Reading the Classics Part Two

While working on my Collo project and reading the classic literature, I have started comparing not only the literary works to their film adaptations, but also to each other. Thus far, I have discovered my favorite work to be A Streetcar Named Desire. In Cronin's class, we worked with The Glass Menagerie, so I decided to read this other play by Tennessee Williams. I greatly appreciate the style of writing Williams uses; I thoroughly enjoyed reading and analyzing the work. Although the work is relatively easy to read, there is a tremendous amount of depth within this play. The extensive amount of symbols used and the not-so-easy to deal with themes make this play my favorite. It reminds me that there is a lot more to something than its face value. Just reading this play, you would assume it's about the simple tale of Blanche coming to live with her sister, Stella, and brother-in-law, Stanley. But, this work brings up ideas of pedophilia and rape that are not just simple. They cannot be brushed off. These major components of the play made me further look into certain characters, especially Blanche, Stella, and Stanley. It also raises many questions. How can a wife stay with her husband while knowing he raped her sister? Why does Blanche blame her husband's suicide on herself? And why does Blanche cope with the guilt of "killing" her husband by seeking sexual gratification from much younger men? These questions are never directly answered by Williams, which I actually appreciate. It requires the reader to delve into the play deeply in order to truly examine each character and study their motivations.

Reading the Classics Part One

For Collo this semester, every UHS freshman had to complete or work on a project that would take a minimum of twenty hours. Originally, I intended to volunteer at one of the local hospitals, but things didn't work out for that. So instead, I decided to fulfill part of one of my long term goals I mentioned on my blog last semester: reading some classic literature. I have read numerous pieces of literature and watched their film adaptations in order to compare the two, and thus far, my favorite film adaptation of the pieces I have read is The Merchant of Venice. I chose to read this work because I read a couple of Shakespearean plays in high school and wanted to read another one. This work in particular is not my favorite of Shakespeare's; that would be Much Ado About Nothing; however, the 2004 film adaptation I watched was extremely accurate and brilliantly done. The artistic liberty taken only added to the film while remaining true to the play. The film essentially quotes Shakespeare verbatim; however, the acting that goes along with the script helps in understanding the play. Sometimes Shakespeare can be a pain to understand, but watching this film adaptation only made me have a greater appreciation for the play itself.

Coalition for Kids

Today, I fulfilled my requirement for five community service hours, and honestly, it ended up being a great experience. A friend and I went to the local Coalition for Kids venue where we were to meet some other students. While there, we expected to do some painting for them, but upon arrival, we realized there was much more to be done than painting. The students volunteering were split into two groups: one that was to wash walls and then paint and one that would use hammers and chisels to remove cove base. Unfortunately, the people who put it up used the wrong adhesive, making it rather difficult to remove. This was an entirely new experience for me, and I am genuinely glad I went. Because all the volunteers today worked together, we were able to accomplish an extensive amount in a fairly short amount of time. My group was able to remove all the old cove base which was in multiple hallways and a relatively large room. After our jobs were done, we were all able to sit down and have a nice lunch together, getting to hear the story of how Coalition for Kids was founded. Because of such a positive experience, I fully intend to return to the facility to volunteer or possibly even get a job. Not only would I be okay helping with further renovations that are necessary, but I would also love to interact with the kids who go there after school.

2017 Boland Undergraduate Research Symposium

Well, it is second semester of freshman year, and I'm already starting to think about my senior thesis...Happens I guess. I know I'm not the only freshman pondering research topics and mentors and such. One of the best learning experiences to help me know what I'm getting myself into regarding my thesis was the 2017 Boland Undergraduate Research Symposium. Actually seeing people present their theses was fantastic. It showed me how many options I really have. The diversity and array of psych theses showed me that there are a multitude of directions I can head in for my thesis while still staying within my major. I even started thinking about specific research opportunities regarding stigma because I was inspired by numerous speakers.

The following picture is just for Daniel Hedden--Collo professor--who you can see in the background behind Kaitlyn McMinn.

 

Nanoscience=Illuminati

On March 28th, I attended a presentation by Caroline Drury, a UHS sophomore about Culture and Health, one of the minors at ETSU. There, she detailed what it's like to minor in culture and health and how it is extremely interesting and also beneficial, especially for those hoping to go to med school. Though the content of this discussion was helpful, this minor does not seem to be something I want to pursue. And honestly, everyone at this discussion seemed to be going to support Caroline and get credit for Collo, so after we talked about culture and health, we discussed something that was rather intriguing: why nanoscience=Illuminati. Apparently, Caroline made a presentation years ago that detailed why those two seemingly disconnected ideas are actually synonymous. We all got a good laugh out of hearing this rationale, and it truly brightened my day. While at this presentation, I even learned that if you can make anything into a six--especially a series of three of them--then that's really the Illuminati.

Diversity Educators Privilege Discussion

The other night, March 29th, I had the pleasure of attending one of the diversity educators meetings. At this meeting, I felt very welcomed by everyone attending, and there was food, which is always a plus.  At this meeting, we all participated in an interactive game where everyone was assigned a card from a regular deck of playing cards. Each card represented a social class where aces were at the bottom of the social hierarchy and kings were at the top. There were subcategories where the lower class consisted of cards like 2-4, middle class was 6's and 7's, and the upper class was face cards. Everyone could see what card you were, but you had no knowledge of what was on your card. We all then interacted, treating each other in a manner that would reflect their status. So, kings were obviously treated fantastically--like royalty--while aces were treated like scum. Once the activity was finished, everyone guessed what category they fell into based on how they were treated by others. 

Now this exercise caused people to behave in a exaggerated way in order to exemplify prejudices, but a point was still clearly made. Many people in society are treated differently based on a single attribute. Additionally, many people are mistreated because of things they have no control over. While this exercise may not have captured the more subtle ways people portray their racism, sexism, and other prejudices, it did still show a variety of ways people are discriminated against. Lower class cards were ignored, ostracized, and even openly ridiculed. Something as simple as someone's tone of speech during this exercise was very indicative of what kind of people they were talking to: you could clearly hear the disdain regarding aces and the respect directed toward kings. 

During this exercise, I was a jack, so I was treated quite well, but it was honestly quite difficult to watch others being mistreated because of a randomly assigned card. This card did not reflect their personal character, but rather, it labelled and defined them simply because the game dictated it to be so. The blatant prejudice in this game echoes that found in American society, which is honestly quite sad. Things like this remind me of why we as a society need to rally together and eradicate such prejudices. People should be judged on their character, not on attributes like nationality, sexuality, religion, etc. 

My Personal Mission Statement

Pursue your goals and chase life with a Fiery Passion and Unyielding Zeal. Have Determination, Faith, and Empathy. Find Joy in the little things and Share it with others. But most importantly have Love. Not only for others but for yourself as well.

Future Endeavors

In collo, we were assigned to think of five things we want to accomplish in the next ten to fifteen years and then choose one concrete step that we will take in order to reach one of our goals. Well, after thinking things over, I have no idea exactly what I want to have accomplished ten years from now. Sure, I could discuss how I plan to be in residency for my career. I could talk about how I will probably be looking for a place to settle down and get married if I am not already and then prepare to have a family. Honestly though, that seems too typical. Everyone is going on a journey through college to get a degree and then go on to work in their desired field. I want to accomplish more than just having a job and a family ten to fifteen years from now. I want to accomplish the little things that I have always dreamed of doing. I want to travel the world and leave the US; I want to visit Ireland and see where my family is from. I want to become fluent in Spanish and communicate with people in their native language rather than expecting everyone to know English. I want to work on my musical abilities and pick back up with guitar and piano so I can touch people's lives with music in the same way music has affected me. I want to gather up the courage to invite a random person out for coffee and sit and talk with them about life. And I want to read a ton of classical literature and have in depth discussions with people to explore different interpretations and discover first hand that the beauty of literature can be found through different perspectives. All of these may seem like things I can accomplish at any point in life, not just within the next ten years, and I guess technically that is true. But I hope by the end of ten years, I will have met all those goals. Because those goals are what will help me on my journey to self discovery and actualization. Those are the little things I want to look back in life and remember and feel proud of. To reach them, I will start small. My short term goal is to get my passport sometime soon so I can start travelling and seeing the world.  After that, I guess time will tell what happens next.

The Best Way To Volunteer

On November 19th, a handful of the UHS freshman decided to go to the local animal shelter and volunteer there together in order to get our required service hours. In doing so, I got in my collo service hours and stress relief at the same time. There were quite a few people already volunteering at the animal shelter the day we went, so the people there had no specific duties they wanted us to do. Our job was to merely love these animals since they don't receive the constant affection a pet would. To begin the day, I started with the cats. I fell in love with a few of them right away, but one in particular was my favorite. I then explored the animal shelter and discovered the exotic animals room to which I was greatly disappointed. It contained animals like hamsters, rabbits, a guinea pig, and a mouse. Those are not exotic animals. Or not to me at least, but I didn't let this put a damper on my volunteering experience. I then went to play with the dogs and even took one outside for a walk. While taking a look at all the dogs in the shelter, I was pleasantly surprised to discover the pig they housed as well. Though the dogs and pig were great, I finished my volunteer hours by returning to the cats. There's something stress relieving about holding and petting a kitten. I even found a few I wouldn't have minded taking home with me, but I didn't think it would be a very good surprise to give my family when I came home for Thanksgiving.

Pre-Health Lecture

On October 28th, I attended one of the Pre-Health lectures that had two parts. The first half of the lecture was composed of a panel of professional students in different fields of study. For example, one of them was in a optometry program and the other was in medical school to become a chiropractor. They all provided helpful information regarding different issues everyone who wants to go to med school will face. They were real with us regarding student loans, which was nice because debt and student loans are always overwhelming and cumbersome thoughts for me. Additionally, they told their personal journeys and what they went through to get where they are today. I found it very intriguing to hear the different backgrounds each of the panel members came from and how extensively their lifestyles impacted their reason for attending medical school and the program they study.

The second half of the lecture revolved around sexual health and safety, especially on college campuses. Overall, I knew most of what the presenters had to say, but one demonstration they did was beneficial in exemplifying gender expectations from society. The presenters of this topic asked audience members for examples of what society expects from them regarding sexual assault prevention. For example, females are told to "stay in well lit areas" and "never walk alone." After creating a long list for females, it was time to come up with something society tells men. This part took a while. Many people thought for a few minutes, coming up short until one person somewhat jokingly mentioned how you should be careful and not drop the soap in the shower, making more of a prison reference than anything, though this could also be applicable to a locker room setting. With only one thing on the list of expectations for men, it was clear that society sees that it is more reasonable to dictate how females live their lives. Females are supposed to focus on not inciting issues and prevent themselves from getting in sketchy situations because society believes it is the responsibility of only females to prevent sexual assault. This demonstration was much appreciated because it illuminated the skewed views and expectations of society; it was also nice to see that once this issue was recognized, many audience members wanted to discuss how to change society for the better.

2016 Fl3tch3r Exhibit

Yesterday to meet my requirement for visiting a museum on campus, I visited the Reece Museum and looked at all the different pieces from the Fl3tch3r exhibit. The whole purpose of the exhibit is to make people think because all of the pieces there are revolved around many tough topics regarding political and social issues. A piece that particularly caught my attention was Moses by Sheskin.

In case you people in the colloverse can't tell what is written, the piece depicts the following: "If a modern day Moses climbed to the top of the highest mountain to speak with Jehovah, the ten tablets he would bring back down with him would be Prozac, Zoloft, Adderall, Ritalin, Xanax, Valium, Lithium, Thorazine, Vicodin and Ecstasy." 

Upon first seeing this piece, I didn't know how to react. It seems to play on the fact that the Ten Commandments God presented to Moses to bring back to the people were written on stone tablets. At first, I looked at this piece and questioned whether it was advocating for mental health, but the more I stare at it, I can interpret it two different ways: one as a religious commentary and a cry of anger against Jehovah and the other as a social commentary on the dependency of medication. From the religious viewpoint, the society that has been made is chaotic and distraught with all kinds of mental issues, and this piece portrays these problems as God's fault, so it is now His job to fix it with these tablets. Or maybe God is "blessing" Moses with these tablets but along with them comes the cost of mental instability. From a social viewpoint, I think this piece may be saying people want an "easy out" to their problems. They seek out medication and have become so dependent upon them that they are essential to their living and have become just as much of a staple in their lives as the Ten Commandments are to some religions. 

I have still yet to decide how I feel about this piece of art, but I definitely found it is worth the time to think over. I did my pondering for this. Now it's your turn. 

Musical Memories

On November 16th, I attended a musical performance on campus and listened to a trombone choir as well as a few small ensembles play a number of pieces. Originally, I went to support John and because I needed to go to a musical performance to meet a collo requirement, but looking back, I am very glad I went for other reasons. I was in band throughout middle school and high school, yet I decided to take some time off from the band world once I came to college. Though I am happy I do not have to deal with the stress of constant rehearsals, I do miss the social interaction and the thrill of performing. There's nothing quite like playing at a football game or on a stage under the bright lights. The last song performed that night was Indodana, a touching piece originating from South Africa. Prior to the piece being played, the conductor/trombone instructor gave some background, telling a touching anecdote of how he witnessed the song being sang in South Africa and moving everyone in the audience, including the former archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu. This story prepared me and the other audience members for how moving this piece really is. I don't know how to explain it, but once the song started, I got chills. I don't really know what I felt while it was playing, but I knew as soon as the song was finished the reason I missed band. I missed not only playing works that emotionally moved me while playing them, but I missed watching a change in the audience before and after hearing certain songs. I missed the awestruck looks on their faces and the experience of taking people on a journey with you as you relay the message the composer has from simple markings on a page to a beautiful masterpiece. Indodana took me on a journey similar to those that I took so many people on when I played in band. It was a wonderful reminder of the joys music can bring.

Values of Mine

As you people out there in the Colloverse know, we had to make a list of values that we have. And naturally, instead of discussing the list, we had to lower the list down to just two things we value. Well, my two things I ended up with were spirituality and equality. Now I know it may seem really stereotypical to say spirituality since we live in the Bible belt and all, but in this case it's true. Through my faith, I have learned to love because God first loved me.  I have discovered how to have inner peace during stressful times. I have learned how to trust and hope for a brighter tomorrow.

And though all of those things are great, my spirituality is much more to me than my faith. My spirituality can be found in something as simple as going to meditate and do yoga or going for a long walk outside and enjoying the scenery. My spirituality is how I relieve my stress from whatever life is throwing my way. It is the only way I can truly decompress and return to just me instead of feeling like a stressed crazy person. And because my spirituality enables me to do all of these and has taught me so many things, it is at the top of my list of values.

Equality is second on the list because of what I am passionate about. I want to live in a world where no one has to fear for their safety based on what they are or who they chose to be. My perfect world would be one where we all exist together regardless of our differences. For me, many conflicts would be solved if people would look past their shallow misconceptions regarding certain groups of people, religions, or genders. People should be judged based on who they are as a person rather than what category they just so happen to fit into. I am tired of seeing news articles where prejudices caused problems, so if I could essentially create equality and eradicate people's bigoted, ignorant ideas, then the world would be a much better place, full of opportunities that are available for all.

My Piece of Home

When asked what I brought from home that would sum up who I am as a person, I had to take some time to ponder over what that would be. What single item accurately depicts me? Well. I guess it would be a little stuffed owl that sits on my bed. His name is Snowflake, and he was my sister's present to me before leaving to come here to ETSU. Now, you may ask why on Earth this thing would be representative of me. After all, it's just an owl. But to me, it's so much more than that. It is my connection back home. It is the reminder of the little girl I left at home when I came here. It is the reminder of the why I have to keep going.

When I came here, I left behind a town I had always been a part of. I left a family that I had never truly been away from for extensive periods of time. I left everything. Coming here was my time to start over. My time to forget what I didn't want to think about and try to discover who I am and what I want in life. Coming to school here showed me part of who I am, and that's someone who will never give up on people who matter to me. This little owl is my reminder to keep going and be someone my sister can look up to. It is a symbol that there is always someone back home who is cheering me on. She is my hope, so this owl is my motivation, my gateway back home, and my reminder. A way to remember that things are always brighter when you look at them through the eyes of a child. I guess all this is to say I am family. Not family by blood necessarily. But I am the guardian and mom to those I care about, whether it be my sister, friends, or whomever. I am the bright-eyed owl keeping a watch to make sure everyone and everything is okay and as it should be.