College: a world unto itself. There are so many things to learn; not only do I have to learn things for my specific classes, but I also have to learn the college language and relearn the process of making friends. In high school, our schooling was broken into groups: year, semester, nine weeks and four and a half weeks. In college, so far, I’ve only heard one distinguished time frame: semester. You have to take four semesters of a class, not two years. I’m in my first semester of college, not my first year. If I want to take a SCUBA class, I just have to wait till next semester, not next year.
In college, not everyone is within four or five years of each other. I have seen people as young as seventeen and as… “not young” as sixty. There are people who have been in the military (or still are), people who are/have been married, and people, like me, who are fresh from high school feeling as though they’ve been placed on another planet and are still trying to find themselves. I have made friends with people within all of those groupings, plus some, and it’s amazing to me that so many different people with completely different backgrounds are able to mesh well together, forgiving petty differences, and become friends.
Even though I sometimes feel lost, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Indigenous Rights Essay - Who Owns Culture?
Speaking about “owning” culture, I have to mention the story I was told when I was very little about the warm fuzzies. It can be a long story, but the main idea is that everyone had plenty of warm fuzzies and everyone shared their warm fuzzies until one day people started becoming possessive of their warm fuzzies, so they became obsolete and no one was appreciated anymore.
Think of each person’s culture as a warm fuzzy and when culture is shared and appreciated, the people are more or less content. However, when people ridicule others’ cultures, or become possessive of their own cultures, then no one learns anything and as long as culture is something to possess, it will never be understood or appreciated to its full potential. In spite of, or because of, the fact that the “warm fuzzy” analogy is rather juvenile, simplistic, and idealistic it somewhat works.
No excuse good enough can be made for the editor, businessman, author, director, or singer who ridicules or exploits an indigenous peoples’ culture; however, to try to patent a culture and “own” it is very selfish: once again, the ethical dilemma. There are laws in our country against slander, yet there are also rights of free speech. Where does one end and the other begin?
I completely understand why indigenous people would want to “own” their culture. Too many of the things depicted about indigenous people are inaccurate or biased. Old – time western flicks rarely showed the Native American in the correct light, but I honestly don’t know enough about Native Americans to know what would have been the right depiction: my textbooks rarely went in depth when it came to Native Americans. Now, whether that was because they were ignorant or too lazy to find out, I do not know.
Think of each person’s culture as a warm fuzzy and when culture is shared and appreciated, the people are more or less content. However, when people ridicule others’ cultures, or become possessive of their own cultures, then no one learns anything and as long as culture is something to possess, it will never be understood or appreciated to its full potential. In spite of, or because of, the fact that the “warm fuzzy” analogy is rather juvenile, simplistic, and idealistic it somewhat works.
No excuse good enough can be made for the editor, businessman, author, director, or singer who ridicules or exploits an indigenous peoples’ culture; however, to try to patent a culture and “own” it is very selfish: once again, the ethical dilemma. There are laws in our country against slander, yet there are also rights of free speech. Where does one end and the other begin?
I completely understand why indigenous people would want to “own” their culture. Too many of the things depicted about indigenous people are inaccurate or biased. Old – time western flicks rarely showed the Native American in the correct light, but I honestly don’t know enough about Native Americans to know what would have been the right depiction: my textbooks rarely went in depth when it came to Native Americans. Now, whether that was because they were ignorant or too lazy to find out, I do not know.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Autobiography
Hello, my name is Lauren. I am a freshman at Texas A&M at Galveston, majoring in Maritime Studies. My goals are constantly changing and I only ever have vague ideas of what I want to do once out of college. The one plan that I have had the longest is to join the Peace Corps after I graduate and before I attempt grad school. I would like to eventually start a family, but I am in no hurry to experience that particular miracle. I have ridden horses on and off for eight years. I have a dog that I absolutely love (even though she doesn’t always mind me.) I love to travel and so far, the most glamorous places I have been include: St. Petersburg, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; Tallinn, Estonia; and Maui, Hawaii. Although those places are spectacular, I never pass up the opportunity to travel within the country and even Texas, because I love going to new places, no matter how close or far away they may be. I have a list of things to do before I die, and I am only just starting that list.
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