Go Tigers!

So we made it to the championship! How awesome is that!! Monday my boyfriend and I had plans to go to his sister’s boyfriend’s house to watch the game. A bunch of their neighborhood friends were invited and it seemed like it would be a really good time! At the last minute a bunch of the guys decided to go to a party instead so our plans were ruined. We could have gone but decide not to since my boyfriend’s sister and I had school the next day. I was dressed up and actually had makeup on so I was pretty bummed that we had no where to go. In the end we stayed at my boyfriend’s house and watched the game with his brother. We had a really good time and the game was so exciting. I really thought we were going to win. It was a great disappointment to see our Tigers lose. It was so great to see our city come together and show so much support for our Memphis basketball team. I only wish we could have won to gain the recongnition we deserve. I am really proud to be part of a school that went to the National Championship; not many can say that. Our Memphis Tigers had an awesome season and this was a great ending to the year!

MLK and Racism Continued

After everyone gave their presentations one of our teachers got up and asked what they thought of the presentations. Right away one girl made a comment about my friend’s presentation and how she was mad that my friend would say “nigger”. Our teacher joined in right with the girl and was like oh yeah I heard it too and by this time a few others chimed in with their thoughts about it. All this time my friend was sitting in her seat bawling. My friend told the class that she was saying the word “negro” and not “nigger” and even contemplated on if she should say the word “negro” in the first place. Many others backed my friend up and assured her that we knew she was telling the truth. I will say that the only people who said my friend said the word were black, but there were other black girls who knew my friend and knew she didn’t say it and also knew that my friend would never say it in the first place. We had to leave for our next class so nothing was really done then. My friend did have a meeting with our two teachers but our class never was really able to talk about it. We did discuss the issue in our English class though and it went along the same lines as our English discussions this semester. I found it really ironic that we would be studying MLK’s speeches and saying how far we have come and how everyone is equal but yet we had some people speak out and say this word, “nigger” was found offensive. First off I would not say the word because I do know some people find it offensive but why these girls made such a big deal especially when anyone could tell that my friend did not say it or even if she did that it was not meant in an offensive way astounds me. Would these girls have gotten offended if my friend was black? Black people call one another “nigger” all the time. I do not understand why black people can say it but if a white person says it then it is found offensive? I would never say “nigger” but I personally do not know what to say. It offends some people to say black or some to say African American and many others. Why should I have to question what I say if all feel the same about one another? It goes both ways, I know, with whites and blacks and even other races, but why is that tension still there? I know we have come a long way and this is not as big of a problem in my generation but there still is racism and it is clearly seen from my ACAD experience.

40th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Junior’s Death and the Remaining issues with Racism

Forty years ago today Martin Luther King Junior was shot and killed while speaking to a crowd from his hotel balcony here in Memphis. King was a great leader in the Civil Rights movement and from his work he has left a great impact on America. I really cannot say if Mr. King would be happy or disappointed in how America is now. I mean sure we are all equal and have the same rights but there is still turmoil and differences among races. I usually do not think about me being different from someone else, may they be black, Hispanic, or any other race but occasionally I am confronted with others who obviously feel all are not equal. One example that I feel fits in perfectly with the topic of Martin Luther King happened in my ACAD class last semester. In ACAD we had a group project that we were supposed to read a chapter from a book of MLK’s speeches and give a presentation on what it was about and how it pertained to us, who all were planning to be teachers. While giving her presentation a friend of mine used the word “negro” multiple times because that is what was used in our book. While my friend was giving her presentation a lot of people in the class started laughing. At first I had no clue what was going on, but then I heard someone whisper, “did she say nigger?” My friend started to notice the whispers and laughing and wondered what was going on. She finished her presentation, sat back in her seat and asked what everyone was making such a commotion about. She felt bad once she heard what people thought she was saying but figured everyone understood that she didn’t and it just sounded like it.

CLEP Tests

I have heard of CLEP test in the past but just never really looked into them or thought of them as an option. I have just switched majors and am really focusing on my future now. I know I would like to get out of school as soon as possible so that is why I have now decided to try and CLEP out of as many classes as I can. The tests are mostly for the basic classes so if I pass them I can get started on the classes for my major. I have no clue on how easy they are but I plan to study and prepare as much as I can. Unless they are extremely hard, I do not understand why more people don’t do it. A CLEP test is a test you take for a certain class that if you pass will take the place of you having to actually take the class. If I pass all the CLEP tests I plan on taking, I will have a whole semester out of the way. This will really help me out a lot. I can already graduate a semester early but with these CLEP tests I can possibly graduate a whole year early. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me but I know if I really buckle down and concentrate on my future I can get through it.

Rain, Rain Go Away!

The weather this whole week has been crazy. It has been raining almost every day and it seems like it will never stop! I thought the rain was over yesterday because the skies were so clear and it felt so great out but I was wrong. Today the rain has been just as bad as every other one this week. Rain always puts me in a weird mood making me so sluggish and lazy. Whenever it rains I just feel like curling up inside in my pajamas and watching a movie. I cannot do that though because I have class every day. Going to school in the rain really frustrates me too. Drivers in Memphis seem to freak out every time there is any kind of precipitation. This week I have seen so many accidents and have now been late to one class and missed another one all together. Once I finally get to school every day I have to walk in the rain, which totally sucks! It makes it so cold and dreary out and my feet and pants get soaked. When my feet are soaking wet I cannot concentrate. My feet remain cold keeping me from ever warming up and I seem to never stop thinking about the discomfort I am in. I am so ready for this rain to stop. When is summer going to get here?!

Autism

I went to CNN.com and a picture of three of the cutest baby boys caught my attention. I started to read the article that went along with the picture and soon found out these three gorgeous babies have autism. Autism is a neurological disorder that affects children’s social abilities. They often disengage themselves with others and almost act as though they live in another world. There are other milder cases, some that just cause the kids to have trouble making eye contacting and talking to others. It is so hard to believe that such normal looking babies could have such an extreme disorder. In the article over in over you read that doctors know very little about autism. No one has been able to find what causes autism or what can be done to cure it. There are some therapies that can help but it is best to start them when the child is young. Most times doctors do not diagnose children with autism until they are older because the disorder is not well known and this means the child does not start getting help until they are older. The triplets in the CNN article started showing signs at 18 months but were not diagnosed until they were 4. My cousin was diagnosed with a mild form of autism just a few years ago. We knew he was different growing up but never thought he had some kind of disorder. Now looking back we can see how a lot of what we thought was weird was just his autism. I hope doctors can find out more on autism because I know it is very hard on the families and it affects these children’s lives tremendously.

"Cherry Picking"

Cherry picking refers to choosing certain information to use for or against one side of a position. The data collected either is all showing facts for a side or against a side. When using cherry picking an actual situation is not fully presented. Often time people will only tell what they want people to hear in order to persuade the listener to believe their side. This can be a good tactic for writing if you do not care if what you are preaching is right but only want people to be on your side of an issue. It does get your point straight across but it can also leave the writer wondering why you are only giving one side of the story. If you are trying to win an argument this is a good way of going about it but if you are writing to inform people about an issue it is best to let them know both sides and figure out for themselves what they side with. I think most times in my own writing I use cherry picking unconsciously. I know what I think about an issue usually straight from the get go and I am sure I use facts that appeal to my own beliefs. This can be good if I am trying to make a point on an issue but I know a lot of times cherry picking causes me to leave some of the most important facts out of my papers.