Crash

There are many stereotypes in the movie Crash that are proven not to be true. One is the locksmith that was fixing Sandra's locks. Because she had been carjacked, she assumed that her subconscious racism was actually justified and believed in her prejudice against the Hispanic looking locksmith. Because of his physical features, tattoos, and clothing, she assumed he was a gangster and felt like he was going to end up hurting her. In reality, however, he is a loving father with no gang affiliation. In fact, he is trying to escape the bad neighborhoods in order to provide a safer place for his daughter. The viewer feels and emotional attachment to him because he is a really excellent and caring person without any connections with trouble.

Another incident caused by stereotypes was when the store was vandalized. The owners were Persian and trying to start a new life in America. However, they are stereotypes the whole movie as Arab and are accused as being terrorists because of their middle eastern features. But the viewers know that they aren't and feel bad that their store is destroyed just because of how they look and speak. In reality, the woman is a doctor by night and the father just wants to provide for his family.

I have been stereotypes before, but not for my race. When I tell some people that I'm a dancer, people assume its like the movie Black Swan, which is annoying... But I have had people ask me if I was anorexic, which is fe from the truth and offensive to me that people would think I treat my body that way. A lot of people assume I'm dumb because I'm a dancer with no time to study, and I'm blond. While a common saying amongst dancers is "Why learn math? We're dancers!" Many of us are actually really smart because we tend to be driven and focused in all aspects of life. I'm a straight A student and a dancer. Go team! Some of the stereotypes are positive and accurate too. People assume I'm a hard worker, I'm healthy and strong, and that I have a good memory. These are true for me, but not true for everyone. In any stereotype, characteristics don't apply to everyone, and while stereotypes might subconsciously sit in people's minds, people should also be socially mindful in their thinking and why they are thinking it. This way, people can change perceptions of race and stereotype through actions as opposed to perpetuating them.

A Just Harvest

A little while ago, I visited the food pantry in Evanston with some of my sociology class where we served food to those in poverty. Upon arriving, I was already nervous because the are seemed very run down and sketchy. I felt a lot better walking into the building and meeting the staff at A Just Harvest. The people volunteering there were so friendly, inviting, and funny. When the entire class arrived, we were all assigned different jobs. I was to be the "resetter," the person that puts out new place settings after people leave and the busboy picks up their dirty dishes. Before doing this however, I volunteered to help carry in a bunch of food from the outside truck, where a saw a line of people starting to form outside the kitchen, waiting to get their meals. I was nervous at first to interact with them, but soon found out that they were very nice, and they held the door open for me as I carried food in. I also poured drinks for all the tables, which included water, coffee, and tea.

The person in charge encouraged us to talk to the people a lot, and to put ourselves out there to be friendly. I'm usually really shy when meeting new people, so this was kind of hard for me. However, I ended up talking to way more people than the suggested five I introduce myself to. While waiting for tables to reset, I talked to a baker who knew the bagel shop my dad used to own near the area, two little boys who liked batman and superman, a man dressed in a nice suit, a woman who drew pictures and photocopied them to color in later (she even gave me a few of them), a man who told me that I always needed to have a positive outlook on life, a preteen boy who liked to read, and a man interested in WWII who was reading Stalingrad. I talked to many more people than this, but these were the people that stood out to me. Everyone was so polite and nice when they were talking to me. Many would call me by the name on my name tag, or "miss", and would excessively say "please," "thank you," and "very much appreciated." I would also have who I didn't even serve thanking me before they left. 

I had a really good time at A Just Harvest. The people were very friendly and the atmosphere was very community like. I felt like I was making a more direct impact on people than I was at Feed My Starving Children, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to do community service.  It's an experience I could see myself doing again in my own free time. It was nice to see how grateful everyone was for my time, and I felt like I was making a difference.

Race

So yesterday in sociology, we were talking about race and I had this mind boggling epiphany. I've been taught throughout my whole life to be tolerant and accepting of all people. Black, white, Asian, Irish, Hispanic whatever. And I am accepting of all people. I try not to stereotype based on race or other factors and try to keep an open mind to different people and situations. So naturally, when I learned we were going to be talking about race, I tried to apply this concept of acceptance. 

I noted that race is definitely a factor of identification, not quite a stereotype, but a category none the less. One of the first things we notice about a person upon meeting them is their race, which we categorize through skin color, hair type, and facial features. Humans like to categorize things, it makes it easier for life in general I guess. But then we read this article that made me question what race actually is. Genetically, it's impossible to tell someone's race, and on the other hand, how do we categorize people with mixed ethnicities? If someone's mom is white and dad is black, than does that make the child white or black? Does it depend on how dark their skin is, or is us how they behave? Where are the guidelines? Of you really think about it, race doesn't make much sense. It's a social construction of reality where people categorize people based in stereotypes, just to make it make sense on their brain. I think a lot of the concepts of race have to do with societies need to categorize. People are more comfortable knowing all, and keeping people in categories just to feel in control when they meet new people.

Poverty an Joyriding

Last week in sociology, we talked about poverty. Although it doesn't feel like it, I learned that I am wealthier than 50 percent of the nation. Most of America is in poverty and shares a small amount of the total wealth in America, while there are very few wealthy capitalists that have the majority of the money. It's difficult for people to move up and out of their social classes because of social constraints and the set amount of money in the US. Congress can't just print up money to move people out of social classes. Because of this, not everyone can move up.

When I was driving to dance the other day, I was thinking about how wealthy I am compared to most. I was driving with my windows down in my lime green beetle, blasting music, cruising down the highway on a bright sunny day. And I felt rich. Not just fortunate, because I'm fortunate for my life most of the time, but rich. I took on this new mindset that I was rich and happy and I felt like I was on vacation. The sun was out, the weather was warm, and I was healthy. I felt like the Queen of England probably does on a daily basis. Thanks to this lesson on poverty, I've realized not only how fortunate I am, but also how rich I am too. Not every girl my age can drive down the highway in her own car playing music off her iPhone with fancy equipment to connect it to the speakers on a warm sunny day :)

Coin Tossing and Social Classes

This week in sociology, we played a game that replicated the distribution of wealth in America. Each person received three pennies and would bet against others for the coins. Once a person ran out of coins, they were out and the winner would go on to bet against other winners. Throughout the simulation, our teacher would stop and record how many pennies each person had. 

Throughout the game, more and more people went into poverty by losing all their coins, while a couple would gain more and more. At the end, most of the class had zero, excluding my 6 and another students 30 or so. The results mimic the distribution of wealth in America. The majority of wealth in the country is held by a few, while the middle class (like me with my six coins), held a little less, and the majority of America sharing an extremely small amount. While everyone was equal in the beginning, the rules of our society kept people from moving up. In the simulation, once we lost our coins, we were out; there was no way to get back into the game. In society, we don't all start out equal, but the situations we are born into are difficult to overcome. The unwritten rules of society make it so that a poor person is less likely to succeed. This is not because of a lack of will or intelligence, but because of society around them and how it influence influences them. It is hard for a poorer kid to achieve success because he doesn't have the best quality teachers at his school and he can't afford an act tutor. A lack of money prevents him from getting out of the situation he was born in into, much like in the game, the rules kept is from achieving more wealth.

 On top of this, social class stereotypes also keep people down. We read an article with a chapter titled Social Classes and the Self Fulfilling Prophesy. When people are born into social classes they are raised thinking of their limitations and are often discouraged to leave their set social class. Thats why its called the self fulfilling prophesy; because people predict how a person will behave within their social class and the person himself is so constantly surrounded by these messages that he loses hope in rising up and ends up staying where he is expected to stay.

Love is all you need?

I was telling a friend about the LGBTQ panel we had in class today and she showed me this short film on YouTube that I thought was really powerful. It takes place in a world where basically everyone was gay and the majority are heterophobic. At first watching the video is so weird, because the roles have been reversed and the "what ifs" kind of mess with your mind. However, it really easily puts it into perspective for straight people who could never understand how someone could love another gender. I've always been accepting of LGBTQ people (my mom took me to the gay pride parade and let the transvestite mermaids hold me lol), but this made me understand more what its like to be bullied for something you can't change about yourself. I think more judgemental or homophobic people could relate to this video because the roles are reversed, and they know in their hearts that they could never even imagine being gay or lesbian, even if the whole world was telling them too. The story is also really sad, because the main character, a girl in middle school, kills herself because of the abuse she gets from the kids who know she has a crush on a boy. It kind of pulls on my heartstrings, and disgusts me how anyone can treat another human being that way,  gay, straight, lesbian, or whatever. meh.

But here's the video for anyone interested. I think its really good and really worth watching. It does get a little graphic at the end though, so be warned. Overall, I think the message is really powerful.

Freshman Ignorance and Media Stereotypes

The other day, I was leaving the dance studio from school, and I passed by the Stevenson poms audition for incoming freshmen. Instead of waiting for my mom to pick me up at the point, I opted to spend my time watching the auditions. After a little while, two girls (who I assumed to be freshman) walked passed and stop a few feet away from me to watch the audition. They were also talking very loudly and rudely. The conversation went as follows (excuse the language please, it's not mine):

Girl 1: Look at all of those girls down there with their butts hanging out, acting like sluts.
Girl 2: Yeah those poms girls are such bitches. They're so full of themselves.
Girl 1: Ugh I hate them... Oh my gawd, I'm so sorry are you...?

This she said to me, as she had just noticed my presence and the fact that I was wearing dance attire similar to the poms girls. She clearly thought that I was on poms, and looked incredibly guilty. When I responded, "no, I dance," she said okay good and kept talking to her friend.

Girl 1: Ugh see that one in the pink? I bet she's a huge bitch. Just look at how she's standing.
Girl 2: oh yeah, she wet to my school and she's really fake and mean to everyone.

And I'm standing here looking at them like, Are you serious? Are they really flat out talking smack about people they probably don't even know in front of a stranger? I actually did know some girls at the audition. None that they were ridiculing but still, I do know a lot of really nice girls on poms, and these freshman were sounding ridiculous judging people they've never personally met before. So at this point I interject into the conversation:

Me: I actually know a lot of really nice girls that are Patriettes.
Girl 1: Oh I'm so sorry, do you know those girls auditioning?

And her guilty expression came back. She should've been embarrassed that she didn't learn to keep her mouth shut the first time but, that's just my opinion.

Me: I don't know any of those girls personally, but I know a lot of really nice ones. They're not all bitches like you say they are.
Girl 2: But the majority are.
Me: Do you even know any of them?
Girl 2: No...

I responded with a disapproving look and walked away. I think this is a perfect example about how media shapes us. Just like media forms the way we view the different sexes from a young age, it also teaches and perpetuates stereotypes. These girls clearly have been misinformed sine they were young children about stereotypes in the media. After growing up with shows like Lizzie McGuire, Hannah Montana, and even oldies like Sister Sister, these freshman learned that cheerleaders and poms teams are the enemy. The stereotype that values beauty, popularity, and well, bitchiness. So because of the way that I know media formed their views, I know I shouldn't judge them so severely, but at the same time, you'd think they'd be old enough to think for themselves, and not what from media has taught them. So in class when we discussed whether or not changing the way media categorizes males and females would be easy, I sided for no. Because if today's youth is still caught up in something as individualized as television stereotypes, trying to dissolve the the barriers between how men and women are portrayed in the media is going to be a lot harder.

God grew tired of us

This week in sociology, we watched a documentary called "God Grew Tired of Us." It was about refugees from Sudan who had walked for thousands of miles and many years to escape from a war and how they get relocated and need to adjust to life in America. The film really showed how different life and culture where between the two places. Watching the film made me feel incredibly grateful for all the things I have.

I found the contrast between African and American values very obvious. In America, we care about stuff. We care about attaining superficial things and materials and objects. That's how we measure our wealth. The refugees in Africa had a different idea of wealth. They measured wealth in their relationships with family and friends. They want to contribute to the world and their communities to make it a better place. Of an American refugee had to leave their community behind to start again in a new country, I believe they would have approached it differently than the Lost Boys would have. An American would live by the principle, self first. They would try to improve their own lives and regain control before even thinking about going back to help their community. I also believed this would be encouraged, given America's value for the individual. However, the Sudanese were the opposite. They didn't think to get themselves back on their feet before helping their loved ones back home. As soon as they step foot in America, they immediately thought of ways to send money back to Africa. While this is a positive value and attribute, I think this might also be a flaw. I'm aware that I'm biased because I'm an American (social realization), but I personally think it would be easier to build myself up to stable ground before helping others. And I think I would be able to make more of an impact that way. Yet still, the complete selflessness of the Lost Boys was extremely touching, and made me think of the way that I relate to others.

Influences and Thank You Notes

Today in sociology, my teacher talked about how a person can have a big influence on others with out even realizing it. When I think of this, I understand that it is so absolutely true and can be both a positive and negative thing. A person can hurt another with out even trying, the same way he or she can make someone's day. Especially in light of recent events, people should try to be more aware of their effects on others. Because our interactions with our fellow students make them who we are. Like the front of our unit packet quotes from Leo Buscaglia, "who we are and who we become is determined by those who love us." But personally, I believe that we can even be influenced on a day to day by strangers. I always try to hold the door for the person behind me, or smile when I make eye contact with a stranger in the hallway. You never know who is having a cruft day, and could use a little support.

A couple years ago, I was at a dance competition and a teammate of mine was a finalist in the best of the best competition. Emily was only nine years old at the time and was one of the sweetest,mostconfident, and most modest children I'd ever met. I wanted to support her so some other teammates and I went to the competition, even though we weren't competing that day. We didn't think anything of it, it wasn't a haste and we were excited and proud of our friend. After she won (yay!) we went back stage and took pictures and congratulated her. A couple days later, she ran up to me at the studio and handed me a letter after giving me a big hug and thanking me for coming. I opened the note and found the sweetest thank you note. This little girl, who I rarely see because of our age difference, was so thankful that I came to support her. In her letter, she wrote that it meant a lot to her that I came to see her, because I was her role model; and she wanted to dance like me one day. I had no idea that me watching her performance would've meant so much to her. And on the other side of that, she probably didn't know how much her letter meant to me. Even though I haven't seen her in years, I still have it to this day, because it reminds me that even if I don't know it, there are kids that look up to me and that's can make I difference in someone's day simply by being there.

Women and the media

Today in sociology, we arched a video about offensive ads degrading women. Ads like these have been prevalent throughout the media since print media began. We often analyzed ads like these in my media class less semester and saw a consistent pattern in objectifying women, often using them as sex symbols or servants to men. It's appalling to think how some of these ads came to print, yet is more understandable in ads occurring before the women's rights movement.

Early ads like these shaped society to think that men were dominant over women and women had only two jobs: to serve men and to please men. The women's movement has yet to shake these stereotypes and ads are getting worse today, portraying women as sex toys and prizes to be won. Much advertising follows the implicit message, "buy the product, get the girl." A popular product using this approach is Axe Body spray.

These ads shape bothe men and women's thinking that women have to look and act a certain way in order to be happy. The models used in most advertising are computers generated and cause mean sand women to be or be with and unachievable perfection. There is no formal definition of the perfect woman. But these ads create a sociol construction that the perfect woman is skinny, tan, large breasted, and perfectly symmetrical in all areas.

What really proves societies obsession with this media ideal was my classmates reactions to the video. While the males in the class were being blatantly told that the media has shaped all their ideals and have turned women into objects by this video, many were still making insensitive comments towards the videos examples of offensive ads. Even knowingly in the presence of women, when the video froze, a fellow student had the nerve to say he "wished it had froze earlier," referring to the multiple closeups of women's bodies that were playing earlier. I mean really? Have some class. These kids were being spoon fed information that they were being controlled by media, and yet they were still hypnotized by a pair of breasts on a screen. Society must really be in trouble. Especially since media objectifying women has a strict relation to domestic abuse rates. If boys learn at a young age that women are objects without feelings, they are more likely to feel sympathy for them when their abusing and raping them as objects when they're older.

So for all those guys in my class watching the video, try to grow up and understand what this video is trying to teach. And if you're really struggling to understand, keep your mouth shut as a courtesy to everyone else in the room especially to your FEMALE classmates. 

Thanks you :)

Nature v Nurture and the Mighty Louis

This week in sociology, we learned about how important socialization is in our development as people. A person can't be born and live in isolation and be able to function as a member of society. Humans grow up constantly interacting with others, from birth to death. It is these connections with others who make us who we are. Perhaps the most important years of socialization are the younger years. When we are born, we are completely vulnerable. We are helpless and rely on people to survive. At this stage, our frontal lobe, the part of our brain stimulates by our interaction with humans, is still run by nature and instincts. It takes the love and care of our parents and family to devolve us into people.

While my cat isn't human, he still acts as an example of the importance of nurture. When we got him, he was sick and underfed. He was very afraid and shy around people. However, when we brought him home from the animal hospital, his feet never touched the ground. He was always being held or cuddled or played with. As the family's first pet, he got an extreme amount of attention. Now he acts like a dog. He is very trusting and curious of people, and runs to the door when it rings. He's one of the few cats I've seen who will plop on a strangers lap or lick my face while I'm trying to sleep. He also drinks out of the toilet ;). I know that my cat is like this because of the attention he got as a kitten. Our family made my cat who he is today, and if he had grown up with other people, or with less nurturing, he would've been a very different animal.

This is my kitty Louis. He is very ferocious when he yawns:

Feed My Starving Children

Last week (March 22 from 8-10pm), I volunteered with Feed My Starving Children with my family and boyfriend. We packed food to send to starving children in Africa. Our specific load went to Haiti. Basically, after a short introduction, twenty to thirty people work in stations in this warehouse to pack rice, soy, veggies, and vitamins in sealed bags to feed children in schools, orphanages, poor villages in nearly 70 countries. It was set up like an assembly line, so I held and sealed bags the whole time with my uncle, while the rest of our group measured and shoveled in the ingredients. Time flew by very quickly, because the work was easy and repetitive, and the people near by were fun to talk with.

At the end of the session, all the volunteers that night packed 64 boxes total, enough for 13,824 meals to feed 37 kids for a year. In the introduction and the wrap up, we were shown educational videos about the charity and the starving children it helps. 18,000 children a day die from hunger. The statistics are heartbreaking, especially given that there is more than enough food produced in the world to feed everyone. The one positive thing I learned was that since the inception of Feed My Starving Children, less and less children are dying daily of starvation. I felt proud to be a part of a cause that saves so many lives, and surprised that only two hours of my time could do such a thing. I plan to go back for the rest of my community service hours as well.

My boyfriend and I in our sexy hairnets lol:

Feed My Starving Children
1072 National Parkway
Schaumburg IL 60173
Contact Jan at 763-951-7306

Culture Shock and Spongebob Squarepants

One of my favorite Spongebob episodes is when he accidentally takes the bus to Rock Bottom on his way home from glove world. It also was one of the scariest (a long with the Hash Slinging Slasher episode). As hilarious and frightening as the episode is, it's very relatable to culture and sociology especially to the terms culture shock, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativity.

Basically, what happens is Spongebob finds him self lost in Rock Bottom, where life is completely different from what he knows. Everything is dark, people look and speak strangely, and Spongebob can't even read the bathroom signs. When he first arrives, he experiences culture shock, meaning he is overwhelmed and confused about the culture of Rock Bottom. He gets scared and paranoid because everything is so different to him. He also feels a sense of ethnocentrism because he feels the the life down in Rock Bottom is wrong. The buses run at an unusually evasive time, and people spit while they talk to him, and because Songebob's culture doesn't follow these customs, he believes everyone else is wrong, which makes him afraid. At the end of the episode, however, a Rock Bottom citizen that Spongebob feared the whole time, ended up helping him float back home in his Glove World balloon. In this scene, Spongebob becomes more culturally relative, understanding that while the culture in Rock Bottom might be different than his, it isn't wrong or right, it's just different.

A Bronx Tale and Hallway Traffic

social construction of reality- how people create the basic facts/realities of the world; society's unwritten rules

In A Bronx Tale, people in the neighborhood live by certain unwritten rules determined by people's social construction of reality. These rules are rules that everyone knows and lives by, and have been passed down and followed through generations. These rules include never going against Sonny and his crew and always go against cultures that aren't your own.

Rule #1: Never go against Sonny and his crew. Sonny rules the neighborhood and making him unhappy could bring harm to you and your family. In the beginning, Calogero is only a kid, and even though he knows that Sonny murdered someone, he doesn't turn him in. Also in various parts of the movie, when Calogero and his friends are fooling around and Sonny comes around, the kids know to listen to him and disappear from sight immediately. The rule is never spoken, but implied by every character in the movie- Don't mess with Sonny. The consequences of doing so are not quite known, however, they keep people from doing it.


Rule #2: Always go against cultures that aren't your own. The amount of racism in this movie is astonishing, yet is still a reality of the time period. Kids in this neighborhood are raised to hate African Americans for very little reason. While Calogero wasn't raised this way, his friends were. Every time his friends would see a black person, they would make degrading comments and threats or even take action to attack. Calogero always asks "Why? They ain't botherin' nobody," and his friend can never find a reason other than "because." This is because of the social construction of reality. "They aren't like us, so we must hate them." The same concept goes with the scene when the bikers come into Sonny's bar and he and the crew beat them up for very little reason other than the way they dressed. This way of thinking basically stems from the way you are raised and the social in and out groups that influence people.

One of my social constructions of reality isn't a very deep one, but it is one that I value greatly: Walking in the right side of the hallway.

There are no rules posted around school saying kids must walk on a certain side of the hallway. but we do anyway. This comes from the way our roads were built and driving rules. But at the same time, it gets me SO MAD when people walk at me on the wrong side of the hallway. It is obnoxious and rude, yet no one is actually doing anything wrong, society just thinks it. Especially now a days where everything is so systematic, the hallways have become roadways of their own and people who don't follow these unwritten rules will face the consequences of getting trampled to death. A few other laws of high school hallway etiquette include:

1) No sudden stops.
2) Slow lane stay right; Fast lane stay left
3) Don't form a slow walking chain across the hallway either slowing down traffic or completely stopping it.
4) Don't trip up other people with your rolling backpack.
5) Check your blind spot before changing lanes.
6) If you need to turn around do not turn right back around yourself to run into the person behind you. Make a smooth U-turn when oncoming traffic clears.

^^ Rules that are never said, but have been passed down to us by older generations of students and experienced drivers^^

A Bronx Tale- Groups in Sociology

The movie A Bronx Tale is a story about a boy named Calogero growing up in an Italian neighborhood in the Bronx. Throughout his childhood, he is influenced by many different groups that he is and isn't a part of. Sonny, Sonny's crew, Calogero's friends, his friends, his family, and his girlfriend are all groups that define him. Of these groups, Sonny has had the most influence.

Sonny acts like a father figure throughout the film. While at first he seems like a bad influence, he turns out making a huge positive impact on the main character's life. Sonny always tried to keep Calogero in school, and keep him out of trouble. Calogero is definitely a part of the small group that makes up Sonny and Calogero, because of their father-son-like relationship. I think Sonny plays an important role in keeping him of bad-influence groups like Calogero's friends and Sonny's crew. While these two other groups influence him, Calogero has been kept out of these groups, and as a result has kept out of violence, hatred, crime, and eventually death.

At the beginning of the movie, Calogero's master status is child. He screws around with his friends, and is still learning about the world and finding himself. He is easily influenced by the groups around him and is naturally a follower. Towards the end however, his master status becomes more of an adult. While he hasn't completely matured yet, Sonny has influenced him to be more responsible and think for himself. Instead of following along with things that he knows aren't right, he makes his own decisions and is more mature than he is at the beginning of the film.

I think most people's master statuses change in this way. Everyone starts as a child still learning about the world and their place in it. However, as we grow older, we turn into adults that make decisions based off our own beliefs and become less dependent on other.

In and Out of College Audtions

This week in sociology, we talked about our in groups, or groups that we where a part of. We talked about how they influence us and determine who we are as a person, tying into sociological mindfulness, being aware that these groups define us. At first, I didn't realize how many group I was a part of. Of course I have my school friends, my dance friends, and my family, but my in groups also include people I might not even know. For example, the entire senior class of high school is a group I'm  a part of, or auditioning students at colleges I visit. Upon further reflection, I realized that while, I might not know everyone in my in group, we still had a lot in common.

Last week I had a dance audition at OSU. Walking into the studio was the same as always, awkward and stressful. I decided to break the tension with a casual "so who's nervous?" and suddenly everyone started chatting. I learned where all the auditionees were coming from and what studios they went to. They were apart of many out groups, groups that I was not apart of. However, in the category of aspiring dance majors, we could still bond over the same things like the TV show Dance Moms, famous choreographers like TOKYO, and our favorite traveling dance competitions. It was especially funny when talking about other college auditions we were interested in: "Hey, didn't I see you at Butler last week?" or "Oh, I'll be at Indiana next week too. I'll see you there!"

These other dancers have influenced me in way I wouldn't have thought of. They make me more competitive and driven to get where I want, and they also push me to be a better dancer all around. During auditions, I can quickly learn from their strengths and their weaknesses and before and after the audition, I learn about dance through their own experiences, and get feedback on mine.

Family Guy and Sociological Imagination

This week in sociology, we talked about sociological imagination. To have sociological imagination is to be aware that when and where a person lives affects who he or she is. I am not who I am simply because of my personality or DNA. The many influences and experiences in my life have shaped how I deal with different situations, how I make friends, and even the type of music I listen to. For example, I believe that my dance teachers and friends have contributed greatly to my adaptability and openness to new people and situations. It's because of what they taught me that I am so comfortable with change. If I was born in a different time and place, such as during the Cold War, I might've been to preoccupied with the Soviet scare to dance and meet people to influence me that way. I might also be less open to people and ideas because of all the suspicion during that era.

I think a good example of sociological imagination is the Family Guy episode, "The Road to the Multiverse," where Stewie and Brian go dimension hopping and visit different universes. In every universe, they meet their family that essentially has the same genetic makeup and physical characteristics, but their personalities are different due to the changes in society around them. The parallel universes include the Walt Disney and Flintstone universes, and universes where Christianity or Frank Sinatra never was born. While everyone is familiar with the personalities of Stewie and Brain, their personalities altered in the different universes because of society around them. In the Walt Disney universe, The two characters are essentially the same, but are extra happy and cheerful because that is how the magical Disney universe affects it's inhabitants. While the multiverse episode doesn't specifically address the when and where ideas of sociological imagination, they still address the fact that a person's surroundings have a tremendous impact of who that person is.

Who Am I?

My name is Eliza Jane and I'm seventeen years young. I'm a senior in high school and live with my mother, a cat, a dog, and a fish named Nolan. My dad lives in Madison and my two half siblings live in Evanston. I have a really cute car that people say describes my personality perfectly; it's a green Volkswagen beetle. It's almost 14 years old and a diesel stick shift making it unique and fun to drive.

I dance between 25 to 30 hours a week at a studio about fifty minutes away from my house. It's the most important thing in my life and I plan to make a career out of it. I do ballet, pointe, jazz, and contemporary, and plan on majoring in dance at college while also double majoring in pre-physical therapy. I want to be a part of a ballet company after I graduate and hopefully move on to contemporary work later. During the week I leave right after 7th period and go straight to dance and don't get home until 10:30, which means late nights and early mornings. On Saturdays I dance from 8-7, and spend my hour long break at Panera eating bread with my dance buddies. I don't have much free time, but when I do, I try to hang out with school friends or my boyfriend, sleep, or watch TV and eat like a lazy bum because I'm classy like that. Dance has taught me to be dedicated, hardworking, adaptive, and open to knowledge. I look up to my teachers and friends, and together, we have made a comfortable and close knit community. There are so many aspects of dance that apply to real life that make it worthwhile in the long run. Dance pretty much defines my life and I am so fortunate that I have the opportunity to do it everyday. :)