Over the past week I really enjoyed reading the Rothenberg book. For one it was a nice change of topics. Even though a lot was centered on race it didn't seem to be as much about Black and White as our other readings. My favorite reading was The Ethics of Living Jim Crow. I really liked that this piece was someone's personal account and that it was told in story form. When stories are told in this manner it makes it much easier to put things in perspective and realize what some people have had to go through in life. In Karen Brodkin's How Jews Became White Folks I was surprised at how much she actually talked about African Americans. I felt that the piece focused more on this aspect than the title would have suggested. It was also refreshing to read more about gender and sexuality and the formation of classifications used today.
When looking at Part V and realizing that the main topic was about economics I immediately thought to myself "man this part's going to be boring." To my surprise I found all these sections to be rather interesting. Granted in helped that a lot of the sections were only a few pages. It also was more interesting to me because I am also in Economic Development in Higher Ed. this semester and these reading serve as a great supplement to that class.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Opening My Eyes
Since starting this class I'm starting to realize that there are many things I have taken for granted in my life. The most obvious being my college experience. I wouldn't say that I had it easy coming to college, meaning college wasn't handed to me on a silver platter. Before reading "Scholarship Girl" and Museus' article I never really thought about what it might be like for students coming from a more cultured backgroud to enter into a land of unkown culture. Granted college can be considered an unknown land for any new student, but possibly having to "give up" your culture in order to fit in is something I never really thought of before.
Personally I don't feel that anyone should have to deny who they are in order to be accepted into a particular setting or group. I found Tinto's theory to be quite interesting. The idea that one must detach themselves from their original culture and adopt the values and norms of the culture they are joining in order to succeed just doesn't seem right. Although sadly it seems that this is true for the most part. It seems that most of the articles we've read so far say that underrepresented students don't feel a part of their campus culture so they tend to not complete school or succeed as much as White students. It just makes me wonder how many more years it will be before this is no longer the norm? It seems that the change has begun because everyone talks about the millennial generation and how they are a much more engaging generation. It seems that children now are starting to be raised where they no longer see as much of a difference in race. I guess we'll see when our children get to college how prominent these issues still are.
Possibly more to come...
Personally I don't feel that anyone should have to deny who they are in order to be accepted into a particular setting or group. I found Tinto's theory to be quite interesting. The idea that one must detach themselves from their original culture and adopt the values and norms of the culture they are joining in order to succeed just doesn't seem right. Although sadly it seems that this is true for the most part. It seems that most of the articles we've read so far say that underrepresented students don't feel a part of their campus culture so they tend to not complete school or succeed as much as White students. It just makes me wonder how many more years it will be before this is no longer the norm? It seems that the change has begun because everyone talks about the millennial generation and how they are a much more engaging generation. It seems that children now are starting to be raised where they no longer see as much of a difference in race. I guess we'll see when our children get to college how prominent these issues still are.
Possibly more to come...
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
First Post About Readings
There was a comment that I wanted to make about the video from last week so I'll start with that. I enjoyed the video that we watched in class last week. It would be such an experience to be a part of something like that. Although I must say after watching the video I feel like as white person I would feel bad about myself after every class. I'm sure the same can be said for all the students of various backgrouds. But for some reason after watching the video I felt like a lot of the sessions where an attack on the white students. I guess it's just hard to not personalize things when it comes to race, especially if you're the one being attacked. It's like one of the incidents with one of the white students where another student was commenting that he was the enemy. I just feel like it came down to Whites against everyone else and that issues between other races and cultures didn't seem to be addressed as much.
I enjoyed this weeks readings and am finding the Creating Inclusive Campus Environment book to be a very easy read. A couple of things really stood out to me in Chapter 7. It talked about how when you come to college it's important to get involved and how you need to join student groups right away. I feel like, while this a great idea and theory, it's hard for students to reach out on their own. I know when I went through freshman orientation the last thing I wanted to do was go to another activity fair and approach even more new people and step outside of my comfort zone. After reading the chapter I never thought about how hard it might be for students who are part of underrepresented populations because not only are they dealing with the insecurities that all freshman might face they might also have to struggle with not even having a group to identify with. I also like that the chapter listed actual strategies that could be effective in reaching out to underrepresented students.
I liked that Chapter 8 addressed the issue of MACCs and SAOs working together. I'd be interested to see or hear how well the two offices work together on our campus. I also thought it was an interesting and valid point about the MACC needing to be careful to make it's own identity and show that it needs to stand alone and not get sucked into being a part of the SAO.
I enjoyed this weeks readings and am finding the Creating Inclusive Campus Environment book to be a very easy read. A couple of things really stood out to me in Chapter 7. It talked about how when you come to college it's important to get involved and how you need to join student groups right away. I feel like, while this a great idea and theory, it's hard for students to reach out on their own. I know when I went through freshman orientation the last thing I wanted to do was go to another activity fair and approach even more new people and step outside of my comfort zone. After reading the chapter I never thought about how hard it might be for students who are part of underrepresented populations because not only are they dealing with the insecurities that all freshman might face they might also have to struggle with not even having a group to identify with. I also like that the chapter listed actual strategies that could be effective in reaching out to underrepresented students.
I liked that Chapter 8 addressed the issue of MACCs and SAOs working together. I'd be interested to see or hear how well the two offices work together on our campus. I also thought it was an interesting and valid point about the MACC needing to be careful to make it's own identity and show that it needs to stand alone and not get sucked into being a part of the SAO.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
About Me
As you can see this is also one of my personal blogs so feel free to enjoy my previous posts!
Now here's a brief biography for you:
I was born in Houston in 1982 and my family soon moved to Conroe the following year. Conroe was a small little southern town when we moved there and through most of my time spent there. In the last few years, since I've moved to Denton, it has boomed quite a bit. I wouldn't call it your stereotypical type of small Texas town. I always went to school with people from various "walks of life" if you will. I was raised a conservative Southern Baptist but have broadened my view of things as I've grown up. I've always been close to my family and they've always been loving and supportive of everything I do. I have one older sister who still lives back at home that I don't get to see as often as I'd like. A lot of who I am has come from my family. They taught me the difference between what's right and wrong. They taught me to care for others and help others when needed. They taught me how to go after what I want. They also taught me that it's okay to question things and try to find things out for myself. They helped give me a basis of a belief system by raising me in the Baptist church but never forced me to believe in things I might not think are true (if that makes any sense).
Going away to school was something that both my parents never thought I would do because I was such a homebody. I didn't even enjoy going to camp in the summer. That's how much I hated being away from home. It's now been nine years since I've been living on my own and I can't imagine my life any other way. It was hard for my mom to grasp at first, especially since my older sister didn't move out first. But it's no longer an issue and hasn't been for some time now.
I came to UNT to study film because my dream was to one day be a film director or cinematographer. That dream has since passed because during my undergrad days I realized everything I loved about film was more at the hobby level. I would see people in the program who were really cut-throat about it and I realized that my passion was more for the enjoyment of it. But while I was working on my undergrad I became a resident assistant and just loved working for housing. It gave me the opportunity to in a sense be part of a family, since I couldn't actually be with mine. I've been in housing in some capacity now for nine years and have loved every second of it. I love working with students and hope that in some way I can impact there lives and help them grow as they try to find what they want to do in life.
Now here's a brief biography for you:
I was born in Houston in 1982 and my family soon moved to Conroe the following year. Conroe was a small little southern town when we moved there and through most of my time spent there. In the last few years, since I've moved to Denton, it has boomed quite a bit. I wouldn't call it your stereotypical type of small Texas town. I always went to school with people from various "walks of life" if you will. I was raised a conservative Southern Baptist but have broadened my view of things as I've grown up. I've always been close to my family and they've always been loving and supportive of everything I do. I have one older sister who still lives back at home that I don't get to see as often as I'd like. A lot of who I am has come from my family. They taught me the difference between what's right and wrong. They taught me to care for others and help others when needed. They taught me how to go after what I want. They also taught me that it's okay to question things and try to find things out for myself. They helped give me a basis of a belief system by raising me in the Baptist church but never forced me to believe in things I might not think are true (if that makes any sense).
Going away to school was something that both my parents never thought I would do because I was such a homebody. I didn't even enjoy going to camp in the summer. That's how much I hated being away from home. It's now been nine years since I've been living on my own and I can't imagine my life any other way. It was hard for my mom to grasp at first, especially since my older sister didn't move out first. But it's no longer an issue and hasn't been for some time now.
I came to UNT to study film because my dream was to one day be a film director or cinematographer. That dream has since passed because during my undergrad days I realized everything I loved about film was more at the hobby level. I would see people in the program who were really cut-throat about it and I realized that my passion was more for the enjoyment of it. But while I was working on my undergrad I became a resident assistant and just loved working for housing. It gave me the opportunity to in a sense be part of a family, since I couldn't actually be with mine. I've been in housing in some capacity now for nine years and have loved every second of it. I love working with students and hope that in some way I can impact there lives and help them grow as they try to find what they want to do in life.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Great Weekends are the Greatest
Last weekend I traveled out to Boone again so that I could help Sarah celebrate her 27th Birthday. We had such a great time. She decided that she wanted another marshmallow roasting bonfire and her friend Matt was nice enought to open up his home to us, fire pit and all. I had the opportunity to meet all of her new Boone friends...and they are all amazing...and ridiculously good-looking. Seriously, I think Boone is an untapped resource for super models. And as always it was great to see Sarah and just hang out.
And this weekend is my most favorite of all the holidays. I don't know why but I just love Thanksgiving. I'm so excited to be going home. I haven't been home all semester. I can't wait.
Happy Turkey Day everyone!!!!
And this weekend is my most favorite of all the holidays. I don't know why but I just love Thanksgiving. I'm so excited to be going home. I haven't been home all semester. I can't wait.
Happy Turkey Day everyone!!!!
Monday, November 5, 2007
My New Favorite TV Show
I love The Office. I never miss an episode. It's been my favorite tv show since I discovered its wonder. And I'm here to say that The Office will always be a favorite of mine. But today I'm pronouncing my love for a new show. Well the show isn't new (although it is in its sophomore season) but it's new to me.
The show of which I speak is the creation of one of the greatest female comedy writers of today...Tina Fey. And the show of which I speak is of course...30 Rock. (Thanks to Eugene for lending me season 1)
So...watch it...love it...embrace it...and buy season 1 on dvd. And if you don't find it funny my apologies. But I love it.
And let's all hope that this writer's strike ends soon so that all the shows we hold dear to our hearts will continue. Cause it seems that most shows have only taped about two more episodes which means if there's not a resolve soon we'll be in rerun city for some time.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Across the Universe = AMAZING!!!!!
I love movies...so much so that I went to college and got a degree in film. My favorite film class was my Film Criticism class I took my senior year. For the class we had to go a different movie every week and write a review over it. For the first time since I wish I was back in that class so that I could write about the wonderfully beautiful, amazingly brilliant movie that I saw today.
Across the Universe is one of the greatest films I have seen in some time. Lately my love for movies has started to waiver. I find myself getting bored with a lot of movies before they're over. But today as I traveled to my local Cinemark to view Julie Taymor's latest I had the chance to witness one of the most captivating movies I've seen in years. If you haven't seen this movie you need to. Below I have included a link to the movie's website that will hopefully entice you to go to the theater nearest you and check it out. Just a warning...it's a little trippy, but if you so much as like the Beatles you will LOVE this movie.
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