H A P P Y F A K E S- G I V I N G

We had our Thanksgiving last Saturday because my sister Mary is a nurse and has to work. It's not about the day it's about family... and family it was ALL about!!

My family, the *CrAzY* Hill clan.

It takes patience to acquire patience.

Cultivating my virtue is going well. I have had many opportunities in the last week to practice being patient and not letting my anger get the best of me. I know better than to pray for patience because then your life will become like Job. God would have the green light to give you all sorts of opportunities to learn patience. Like I have said before, my lack of patience manifests itself in the form of my anger management issues.

Two Saturdays ago I made a twenty four hour commitment to act calm. This is from the anger control workbook I am using in conjunction with therapy. It was a high stress day where I would be around lots of people at an all day church charity service project and then in the evening I was driving up to D.C. for a church dance. (Road rage and traffic jams are great opportunities to practice and cultivate patience!!) I was really proud of myself, hey I didn't chose humility as my virtue, lmao. Because of my conscious choice to act calm for twenty four hours I was more aware of my wods and actions. There was only one time where I pretty much lost it but it was more restrained than it would have been.

Then last Friday I went to see New Moon with my best friend and my son. It wasn't a good plan. He didn't even make it ten minutes into the movie. I was really upset and angry at the whole situation. In the car on the way home I was talking to my best friend and I shared with her how angry I had been but how proud of myself I was because I was able to be calm and to work through my anger without her even knowing how angry I was. My best friend in the un iverse, the woman who knows me better than I know myself sometimes had NO CLUE how angry I had been because I was able to recoingnize my anger and label it. I then accepted that I was angry, because it's ok to be angry. Then I simply let it go. Kids are kids and there was nothing I could do to change the situation so I didn't dwell on it and moved on.

There are some techniques that help me when I start to get angry. I have to recognize tension in my body. Everyone starts to build tension in different parts of their body when they get angry. Mine is my jaw and my shoulders. So I deliberately relax those areas when I feel them getting tense. I have also started to dig deeper intio my emotions. Instead of just being mad about something I am finding what emotions trigger the anger as a defence mechanism. Deep soothing breaths really work. It helps to slow the heart rate and to relax the body.

I am proud of my progress, so is my best friend and also my therapist. I know I am making small changes that will have a great impact on my future and the person I am becoming.

Extra Credit: The capitol building

The Richmond Capitol Building

The first session of the Virginai state legislature took place in Jamestown in 1619. For over 160 years it met in churches, homes, colleges and taverns until the capitol was moved to Richmond. The assembly met in Shockhoe Bottom in two warehouses until 1780 when funds were appropriated to build a permanent home for the seat government, now Capitol Square.

Thomas Jefferson was asked to design Virginia's capitol. He was inspired by classical Roman temple design. The capitol building is made of brink and covered with stucco. The Corner stone was laid in 1785 when Patirck Henry was Virginia's seventh governor. The six columns on the South portico contain the original pine tree center posts.

The Rotunda in the center of the capitol is crowned by a dome and skylights that illuminate a marble statue of George Washington. When the South fell and the capitol of the Confederacy was in flames, refugees fleeing the fires along the James assembled in the Square to protect the building.

The building doesn't look anything like any other capitol building I have ever seen. It is beautiful and does look just like a Roman temple. I have driven past it before and never knew it was the capitol! It was a lot smaller than I expected but the history is SO rich and alive there I feel like it had much more to offer than other more modern capitol buildings.

I took a picture of the state seal. I have only lived here in VA for two years and I has never seen the seal before. The four designers of the seal didn't want to show allegiance to Britian and they found inspiration in classic Roman ideals once again. Traditionally, a seal resembeled a coat of arms, pleding loyalty to the royal family. The designers chose The Roman goddess, Virtus, who represented freedom. Also, they chose the Latin phrase, Sic Semper Tyrannis. It means Thus Always to Tyrants.

As you can see in the first picture I tried my hand at passing some laws but for some reason I was unsuccessful. Maybe it was because I was in the old senate room or because perhaps me and my best friend were the only ones there! Oh well, I guess I will stick with being a scholar for now.

I definately recommend this field trip to the class. It was like stepping back into the past.

Reflection Week 12: Claims and artifacts

1. My favorite quote was, Men are like plants; the goodness and flavour of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow. We are nothing but what we derive from the air we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the government we obey, the system of religion we profess, and the nature of our employment (56). What I have learned is that although we have changed drastically, which is destined to happen with time, our roots are planted deep in the soil of ideals from our forefathers. We are not so far removed from where we came from. We are a new race of men, we are Americans (55).

2. I learned we will not know until we try. “The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried” (Emerson). For a long time I was afraid to try. I was afraid to even attempt for fear of failure. I doomed myself to failure because I would not try. I lacked the confidence I needed to succeed because I was not true to myself. I was not true to my beliefs, ideals and the very foundation of my being. Now as I align my conduct with my belief I know anything is possible. I know that if I set my mind to it, I can accomplish anything I desire.

3. I learned it is important to live after my own opinion and stay true to myself when I am out in the world. “It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (Emerson). Why in public do I conform to the opinion of the world? Why do I become some treasonous imitation of myself? When I step out into the world I will live after my own opinion and with the same independence of solitude. I will embrace the divinity God has planted in my soul and nurture it until it takes root and grows.

4. I learned that I should compare myself to no one and accept me for who I am. “These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence” (Emerson). I will compare myself to no one. I will be what I am, what I was created to be and I will exist with God.

5. This week a disturbing truth was revealed to me, “In the right state, he is, Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men's thinking” (Emerson). I have been a parrot of other men’s thinking. I considered myself a student. I never thought of myself as a scholar. Now, I don’t know if I could even be called that. I have been parroting back information to try and earn high grades but I haven’t really been learning anything. I definitely haven’t been using the things I learn to spark unique and individual thought. I am ashamed of myself. I know I am capable of more than I have been doing. I was proud of my accomplishments so far but now the bar has been set higher. I want more out of my education and Emerson has opened that door to my personal greatness.

6. “To be awake is to be alive. I came to die only to discover that I had not lived. I wanted to live deep; to suck all the marrow out of life.” (Thoreau) Last week I was reminded of what really matters and what is essential to living the fullest life. To me this quote by Thoreau summarizes how I was living my life and how I feel now. I have completely changed the direction of my life in the last two and a half years. I wasn’t doing anything with my life. I didn’t have any goals. I wasn’t headed anywhere but to a future of misery and loneliness. Like Thoreau, I realized I was going to die and look back and see I had never really lived my life the way God intended me to.

7. Dr. Brandon is always having us look at situations in a different light and with a new perspective. He said, “It is more difficult for us to see the evils in our own time which are incompatible with the things we hold to be true as Americans.” I used to be very selfish and territorial of “my country.” I used to feel like this was my country and everyone else didn’t belong here. Somewhere I went terribly wrong and somehow I felt like this was more my country then an individual who immigrated here.
“America culture and the literature we're reading is built on the shared belief that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." -Dr. Brandon. Everyone has that right. Now I realize how evil I was being. My son’s father is here in this country illegally so I feel different now than I did back then. This country is for ALL people seeking opportunity and liberty. If owning slaves was considered the norm back then, maybe I would have owned slaves. I am not as ignorant now and I can honestly say there is a possibility I might have. This is a big step for me to see the issue from an entirely different perspective and be able to even entertain the idea.

Virtue

Faith- To have faith and believe that God is real and that He loves me. Also, to have faith that Jesus Christ died for my sins and I can be saved and redeemed through Him.

Hope- Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises. Hope is also optimism and enthusiasm in working through hard times.

Charity – Charity is the pure love of Christ. It is the kind of love He had for everyone.

Virtue- Virtue begins with our inner thoughts and desires. Those thoughts and desires become our behaviors, which become our habits, which mold and shape our character.

Knowledge- There is the saying, “you can’t take it with you.” This is true but we do get to take our knowledge with us. It is important to gain all the secular and spiritual knowledge we can.

Patience- Patience is the capacity to endure trouble and opposition without anger or frustration. It is also accepting God will for me in my life.

Humility- Being wiling to submit to the will of God and honor Him in all things. Humility is not weakness it is a sign of strength.

Diligence- To be diligent one needs to be consistent earnest and energetic in living your life the way God wants you to.

Obedience- Follow all of Gods’ commandments and obey the laws of the land as well.

Patience is a Virtue

I choose the virtue patience. Patience is the capacity to endure trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated or anxious. It is the ability to accept God’s will and accept His timing. When one is patient they are able to hold up under inner pressure and face adversity calmly and with hope. It is necessary to have patience in everyday experiences and relationships. It is important to be patient with all people, including self, while working to overcome faults and weaknesses.

I have anger management problems. These issues stem from feeling unloved and ignored when I was growing up. I acted out to get attention from my parents and it worked. Somewhere along the way subconsciously I decided that I never wanted to be weak and anger was powerful so my anger served two purposes. One purpose it served was that I got attention from others and the other purpose was that my anger made me feel powerful instead of vulnerable and weak. In my life, anger is the opposite of patience. My anger is closely related to my impatience toward others and myself.

As I work on my anger problems I see my patience growing. My father is a wonderful example of a patient person. I have always wondered how I could be raised by him and not pick up any of it from him. I want to be a better person and I want to be the best mom possible. In order to achieve this I hope by working through my anger I will find more patience. I chose this virtue because it is the one I need the most work on. It is the one I struggle with the most But I know that through God all things are possible and I can change myself from the inside out with His help.

I can cultivate this virtue by doing several different things. I have to recognize a need to change and admit that a change needs to happen in my life. I need to ask for help. We can only do so much on our own. I have asked for God’s help and I have asked for professional help from my therapist. Now I have been making a conscious effort each day to be aware of my actions and words. I take a few minutes each morning to review what I am working on and throughout the day as situations arise I use relaxation techniques to relieve stress and tension. Change is possible. Just like Pavlov classically conditioned his dog I can retrain myself be react differently to certain stimuli, such as irritating or anger provoking situations.

I am in control of me. My thoughts, actions and words are choices I make. God has given me the ability to choose the person I want to be. I am thankful for opportunities to learn, grow and to lean on Him for help and guidance.

“Patience is a virtue possess it if you can. It’s seldom found in women but never in a man!” – My best friend Lisa’s favorite saying

Extra Credit:James River Park Slave Trail

James River Park Slave Trail

I wanted extra so I decided to walk the slave trail. I never knew how much it would impact me.

The area of the Manchester docks and slave trail shaped the history and culture of Richmond. The docks, five railroads, and several dirt highways all came together in this location and made the transport, trade and commerce of these humans possible. According to one of the historical markers Richmond was the largest exporter of human beings in the nation for over 40 years.

*Note to the class the first part of the trail is really bumpy and all covered over with leaves and such. To say the least, it was difficult to push the stroller through!

I started off walking down the path. The weather has been really beautiful lately and this day was no exception. I was enjoying being outside and I was enjoying the sunshine. The path winds along the river side and the view is breathtaking. Then my thoughts turned to the reason why I was walking this path. I tried to picture myself as one of the slaves just recently let off the slave ship tired, sick, starving and probably terrified. To have been ripped from my home and family and then endured the journey across the ocean is a miracle in itself. But now to be walking into the unknown, to have no idea what was next and not realizing the nightmare had only just begun.

Another marker said that the slaves were chained at the neck and legs and marched at night to avoid offending citizens with their oozing sores, filth and stench from the ships. I imagined the pain and agony they must have been in. The walk turned somber for me. It seemed like I could feel the horror of the thousands of souls that traveled that path. I swear I could almost hear the whisper of their cries in the wind. It was a sublime moment for me to travel that same path and try to empathize with this atrocity of the past. I am so glad I decided to do this. I would recommend it to all of the class. It was kind of similar to my experience going to the holocaust museum. It was really sad and hard to do but I feel like I connected with the past and I have a better understanding of what the slaves went through.

Week 11: Revision... really rough draft

Incorporation of learning objectives and grading rubric.

1.Enrolling in Early American Literature was exciting because I love to read. However, when I brought the books home and started skimming through them, I was really disappointed. I was sure this class would be dreadful, long, boring and tedious. I am so glad I was wrong. The set up of Dr. Brandon’s class is very conducive to reading, understanding and applying the literature in a fun and creative way. If the class was not set up in small committees and if we did not read and then write about the literature this class would have been agonizing and over whelming. Early American Literature has assisted in developing my communication skills.

I never knew reading literature could be SO different from novels. Developing the ability to read and comprehend the literature in this class has been my greatest accomplishment this semester. It has been vital to slow down when I am reading and take more time to analyze and understand. I realize I have to allow time to read and think and reread. The technique that works best for me is when I read the writing prompt first so I have some idea of what I should be looking for in the reading. While I am reading I take quotes that will fit in with what I want to write about and my essays start to form and take shape.

The last part of understanding the information I have read is writing about it. I have found when I address my classmates my writing is more informal and when I am writing an essay my voice is much more formal but still inviting for everyone to read. Although I do love to read, I have never had much exposure to transcendentalists and romantics. I had heard of Emerson, Thoreau and Poe but never laid eyes on their work. “Men are like plants; the goodness and flavour of the fruit proceeds from the peculiar soil and exposition in which they grow. We are nothing but what we derive from the air we breathe, the climate we inhabit, the government we obey, the system of religion we profess, and the nature of our employment” (de Crevecoeur, 56). I would add we are nothing but what we derive from the knowledge we acquire and apply in our lives. This process has allowed me to take what I read and change myself and my life because of it.

2.I have developed my critical thinking skills.

3.Literature has a profound impact on our culture and on our society. There are two levels to this impact. The first is on the individual. Once I have read these works I am changed because of it. I can’t continue on as the same person as I was before. As Dr. Brandon has told us, “Romanticism as a movement placed a tremendous value on the worth of the individual person and their ability to feel greatly, to imagine, and to sympathize. Romanticism was pivotal in providing Americans with an intellectual and artistic tradition.”

The second is on our culture. Whether intended or not these authors helped to shape the United States and to mold our culture into what we enjoy today. When reading de Crevecoeur for the first time I was shocked that one essay could be so lengthy. The authors that produced these literary works were from a different society, a whole different world, then we live in now. It was pointed out to me that this was before television; this was before all of the modern technological distractions we have today. The world was more unstable and uncertain in an entirely different way. There were more unknowns, there was more that was changing and they had more time to ponder on these issues. There is a strong interdependence of social, economic and cultural systems across the world.

4. If I didn’t know where to find the information I was seeking then the learning process would be stopped. Over this semester I have developed my information literacy. Even though specific page numbers and hyperlinks are provided to the weekly material, there are more skills needed to complete the assignments. The essays and speeches are quite lengthy. *Based on the information given to me by Dr. Brandon I have been able to analyze the texts and decide what is applicable for me and pertinent to my life. That could be whether it’s something I relate to or something I know I can improve on. *I have been able to use this information effectively to communicate on a personal level and also as a member of a group.

5. I have learned how to apply the readings in my life. Before the class started I thought I would be a passive participant and a lot of parroting would take place. “In the right state, he is, Man Thinking. In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or, still worse, the parrot of other men's thinking” (Emerson). This was my biggest moment in this class. Emerson hit me like a ton of bricks and opened my eyes. I thought of myself as a great student. I never thought of myself as a scholar. Now, I don’t know if I could even be called that. I have been parroting back information to try and earn high grades but I haven’t really been learning anything. I definitely haven’t been using the things I learn to spark unique and individual thought. I am ashamed of myself. I know I am capable of more than I have been doing. I was proud of my accomplishments so far but now the bar has been set higher. I want more out of my education and Emerson has opened that door to my personal greatness. *I have developed personally throughout this course. Physically and emotionally I have matured and changed. These works have had a tremendous impact on me. “To be awake is to be alive. I came to die only to discover that I had not lived. I wanted to live deep; to suck all the marrow out of life.” (Thoreau) I knew exactly that Thoreau was saying when he wrote that. It echoed the path I have been on for the last few years of my life. I enjoy learning and although, at times, the words of these great authors are very difficult to understand, they excite me. They inspire me to higher thinking and more fulfilled living. “It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude” (Emerson). If each individual lived true to the independence of solitude it would completely change society as a whole. I believe that no one person can change the world but if each individual changes then those changes can affect the whole world. Sometimes when I am out in the world I feel like a treasonous imitation of myself. I don’t know why I find it so hard to maintain that independence. I have enhance the knowledge, skills, and understanding to make informed academic, social, personal, career, and interpersonal decisions.

Wikipedia says that the term sublime especially refers to a greatness with which nothing else can be compared and which is beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement or imitation. Poe focused on terror and horror when feeling the sublime. Dr. Brandon also shared that the sublime can be elation or joy. The reason behind the search for these moments is that at no other time do we feel more alive. Sometimes life can feel like dream. The day to day monotony can drag and feel hauntingly repetitive. These moments snap us awake from our sleep walking. They are so intense and raw with extreme emotion there is no doubt that we are alive.

I will argue for an A. At this point it would be an A-. I enjoy writing very much and I think I am quite exceptional at it. I love words and because of my love for theatre I have quite a dramatic flair. I know that I can improve on the promptness of my writing assignments. My sublime moment I wrote about temporarily blinded me to my real life responsibilities. I have refocused and prioritized so I am back on track. The quality of my writing is well above average and the quantity is always exact to the specification of the weekly assignments page. The only other thing I need to do is continue to incorporate my readings into my writings like I did at the beginning of the semester.

*I still need to include the items from the grading rubric

REVISION: Why I didn't take a walk

“Every sunset which I witness inspires me with the desire to go to a West as distant and as fair as that into which the sun goes down.” Thoreau refers to the sunset as, “the great Western pioneer.” I grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Washington State is home of Seattle, the “Emerald city”, the Cascade mountain range, Mt. Rainier, the Puget Sound and miles of Pacific Coast shoreline and highway. It is breathtakingly beautiful. When I say that I mean, stop you dead in your tracks, consciously remember to breathe and pick your jaw up off the ground beautiful.

I am spoiled, totally and completely spoiled from having grown up in such a magnificent part of the country and world for that matter. I inherited a deep seeded love for nature, for its’ beauty and all it has to offer. I am from a lower middle class family and I have six brothers and sisters. Since we didn’t have a lot of money growing up my family usually went for the free outdoor activities and for that I am truly grateful. Instead of going to Disneyland we went camping. Instead of going to amusement parks we went on day trips to the ocean. Instead of a fancy vacation we took road trips out to the Olympic Peninsula. I wouldn’t trade the experiences or the memories for any others.

I can see most of our recent readings manifest in my experiences with nature. I am my true self out in the woods when I am swimming through icy glacial run off or hiking through a forest so green it looks like it was taken straight from the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz. When I am immersed with the independence of solitude I can listen to what the earth is trying to teach me through the winds song and the sunsets’ vision. When I am living a full life I become one with the mountains and I know that with enough faith I can move them. My life would not be full if I didn’t have the peace I feel from leaving the crazy modern world behind and seeking out the stillness of the outdoors. Those moments are sublime when words escape me and I am moved with emotion, to tears, at the beauty God has created and given to us, his children. “Give me the ocean, the desert or the wilderness. In the desert the, pure air and solitude compensate for want of moisture and fertility. There is the strength, the marrow of nature. The wild-wood covers the virgin mould, -- and the same soil is good for men and for trees” (Thoreau).

My relationship with nature is one of reverence and awe. I would much rather be, “an inhabitant of nature than a member of society.” My relationship with nature is one of peace and gratitude. I possess that, “spirit of undying adventure, never to return” and often have to stop myself from wanting to just go and not come back. My relationship with nature continues to strengthen and grow. I love to be, absolutely free from all worldly engagements” and to lose myself where I truly belong. I hope I will be able to share that relationship with my son. I hope he will grow up to know and love nature the way I do.

Why didn’t I take a walk? “How womankind, who are confined to the house still more than men, stand it I do not know” (Thoreau). There are many things I wish I had time to do that I simply don’t. My days are filled with school work (being a scholar), my son (living a full life) and work (just one of those necessities). I simply didn’t have time to get out and enjoy one of the things I love the most. I am torn between Emerson and my love of learning and Thoreau and my love of nature. “I wonder about this time, or say between four and five o’ clock in the afternoon, too late for the morning papers and too early for the evening ones, there is not a general explosion heard up and down the street, scattering of antiquated and housebred notions and whims to the four winds for an airing, and so the evil cure itself” (Thoreau). I find myself fighting this desire to explode from my house and return to the outdoors. I know that I there is a time and a season for everything. Right now being a scholar is my first priority so I can graduate.

Extra Credit: You go take a hike!!

Monday, November 2, 2009

I have six siblings and twelve nieces and nephews. My oldest sister is 34 and my youngest sister just turned 21. The oldest nephew is 10 and the youngest niece was born two weeks ago. My family is tall, loud and crazy! We joke that we are a traveling three ring circus all rolled into one family. That being said, almost all of us decided to go walk the flood wall, tour around Belle and Brown island and do the canal walk. It was BEAUTIFUL on Monday and we were itching to be outside.

There is an entrance to the flood wall off Hull St. My parents love to go walking there and decided to take the family. My dad, who is a great "outdoorsman" and my brother who is in the military (and thinks he knows everything) were certain there was a way to get from the flood wall to the back side of Belle island which would led us to the canal walk. In Thoreau's essay Walking, he talks about,"the spirit of undying adventure, never to return." Never to return...I was beginning to feel this way after we had left the beaten path and were relentlessly pushing forward. My dad and brother were sure we were NOT lost. All I knew was that we were still in Richmond, I just didn't have any idea where!! "There has to be a connecting trail here somewhere," my dad said. "Here I go ahead and do some recon. Yes, let's take this path it connects to another up there," said my brother.

Let me paint this picture more clearly for you. First, we have a wheel chair in tow because my mom has a bad back and can't walk for long distances. There are at least two strollers for the little ones. My sister-in-law has her one year old in a back pack and the two week old is in the front pack. What?! That is crazy, right?! That's how we roll. I took my son camping for the first time when he was three months old. Anyway, This"path", was one of many, my brother encouraged us to take. He did just fine walking down it and the rest of us off roading with strollers an wheel chairs.

There were about 15 of us all together. Kids are hungry, someone needs water and then a diaper change. My nephew takes off running, he doesn't have a shirt on because he took it off because he was hot, and he totally bites it, HARD. Only a little blood and some major road rash on his chest. No worries, it makes him look tough. We Finally find the connecting path, after about an extra 45 minutes of searching and we make it to Belle island. We have some friends with us from out of town who have never been to Belle island. My dad is eager to share all of the rich, history of the island with them. The island is beautiful in all its' fall colors and the air is warm yet still has the unique feeling of Autumn to it.

I have been to Belle island many times but this time I saw a new historical marker. It said "Place of Suffering" It talked about the prisoners that were brought to the island and how they were intentionally treated poorly to break them down and they were starved so they had no will to fight back. One of my not too distant relatives, Thorpe, was a prisoner at Belle island. Thoreau also talks about," being absolutely free from worldly engagements." Sometimes I would walk ahead to get away from the craziness and enjoy the being outside during my favorite time of the year.

The quote at the top of the page is set into a bridge that juts out into the James. It says, " you are free -- free as air... you can cast off the name of slave and trample upon it." -President Abraham Lincoln. I have only lived here in Richmond for two years but I LOVE how rich the history is here. SO... it was fun to get out on a beautiful fall day and enjoy nature. I have to admit, Dr. Brandon, there was NO independence of solitude on this trip. It was more controlled chaos with some random insanity thrown in. It WAS part of my "full life". I love being with my family and I love being outside. I do feel "equally at home everywhere" but I feel more at home with my family and when I am outside.

A workable solution

This is probably the hardest and longest writing assignment we have been given. I am frustrated that it happens to be both all in one assignment. It is easy to point out the problems that exist in the world. It is very difficult to try and think of a workable solution to one or any of them. Before being asked to write my last essay, I was quite self righteous and thought that certainly I had no part in and didn’t assist, in anyway, perpetuating evil in this world. I relate and identify with one of my classmates essays. She wrote about the use of animals for testing cosmetics and medicine and compared that to slavery. I support her statement that some evil is backed by good. Sometimes there are social justifications for our actions but that doesn’t make our actions right.

I was forced to sit and rack my brain for personal actions that support some evil in the world. At first I thought this was nonsense. I thought there was no way I would be able to do the assignment because I am too aware and too well adjusted to have any part in such things. I’m fairly certain I have been quite ignorant to what I have been party to in the past. Then I thought of my son. His blood is half mine and the other belongs to a man who “does not belong here.” His father is an illegal immigrant who hides among the lower working class. He takes the jobs that no one else wants and does it for a wage that no one else will work for. I am a different person now then I was then because of my close proximity to the issue. It has changed my heart and it has changed the way I think about immigrants in this country.

I think it would be nearly impossible to shift society as a whole into accepting the massive number of immigrants that are accepted in the U.S. each year. Since 2000, legal immigrants to the United States number approximately 1,000,000 per year, of whom about 600,000 are Change of Status immigrants who already are in the U.S. (Wikipedia). This means 600,000 of those people who become legal citizens every year are already here illegally or on work visas and are simply changing their status. Our intolerant behavior is dangerous. It is dangerous because it mirrors the actions and intolerant attitude of Adolf Hitler. He only wanted a select few who belonged, the select few who had the right to freedom and education and happiness. That seed of hate, once planted, can grow and consume an individual. The seed of intolerance, once sown, can spread like disease and consume you from the inside out. Once one person isn’t welcome than others follow. Once people aren’t welcome, other actions and choices begin to be restricted. It is an avalanche of hate waiting to be set off.

We must remember we are all members of the human race. We are all brothers and sisters created by the same God who loves us and wants us to have peace and happiness. There is SO much wrong with the world but there are SO many who want to do good. We feel powerless as one individual but together we can accomplish so much. We need to start with the children. Alexander Liebenstein, a holocaust survivor, goes around the world teaching tolerance to children. We must start when they are young and pliable and impressionable. They are the future. Just like we teach drug abuse resistance education (DARE) we need to start nation- wide tolerance education programs in elementary schools. Education is key and knowledge is power. We need to empower the youth of tomorrow with the knowledge and belief of tolerance for all people today.

I don’t condone violence. Often, words and written discourse are the catalyst for great change. You can’t apply jail time and fines to intolerance. Unfortunately, you can’t prevent rebellion and war when it comes to tolerance either. It could come from either side. It could be the citizens living here or the immigrants trying to get here. Fighting for my son is worth sacrificing my life. We never really know what lengths we will go to trying to preserve our own lives and liberties. We never know until we must do it. Sacred honor is just that and it should be defended at all costs. What is worth losing everything for to you?

Learning Reflection: week 9

Learning Reflection: Week 9

I have always told myself that I could never be guilty of perpetuating an evil such as slavery. Summer ’09 semester I took History 121. The course covered pre- Christopher Columbus to Lincoln and the succession. I was sure that this class had solidified the fact that I would never have been able to own slaves or be as cruel to any human being as some were back then. Dr. Brandon is always having us look at situations in a different light and with a new perspective. He said, “It is more difficult for us to see the evils in our own time which are incompatible with the things we hold to be true as Americans.” I used to be very selfish and territorial of “my country.” I used to feel like this was my country and everyone else didn’t belong here. Somewhere I went terribly wrong and somehow I felt like this was more my country then an individual who immigrated here.

“America culture and the literature we're reading is built on the shared belief that "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the persuit of happiness." -Dr. Brandon. Everyone has that right. Now I realize how evil I was being. My son’s father is here in this country illegally so I feel different now than I did back then. This country is for ALL people seeking opportunity and liberty. If owning slaves was considered the norm back then, maybe I would have owned slaves. I am not as ignorant now and I can honestly say there is a possibility I might have. This is a big step for me to see the issue from an entirely different perspective and be able to even entertain the idea.