4/12

1. Put yourself into the shoes of the Younger family. What do you think it would be like to live in a tiny, three-room apartment with three generations of your family, without the choice or resources to move elsewhere?

I think I would feel differently about the situation in each different perspective. As Lena Younger, I would feel defeated and frustrated, but would have accepted the apartment as as permanent. When I was younger and newly wed, I thought this place would be temporary, and eventually I would have a house that would be comfortable to raise a family in. As years progress, that expectation gradually becomes less of a reality, and I would face the fact that a house is a fantasy rather than reality. As Walter I think I would feel frustrated, but that frustration would double as incentive to break out of having to live there. As Benetha, I would have the acceptance of the idea that after I got an education and got a job, I would have the finances to be able to move out and afford a more comfortable living space, trusting my hope and hard work will pay off. 

3/8

I started my internship last summer, around mid June. I intern with Megan at the Council For Drugs and Alcohol once a week for three and a half hours. While there, we help a team of councillors update data, keeps files up to date, and sit in on staff briefings and their teen 12 step class. When I am older, I would like to be a psychiatrist, so I feel like having an internship like mine gives me great exposure to that world. I am interested to know what you think about my internship, and what other kinds of internships you all have.    

3/2 Post

Comment on any connections that you were able to make between The Great Gatsby and the topics that you are exploring in IHSS and Science. How did our outings and/or the seminar contribute to your ability to make these connections.

One of the major things is Gatsby that hit me pretty hard was the contrast between the East and West Egg, compared to the Valley of Ashes. Although the two areas relatively were not far from each other, the living conditions were drastically different. To me, this seems parallel to our city. After visiting the different grocery stores, as well as the elementary school, I've realized that the economic disparity in Houston is vast. Just a few miles away from our school is a food desert, where many families are living dangerously close to the poverty line. The outings and seminars on the American Dream both made this connection clear to me. I am lucky enough to say that my grandparents and parents achieved the "American Dream", something I thought was common and achievable until recently. Now, I realize many of the families living in these poor conditions might have also been aspiring for the same thing my family was thirty years ago, but were not as lucky. 

2/23 post

On Thursday, we watched two documentaries about migrant workers and then had a seminar to discuss these issues through the lenses of science, literature, and economics. Examine  how this experience informed your understanding of major themes, such as questioning the American Dream and whether we live in a meritocracy, inThe Great Gatsby.

After watching those two movies, my view of how attainable the American Dream is has definitely shifted. For us, the American Dream seems a lot more realistic and achievable. For some of us like myself, because my parents and grandparents have achieved the stereotypical American Dream. For others, because they only know what they are told about it, which is that it is easily achievable with hard work, and that it is common. Both of which are untrue. There are people that work just as hard if not harder as people socioeconomically above them, yet can't break the cycle of poverty that they live in. It almost seems that in our society, we set it up so that people who already are financially well off are set up to keep receiving even more money, while making it harder for those who are socioeconomically lower to get ahead. 

American Dream

The American Dream is creating an ideal life for yourself in America. It generally looks like finding a stable job, being able to support you family, and setting up your kids to be able to have a better life than you did. Although this is definitely ideal, I don't think it is as realistic or achievable as it used to be, or as it is publicized. My grandfather moved here in the 70's with eleven kids, and no money. He saved up money overtime, and him and his friend bought one Burger King location. He saved up the money from that location, and bought another. Over time, this added up, and today the family company owns over 500 all over the country. He started a family company where all of his kids work, and some of his grandchildren have started to work. Even though he was able to achieve the American Dream, I do believe a lot of it is luck along with hard work. It seems like you have to be at the right places at the right time in order to have the opportunity presented to you. The cost of living itself is so expensive, its almost impossible to save up on a low salary, especially supporting a family. Although I do think it is do-able, I don't think it is realistic.

12/19 Blog Post

Out of my two years at POHS, this semester of ELA has been my favorite so far. The most meaningful thing to me so far has been seminars. I enjoy seminars in all my classes, but more so this year in ELA. The Alchemist and The Odyssey were challenging books for me, so participation in seminars helps me get a  better idea of the book. The most challenging thing for me is doing response projects, just because of how long they take to complete. Doing creative writing responses in particular are the hardest for me, as I'm not really a creative person, and I usually get better grades on analytical or research papers. There is nothing I would really want to change about ELA, except for maybe having verbal reminders in class before having vocal quizzes. I would like the consistency of our seminars to stay the same, because I really enjoy having them so often. Overall this semester in ELA has been amazing, and I'm excited to see what next semester holds!

12/8/14

Analyze the purpose of all of the violence in books 22-24. Do you think that this is necessary for Odysseus' successful nostos? Why or why not?

I think that the violence was necessary when it came to the suitors because they took over his house and terrorized his family, to an extent. In order to have a whole homecoming, it was necessary to completely get rid of them, not only to claim back his property, but also to get revenge for what they did to his family. I think when it came to the maids, the violence was unnecessary to complete his nostos, because the maids were not in the way of him achieving his homecoming successfully.