't want these things that are harming everyone and everything. We should make a stop to these things being remade over and over and stop this continuous cycle.

Response To Classmates Blogs!

    Out of all of my classmates blogs, the one that first stood out to me was Georgia Nobles blog about how her high school reading teachers didn't prepare her for college at all. And how now she feels she isn't at the level she should be. I totally agree and understand exactly where she is coming from. I felt the exact same way and was in the same situation, I just choose to leave. Which ultimately turned out to be the best decision I ever made.

    The second blog that stood out to me was Jessica Carter's blog about how her nieces and nephews are her world and how close she is to each one of them. I personally don't know what its like to be that close or have blood nieces or nephews, but I think its awesome how she cherishes them and loves spending her time with them when she can. I hope to be at least half the aunt and as close to my nieces and nephews one day (when I have them of course).

    The last blog that I could sort of relate to or understand, was Joanna Carreno's blog about how coming from only knowing Spanish and now trying to learn and understand English has been a really big struggle for her. As well as trying to get her point across to other people, which is also a big struggle. I don't know first hand what it is like, so I cant say how hard it is, but I know trying to learn Spanish was never easy for me so I couldn't only imagine what its like for her.

Holiday Season!

       In my twenty years of living, trying to plan where to go and when to be places has never been this hard! The holidays are supposed to be happy and joyful not stressful and annoying which is what planning mine are as of this moment. Having my parents split a few years ago was a little hard and frustrating having to split up the days between both. But it seems as the years have gone on and they have both found significant others, which has led to us having more and more places to attend each year. We've gone from having Thanksgiving with our parents together, and then the two outside families, to our parents separate and the outside families. But this year is a whole new ball game for us all. We have each of our parents, our immediate outside family, and now our parents significant others families. It all sounds exciting and fun, but trying to work around everyone's schedule and making sure we make an appearance at each one has never been more complicated. As for me and my sister, me and her being about two hours away from everyone doesn't help the situation any either. It  makes it even more complicated since we have a lot of driving to do to attend them all. I'm usually not one to complain or not enjoy the holidays but at this rate, its almost like I don't want to attend any. I have started to think to myself "let's just stay home", but that sounds like a total holiday Grinch type saying. So instead, I've decided to deal with all the confusion, craziness and arguing over certain times of who has what and where and enjoy the holidays as much as I can. Nobody likes sour or bitter people on Thanksgiving or much less Christmas. So cheers to time with close friends and family & Happy Holidays!

~ Prepartory Take Home Quiz ~

Topic #1 ~ Christmas Break

      Over Christmas break me and my family will be going to New Mexico to visit some of my family. First on the night of December 16th, me and my sister will be going home to the Woodlands to meet my dad & brother to meet up and get on the road. It will take us around fourteen hours and we hope to make it there at a decent time the next morning. Second, all my family will start showing up at my aunt's and we will be immediately getting ready for a family reunion that evening. Then a couple days later we are going up to a cabin to go skiing and snowboarding for two days. After that, we will be heading back to my aunt's to celebrate Christmas with everyone before we all head back home. Finally, Christmas eve will roll around and we will all be back on the road headed home to our families for Christmas. It's going to be one long, crazy, jam-packed, hectic Christmas break but I'm very excited to get away and go on vacation and see family I don't get to see very often.


Topic #2 ~ Moving To College

      When I decided that I was going to go away and be moving for college, excitement was the only thing that really overcame me and that was all I really thought about. I didn't think about everything it would take and all the steps it would take to move. Firstly, we got all of my room packed up and organized in boxes for what went where and went with what. Next, we got my car, my sisters, my aunt, and my moms car all packed up and ready to go the day before just so we made sure not to forget anything. Lastly, we woke up early  the next day and made the what felt like forever long drive up to College station. When we arrived we unpacked all the cars and began the long weekend of getting our apartment organized and all put together. It was a very long and tiring weekend full of stuff to do, but it was also a nice start to a new fresh life on my own!





     

"Work hard, be kind, and amazing thins will happen" - Conan O'Brien

Conan O'Brien was a TV host for late night talk shows for almost 17 years until a huge "public relations disaster" in 2009 occurred. Conan was promised to be the host of  "The Tonight Show" starting in 2009 when Jay Leno's contract ended. After this new change failed to attract viewers, NBC wanted to switch the times and move Conan's show to later. This sparked up many emotions and Conan and his staff were furious and did not agree to these changes which led to a settlement for Conan and his staff of 45 million dollars.(Tonight Show Conflict) Conan's discussion of disappointment and failure is very similar to Mark Edmundson's discussion of failure in "Glorious Failure". The point Edmundson seems to be trying to get across is that everyone will fail at some point in their life, and many times after that. But instead of looking at your failures and mistakes as they don't exist in our past, we need to take those failures with us and learn from them and use them to help us accomplish other things in our future. Conan states an outstanding quote that really caught my attention right away in his commencement speech to Darmouth Colleges Graduating Class of 2011. "It is our failure to become our perceived idea that ultimately defines us and makes us unique". This quote goes right along with the point that Edmundson is trying to get across. Failure in life defines us, it helps us grow into the people we become, and it helps you learn the what to do's and what not to do's in life.

STOP BANNING BOOKS AND LET STUDENTS LEARN!

    Banned Books Week or better understood as a week of encouraging people to read or even just acknowledge the books that have been banned for the most silliest and most absurd reasons you'll probably ever hear. Banned Books Week is an international campaign held by many different American Library Associations. I feel as if this falls in line with Frank Bruni's hope for "dangerous learning" in many different ways. First off, Banned Books Week like I stated earlier is a week of exploring these books that have been banned mostly due to the parents or guardians of students feeling as if they are inappropriate and not wanting their kids "exposed" to this type of learning. Bruni's point of "dangerous learning" is that he feels as if students brains should be tested and exposed to this real life juicy information. This lines up because this "dangerous learning" could be benefitted from these banned books. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, banned in 2012 is one book that I am very intrigued to read. A heartrending, eye opening book where a girl takes her life and leaves her peers thirteen reasons why leading up to it behind her. This book was banned for drugs, alcohol, smoking, sexually explicit and suicide. Yes, all of this happens in this book obviously but it is something that students of many ages these days need to read. This book is very appealing to me because I know first hand of a friend being bullied, sexually abused and dragged around in high school so much to where suicide was finally the end result for her. This isn't only in high schools today, but its happening with all ages all around the world, and to banned students from these types of things isn't a bright idea. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult in 2009 is one book I am quite confused on the reasoning they have given for it being banned. They say its for homosexuality, religious viewpoint, & sexually explicit. This book about a daughter of two sweet parents, has had cancer her whole life and overlooking the other children, the mother has used their other daughter for may procedures to where everyone resents Kate and their mother. In my eyes, yes the scene of the "gay bar" is homosexuality, but Julia simply went to the bar and got advice that's not enough information to banned a book. This novel and film were very eye opening for me because again first hand I had a family member become very sick and was put first. Not that the rest were neglected or anything, but you really start to see how life can change in one second and how everyone's attention has to be on that one person.


Frank Bruni's hope for "dangerous learning" and John Green's message to skittish adults are very similar goals. These authors are reaching out to many people on many different levels. They are basically trying to say stop making these decisions for your teenagers and the students of today's generation. These students need to learn and know about real life, they don't need mommies and daddies trying to hide what happens in today's world. In Bruni's article "The Wilds Of Education" he states "isn't education supposed to provoke, disrupt, challenge the paradigms that young people have unconsciously absorbed." This relates to Green by when people vote to banned books, they are not learning and being provoked to these things. I honestly found Green more presenting for an argument because he put an argument out there as to where Bruni just talked about how these things are affecting today's learning.

My Response to David Brooks

In David Brooks article "This Is Not About You" he says that the graduating senior class has been "ill served by their elders". Brooks states that high school seniors have been "ill served" by being constant, monitored, tutored, coached and honed and basically told what to do throughout their childhood and then teenage years. The only time I have personally seen this in my own everyday life was growing up in my early childhood years. Going through elementary and junior high I remember always having a set schedule, and always being stayed on top of by teachers and my parents. That all changed for me when I went to high school. The high school I attended was a private Christian school and it was more about getting to school, getting your work done and if you didn't then that was your problem. The teachers were all about enjoying high school but their main goal was helping their students prepare and get ready for either the working life or college life. This definitely was a change but it was such a help to growing up and becoming responsible. My parents were always ones also to of course guide me and my siblings but they were also more about teaching us things that would help us when we finally went out on our own. The skills my parents taught us and the way they raised us definitely compared to the way I was learning to fend for myself in high school which really helped when my parents split half way through high school. I really had to step up and take care of many things and become one of the adults. I know none of this is irrelevant but this is where I don't feel like every student is completely "ill served." Yes I agree that most students are babied and are continuously being handed everything even after graduating high school. I know a few people first hand that still are not learning their own way. They are still having their parents or some sort of guardian still having a set schedule for them even though they are cities away and on their own. So to an extent I feel I can agree and disagree with Brooks. I feel its truly about how your raised, who your raised by and what their life techniques are and lastly what your atmosphere is.

The difference between "finding yourself" and "loosing yourself" as stated in Brooks article is that just because you've graduated high school doesn't mean you should have every little thing in your life ahead planned. Brooks states "most people don't form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem and the self is constructed gradually by their calling". That statement to me is a way of saying just because you may thing you have your whole life planned does not mean your course or path cant change at any given moment. I feel as if finding yourself is the most important part and that people need to realize there isn't a time limit on when that should happen and their isn't a right or wrong way to finding yourself.