Forgive/ Forget?

Never Forget

            Is forgiveness forgetting? How can anyone not forget and yet forgive? Surely, these questions have pondered through the minds of anyone that has wrongly suffered at the hands of others, yet at some point choose to love instead of hate. Recently viewing the film entitled Forgiving Dr. Mengele, I learned about the Holocaust. People of Jewish descent suffered horrific mistreatment at the hands of German Nazis. The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines Hate Crimes as crimes committed against an individual or group due to prejudice of the targets religion, disability, sexual orientation, race, creed, or nationality. Often times after people have experienced and survived distressing situations they feel that the rest of their life is out of their control. Yes, there are conditions and disorders that may result after a major negative exposure in some but not all cases. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is one example that I will further discuss. However, emotional healing has a major impact. Choosing to forgive can help a person have a more positive outcome and it takes personal effort and support

            The documentary Forgiving Dr. Mengele tells the experience of Eva Kor, a holocaust survivor. Eva was around ten years old when she and her family, forced into a concentration camp at Auschwitz, Poland. Once there Nazi soldiers immediately separated Eva and her twin sister Miriam from her parents and older siblings. Eva never saw her parents or older siblings again. Jewish twin children were used a guinea pigs in the ruthless unregulated experiments of German Scientist Dr. Mengele. One of Eva’s first memories that expressed the cruelty of the situation was that of after separation from her family then taken to a room where corpses of children lay on the floor. The narrator described the bodies to have emaciated appearance, flies all around, and eyes open. At one point Eva received some type of drug and a prognosis of two weeks to live. “I concentrated on how to survive one more day and refused to die! (Kor)”  I don’t know many if any one that could experience similar conditions these days and not be committed to an insane asylum. Yet this documentary started with Eva Korr, now an older woman, wife, mother, activist, business owner, advocate announcing during a speech that she give personal Amnesty to all Nazi Germans for their treatment of  Jews during the Holocaust. Once during a peace forum in Israel that included Israelis and Palestinians, Eva stated, “Sometimes people don’t know what to do besides get angry.” “People cannot heal while fighting.” Although Eva was unable to make any progress at the peace forum, these statements in relation to what is and has been going on in the Middle East are monumental.

            The Jewish culture has many strict laws and customs. The way that some people interpret and carry out laws can be a roadblock against healing, progress, and resolution. Fighting and wars continue to reign in the Middle East between Arabs, Palestinians, and Israelis since about 1000 BC or earlier (mideastweb.org).  A negative environment for a substantial period can have lasting effects on the human body. Post-Traumatic stress disorder is a new, twenty years or less, medical condition that is a result of exposure to stress related experience with life threatening or at least threat of severe injury (Liness, Rogers). PTSD can be acute (sudden, short term) or chronic (on going, long-term). Psychological effects of PTSD include behavioral, psychological, emotional, and cognitive. The Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County notes that many Holocaust survivors unknowingly suffer from PTSD and do not seek proper medical treatment.

In the film Forgiving Dr. Mengele, Eva Kor’s best friend tells how Eva displays habits like “never leaving food on her plate,” takes an unofficial doggy bag (food packed to go) from restaurants, excessively chain locks doors, and sleeps on her purse. Although Eva earns a success income as a Relator, she worries about going hungry (Forgiving Dr. Mengele).  

            Anyone that has wrongly suffered at the hands of others, and made the choice to forgive, moved on to a successful life and positively helped others has learned what it mean when people say forgive but never forget. When confronted of her choice to forgive amnesty to Nazi Germans for how they treated Jews during the Holocaust, Eva Kor, a holocaust and Mengele twin survivor stated, “ Victims heal themselves, victimizers take responsibility,” “Forgiving has only to do with victims empowering themselves and taking their life back” (Forgiving Dr. Mengele). People always have a choice. Instead of trying so hard to forget, people can turn the negative around as a tool for education, peace efforts and helping others cope.

           

Works Cited

            Forgiving Dr. Mengele Bob Hercules, Cheri Pugh, Eva Mozes Kor, Sami Adwan, Dan Bar-On | 2006 Documentary.

           

             Barel, E., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Sagi-Schwartz, A., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2010). Surviving the Holocaust: A meta-analysis of the long-term sequelae of a genocide. Psychological Bulletin, 136(5), 677-698.

           

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/ucr-publications#Hate.

           

http://mideastweb.org/timeline.htm

Ozick, Cynthia. "Life Isn't Beautiful." Newsweek 15 Mar. 2010: 54. Academic OneFile. Web. 29 Apr. 2013

           

Tampa Tribune http://www.tampatrib.com.

http://www.jewishorangeny.org/page.aspx?id=199249 April 30, 2013

Journal 8

Class Review

 I was very Apprehensive when this class started. I took ENC 1101 around 1997 or 1998 and had no recollection of most, if any of the details from the course. Professor Warrens’ course was set up in a manner that was fluent and allowed students to stay interested. Every other week I looked forward to watching a new documentary. The chosen documentaries challenged students to consider their personal morals and humanitarian efforts. The real life issues made each subject easy to write about and research. Blogger usage was a new and enjoyable experience for me. I learned how to setup, post, and read others blogs. The classroom environment was pleasant and appeared conducive for students. Other positive aspects of the class include the OWL and Perdue tools, Inspirational speaker Mo, and the Art Gallery opening experience. Keeping up with the blog comments proved to be a difficult task for student and the instructor. It would possibly benefit the students and instructor to have a system in place to keep up with blog comments before the comments are due. I truly enjoyed this class.

            

Choices for our Children

Choices for our Children

Jeffery Canada, Waiting for Superman, perfected the ideology of a child when he shared that as a boy he was deeply saddened to learn that Superman was fictional. Jeffery stated that his sadness was in realizing that “no one was coming to save him” from his poverty stricken life. Nowadays with the help of popular media culture, poor or lack of positive role models, economic strains on households, divorce rates, teen pregnancy, commonality of violence, and just plain hopelessness children are not sitting around daydreaming about a savior. Poorly educated children today will negatively affect the livelihood of society’s future. People should not continue to go on and ignore or complain about the growing issues that impede educating children. Adults must invest resources into children and education in order for change to take place. There is an old wise saying, “We are only as strong as our weakest link.” Children are the future adults of society. How does one go about to solve a problem that is so profound? Is there a solution? Where, when and how do we start?  Caring, passionate and responsible individuals do the best that they can, however they can.

Most children think that the essence of life is only what they see and believe to experience (Canada).  Joel Osteen once said that a famous rapper was asked why his lyrics were so negative and violent. The rapper answered “I’m just keeping it real, that’s what’s going on in the world we live in.” Joel later stated that “if that young man would have traveled only three to four blocks outside of his neighborhood, he would have seen the many nice family friendly filled subdivisions of people who were living a totally different lifestyle.”  Most successes begin with a simple thought or a kind word of encouragement.  Now, the first African American President of the United States of America, Barak Obama wrote a book entitled, “The Audacity of Hope.”  Obama noted how his success beat the odds. Statistically, the biracial son of a single white mother and Kenya African native father should have never become anything of world impacting importance.  Many American children are raised in ill-fated, undesirable, and underprivileged conditions, yet they grow up to live successful lives. Barak Obamas mother like many other mothers took time to read to her children and impart the importance of education into her son and daughter. Some children don’t have parents that encourage them. People are born as innocent babies into various situations. Sometimes it is not until a child comes across a teacher, mentor, or friend of a different background that may knowingly or unknowingly say a word of encouragement that changes the course of the person’s life.   

Jacksonville Florida is a city that steadily works towards improving the outcome of students that attend the local school system. Duval County consists of many successful political, business and leaders that have taken an effort to give back and help strengthen the community. Beverley Hartley-Wilhite, a Duval County Public School kindergarten teacher participated in the recent community improvement forum JAX2025, a program that focuses on the improvement of Jacksonville Florida by year 2025.  Beverly’s contributing ideas to the forum include “structuring a mentoring system for students, establishing ROTC at all schools, schools offer an hour and a half of time to an after school study hall, and encouraged that morals be taught at school (Fouraker).’ Hartley-Wilhite further discussed that her suggestions could improve student grades, encourage self-disciple, decrease juvenile crimes, and assist to inhibit teenage pregnancy (Fouraker). FCAT is a Florida standardized test that is used to measure the progress of Florida students. Not making satisfactory scores on the FCAT could prevent a student from passing on to the next grade level or graduating from high school. Studies reveal that Hispanic and African American students from low income, uninformed, and substandard households are less likely to meet FCAT requirements than their colleagues of White suburban students that live in more sophisticated socioeconomic status (Borg, Plumlee, Stranahan). Students benefit when caring teachers like Beverly concentrate their focus and energy on making positive changes in efforts to supplement disadvantaged kids. Mary Foster, Student Advocate Coordinator at Frank H. Peterson Academy, works with the HOPE program.  HOPE, communities in school program assigns an educator to counsel, mentor, and support students that have been affected by challenges such as: bullying, depression, violence, death of a parent and siblings, pregnancy and confusion (Woods).  Rosie Wright, HOPE advisor at Fort Caroline Middle school states, “Kids don’t drop out of school, they drift out.”  “They don’t connect their education to their future.”

For those that yet ponder, where is it that we start? We start where we are! The local school system, teachers and students are not without its issues. However, the Florida Times Union, Jacksonville.com reveals that Duval County schools offer many programs, learning environments, styles and options for educating students. To name a few of these options; ESE slow learning student programs, Choice schools, Magnet programs, Charter schools, support for Home Schooling, ROTC programs, Team Up after school tutoring and activities, STAR, Aviation Florida Air National Guard programs, FBLA, Communities in Schools, Teen Parents schools, HOPE and Upward Bound (Palka). Jeffery Canada, Superintendent of Schools in Harlem New York, as a child, visualized education as a way out of a birthright of poverty.  Many times people can’t change how they start in life but they can make conscious decisions and efforts about how they will continue in life, thus affecting their future.  People can also change the course of the lives of others by the words they say, showing patience even when it is not deserved, and by displaying compassion. Most Educators display these values when they go to work every day and make an impact on our future leaders of our communities…our children.

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Works Cited

Borg, Mary O'Malley, J. Patrick Plumlee, and Harriet A. Stranahan. "Plenty of Children Left Behind High-Stakes Testing and Graduation Rates in Duval County, Florida." Educational policy 21.5 (2007): 695-716.

Fouraker, Bruce. “Helping Envision Jacksonville’s Future.” Folio Weekly.com. Northeast Florida’s News and Opinion Magazine. April 10- 16, 2013 p54

Great Schools Staff.  “Choosing a school: An overview.”  

            http://www.greatschools.org/find-a-school/defining-your-ideal/33-choosing-a-school.gs?page=all, April 15, 2013

http://dcpsweb.duvalschools.org/parents/academic-programs/teen-parents-program/index.html

http://duvalchoice.com/options/choice-schools

Palka, Mary Kelli. “Limited options for Duval transfer students.”                       

 http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2011-07-11/story/limited-options-duval-transfer-students#ixzz2QaoliKrm, July 11, 2011 - 6:33pm  |  Updated: July 12, 2011 - 6:39am                    

Hagans 6

“Three schools, three perspectives: Fighting to succeed in Duval schools. Three students' experiences show how the system can help.” Posted: June 5, 2010 - 6:00pm

 Supovitz, Jonathan A., Henry May, and Brooke Snyder Taylor. "The impact of America's Choice on student performance in Duval County, Florida." (2002).                                                  

Waiting for Superman

Waiting for Superman

Every American citizen is entitled to justice, liberty and a basic free public education?  Yes, the United States of America does have a system of free public education for children, but how good that education is varies. Watching the film “Waiting for Superman” brought bulging tears to my eyes. The film left me wanting to push myself and children harder in our quest for education.  Jeffery Canada, Waiting for Superman, perfected the ideology of a child when he shared that as a boy he was deeply saddened to learn that Superman was fictional. Jeffery stated that his sadness was in realizing that “no one was coming to save him” from his poverty stricken life. Most children think that the essence of life is only what they see and believe to experience (Canada). Joel Osteen once said that a famous rapper was asked why his lyrics were so negative and violent. The rapper answered “I’m just keeping it real, that’s what’s going on in the world we live in”.  Joel later stated that “if that young man would have traveled only three to four blocks outside of his neighborhood, he would have seen the many nice family friendly filled subdivisions of people who were living a totally different lifestyle.” Like the young rapper, many American children are raised in ill-fated, undesirable, and underprivileged conditions. Jeffery Canada, Superintendent of Schools in Harlem New York, as a child, visualized education as a way out of a birthright of poverty.  Jeffery Canada, like many other educators in recent decades studied the failures of his local school system, the impact it made on others, and then created a program to better educate those who were most affected by the lack of education . Listening to the different however similar stories and situations of the people in the movie, Waiting for Superman, awakened me to the realization that many times people can’t change how they start in life but they can make conscious decisions and efforts about how they will continue in life, thus affecting their future.  I really appreciate my ENC 1102 teacher for choosing this film to share with the class. It, like many of the others we have watched, was very enlightening and inspiring.  

Women's Issues

Where do we draw the line?

            Media has a major impact on how society views itself and it also influences standards people use to judge each other. Society today spends at least 31 plus hours a week on media sites like: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Kik to name a few. People further spend about 17 plus hours listening to music and about 4 plus hours reading magazines weekly (Miss Representation). Often when reporters, journalist, and broadcasters have an opportunity to present news in a positive influential light, they choose to take the more entertaining role than quite often is negative.  Real life expectations can be especially hard on women due to the ever rising expectations for the perfect woman brought on by media displays. The message of mainstream media today seems to be that woman equals sex symbol. Women are multifaceted and gifted. They shouldn't be forced to drawn a line to be accepted by society.

Medias’ presentation of women hints and screams that to be intelligent and proficient is not enough.  Cory Booker Mayor of Newark, New Jersey stated, “Young women look at how Hilary Clinton and Sarah Palin were treated during the presidential races and may now be discouraged from running for major political offices.” During the 2008 Presidential races, people seemed to be more concerned about what the female candidates clothing, appearances, and mannerisms than the context of their message. Hilary Clinton faced attacks based on her gender (Lowen). The 2008 Presidential races were historical in various ways. One historical point of the 2008 event was that there was a female candidate for presidential and vice presidential offices.  A Boston Globe reporter noted that Hilary Clinton, a previous New York senator, “had a remarkable resume and an enormous network of political supporters and donors” (Miligan). Hilary once stated ``I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas,'' but instead pursued a career in law while my husband was in the governor's mansion” (Miligan). To the contrary Jezebel.com posted its headlines as, “Hilary Clinton's presidential poker face is completely Inscrutable.”

In the documentary Miss Representation, it displayed various ways that women are tainted in society and media these days.  Some alarming statistics according to the documentary Misrepresentation are that: “53% of 13 years olds are not happy with their bodies, 17% of female teens engage in self-mutilation behaviors, 20% or more teens have premarital sex, 1 in 18 men are in jail and 70% of women in the work force are mothers.”  While parents are working to provide for their families, latch key children are left at their own discretion to watch the negative images of drama, violence, and sexualized scenes on television for entertainment. According to the American Psychological Association, there is a direct link between watching TV violence and displaying real violence. It seems like every other day that there is a news headline with some type of violence that was instituted by or involved children. Who is responsible for this increase in juvenile related violence, bored kids, over worked parents, poorly filtered TV shows? 

Do media broadcasters have a responsibility in what it presents? Or is main stream media just giving people what they think they really want? Yes, in the United States of America we do have freedom of speech and freedom of press (Constitution). Freedom is having a right to choose. Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in this world.” The United States is a country built on a foundation of values that include freedom, justice, equality, peace, capitalism, brotherhood, hope, hard work, and success to name a few.  There is an old wise saying that verses; “anything worth having is worth its cost.” However, popular society at some point must ask its self, at what cost is success worth.

Hagans 4

Works Cited

Carlin, Diana B., and Kelly L. Winfrey. "Have you come a long way, baby? Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and sexism in 2008 campaign coverage." Communication Studies 60.4 (2009): 326-343.

Lawrence, Regina G., and Melody Rose. Hillary Clinton's race for the White House: Gender politics and the media on the campaign trail. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2010.

Lowen, Linda. About.com Women’s Issues May 5th 2008

Miligan, Susan Boston.com, Hillary Clinton enters 2008 presidential race

By Susan Milligan, Globe Staff  |  January 20, 2007

Newsome, Jennifer. http://www.missrepresentation.org/

Misrepresentation

Misrepresentation

            Media has a major impact on how society views its self and it also influences standards people use to judge each other. Society today spends at least 31 plus hours a week on media sites like: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Kik to name a few. People further spend about 17 plus hours listening to music and about 4 plus hours reading magazines weekly (Misrepresentation). The message of mainstream media today seems to be that woman equals sex symbol. Medias’ presentation of women hints and screams that to be intelligent and proficient is not enough.

            In the documentary Misrepresentation, it displayed various ways that women are tainted in society and media these days.  Some alarming statistics according to the documentary Misrepresentation are that: “53% of 13 years olds are not happy with their bodies, 17% of female teens engage in self-mutilation behaviors, 20% or more teens have premarital sex, 1 in 18 men, are in jail and 70% of women in the work force are mothers.”  While parents are working to provide for their families, latch key children are left at their own discretion to watch the negative images of drama, violence, and sexualized scenes on television for entertainment. According to the American Psychological Association there is a direct link between watching TV violence and displaying real violence.

Do media broadcasters have a responsibility in what it presents? Or is main stream media just giving people what they think they really want? Yes, in the United States of America we do have freedom of speech and free press (Constitution). Freedom is having a right to choose. Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see.” The United States is a country built on a foundation of values that include freedom, justice, equality, peace, capitalism, brotherhood, hope, hard work, and success to name a few.  There is an old wise saying that verses; “anything worth having is worth its cost.” However, popular society at some point must ask its self, at what cost is success worth.

No Child Left Hungry

Albert Einstein said, “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” After watching the movie Dive Living of off America’s Waste: I gained a newly heightened awareness of hunger and food issues of current times. The film Dive, by Jerry Seifert, is a documentary like account by a group of young men that eat and feed their families off of the food they collect on a daily basis via dumpster diving. The film brings awareness to the idea and reality that there are people here in the United States of America that does not have enough food to eat on a daily basis. People think that throwing away food doesn’t matter. Wasted food does matter and affects others. Children are a vast majority of those left behind without adequate nutrition on a daily basis. According to the American Psychological Association, “Hunger can hinder cognitive development in children, increase behavioral problems, affect body image…eventually lead to poor health and low self-esteem and have long lasting effects on health. Most people agree that not having enough food or proper nutrients effects children’s ability to learn, self-esteem and alters health due to the vast existence in today’s society. Childhood hunger and poor nutrition in the United States of America can be combated if people work together at efforts to make sure no child is left hungry.       

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs is a research based theory presented in pyramid form of basic human needs that must be met before they can go on to the next stage (Huitt). The pyramid is based with the first and most basic needs being on the bottom of the chart and moving upward to show each stage of psychological accomplishment and growth. Each lower need must be met before a person can go upward to the next level. At the bottom of the pyramid is; food, water, elimination. Next is safety and security. The third level includes belonging. The pyramid continues to the top point which is self-actualization.  Having food and water is the first need that must be met before any person even cares about their safety and well-being.  It is increasingly difficult for a child to sit, learn, and cooperate in a classroom if he or she has to worry about when and where their next meal will come from.

Many schools offer free and reduced lunch meals for children.  According to an article in USA Today, Children are coming to school hungry; many students depend on meals at school as their major source of nutrition according to about 65% of teachers. The article further explained that teachers on average spend $25 out of their own pockets to buy food and snacks for students (Hellmich). Caring teachers are making these efforts to better help students be better able to concentrate and cooperate in the classroom. Many of Americans are considered working poor. People in this category spend most of their already low income on rent and utilities (Kaitschuck).  In many instances working poor families depend on local soup kitchens and food banks (Kaitschuck).  Knowing that major food chains practice throwing away food rather than donating to needy organizations is discomforting.  Parents depend on these donations to feed their children.  In the movie Dive, the participants were able to consume better meals with the food collected from dumpsters than they could afford to purchase (Seifert).  Many fresh, organic meats, vegetables, fruits, grains and dairy products were items recovered from the dumpster dives. Food items are packaged with sell by labels. Once the sell by date and often previous to this date, is reached the store will dispose of the item to the trash. How can anyone with a conscious just throw away perfectly good food, one may wonder? Unfortunately throwing away good food instead of giving it to a needy person is a common practice of many businesses and citizens at homes. Nearly half of food items grown, manufactured and meals prepared in the United States of America are not consumed by people and thrown away when they are yet consumable (Seifert). A statistic like that in a first world country is sad and stifling.  Grocery chains try to avoid customer complaints of food freshness and lawsuits by taking the route of discarding items also to prevent lawsuits. Many people think that it’s easier to throw away than give it to others in need and hungry.  The federal government has assisted in encouraging positive actions like grocery stores, giving food to food banks, needing organizations, etc. without repercussion of being sued via the Good Samaritan Act passed during the Bill Clinton Administration. A law being passed on a federal level is not enough to save lives. Volunteers are needed to organize, distribute and cook food donations for people less fortunate. What type of country has the United States of America become?

Children are going to school hungry every day. Humans need food and water to survive: without it their organs will not function properly and can result in death. Children need adequate nutrition to grow, learn and focus. Where and when do people start to help make a difference? Start today; start now with small, personal, and consistent changes. Parents that are more fortunate should have their child take extra leftovers or snacks to school and share with classmates. Parents can also contribute by purchasing extra snacks and supplies for the classrooms. People can donate nonperishable items to the local food bank or church in local areas.  Children are the future and they are depending on adults. There’s an English Proverb that reads, “You never know what you can do until you try.” Any efforts made are better than no efforts.    

Works Cited

Hellmich, Nanci. "Children are coming to school hungry." USA Today 23 Feb. 2011: 05D. Biography In Context. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.

Huitt, W. (2007). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date] from,

http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/regsys/maslow.html

Sarasohn, David. "Hunger USA. (Comment)." The Nation 16 Dec. 2002: 7. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Mar. 2013.

Document URL

http://go.galegroup.com.db08.linccweb.org/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA94791879&v=2.1&u=lincclin_fccj&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Dive Journal 5

            After watching the movie Dive Living of off America’s Waste: I gained a newly heightened awareness of hunger and food issues of current times. The film Dive, by Jerry Seifert, is a documentary like account by group young men that eat and feed their families off of the food they collect on a daily basis via dumpster diving. The film takes place around the LA, California area and is based upon bringing awareness to the vast amount of non-spoiled food that many large chain food stores throw away verses the below poverty population that are in need of food.  In many instances the participants were able to consume better meals with the food collected from dumpsters than they could afford to purchase (Seifert).  Many fresh, organic meats, vegetables, fruit, grains and dairy products were items recovered from the dumpster dives. Food items are packaged with sell by labels. Once the sell by date and often previous to this date, is reached the store will dispose of the item to the trash. How can anyone with a conscious just throw away perfectly good food, one may wonder? Unfortunately throwing away good food instead of giving it to a needy person is a common practice of many businesses and citizens at homes. Nearly half of food items grown, manufactured and meals prepared in the United States of America are not consumed by people and thrown away when they are yet consumable (Seifert). A statistic like that in a first world country is sad and stifling.  Grocery chains try to avoid customer complaints of food freshness and lawsuits by taking the route of discarding items also to prevent lawsuits. Many people think that it’s easier to throw away than give it to others in need and hungry.  The federal government has assisted in encouraging positive actions like grocery stores, giving food to food banks, needing organizations, etc. without repercussion of being sued via the Good Samaritan Act passed during the Bill Clinton Administration. A law being passed on a federal level is not enough to save lives. Volunteers are needed to organize, distribute and cook food donations for people less fortunate. What type of country has the USA become? Does it care more about the latest fashion then the basic need of all human beings? Humans need food and water to survive: without it their organs will not function properly and can result in death. Where and when do people start to help make a difference? Start today; start now with small, personal, and consistent changes. Take leftovers to work to share with fellow staff members. Donate nonperishable items to the local food bank or church in your area. Any efforts made any better than no efforts.     

Making my American Dream

            Carl Jung stated “Who looks outside, dreams; who looks within, awakens.” After listening to the speaker named Mauricio Garcia, nicknamed   Mo, owner of MG Success Services LLC, a motivational coaching service and good colleague of Professor Warren; I was inspired to evaluate what I could improve upon. The speaker shared the story of his journey to the present state of working and living his life’s passion and calling it his career.  Mo shared that when he and his family came to the U.S.; although he faced many challenges beyond his control, there we situations that he experienced because he did not allow himself to change and grow. For example; he did not even attempt to learn fluent English until he was in the country for at least five plus years. Not being able to fluently speak English was a major barrier that stood in between Mo reaching his Dream.  Once Mo faced his fears, did a self-survey and then applied the information towards his goals; was he then able to overcome his shortcoming and move towards reaching his optimal career potential. I looked at my challenges and fears.  If certain every day challenges are resolved, people benefit as a result. Individuals looking for success in their lives and careers must start with managing their time properly.  I wanted achievable goals. Graham Greene wrote that the price for setting unrealistic goals is a feeling of despair. Time has always seemed to slip through my fingers. Proper time management is attainable and favorable. In researching Time management, it’s discovered that one must also be organized and learn to delegate task.

Geoffrey Chaucer referred to time gone as something that couldn't be recovered. Time management can be looked at in many different ways. “Time is the scarcest resource. Unless it is managed, nothing can be managed” (Dobson). Quite often people either have feast or famine when it comes to time. It seems when people have a lot of responsibility and issues to handle, they don’t have the time needed. Actually, everyone has twenty four hours in a day. How one chooses to use their 24 hours is what impacts ones success or failures.  Many people avoid task that are overwhelming, tedious, not of immediate importance, or that they just don’t feel like doing. This avoidance is called procrastination. Procrastination is one of the main issues of poor time management. Ways to avoid procrastination are: complete task on a list of importance, delegate task when applicable and getting organized.

            Managing one’s life is an eventful task. In order to get it all done, there will be times that people need to ask for help. For example, if an adult is a husband or wife, parent, student and has a career; he or she may need to assign their child task to wash the dishes a few days a week in order to have clean dishes. No matter how wonderful and efficient a person is, he or she just can’t do everything that physically needs to be done in those three roles. A lot of people are not comfortable with delegating, especially in the workforce.  Delegating is a management practice that is highly talked about but less used (Dobson). No one wants to be the bad guy or the overly bossy person that is always telling everybody what to do. Yet in order to handle great and large responsibilities, a manager must know when and how to ask or empower others to help. Taking time to teach others empowers them to learn a new task and allows the leader to focus on other issues that need attention. The task can be delegated but the responsibility still belongs to the parent, teacher, manager or person of authority to delegate. Delegating is an art form and must be practiced. In order for a leader of any sort to delegate; he or she must first be organized to know what the overall project or task consist of. Disorganization makes task more difficult (Leeds). Just image using Turbo Tax to file your taxes; and the many relevant documents accumulated throughout the year. As the computer program generated questions continue to arise, various documents hold the answers to the questions. Filing taxes is already a difficult and consuming task; but to have to stop and search through pile of papers throughout various places is even more taxing.  Now imagine preparing a file in a file cabinet at the beginning of the year.  Further imagine that as the documents and tax related situations arise throughout the year; placing the documents in the labeled file.  The following year at tax time, simply take the tax file and all of the needed documents are present. This scenario would be a lot less stress more and thus help the filing process go smoother. Good time management includes assessing of a project beforehand, anticipating needs and then putting a plan into action. An unknown author once said, “To not plan is to plan to fail.”  In the book “The Eight Minute Organizer” the author explains how spending just eight minutes of preparation can help a person become more organized.

           

It is sad, shameful but true that something like poor time management can assist in hindering a person from reaching their full potential. Successful time management can be accomplished with delegating task, getting and staying organized, and managing one’s self with the given time we all have (Leeds). Like Mo the motivational speaker, I have decided to face my fear and consciously work on something that I know is holding back opportunities for success. One can be more than hopeful that the American Dream, whatever that may be for the individual, is reachable. 

Works Cited

Alexander, Roy and Michael S. Dobson, Micheal S. Chapter 1 - How to Think About Time

Real-World Time Management, Second Edition.  AMACOM © 2009.

Forsyth, Patrick. Time Management. Kogan Page. April 28, 2010   Most Recent Edition

Leeds, Regina. The 8-Minute Organizer: Easy Solutions to Simplify Your Life in Your Spare Time. Da Capo Press. May 1, 2012

Mackenzie, Alec, and Pat Nickerson. The time trap: The classic book on time management. Amacom, 2009.        

American Dream- Journal 4

American Dream

On Tuesday February 23, 2013 the ENC 1102 class of Professor Kelly Warren joined another group to listen to a Life Coach like speaker named Mauricio Garcia.  The speaker nicknamed “Mo” is the owner of “MG Success Services LL C”, a motivational coaching service.  Mo also identified himself as good colleague of Professor Warren. The speaker shared the story of his journey to the present state of working and living his life’s passion and calling in his career.  He shared that when he and his family came to the U.S.; although he faced many challenges beyond his control, there we situations that he experienced because of his lack to allow himself to change and grow. For example; he did not even attempt to learn fluent English until he was in the country for around 5 plus years. Not being able to fluently speak English was a major barrier that stood in between Mo reaching his “Dream”. He continued to go through life stumbling around his deep rooted fear of change. Once Mo faced his fears, did a self-survey and then applied the information towards his goals; was he then able to overcome his shortcoming and move forward in appositive way towards reaching his optimal career potential. His speech was very interesting, informative and humorous. After hearing the speech I was inspired to look at some of the challenges I face in life. I began to put them in categories of importance to resolve, and further categorized them by the benefit I would receive as a result of the resolution. I am now in the stages of evaluating if there are any reasonably obtainable solutions. Not only was Mo speech enjoyable, but one would be wise to wager that he left a lot of the students with serious thoughts of encouragement.  We are hopeful that our American Dream, whatever that may be for the individual, is reachable.

Digital Nation

             

I have mixed feelings about digital technology and its usage in various aspects of society. Computer, Online, and Virtual technology has become an enormous part of most societies. It is not uncommon to drivers, especially young adults and teens drive while talking and or texting on mobile devices on a daily basis. Technology is supposed to help make life better however; many times it is because of technology that people are more stressed. Many people say that driving while talking on phone is not distracting. Most people believe that, until they are ticketed for traffic violations that at they are unaware that they are even committing.  Multitasking is another method that digital and virtual technology has helped to enhance. Is multitasking really accomplishing multiple task or should people complete one task at a time?

Driving while distracted by digital and virtual technology is becoming an increasingly contributor to poor decision making skills and increased traffic accidents. Drivers can be seen with hands free devices like ear buds, blue tooth, using speaker phone and built in wireless devices. Although hands free devices can be helpful, it is still distracting to drive and engage over the telephone for long periods.  Notes that “driving while distracted can have effects like driving while drinking.”() Drivers have been observed swerving while on phone by law enforcement officers and other drivers. I had an incident recently that involved myself being distracted, speeding and received a traffic ticket. I was entering the interstate while talking on the phone with my husband. I felt the need to speed up while coming on interstate in order to not continue sitting waiting for a pause in traffic. After I entered the right lane, I quickly moved over to the left lane to what I judged was avoiding impact of the traffic behind me. Once in the left lane I allowed the cars in the right lane to pass then made my way to return to the right lane. Little did I know or pay attention, the vehicle in the left lane was a state trooper that observed the entire event and decided that a ticket was necessary for the way of driving. I explained to the officer that I was going with the flow of traffic and felt the necessity to speed in order to get in position for the lengthy ride I had ahead of me. The officer acknowledged that the entire traffic cluster was speeding and that I was randomly selected because I was following his vehicle in the left lane too closely before I pulled back over in the right lane. When I noticed the vehicle that the officer was driving, I was very disappointed in myself. First of all I should not have been speeding. Secondly, surely a black Suburban with jet black tented windows was an officer under cover, everyone knows that. I don’t make a habit of practicing any unlawful or unsafe driving habits but had I paid attention to that vehicle; I would have had extra precaution and avoided that ticket. I know that the distraction of talking on the phone contributed to my failure to observe my surroundings, speeding and following the officer too closely.

Driving while talking on the cellphone, is just one of the many forms of distractions. There are websites that show case ridiculous things being done in public, while driving and on occasions when the person is unaware that the picture is being taken. People are constantly taking pictures and posting notes while doing everyday life activities via their digital/ virtual device.  This generation calls the constant digital interactions multitasking. While many people think that multitasking is a helpful way to get many things done, others find it distracting and dangerous. Teens call it being “wired”. When I’m trying to do too many things at once; talk to a person on the phone, doing homework on the computer, text, answering emails, and pay attention to my face book updates ding every few minutes…..I feel “wired”.  The wired I feel is translation, nervous, jittery, confused and overwhelmed. The movie (Digital Nation) discussed how some people felt a need to be relieved of the digital overhaul. I understood and agreed that it no longer is just a matter of unplugging your devices. Even when the computer is off, there are still emails and various requests being made via digital that people have to later answer to. Is it fair for an employee to give eight plus hours to their employer daily; then still be expected to answer text messages and emails from their managers throughout the evening as they attempt to cook, clean, spend time with family and friends or whatever they choose to do with the few off work hours. A quick response to an email or text could be beneficial to jump start task at work the following day, or help a situation that may be going on with the sender of the text or email.  However, we need to work together and respect that we are human beings with lives, families, likes, dislikes, responsibilities, various other issues, situations and events that prohibit one to answer every phone call at the moment that it is received. 

Driving while talking on the phone is; driving while talking on the phone. An unknown source once said “I can walk while chewing bubble gum.” The mind of a human being is complicated yet brilliant. We are intelligent beyond our own knowledge. However the disregard of our own weaknesses and limitations can lead to poor outcomes. It is wonderful that pertinent and important can be relayed in a timely manner or real time as it is happening. However, this technology doesn't give us a right to violate the privacy and choices of others. Advancement of technology can be of benefit if we respect and use it properly.

Digital Nation

Digital Nation

            In review of the documentary “Digital Nation”, I have mixed feelings about digital technology and its usage in various aspects of society. Computer, Online, and Virtual technology has become an enormous part of most societies. The movie featured description of how teens and young adults constantly fluctuate between multiple mobile devices on a daily basis. It’s not uncommon to see a teen with ear buds in his/her ears listening to I tunes, cellphone in hand texting friend and a tablet on desk with the face book program.  This generation calls the constant digital interactions multitasking. While many people think that multitasking is a helpful way to get many things done, others find it distracting and dangerous. Teens call it being “wired”. When I’m trying to do too many things at once; talk to a person, do my homework on the computer, answer text, phone calls and pay attention to my face book updates ding every few minutes…..I feel “wired”.  The wired I feel is translation, nervous, jittery, confused and overwhelmed. The movie discussed how some people felt a need to be relieved of the digital overhaul. I understood and agreed that it no longer is just a matter of unplugging your devices. Even when the computer is off, there are still emails and various requests being made via digital that people have to later answer to. We need to work together and respect that we are human beings with lives, families, likes, dislikes, responsibilities, various other issues, situations and events that prohibit one to answer every phone call at the moment that it is received.  It is wonderful that pertinent and important can be relayed in a timely manner or real time as it is happening. However, this technology doesn't give us a right to violate the privacy and choices of others. Advancement of technology can be of benefit if we respect and use it properly.

Reality TV Bonanza

Chandala Hagans                                                                                                                           

Journal 2

Reality TV Bonanza

Reality TV shows are in excess. The airwaves seem to be filled with television shows that claim to display the regular ordinary lives of people from vast walks of life. The shows claim to show an exclusive, unscripted, yet highly entertaining view into what goes on in the lives of others. Yet if the shows receive low ratings, mundane boring characters, or less than desired viewing stats then the shows usually are quickly discontinued. In the Sports Wives and House Wives of…… series, women that most of the time are not married; neither have ever been, are grouped together and portrayed as friends.  The women in these shows waist a lot of time sitting around gossiping about each other.  Surprisingly, or not, the gossip is brought to the then absent person with exaggeration of what the party not present spoke and negative emphasis. Predictably, the listener is outraged that her new BFF would gossip about her and speak negatively.  This person then vows to confront and retaliate against the betrayer. The friendships in these shows seem to fizzle as fast if not faster than they start. Add a few shopping trips, meals, exotic vacations, colorful characters and wardrobes that fit the par and you have your basic elements to a lot of the current shows. These shows are not limited to certain channels. Historical and respectable channels like Discovery Channel and Animal Planet are not exempt. Although the reality programs on these channels appear to be more realistic and not overly dramatized with the script. The show Ice Road Truckers tells about the experiences of Class A license Truck Drivers. These drivers endure with some things like harsh weather conditions, delays in scheduling and equipment difficulties. The show Pawn Brothers  highlights the uniqueness, value, and sometimes interesting facts or qualities about different items brought into a Los Vegas pawnshop. Who knew that pawn shops and findings brought in for pawn could be so interesting.  Many people seemed to be drawn to reality TV shows. There are so many ongoing and new shows to choose from.  Just when we think that there cannot be another subject or category to display on TV in the “reality” faucet, comes the next show. Why people are draw to reality TV shows? Like most, I criticize and complain about Reality TV shows taking over the airways yet I’m glued to the television at least once a week for my favorite one as much as the next person. Are we that interested in what is going on in the lives of others; trying to keep up for conversation or are we truly entertained? One thing for sure is that there are so many shows to choose from, too many.  

Chandala “Shawn” Hagans

ENC1102

Final Essay

1/28/13

Kent Campus Gallery Review Assignment

On Tuesday January 15, 2013 the Kent Campus of Florida State College at Jacksonville opened the Kent Campus Gallery. The ENC 1102 class attended the gallery opening as a class assignment. The gallery displayed a variety of photographs taken by amateur students and entered in a college wide competition. In review of the photographs on display, three photographs sparked my attention in interesting ways. An unknown source once said, “Clowns wear a face that's painted intentionally on them so they appear to be happy or sad. What kind of mask are you wearing today?” It’s amazing how pictures and facial expressions can influence others feelings. Facial expressions or lack thereof along with surroundings can set the emotional tone of others. Have you ever felt down and out then noticed the toothless smile of a child and instantly felt better? On average people agree that a frown from your boss can instantly upset a good mood. The three photographs that I will describe and discuss ignited emotional response from myself as real life faces can do. All three photographs were dominated by the subject’s facial expression or the lack thereof.

The picture entitled “Don’t Enter” by Charde La Roche displays what appears to be a young lady standing in front of and guarding a door. Her facial expression is mysterious. It is not necessarily good or bad. The picture registers a pleasant vibe for many other visible reasons. The person looks very normal to today’s standards. One would possibly guess her age to be around late teens to twenties. She has a pleasant innocent face and is visually in the average body weight percentage. Her hair is styled and about three tattoos are seen to the bilateral upper arms and right leg. The usage of models that display pleasant but common physical assets can be a way to relate or gain acceptance from a viewer.  The young lady is blocking and guarding the door in a way that suggests that it not be entered. There could be something behind that door that she doesn't want to be seen. Another view could be that she is bracing herself in the doorway and that the title of “Do Not Enter” refers to her.  The contrast of wondering if the focus is the person or the door is interesting. Her facial expression warrants a ponder of finding out if physical assistance is needed or if she just needs an ear to listen as she embraces an important decision.  

“Angel” by Amanda Gross is a photograph of a little girl that instantly warmed my heart. The picture was so simple yet profound. The little girl looked so sweet and precious with her double dimpled smile.  Her naturally high cheek bones allow those dimples to be accented with a ray of sunshine shining and bouncing off her smile. She is dressed in a simple floral summer dress and has her hair pulled back yet flowing in a headband. The picture immediately arose an outward smile and inward feeling of joy for me. A child’s simple and lovely smile can be refreshing and angelic. Initially, I thought that this photo was my favorite of the three pictures that were selected.

On the surface, “Relax” by Pierre Weher seemed like a weird photograph. After careful review, it became my favorite. It displayed what appeared to be a lady covered from face to foot with a nude suit, bound with ties to hands and feet. This photograph expressed how difficult it can be to stop engaging in our surroundings and simply relax or be still. Relaxing can be defined as a form of peace and rest. It comes natural for some and more difficult for others. The photograph also reveals that relaxing can be more difficult for women due to the illusion that women are naturally relaxed. This point is revealed in the positioning of the lady on what could be a bed, yet she has to be blinded and bound to have the result of relaxation. My overall concept and interpretation of the photograph was one that was personal.  Sometimes it might take all of the photographed measures to stop whatever activity, thought, or scenery to allow you a break for sanity. The persons lack of facial features expresses an inability to see, think, or speak. Everything is shut of physically and mentally for this person.

Facial expressions or the lack thereof can ignite personal emotional response from others. We all should watch and be mindful of our countenance because it is usually being read by and influencing others. People use this assessment information to formulate acceptance, belonging, understanding and direction. In a world where there is so much to feel negative about, let’s watch that we are contributing to the positive, or that our face express what we truly mean.

  

Journal 1 Assignment

ENC 1102 Spring Term

Chandala Hagans

Journal 1 assignment

Already I find difficulty with this first assignment.  I took ENC 1102 several years ago and have no recollection of most, if any of the details from the course and structure frame at this time.  I feel that some of my writings strengths are; being a naturally creative, imaginative person and an abstract thinker. I believe that I am able and capable to not only to become a more efficient writer but also learn the tools needed for becoming a good writer.  If I set my mind to the course and determination not to fail then successfully passing this course and gaining the knowledge to be a good writer is possible.  Some of my writing weaknesses are; poor memory and recollection of proper writing skills, technique and grammar errors. I also am a slow starter and need lots of positive reinforcement in order to retain information and get the hang of what I am doing. I am not the most computer literate nor in possession of up to date technology knowledge.  I am very comfortable that this course physically meets every week (unless an emergency arises). So far, the classroom environment has been pleasant and appeared conducive for students like myself.  Some perceived challenges to success in this class are; poor time management skills in relevance to balancing out all of my responsibilities. Again, I am not the most computer literate or technology savvy person.  I am old school when it comes to learning techniques. I do well with books, pen, paper and face to face interaction. I think that my discomfort with the demand for technology based assistance and my poor flexibility with adjusting to new things will make me have to work that much harder in order to obtain at least an above average grade.  I am excited to be back in school and plan to give this course one hundred percent.