On A Sidewalk to Nowhere
A Head Full of Doubt and a Road Full of Promise
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Stem Cellllllllllssssssssssssssssssss
So, my group in my public speaking class is doing a persuasive speech on stem cell research. Our thesis is, “stem cell research is beneficial.” It had to be as simple and concise as possible.
My group is rather lame, so I am writing the whole speech. I am so tired of writing about cells.
Also, I am sick and all I want to do is sleep and watch TV, which contributes to my lack of wanting to work on this speech. Sadly, I need to have it done today, so the rest of my group can have it and get ready for our speech.
Someone shoot me up with some B Vitamins, Penicillin and Loritab so I can finish this, please? Maybe some Adderall would help too.
But really, I don’t do drugs.
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Homework
I just realized that I am more surprised when I get a question right on the first try than I am when I get one wrong. In any subject. I have been damaged by math homework.
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I’m tempted…
To make a folder that says “is fucking pointless,” to save all my assignments in, so that when I upload a project for my pointless, but required computer class it will show up as Documents/School/SCT/is_fucking_pointless/Assignment.docx
Unfortunately, I am a super nice, super polite, respectful student, so I won’t be doing that.
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Sunday Afternoon
Shorts.
Long Sleeved T-Shirt.
Chacos.
Doing homework on the screened-in porch.
Good day. -
Reference Groups
I wrote what turned out to be sort of a long paper for my sociology class, focusing on the subject of social groups. A big chunk of this paper focused on what I consider to be my reference groups, or to put it simply, what groups of people determine what my values are. So, I thought that since it was a fairly interesting description of my social life, I might post a section on each of the three reference groups about which I wrote in the coming days.
Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia to better explain the subject about which I am talking:
Reference groups are used in order to evaluate and determine the nature of a given individual or other group’s characteristics and sociological attributes. It is the group to which the individual relates or aspires to relate himself or herself psychologically. It becomes the individual’s frame of reference and source for ordering his or her experiences, perceptions, cognition, and ideas of self. It is important for determining a person’s self-identity, attitudes, and social ties. It becomes the basis of reference in making comparisons or contrasts and in evaluating one’s appearance and performance.
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Reference Groups Part 1: Religion
Although I am not currently involved in a church, I consider myself to be a religious person, and was very involved in the church for the majority of my adolescence. As such, I still consider it to be an important influence on my life. Ultimately, religion is a moral compass for me. If I am considering whether a particular action or idea is right or wrong, it is usually determined with the filter of Christianity, and what I feel that God would want for me.
I have found that the church can be a brash and admonishing place, rife with hypocrisy and disdain; however, I have never doubted my faith in God, or his love for me, and so, for the most part, I choose to avoid his people in favor for his word, prayer, and the knowledge that God has a plan for me. Therefore, I do not feel like I must appear a certain way because the other members of my church find that particular way to be acceptable, and in fact have always found that idea to be stifling, but instead feel guided and attuned to the love, compassion, and morality which is the essence of my faith.
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Funny Story…
You may remember that I wrote on Sunday that instead of writing about an actual life experience involving peer pressure for my Sociology class, I decided to fictionalize something that had happened to me to make it more relevant. Well, today my professor emailed me to tell me how much she enjoyed my example. And she gave me a 100. I think that maybe I should start writing more fiction for my assignments.
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A Glass Half-Full of Pessimism: Dear College Students:
This is a delight.
You picked your major and determined the course of your professional life before you were really ready to do so.
Please don’t be offended by this.
Some of you were ready, because your passions aligned correctly.
But most of you picked what you thought would be best, well before you understood…
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The emphasis on standardized testing […] has forced teachers to spend more of the school day engaged in so-called direct instruction and has substantially reduced or eliminated opportunities that children have for exploring, interacting, and learning on their own. Recess has, in many districts, vanished from the schedule entirely. After school, parents shuttle their kids from activity to activity, depriving them of unstructured time alone or with friends. That matters […] not just because play reduces stress and makes children more socially competent. It matters also because play supposedly improves working memory and self-regulation; in other words, it makes kids sharper and better-behaved. So, ironically, by shortchanging them on play in favor of academics, we may actually be inhibiting their development.
The Case for Play – important new research from Columbia University and MIT. Essential companion read, out this season: A New Culture of Learning. (via curiositycounts)
I wish more people were aware of this conundrum. And I wish more people were better parents. And I wish I was (and hope to someday be) capable of changing the education system.
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Finals stress relief/procrastination.
My closet doors have been off the track for a while, and I’ve been wanting to paint them, so I’m going to start tonight.
I’ll post pictures of the progress as I make it.
I think it will be a fun project for me to work on so I can take my mind off homework a little at a time.
"I want to keep walking away from the person I was a moment ago, because a mind was made to figure things out, not to read the same page concurrently."
- Donald Miller
