same-sex marriage

If two people are in a committed relationship, they should be guaranteed the right to live happily together. Why should two men or two women be deprived of this right, when they have the same rights as any other human being? Who is to say that because two people in love is seen as “unconventional” they should be deprived of our basic human rights? When two people love each other, whether gay or straight, black or white, people should be allowed to celebrate their commitment to each other in an official fashion; through marriage. No one person should be allowed to define what love is and who and whom we cannot love; as we have heard before “love is blind.”

            We are a country based on the principal of freedom and justice for all. By limiting people because of their sexual orientation we are going against everything we as a country pride ourselves on. Homosexuality is not a choice; it is genetic, which means that homosexuals are born attracted to the same sex, as opposed to suddenly becoming attracted to the same sex. Being gay is part of that person’s core identity; it goes right to the very center of one’s being.

            It has been proven that gay couples are more likely to remain together than a straight couple, yet we deprive gay couples of the right to marriage because marriage is defined as “between a man and a woman.” All homosexual breath, eats and talks just like every heterosexual, yet we treat them as a different “species.” Everyone is equal, yet we all share different beliefs and that is what makes our country so unique. Rather than shun the idea of gay marriage and homosexuality, we should embrace their bravado and desire to be together despite the judging eyes of the public.

Birth Control=women’s rights

Yesterday I was asked the controversial question of: Should doctors be allowed to prescribe contraceptive to girls under the age of 18? Birth Control is the most important right women have today. Not only does it give women control over their body but it also gives women the access to the right to choose. Females are the most oppressed race today in society. Throughout the world, men have dominated society and therefore, women are suppressed and are treated as the inferior species. Birth Control gives all women the power of freedom and the power of choice, and having these abilities helps us to gain equality in our male dominated society.

             Teenagers of all ages should be given access to the preventative and without parental consult. Some children living with their parents are taught that sex is a wrong, however, sex is a huge aspect of human nature and young people are bound to explore it. Therefore we should urge the use of birth control to prevent any mistakes that could potentially be life-altering. Not only does birth control prevent pregnancy but it also gives women the freedom of choice. Birth control is a method of liberation for all women, it is not mandatory that all women take birth control but simply having the option and control over our reproductive rights helps woman gain equality. Oddly enough, birth control is also good for the environment in the sense that it helps to regulate the rate at which our human population is growing. Birth control prevents contraception, which in turn decreases the rate of production. Moreover, the less people inhabiting this earth, the better chances of saving our environment. One of the major causes of global warming is overpopulation and the excessive amount of resources we use daily. Birth control helps to regulate population, therefore contributing a great deal to the conservation of our planets livelihood.

            I fully support organization such as Planned Parenthood, which help to guarantee women’s rights and the right to a safe and healthy life. It should not be required of young women to get parental consult for an issue that concerns only their body. As for the debate surrounding religion, they do not believe in birth control as a form of contraceptive. Instead, abstinence is practiced, however the danger with abstinence is that teenagers often fail to practice it, which results in unwanted pregnancies. However with birth control, all women are given the choice to engage in sexual activity if they so desire, while still protecting their rights. If women fail to use birth control as a form of contraceptive then they run the risk of being forced into a life where some of their rights are taken from them. Lastly, not only is birth control beneficial for women, but it also benefits men as well. Both men and women should have control over when they want to become parents or not.

            If women want equality in this male dominated world, we must take responsibility for our bodies, which will in turn give us the freedom of choice and power.

media’s affects on the public

If two people are in a committed relationship, they should be guaranteed the right to live happily together. Why should two men or two women be deprived of this right, when they have the same rights as any other human being? Who is to say that because two people in love is seen as “unconventional” they should be deprived of our basic human rights? When two people love each other, whether gay or straight, black or white, people should be allowed to celebrate their commitment to each other in an official fashion; through marriage. No one person should be allowed to define what love is and who and whom we cannot love; as we have heard before “love is blind.”

            We are a country based on the principal of freedom and justice for all. By limiting people because of their sexual orientation we are going against everything we as a country pride ourselves on. Homosexuality is not a choice; it is genetic, which means that homosexuals are born attracted to the same sex, as opposed to suddenly becoming attracted to the same sex. Being gay is part of that person’s core identity; it goes right to the very center of one’s being.

            It has been proven that gay couples are more likely to remain together than a straight couple, yet we deprive gay couples of the right to marriage because marriage is defined as “between a man and a woman.” All homosexual breath, eats and talks just like every heterosexual, yet we treat them as a different “species.” Everyone is equal, yet we all share different beliefs and that is what makes our country so unique. Rather than shun the idea of gay marriage and homosexuality, we should embrace their bravado and desire to be together despite the judging eyes of the public.

 

The media has one of the largest impacts on society today because it forms and influences our social conditions. It sets a precedent for how people are “supposed” to dress, behave and look. We are all exposed to the media through magazines, television, internet, and radio. We reinforce our own behavior by identifying with roles and values presented in the media, which has been detremental to society in many ways. Media has had a large affect on young children, because they are exposed to it at such a young age which gives our youth a model in which they should follow. Young girls see these thin models on the television and in magazines and believe that to be beautiful they must look a certain way. Young boys become so englufed in the world of video games which exposes them to violence in a positive way. They then grow up to become much more violent in nature and feel that is is an innevitable aspect of human life. As for teenagers, we are exposed to sex, violence, drugs and alcohol in the media, which makes this type of behavior more common and acceptable as we begin to form into the person will we become.

People have become much less concerned with the tragedies in thrid world countries and politics and much more concerned with who is dating whom in the hollywood gossip magazines. The media has caused scoiety to lose touch with what is truly important in our lives; the state of our country. When girls see a celebrity wearing designer clothes on the tevelvsion or in print media we want to replicate that image because it is “in.” But what we are not seeing is how the media takes away from individuality. It has caused the public to conform to a particular image of how things should be, rather than for what they are.

One example of how the media has effected its audience, is the recent bombings in India. This act of terrorism was barely covered in the media. The attacks on India do have an affect on the United States, just as the attacks on September 11^th had effected the world. Yet we barely see coverage of what is happening around the world, instead we are recieveing coverage onalskdj. As for the politics we have become more concerned with what clothes Sarah Pallin is dressing in rather than the content of her vice presidency.

The media has caused our society to become striftly money driven. We see people driving nice cars and wearing expensive clothes, which causes people to portray an image of wealth in an effort to gain respect and admiration. However what we have become blind to is the many problems outside of what the media is covering. We have lost touch with reality due to the media. We have become so comsumed with material worth that as a society we have accepted this as the norm. The media is a force which dictates what we deem as important within society.

Emotional Intelligence

I recently read the book Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and I must say that it was the most informative book I have ever read. Emotional Intelligence can be defined as the “link between thoughts, feelings and reactions,” and the knowledge of how to respond to emotion. The two elements that define emotion are empathy and self-awareness. Self-awareness takes the form of “recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, and seeing yourself in a positive but realistic light.” While empathy is the ability to “understand others’ feelings and taking their perspective, and respecting differences in how people feel about things.” Both concepts of emotional intelligence play a role in the development of ones’ ability to manage emotions and learn how to handle them responsibly in relation to an individual’s mental health. Emotional Intelligence also discusses the importance of social intelligence vs. standard intelligence in how it is extremely important in defining how successful one can be. They say that “IQ gets you the job, but EQ gets you the promotion,” which I find to be true.

            The book also dissects the balance in any relationship and the effects of an unhealthy relationship and methods in which a relationship can be improved upon. It discusses relationships of the romantic nature as well as platonic nature. The book is somewhat of a self-help book that gives a scientific approach to out mental well being, while giving instruction on how to better your relationships with people as well as with yourself. The book has information on how arguments can affect the brain, as well as the situations where emotional brilliance had been applied to demonstrate the effectiveness of each technique presented.

            Emotional Intelligence has given me a lot in terms of how to handle situations in life but more importantly it has given me tools that I need to be successful in life both mentally and physically. One who defines success by the level of status, education, or material worth — it is unlikely we will actually ever be happy unless we are very aware of our specific feelings. In fact, it is quite possible to be successful and miserable. It is easy to accept without question other people’s definition of success and happiness. But when we become more aware of our own true and unique feelings we are more likely to find our own individual happiness. This may be the essence of using our emotional intelligence. To be successful is to be aware of our emotional state of mind and to be able to respond to the environment in which we live. Having read this book, I am much more aware of my mental state of mind and to help understand the human psyche I recommend reading it.

Equestrian

I have been a competitive horse back-rider since the age of twelve. However, I was born in Illinois and my entire family rode horses; I grew up around horses. When I started riding competitively I had still not mastered the art of equestrian and was considered a beginner. Every day I would ride for at least two hours and spent a total of about three hours in the barn, cleaning and feeding the horses. When summer would come around, every year I would attend a competitive equestrian camp where we rode for eight hours out of every single day of the week. We learned about barn maintenance, horse anatomy and health and about the different forms of riding.

            Initially I started out as a hunter-jumper rider, which means that I competed in jumping. After numerous accidents and an increasing fear of getting hurt once again, I abandoned jumping to take on Dressage, which turned out to be the best decision I had made in terms of equestrian. Dressage is like gymnastics with the horse, it is a series of movements that demonstrate the riders control over the horse and more importantly the connection the rider has with their horse.

            When I started high school my dad bought me a new horse, only this horse was more of a challenge than any others I had ever ridden. He was a baby and my goal was to train him to do dressage, jumping, trails and ground-work. I took clinics with equestrians that had ridden in previous Olympics and clinics with those who were still trying to ride in the Olympics. However, every day I worked with the same trainer, who had also become a good friend of mine due to the excessive time we spent together at the barn. As my horse grew older, he grew more wild and dangerous which forced me to sell him because he had become unmanageable. All throughout high school, I dedicated myself to my horses and would ride in horse shows almost every weekend. Eventually I had acquired enough skill that my instructors had hired me as a trainer at my barn. When my equestrian career had reached its peak, I was riding up to six horses everyday and training people when I was not on a horses back. Horses consumed my life and sadly today I do not ride at all.

            However, it is something that I would like to get back into because it had been such a monumental part of my life for so many years.

Boarding School

I had just turned twelve and both my older sisters had left for college, when my father and stepmother of a year decided that we were moving to Northern California to a remote town called Paskenta. Two years prior to our move we had purchased a ranch of over 3,500 acres for cattle ranching, something my dad had always dreamed of doing. Paskenta has a population of about 100 people or less. Our ranch is so remote that to get into the nearest town for a grocery store or a gas station it would take about an hour on the country roads. Under those circumstances my parents decided that it would be best to go to boarding school where I would have more opportunities for growth.

            My parents decided on the Ojai Valley School. I was beginning the seventh grade when I started at Ojai as a boarding student. It was hard at first to be so young and living away from home but everyday it became much easier for me. My first roommate was a year older and from Korea, which goes to show how diverse the student population was there. That in itself had taught me a lot about other people and the world around me. My second year as an eighth grader at boarding school I was chosen to room with a girl who later became one of my best friends.

            As graduated approached my dad gave me the option of choosing where I would continue my education. I applied to boarding schools throughout Southern California but decided that I would be in my best interest to stay at Ojai Valley throughout high school as well. As a freshman I roomed with a girl named Cindy from Modesto, CA. As a sophomore I roomed with Quiara again, the roommate I had been with throughout eighth grade at the lower campus. I roomed with Chelsea later, during my sophomore year when Quiara left school for medical reasons. After Chelsea I roomed with Amelia and my senior year I was given the privilege of rooming by myself. 

            The high school alone only had about 120 students, which meant we were one huge family. Everyone knew everyone and nothing was kept a secret at school. It was such a unique environment to be brought up in and I feel that I am fortunate to have been afforded such an opportunity. I am so much more aware of my surrounding both socially and culturally, and I feel that having basically been forced to raise myself from the start of my teenage years has really given me a head start in life because I am well prepared and equipped to manage a life on my own.

On The Go

I have been living a life on the go, so to speak. I moved to Los Angeles directly after I graduated from High School in June of 2008. I had rented an apartment on Ocean Ave in Santa Monica with my close friend Marie. It was an amazing location but the living quarters were much too small for the both of us; we were sharing a one-bedroom apartment. All summer I worked as a sales assistant for the clothing store Lisa Kline. The commute from Santa Monica to West Hollywood for work everyday was a strain on my time and money. So I decided to move out to a bigger house. I moved in with my “mother” who is also the mother of my ex-boyfriend. I lived with her for about two months before I leased another apartment in Brentwood for the school year. Trying to find a roommate was especially hard and with the school year just starting I was feeling incredibly overwhelmed. Then last minute Marie, my previous roommate; told me she needed to find a new apartment, so we moved in together once again.

            About two weeks ago we decided that we were unhappy in Brentwood because the management in our building was poor. However, we had signed a twelve-month lease beginning in August and legally could not terminate it. I contacted the leasing office and they told me that I could move out if I found someone to take over my current lease. I posted an add on Craigslist and within the first two hours I had received over ten phone calls of people who were interested. That day someone agreed to take over the lease and I began the hunt for a new apartment. I wanted to move into West Hollywood because most of my time was spent in that area. Lucky for me, my sister’s roommate decided that she was moving back in with her parents. So I decided to move in with my sister in the heart of West Hollywood.

            So as of last Sunday, November 31^st, I have moved for the fourth time in five months. It has been a long journey but I am confident that this will be my last move until I have to leave for college in the fall of next year.

 

 

Is Santa Monica College a true college experience?

College has been known as the time when students find their place in the world. They explore their beliefs and embark on journeys that will define who they are in the future and what path they will take after college. College is also the time when you establish lifelong connections with the people around you. They say, “The friends you make in college are the friends that will always be in your life.”

Well my question is this: Is that really case with Santa Monica?

The answer is no. We all know that Santa Monica is a transfer school and we come prepared to work hard with little to no play on campus in hope that we will end up in the school of our choice within two years. However in those two years, students living on there own or even with their parents are forced to grow up much faster than the typical college student. So when we actually do transfer we are forced to socialize ourselves. Moreover, coming in as a first or second year student we are “out of the loop.” The groups of friends have already been formed and that leaves the transfer student to fend for themselves. For most that is not difficult, college is a mixture of people from all over the world; some have different beliefs while others share the same.

SMC does not have housing nor does it have campus events where students can socialize and get to know one another. Instead, students come to school solely for class.

Going to SMC is a choice, one I made on my own but I what I do wish I had been a part of, is the college experience of making new friends and experiencing a new aspect of life.

college application stress

In my senior year of high school during the time when all senior students frantically dedicate themselves to college applications, I was interviewed by the school paper on the stress of our future. I stated, “college apps have taken a lot of my energy and time, ill admit it has been one of the hardest times yet in high school.”

However even after applying to 11 different universities around the country I still choose SMC. My dream school has always been University of Southern California and when I was not accepted for the 2008 fall school year I was devastated, but I didn’t stop there. I knew that if I really wanted to go to USC I had to take a year at SMC, which I was told was the best transfer school in the country.

The first thing I did was find myself an apartment in Santa Monica and enroll for the 2008 school year. Now it late November and the college’s are expecting applications from freshman and transfer students, which means once again I must dedicate myself to the process which had once taken so energy from me. This year is no different in terms of the number of schools I am applying to, but the stress load is much different. Not only do I have to focus on getting straight A’s so that a first year transfer is possible but I also have to worry about getting the apps in on time on top of my schoolwork. Not to mention the stress of living on my own without any help or guidance from my parents.

Each day I go to school and am reminded that I need to work on my applications but every time I sit down to work, I go into mental stress overload. The process is long, tedious and difficult. I feel as though an applying to college is like retail. They choose whom they want and the others are essentially put “on sale,” and are forced to go to their second, third, or maybe even fourth choice.

So with that said, I have chosen to lighten my winter workload and truly buckle down to get them in on time. I need the time to reflect on who I am and what I can offer as a student because if I don’t know then neither will admissions and that means one more year at Santa Monica College.

The Big Blue Bus

I was driving home during rush hour on Wilshire Blvd. which must I admit is quite the task. I was stuck behind the “big blue bus” and began analyzing the advertisements pasted along the sides of the bus. On the back of the bus, which was directly in front of me, was an animated sign that illustrated the advantage of public transportation. The message to the public was simple, drive your car and you will experience stress due to the overwhelming traffic in Los Angeles, or take the bus and find relief. The drawing essentially had two separate sides. On one side was a picture of bumper to bumper traffic with vehicles, and underneath the drawing read “stress.” The other drawing was a bus and below it read “relief.”

I found this message quite ironic because as a driver in Los Angeles i feel that the bus system, although great for the environment, actually causes more stress and anxiety for a driver. We as drivers are forced to manueavr around the bus and must avoid being side swiped due to the drivers inability to look before pulling out (or they hope that they will not hit us because we must move). There have been numerous times when i have feared an accident with a bus because they merge into traffic from their stops with the notion that we will stop our own vehicles to make room for them. The sight of that large blue bus makes me nervous every time because they do “own the road,” as one of my friends put it. 

So in essence i have found that transportation throughout LA has really done the opposite for me; it has caused me stress on the roadways. Moreover, they advertise this message because they want more people to switch to public transportation for the well being of the planet, economy and for the rate at which we reach our destination. However, I have personally found that the bus takes much longer to reach the final destination than it would for me to drive my car. 

I support the system but found it rather humorous that the government chose to advertise their service in this manner.