North Shore Bubble

Last night, I went to Chicago for a birthday party. Many people came up to me, begging for money and food for their family. It's hard to say no, just looking at their desperate faces and open palms. We don't see anything like this living on the North Shore. It's funny that the living situations for people just half an hour away contrast so greatly from around here.

Seeing that made me think about the North Shore Bubble. So many people around here don't know what it's like to live on the verge of poverty, not sure if you're going to make it through the day with adequate food and drink. Outside of this area, people suffer and beg for anything that will help them stay alive.

This begs the question: Does the North Shore provide people with inaccurate views of reality? If so, people should be ready for the shock of their lives when (or if) they leave the North Shore and realize that not everything is as perfect and simple as it is here. At least for me, most problems around the world are sugar coated, and I didn't fully understand the suffering people endure every day until I actually saw it in front of my own eyes.

Race: A Social Construct?

A few weeks ago, the grade took the PSAT. Before starting the test, we were instructed to fill out information and answer questions about ourselves. In one box, the test asked you to fill in a bubble if you were African American and wanted to be considered for the National Achievement Scholarship Program. I thought that was ludicrous; if the PSAT has replaced the phrase African American with "Caucasian", chaos would ensue. People would label that racist, and claim that Caucasians are given more rights than African Americans. But when they write this, no one says a word.

The Scholarship mentioned above (CollegeBoard)

The other day in class we were talking about the parallels of slavery from the past to the present. But when I think of slavery over time, parallels don't come to my mind, rather contrasts. Back then whites were given far more opportunities than the enslaved, as they had a better chance at education and jobs. It seems to me that the opposite may go for today. Colleges are looking for diversity, and asking for African Americans to be considered for a scholarship program only for African Americans.

In an interview I read, Pilar Ossorio, a professor at Wisconsin-Madison, states that race is a social construct. "Race, as we understand it as a social construct, has a lot to do with where somebody will live, what schools they will go to, what jobs they will get, whether or not they will have health insurance" (pbs). Is it true, that race affects our lives so much that it ultimately controls almost every factor of our life? Also on pbs, I read this today about the disadvantages of being an African American, and this man states that they may be given more opportunities in education today because whites inherit more wealth from their elders and therefore have a head start in life. But is that a good enough excuse to give them more opportunities for scholarships and advantages in education? An African American teen could be just as wealthy as a Caucasian one, but could be accepted instead merely because of his race. Should race even be considered when colleges look at applicants?

What If I Don't Want Pink Shoes?

It was a typical Tuesday morning, and, as always, I was zoning out in advisory. My advisor was saying something, but it was simply acting as background sound (it's harsh, but true). But this time, something caught my attention. She was ranting, and it was about the gender roles that we are expected to fit. She explained that she was shopping for her young daughter's shoes the other day, and was searching frantically for shoes her daughter liked in the girls section of the store. In seeing that her daughter didn't favor the pink, girly colors of the shoes, they had to go to the boys section to find a pair she liked. My advisor was annoyed that these department stores set a certain image that is expected of each gender: pink and light colors for the girls shoes and blue, black, overall darker colors for the boys. It's unfair that at such a young age, these kids are introduced to this expectation to fit the mold that society has created for them. What if a girl doesn't want pink shoes? She shouldn't feel as if it is a bad thing.

I feel as though this represents gender roles today. In everyday jobs, it's seen to many as simply absurd for a woman to be doing a hands-on job, something like mechanical engineering. Many say the joke to girls, "Go make me a sandwich", but if you think about it, it's expected for women to stay in the kitchen and cook for the family, taking care of the kids and keeping the house clean, while men take up the position of going to work and earning money for the family.

From such a young age, we are introduced to these expectations of what we should become; what we should wear, what we should do, simply based off of what gender we are. But is that really fair? Can you guys think of other examples that come to mind when you think of these unfair expectations?

Dear Stereotypes, why do you exist?

Today, I attended a walk for diabetes. When I arrived, I spotted a student in one of my classes. I waved from afar, and later walked over to carry a conversation with him. The first thing he said was, "I wasn't expecting to see you here." I looked at him with a confused expression and asked what he meant. He looked as if he felt uncomfortable then covered it up by saying, "Well, I wasn't aware you knew ___" (the girl we were walking for).

I was on a website called 'dear blank, please blank' the other day and came across this picture.

We, as humans, often judge people before we get to know them. Before they even speak a word to us, we have already categorized them in our heads. Jock, nerd, punk... So my question is why? What do you think caused so many Americans to be so quick to judge others? Was it how we were raised? Was it the countless movies about high school where the characters are to the extreme?

But I'm not only talking about stereotypes. I'm mainly talking about judging others. I'm not saying this is how everyone is, but what that kid said that to me today made me wonder if I had given off a certain air that made him believe I was someone who I'm not. On the inside, someone may be so very different than what they seem just from their appearance. It makes me sad that someone may not give someone else a chance because of what they physically look like.

What Time Is It?

"Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out."
-Mitch Albom, The Time Keeper

What would the world be if we didn't keep track of time? If we never had calendars or clocks, solely light and dark giving us an approximation of what time of day it is. Can you imagine that? It's difficult, as time is all around us. School starts at precisely 8:15, no earlier or later. We each celebrate our birthday the same date every year. No other creature on this earth keeps track of time as humans do. 

Chronophobia, or fear of time, is apparent in every human being. Sure, it can be more extreme in certain cases, but I think everyone has thought about growing old and what regrets they may have. At a degree, we are all afraid that when we grow old, time will have flew by us without so much as a warning. So why did humans create the concept of time? Sure, keeping a schedule and organizing time is a necessity in everyday life, but disregarding that fact, is it really worth being afraid of losing track of time? Do you think it would benefit humans more if we didn't keep track of time, never really thinking about our age or the years that pass, only living day by day?