English- Diversity Discussion

“UMBC seeks to create a campus community that is rich in intellectual, cultural, and ethnic diversity at all levels.” This quote, taken from the UMBC mission statement, was the basis of the discussion. Why did UMBC choose these three types of diversity and what do these three words really mean? Why doesn’t the mission statement include racially diverse? These are the questions that came up during the discussion. In the conclusion, it was decided that race specifically is not talked about in the mission statement because it is too complex. Race is usually based off of how a person looks. To be specific, most people associate race with skin color. Most people look at a person and assume their race. However, you really can’t do this because many people are multiracial. Also, even within a race, everyone looks different. Two people can come from the same country, yet have very skin tones, hair type, and facial features. When people see the word “race”, they often think black and white. Therefore, saying culturally and ethnically diverse is more complete because then you are talking about so much more than race. You could be talking about race, but you are also talking about religion, sexuality, and class. The discussion concluded by talking about how sometimes it can be difficult, but people need to “reach beyond their comfort zones and connect with others different from themselves.”

With A Faun As My Witness- Revised

Back home it’s probably snowing, a typical Maryland winter. Thinking of this, I smile. The sun is beating down on me as I walk down the busy southern California street. A special occasion has brought my family across the country, in a few days my brother will be getting married.

When I think of a wedding, I think of a serious, life-changing event. And at the same time, it’s difficult for me to even think of my brother and serious in the same sentence.

My brother, Danny, has always sort of been a little crazy and I expected his wedding to be much the same. My expectations were confirmed when he showed up to the rehearsal dinner in his Looney Tunes tie.

The day of the wedding has arrived and Danny stands by the altar with his sword, why he has a sword, I’m not sure. The groomsmen begin walking down the aisle and the spectators in the pews can’t help but smile. All of the groomsmen are dressed up as different characters. There’s Indiana Jones, a Viking, a cowboy. And then the ring bearer begins his trot down the aisle. The ring bearer is actually a faun, half man, half goat prancing daintily to the front of the church.

Towards the end of the ceremony, I take a look around. I see a Jedi and a ninja. And I see my brother, now a married man. As crazy as it was, his wedding reflected his personality perfectly.

Word Count: 248

Point: Everything in life does not have to be serious.

With A Faun As My Witness

Back home it’s probably snowing, a typical Maryland winter. Thinking of this, I smile. The sun is beating down on me as I walk down the busy southern California street. A special occasion has brought my family across the country, in a few days my brother will be getting married. My two older sisters and I are bridesmaids. And tonight is the rehearsal dinner.

My brother, Danny, has always sort of been interesting and a little crazy and I expected his wedding to be much the same. My expectations were confirmed when he showed up to the rehearsal dinner in his Looney Tunes tie.

The day of the wedding has arrived and Danny stands by the altar with his sword. Yes…he has a sword. The groomsmen begin walking down the aisle and the spectators in the pews can’t help but smile. All of the groomsmen are dressed up as different characters. There’s Indiana Jones, a Viking, a cowboy, a knight. And then the ring bearer begins his walk, or I guess I should say trot, down the aisle. The ring bearer is actually a faun, half man, half goat prancing daintily to the front of the church. How my brother persuaded one of his friends to do this, I’m not sure.

Towards the end of the ceremony, I take a look around. I see a Jedi, a ninja, a faun. And I see my brother, now a married man. As crazy as it was, his wedding reflected his personality perfectly.

Word Count: 250

Point: Everything in life does not have to be serious.

American Studies- The Dangerous Banana

It was one of those perfect beach days, nice and sunny with a little breeze. The door to the hotel room was open, so you could see the ocean, smell the salt.

I have heard many stories over the years of my brother and the many stupid things he has done, but this time he really outdid himself.

Both of my parents were occupied getting things ready for a day at the beach. My brother Danny, who was about four, was sitting on the bed, peeling a banana. Then all of a sudden he says, “Hey guys, watch me eat this entire banana is one bite!” My mom turns around instantly, but a little too late. Danny’s mouth is puffed up with a huge banana and he is trying to swallow it. The banana gets stuck in his throat and he can’t breath. His face instantly turns blue. My dad, the calm guy that he is, starts screaming and shouting for someone to call 911. My mom instantly saw choking and thought of the Heimlich maneuver. However, this maneuver is apparently useless when it comes to entire bananas. So my mom did the only thing she could, got a spoon and scooped the banana out of his throat. All the while, by dad was still shouting for someone to call 911. So in the end, everything turned out okay, but Danny learned a very valuable lesson that day at the beach.

Point: Don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Word Count: 241

English- Three Cups of Tea

I read Three Cups of Tea over the summer and to be honest, I really disliked it. It took me three months to read because I just felt that it was so boring and I kept losing interest. Don’t get me wrong, I think what Greg Mortenson did over in Pakistan was great and I know that he had a huge impact on so many children’s lives. But, I just felt like there were some points in the story where the author was going on and on for pages about something so small and unimportant to the overall story like five pages on how the men loaded the supplies into the truck. However, there were some parts of the story that I really enjoyed like the love story between Greg and Tara. I also found it interesting to hear Greg’s account of September 11th because his viewpoint, being in Pakistan, is very different from the accounts and memories you usually hear. So overall, although this is not a book I would have chosen to read for pleasure, I still found it moving, and even interesting at times.

English- Shots Fired

The shootings at Fort Hood have left thirteen dead and thirty others wounded. I’m predicting lots of controversies to come up with these shootings. Many people will point out the fact that the shooter was Muslim. This will definitely provoke more racism towards Muslims living in the United States. I just find these shootings ironic because the soldiers who were killed were not fighting in a foreign war, but simply at home in the United States. I even heard a story about a man trying to reach his wife who was at Fort Hood during the shootings. He finally reached his wife and she told him that Fort Hood was in lockdown because of a man who was shooting people. Her husband, who was stationed in Iraq, was shocked to hear what was going on back in the United States while he was away at war.

American Studies- Educational Experiences

My best educational experience also happened to be my first. Most people probably don’t even remember their pre-school days, but I remember mine vividly. My pre-school was at a public elementary school down the street from my house. However, this was no ordinary pre-school. It was a program where half the kids had disabilities and the other half did not. I remember a few of my classmates being in wheelchairs, having Down syndrome, or being deaf. Although the purpose of the program was for the disabled kids to learn from those who were not disabled, I found myself learning from a lot of my classmates by watching these kids cope with their everyday struggles.

My worst educational experience would have to be taking photography my senior year of high school. I wasn’t particularly interested in this subject, but I needed a class so I decided I would try it. It ends up that this particular year, everyone wants to take photography and there is only one teacher who teaches it. So I happened to be in the photography class taught by one of the PE teachers. He didn’t know a single thing about photography and I just sat in a room for fifty minutes, five days a week, for an entire school year. Now and then, we would do a writing activity from the textbook and we did get to go in the dark room once or twice a month. But I think I can say that this class was a total waste of time and my worst educational experience.