Blog 7

"To discover who I am. Writing the personal essay celebrates my difference, authenticates who I am, justifies my existence."

This part of Murray's essay particularly stuck out to me.  Writing about yourself is going to outline your differences to others.  When people are reading personal essays, I think it is a natural reaction to compare the text that your reading to your personal thoughts.  For example, when someone describes something they do, you would question yourself do I do that?  Murray uses the word celebrates which adds an influencing idea to the statement.  It supplements a positive attitude about writing without hiding your differences in a personal essay.  The author is clearly comfortable with the idea of personal essays and expressing his personal thoughts.  It is important to convey your own ideas and not be afraid to share your thoughts.  When I write I never usually think about the aspect that I am learning things about my self.  When I write I look at it as a test of my knowledge to see what I know.  The more easy it is to write, the more knowledgable I am about the subject.  However when it comes to personal essays, it is hard not to be knowledgable about yourself.  I write whatever comes to my mind, but I always try to make sure it would sound good to others.  After reading this article for the next time I go to write a personal essay I am going to try to not think about what other peoples opinions are. Murray taught me that I should just express my personal thoughts and show what I stand for.  I have never really been the type of person to not speak my mind or show for what I stand.  But when it comes to writing sometimes I would try to accommodate both the author and the reader so that both sides are happy.  Next time I go to write my personal essay I am only going to think about myself. 

Blog #7 - Oliver Hamlin

     I write to "discover who I am". Whenever I write, whether it be in a formal or informal setting, I indirectly keep a log of my thoughts, decisions, and feelings that I am able to reflect on at any given time. During the writing process, I discover new interests as I educate myself on something, or simply give more thought to something I had never given much time to before. As I have grown older, I have seen my ability to write increase in time and writing has helped me discover my new potential in writing to different audiences. Writing or reading an essay can help someone take a step back and gain a new perspective on discovering one's self. Text leaves interpretation limitless to a reader, just as the ability to express one's ideas via text can develop new ideas and discoveries for an essay writer.
     I thought the suggestion of giving more voice when writing an essay was very helpful. Giving a stronger voice in writing helps a reader understand a writer's stance on an essay better and can assist in persuading a reader to feel a certain way on a subject matter. This could be especially useful in a feature article because a feature article typically has a set stance on it, unless it is meant to be purely informational and free of bias. When it comes to writing for a tabloid or other controversial publication, using a strong, opinionated voice can be one of the most useful and efficient tools in the writing process.

blog #7

Donald Murray “Trying on the Essay” OW 482''-491

Blog #7: Which of Murray’s reasons for writing the personal essay resonated the most with you? Do you have reasons for writing personal essays that did not show up on his list? Which aspects of Murray’s advice for writing essays did you find most helpful? How might you implement his advice in the next draft of your feature article?

The reason that really caught my attention was "to discover who I am." since for me i found myself seeing a different view of myself, when I write personal essays. By meaning, I take the time to analyze my own actions and see my self in a more detailed way wether it is negative or positive. Aside from writing for a prompt i don't typically have a reason to write. The "voice" and "closing" were the most helpful for me. For voice it helps me understand how to implement voice into essays and closing has been a problem for me in the past so this will me stay concise and focused to close the article

Blog #7

I think what comes out in my pieces the most from what he discussed is “the lead”. In my writing, I always make sure my introduction is one of the strongest parts of the piece. I know it has to be because that is essentially, the make it or break it for the reader. If you read even the first line of a piece, or ‘the lead’, and it does not draw you in to read more, what would be the reader’s reason to then continue reading? I always make sure that throughout not only the first line, but the entirety of the introduction keeps the reader guessing but still makes it clear on what my piece will include and who I presume the reader is. Without this key factor, to keep the reader guessing, the excitement of the essay will be less enjoyable for the reader. What seems to be most helpful to me is the trust factor. I think it isn’t just one aspect but it is one aspect that ties into the others, such as ‘specific information’ and ‘closing’. The reader has trust in your writing, whether to tell themselves they want to continue reading or just the information that your writing is spitting at them. This “trust” you give your reader ties into specific information because any good essay has to deliver a certain amount of information that will satisfy the reader, no matter what type of story it may be, a piece can’t just be a bland mix of words. A good essay or piece of writing will have a good amount of information that will preferably inform the reader or just make a story flow better. Also, as a reader, one does not want to be told what to do but allow themselves to finish a story and decide for themselves on what to think, or what Murray calls the ‘closing’. The reader trusts that you will inform them to the extent of making a rational decision for themselves instead of having the decision about any given topic already made for you in the piece. For my next draft, I plan on using his tips to make my piece the best article it can be. I think it is good he including examples from what is considered good writing, which will help me compare what I write and critique according to that.

Blog #7 - Serena Cecere

I liked the part of Murray's article about Self-Exposure.  When I write anything, I hope that I'm leaving a part of myself in it so others can get a feel for the kind of person i am and so they can better understand me.  I've recently started to write about things that bother me or things that upset me;  anything that really keeps me up at night I've started to put on paper-and by paper i mean digital paper. But I've come to find that I really enjoy doing so because it often helps me find answers to the questions I'm too scared to admit I have, or to the fears I don't want to face.  So the part where he says how the writer speaks about their "hidden or suppressed thoughts and feelings" and how it's the strength of an essay, really resonated with me because I understand exactly what he was talking about.

I recently lost two very close family members so when the author speaks about how she wrote about her daughters death, it made me think about my experience. My family and I don't really talk about feelings, we never have, and being that I'm 6 hours from home now, I don't think we're about to start. I've had a tough time trying to handle my loss and being practically isolated from my family now, has made it a lot harder on me.  Murray's advise has made me realize that maybe I should start writing about that traumatic event.  I was told to do so right from the start, but I never took it seriously, like Murray, it was too private for me. The only reason I'm even writing about it now is because for some weird reason I still feel like no one actually reads my blogs. But basically, seeing how the author wrote about losing his kid has kind of inspired me to try to write about the loss of my family members, maybe it'll help me get some clarity and hopefully, if anyone else was to read it, it would in turn help them.

Blog 7

"The personal essay allows me to report the important news of the human condition, the stories rarely covered on page one, on radio news, on television."

I most strongly identify with this statement, because I always want to know the whole story. The black and white that is portrayed on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC is never the end of the situation. I want to know their thinking, their motivation, the mental aftermath. That is the beauty of being human, knowing that nothing is black and white, knowing that the story never ends. If you tell your friends or parents about what you did that day, you most often tell them about the events, rarely touching on your mental state. That is what fascinates me, the motivation behind the IRS scandal or delay in the Keystone Pipeline. It has been said that the human condition never changes, and that is exemplary in literature of the past. In "The Canterbury Tales," the plot is stuff with greed, lust, and humor. Topics that are so often found on television today. This tells me, and is important in the author's quote, that in order to understand current events, you have to understand the past. Humans are all too often self motivated.

Murray has done an excellent job in identifying motivations and reasons for writing personal essays; I cannot think of any other. I found the section on editing to be the most helping, since I am stubborn and always seem to stick up for my own writing decisions. I need to take the time to really focus on how I can make my next draft better. So often I find my drafts differing only in content and grammar. I rarely retool the whole thing. That could be an experiment I try next.

Blog #7

"I discover how much I didn't know I knew. Writing educates me."
This quote particularly stuck out to me. I never really thought about it until I read this, but writing actually plays a vital role on education. The amount of times that I was doing a paper and researched a topic has led me to gain a lot more knowledge. Not to mention, every time I want to sound "smarter" and replace basic words, I go on thesarus.com. From that website, I have very much expanded my vocabulary. Even just writing a text message and looking up the proper way to spell a word has helped my education.

One of the pieces of advice that Murray gave that I found helpful were the two paragraphs on the intro and the closer of a paper. I found this very helpful because I feel like my intro and closers are never as strong/well written as they should be. I think the most important part of the paper is the introduction to grab a reader's attention. Murray says how its important to have ideas talked about from the very beginning of the essay to just give a brief over-view of what the paper will be about. I think that is a good idea. The paper will definitely be more organized and easy to read if it is done that way. I think in my next feature article I can use this advice to help better my introduction and briefly give a little preview of my topic.

Blog #7

"To discover who I am. Writing the personal essay celebrates my difference, authenticates who I am, justifies my existence"
This quote really resonated with me. When I write I find myself figuring out how I actually feel about a topic. It forces the writer to evaluate how they feel, but not only how. The personal essay makes the reader ask why they do. It could be for any number of reasons, perhaps an event or a person. I like that it makes one self reflect. So many times things happen without given a thought, a simple game of catch everyday with dad or a family vacation, these seemingly insignificant events have the power to influence the writer and give him/her particular views. When a reader then reads these events and experiences it allows them to identify with the writer and possibly conjure up their own thoughts and emotions, which may be very similar. It provides a way for not only the writer to discover themselves, but also the readers. A simple personal narrative has the ability to allow for self reflection in both parties. Even though the personal essay allows for others to identify with each other, it does a more significant job, it points out our differences. The thing that makes us all unique is our own individual differences. The  personal essay points out those differences and can give a reader an entirely new perspective on something. This new perspective then allows the reader to discover something different and possibly identify with that view. I enjoyed the advice given on providing more voice, I think this allows the essay to be more interesting and also adds to the trust between the reader and writer (also adding to Murray's suggestion of building that trust). The personal essay has many functions to it then just sharing a story.

Blog #7 - Alexander Wohlert

The reason for writing that resonated the most with me was "To give myself voice. I am heard when I write; I vote in the human community, registering my opinions, what I stand for, what I fear, what I stand against, what I celebrate." I enjoy sharing my opinions and thoughts with others, especially if they provide benefit to someone or something. It can sometimes be difficult to get your point across through speaking and having access to talk with the certain people that can make change happen. Through writing, I can express my thoughts and emotions more clearly. It's possible for me to think of the right words to say when the pressure of speaking on the spot isn't there. Words are able to spread to a wider audience through writing than speaking due to all of the technology we have today.

I found Murray's advice about length and closing most helpful to me. I often catch myself adding unnecessary words or thoughts into my writing to satisfy length requirements, when Murray suggests making sure that every word contributes to the essay. Murray also suggests not closing out essays with statements about how the reader should feel or what the reader should think. Let the reader do their own thinking and allow them to react naturally. I can apply both of these suggestions to my article and revise any areas that may conflict with these new ways of improving my writing.

Blog #7- Justin Borrero

"To discover who I am. Writing the personal essay celebrates my difference, authenticates who I am, justifies my existence." This reason resonates the most with me for why I write personal essays. Writing a personal essay helps you remember to good and bad times you had in your life and helps you clearly define who you are as a person. A lot of times when I am writing a personal essay I remind myself of events that happened in my life a lot more vividly and think to myself, wow I really did that or that really happened. Writing personal essays is the best way for me to jog my memory about the past. This is most useful for me when I am bored doing nothing a feel like I don't go out much, but then it comes back to me that I do plenty of things with plenty of people and reassures me that I more than what I think I am.
The only time I can think that I would write a personal essay that wasn't mentioned would be for class.
The advice about the length of an essay from Murray was most useful to me. Rather than fill the paper with words to reach a certain length, you should make sure every word, every phrase contributes to the paper rather than just take up space. This makes the paper a lot better as a whole
In my feature article I am now going to use words that only promote my topic, since my article is a sales pitch for a vacation location, and make sure as I am telling about the topic I weave in something more to grab the readers attention and motivate them to make my topic there next vacation place.

Blog #7

When I write, I find myself realizing how much I actually do know. As Murray would say "I write to educate myself." I don't tend to write to myself in my spare time, so up to this point in my life most of my writings have been done for a grade in a class. Therefore, that has always been my main goal, but while doing so I have actually found out a lot more about myself. When I begin to put my words on paper, I notice that it isn't as painful as I always anticipate it being. I notice that I’m not as horrible of a writer that I think I am. Also, another reason I write sometimes is to keep my life organized and make sure I don't forget anything. Whenever I travel, I always take a journal and try to write in it everyday so I can remember all the things that I did.

The advice from Murray that I found most helpful were his two sections about the lead and the closing of an essay. Those two parts of my essays are never as strong as I would like them to be. Murray talks about how important it is to have a central tension that is addressed immediately in the lead of the essay. I will hopefully be able to use his advice of having a strong lead that mentions all the points that will be discussed later and a concise closing that doesn’t simply summarize my paper, but rather encourages readers to further explore the topic.

Blog #7 -- Allison Clarke-Hall

I enjoyed reading all of Murray’s reasons for writing the personal essay but the one that stuck out the most to me was: Writing the personal essay allows me to make use of my experience. I explore the lives I have lived and am living, even those I may live in the future. When writing a personal essay, the writer, myself included, usually focuses on his or her own memories. For instance, when writing the snapshots essay, we were told to share our own vivid memories with the reader and were told to show the reader exactly how we were feeling at the time of the snapshot. Like Murray said, while writing my snapshots, I was able to make use of my experience. I did in face explore the lives I have lived in the past.  While I myself do not write personal essays very often if at all, I do wish to start writing them. I feel as if doing so will help me discover new things about myself like Murray describes.

I found all of Murray’s advice very helpful and I have identified with each area at least once in my writing career but I found the section called The Lead the most helpful to me. During my entire life, I have found that the part of writing I have most struggled with is the introduction. No matter what type of essay I am writing, I can never seem to come up with a clever first sentence. His tips like: never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech, never use a long word where a short one will do, etc. are all very helpful and I will definitely be sure to remember them while beginning an essay. In the next draft of my feature article I will definitely look back at my previous first sentence and make sure I abided by the suggestions made by Murray. 

Blog #7

I write to “survive the terrors that silence me.” To me, writing to myself is sort of a form of therapy. When no one is listening, the paper is, and putting my thoughts out on a piece of paper can help soothe me in times of need. I write to myself for that reason in which I choose not to discuss (because they are personal essays regarding with personal issues).

I feel like I often overlook the instigating line that Murray talks about. Usually I’m caught in the event horizon between the thoughts in my head and the words on my paper, whether it is a personal essay or an academic paper. I feel pressured to write exactly what my thoughts are thinking of even though they may not be portrayed to such an extent on a piece of paper. Crossing this line usually puts me in some sort of vertigo, and I stumble through my paper with incomplete thoughts and unfulfilling expression. The boundary between my thoughts and my words is what usually prevents me from being truly satisfied with my paper, as I often have trouble putting my thoughts into words.

I feel like even though his advice towards writing better personal essays can be used across many forms of writing, I would have trouble implementing these ideas in my feature article. Even though the feature article is a topic that I have a large personal interest in, I felt disconnected with my personal thoughts and the thoughts I wrote about my topic. I think that if I were to take a more personal stance on my feature article, I would be able to apply these tips that Murray provides us for writing better personal essays to my paper. The problem most likely originates from the contrast in why I write personal essays (as a form of therapy) as opposed to why I wrote my feature article (to inform an audience about a particular topic).

Blog #7

I could relate to multiple reasons the author gave for writing personal essays, but the one that resonated with me the greatest was, "To give myself a voice. I am heard when I write; I vote in the human community, registering my opinions, what I stand for, what I fear, what I stand against, what I celebrate". When I get the chance to write about essay topics involving something I have passion in and stand for I greatly enjoy it. Writing about something you stand for and care about also makes the process of writing a personal essay much easier. Same thing goes for when I decide to write about something I'm against. I get very passionate about the topic and it shows in my writing. I've never really written an essay about anything I fear but I think I'd enjoy that if I ever had to. In the past I've decide to write many essays celebrating different aspects of my life and the people in it. Writing celebratory essays brings me a lot of pleasure and joy because I like to reminisce and remember the good times of my life. One of the main obvious reasons I write personal essays that the author did not list is to get good grades and succeed in school. To be honest I don't think I'd ever write personal essays if they were not assigned in school for a grade. The author gave some great advice when he said, ''The beginning of the essay should contain-or strongly imply- a central tension (contradiction, irony, surprise, or problem)" In all my years of being taught to write I have never heard much about utilizing this technique in personal essays. I understand why it would be so useful though because it is intended to draw the reader in and get them thinking/interested.  In my next personal essay I'm definitely going to try and implement a "central tension" in my introduction.

Blog 7

The reason for writing that most closely resonates with me is "I discover how much at I know that I didn't know I knew. Writing educates me." When I write it's almost always for a class assignment, I don't write to get my feelings out because I feel like its easier to just say them. So when I write I feel like it shows how much you really know about something. When he says writing educates you I believe it does, because you can't write about a topic i great detail unless you know it well. Sometimes when I'm writing it will just come together and I will discover things I didn't know I knew.
The advice Murray gave that helped me the most is lead, selection and length. The lead in some cases for me I need to work on. Something that sets the tone for the essay and contains and interesting contradiction, question or surprise. Getting the attention of the reader happens in that first sentence so it needs to be a great one. As far as selection this is also very important because staying on topic is key and sometimes I stray too far off the topic in order to get the appropriate word length. I have to use more quotes, facts, and ideas about the central topic in order to get to that length. This applies directly to the feature article I am writing now, for the 8 page length requirement I thought I may have to go a little off topic, but I will revise and make sure I didn't.

Blog 7

I write personal essays to rem inis on past memories that are humorous to me.  I find it liberating thing to be able to live the memory over again in my writing.  What I did not agree with is how Murray says that "I was interested in imposing my morality on others."  I disagree with this statement.  It is unfair to people, who may be more naïve, reading your story.  What if they do not want to have share the same opinions as you do but are manipulated into it by clever and entertaining writing.  In my opinion it is not the job of the writer to impose their opinions on anyone, but rather to write a stimulating story that provokes the thoughts of the reading leading to a moral dissuasion of their own choosing.  The aspect of Murray's essay that I found most helpful was when he states he was interested in imposing his morals onto other because it stimulated a thought process which lead to me making my own decisions and opinion on personal essays and what they are meant to do.  The way I will implement these thoughts is to offer a story that provokes thought from the reader to challenge or agree with ideas in the story.

Blog #7

     The idea of writing a personal essay " to give myself voice... " according to Murray is the reason that resonated the most with me. I find it much easier to write personal essays to write in a clear way and express myself than any other form. Even when it comes to a classroom setting and there is a prompt- when I write It helps me to form my ideas and take the time to really figure out what I am trying to say. I tend to keep things to myself sometimes even when I have a lot I could say and when I write I can say what I want. I am able to express my feelings or fears or anything I wish. Personal essays give me the opportunity to put down in solid writing whatever points I am trying to convey. 

     I also feel like, for me, that also ties into "I discover how much I know and what I didn't know I knew.." -Murray as well. When I am writing to be heard it makes me conscious of what I am saying. If it's a personal essay I want it to have a strong impact. A lot of times I write the way I would want to give a speech. I'm really interested in public speaking and that is probably the main reason why I write that way. I focus on making strong points whatever the objective is. To persuade, to make an impact, or just tell a story. I always want the writing to be powerful and to leave people with some sort of idea after reading it. I write about things that I have strong opinions about and that is really different from the way I talk or the way I act. Giving myself a voice through my writing allows me to target points I want to make. I am very emotional and have strong opinions so I tend to get really caught up in debates (one reason I stray away from speech& debate clubs) When I am writing a personal essay I can address others points but mine is still the main focus. So as i'm writing i get to explore what I know and make a clear argument for whatever it is I am writing about.

Blog #7

Murray mentions writing as a type of therapy for himself. This is the reason I can relate the most with. I often write to get things off my chest. When I cannot speak to someone about what I'm thinking, I will write it to myself. I am able to talk about the most secretive things in this way, yet I don't have to uncomfortably share with anyone. Writing therapeutically is something I encourage everyone to do. If I never wrote to ease my constant overflowing thoughts I don't think I'd be able to survive. While writing in a therapeutical manner was what I gravitated to, all of Murray's reasons for writing resonate with me. Murray did an excellent job of summarizing the many different reasons we write personally. I suppose I can work on length and editing in my writing. I need to work towards being able to meet length requirements requested of me without watering down and dragging out information. I need to put effort into giving every word I type a reason to be there on the page. As far as editing goes, I know I could improve my editing process. I intend to use some of the advice given in Murray's piece on my next major assignment to further improve my writing skills. As with all things, my writing will improve with practice and experience. I just have to put in the work needed to get my writing to where it should be; to where I want it to be.

Blog #6

“Visits home became suffused with silent embarrassment: there seemed to be nothing to share”. When I read this sentence I immediately knew this would be the one to elaborate upon. When I was a kid every summer my family and I would go to visit my Boston relatives. I always felt very out of place whenever small talk and conversations would happen. It was probably because all my cousins were much older than me and I was the little kid of the group. I never was really never into sports heavily back then and usually that was talked about that most of all. When it came to conversations with the adults there was not usually much they could ask me about seeing as how the life of a sixth or seventh grader is not too complex or interesting. During this time in my life though, I began to realize the truth behind the fact that through being outgoing a person can make oneself more approachable and easy to talk to. A think a possible solution to the authors problem would have been to just keep trying to expanding his spanish at the same time as his english. Obviously it would not have been an easy task but it is certainly possible. If he did this his childhood would have been very different probably; for the better even I would choose to assume. I wonder if he regrets not continuing to study spanish because I know I would certainly regret never becoming outgoing around my relatives.

Blog #6 - Oliver Hamlin

"There is a danger of being misunderstood here."

     To some extent, I feel like I can relate to this quote. I moved around three different states over the course of my time in high school, so I definitely know what it means to be a new kid. During the awkward and exciting phase of being new somewhere, life can seem very puzzling. Being misunderstood in your behavior or appearance can set up a bad reputation. For this reason, incoming freshman and transfer students tend to have an ominous fear of being misunderstood and not "fitting in". Being accepted is always comforting. Having friends to spend time with and acquaintances to run into around school are both desires most college students have. Because of this, sometimes we change ourselves to become apart of a social group or organization.

     While being new somewhere can be nerve-wrecking at times on its own, I could not imagine being a minority. I have talked with friends in the past who were minorities at other schools they went to and they have all mentioned the same experiences: getting rude stares, seeing people talk with each other about you, and always worrying about racial stereotypes. I feel that at FSU, minorities are very well accepted. However, at other schools, this may not be the case. Being oppressed as a minority is an issue still at many other schools. For that reason, some minorities do feel as though there is a danger of being misunderstood as an individual.

Blog #6

"For many years I kept my uneasiness about becoming a success in education to myself."
I think this quote is very interesting that the author felt the need to hide his intelligence and successes. In some way I feel bad that he doesn't take great pride and feels the need to hide it. He branches from this topic and discusses how education was not valued or seen as important in his spanish culture because where he was from it was a very low quality of education. His parents were encouraging but would half-joking say that education was putting "big ideas" in him and his brother's heads. I can't imagine education not being so highly valued and something that one feels the need to not be proud of. Although he was proud, he felt as though it was inappropriate to boast his pride or to tell others about it. I also understand though that these are different cultures that value and hold different things as priorities.
"I realize how much more difficult and complicated was my progress into academic life for my parents, as they saw the cultural foundation of their family erode, than it was for me."
This quote really made me think. His parents were completely blind and shocked in a lot of ways by the American culture and language. They brought their children to America who were the most important people in their lives and began to watch them change into unfamiliarity. Rodriguez mentions losing his ability to speak Spanish a little, the language his parents primarily use to communicate. His parents must have been so confused with how they were feeling, their sons were getting a high quality education in America, but at the same time losing certain cultural aspects that they saw as essential, such as language. Their family's cultural foundation truly was eroding away. It makes me wonder exactly how the parents feel and value the sacrifice they made to allow their children to get a high quality education.

Blog #6

"They partly yearned for a return to the time before education assumed their children's primary loyalty."

This sentence really stuck out to me while I was reading this story because I have always been a strong advocate of parental support in their children’s education. I think it is a very important aspect in a child/teenager’s future success. If a student is not motivated by their parents then they won’t have much of a reason to try in school except for personal satisfaction. I can see where his parents are coming from, in that they don't want to see their family's entire culture forgotten, but I think it is selfish for them to even have the thought of their sons not pursuing their educational dreams just for that reason cross their mind. The fact that they wish to hold back their sons from learning and living their own lives solely for their own personal satisfaction doesn’t seem like something that parents should do. It must be difficult for Rodriguez and his siblings to have the motivation to continue their educational studies when he knows that it is disappointing his parents. If all parents had this outlook on life then we would never further technology and the quality of life in our country. My parents, along with many others, are constantly encouraging me to further my education and find out who I am for myself. I think it is very important to have parents or a close adult figure supporting you throughout your educational journey.

Blog #6

"When the minority group student was accepted into the academy, he came - in everyone mind - as part of a “group.”

This line basically tells all. Being a minority and being judged or accepted/not accepted just for that has always been problematic and controversial. Although this line from his piece shows other people’s true judgmental colors, I agree with it and believe that it is true. No matter how many times we say our country has grown out of racism or grouping people like this, the reality is, we haven’t. I think it is just human nature to automatically judge others based on how they look or sometimes even who they hang out with. But I feel like the majority of people, especially young and naive Americans, do not actually take the time to get to know the person first before they judge them. Of course, minority is solely based on looks/race not personality, but even if one sees a black person or a brown person, most just assume they are indian and no one thinks about what type of African American they are. Today minorities are made into such a big deal that students are accepted into college because of their race/background. There are also many scholarships given just to a specific minority, as in, you can’t apply if you are anything but whatever race that scholarship is limited to. This amazes me because getting into a school or getting a scholarship should be based on grades and academic ability. It is unfair for a student to be prioritized just because of their minority. One student who is white that worked very hard for his A’s shouldn’t be left behind a Native American with C’s just because he wasn’t Native American.

Blog #6- Justin Borrero

"They seemed to know that my education was separating us from one another, making it difficult to resume familiar intimacies. Mixed with the instincts of parental pride, a certain hurt also communicated itself-too private ever to be adequately expressed in words, but real nonetheless."

I disagree with both sentences that were in this quote completely. The first sentence is absolutely ridiculous, basically saying that they were becoming too smart to talk or hang out with their parents. Simply learning things that your parents didn’t know or learn doesn’t make you too good to talk to them, they are the people who gave your life and now you’re basically saying that you’re done with what they have provided with me and have passed it and ready to move on. Your parents are the first friends you make when you enter this world and the last you will remember when you leave. They should be the people you always want to be in contact with no matter what. Besides they’re millions of topics in the world to talk about, how hard would it be to find one or two that you can relate to your parents with.

The second sentence is ridiculous as well. If there are any people in the world that you could talk to about anything it would be your parents. The love they have for you will surpass any judgment they might have for you. If you honestly feel as if it’s hard to converse with your parents anymore because your education level is too high, there is something you can talk about right there. If you can at least do that I’m sure you and your parents will fix this problem with ease