1. Give a new and unique example of “Water” in your life. In other words, water is our culture and the way it affects your behaviors. Please identify a way we have not already discussed or read about that your culture is influencing you.

The water in my life, i guess would be school. If i really had to think about it, school is where i spend my most time in life where i see and interact with my friends. Its a routine that is very normal and is not avoidable. School is my social water because its where all my friends are, its an almost everyday part of life. Another example of the water around us is just how we interact with our friends. The normal environment that we live in is a major part of our lives that is just normal. You act according to your surroundings. If your always surrounded by your friends, you tend to act like your friends influencing you and your water might be different from someone else.

2. How do you navigate the water all around you? How do you behaviorally adjust to the cultural forces going on around you? An example with description.

I navigate around the water that surrounds me by social interaction. You move from place to place with a goal. The goal might be big or small but u go everywhere with a purpose. You communicate to maneuver your life. The water around you is shaped by social interactions that you make and your water is also shaped by what you believe in. You behaviorally adjust according to things going on around you. Like for example, you change according to your surroundings so when something happens in your life to change it, like a death in the family or your going through a rough patch in school, your immediate life changes due to what you make of your life. It'll change weather u want it to or not. Your water changes and u have to adjust to it because if you dont, you wont know what to do and your water becomes different from what you saw it to be before.

3. Values – what American values do you embrace and what values do/might you creatively adjust to find your own happiness? (2 examples each) Describe how you “creatively” adjust values (or think you might in the future) of society to find your own happiness in life now or in the future.

As americans, we are getting lazier and lazier. Although we keep producing the majority of technology in the world, many americans arent doing anything but sit around and do nothing but hang around with friends and party. It might show a decreasing interest in knowladge in the world, but its a value that i embrace and is accepted that i manipulate to my own happiness and enjoiment. Another value that i embrace is the value of having friends. I dont think people would consider having friends a value but it is if you think about it. To have friends means that you have people that will stand by your side no matter what. When you have friends, they accept you for who you are and you feel good about yourself, when people dont have friends, their world view is changed and has a greatly affected happiness. You cant be happy without friends. People are content without friends but are never truly happy. People can adjust their calues in the future to make themsleves fit in with where ever they are. They find happiness in the strangest places but if they can make their own choices and survive in the world constantly adjusting their values to be happy, then they probably didnt have very good values to start.

How are you like your family?
I think i follow in my brothers footsteps rather than my parents. Even though i did not grow up with my brothers i have done more to be like them without really knowing. I am not like my parents at all.
Long time friends?
I greatly resemble the ideas of my long time friends. We all seem to think alike and have a similar sense of humor and ideas about life.
When did your parents first realize you had a unique personality and what were the "signs" they saw? (Go ahead ask them!)
My parents first realized that i had a unique personality in middle school. Some of the signs were that i was strong in math, i understood mature and advanced concepts and i was starting to show potential in my life to come.
What are some habits/attitudes/etc that you do not want to be like your P's?
My parents like to raise their voices a lot which doesnt feel good emotionally. I would treat my kid a little differently cause they have the right idea on how to be good parents just not the technique.
Do you think it will be possible to work against both nature and nurture and to be different???
If you can work really hard against them, i suppose that you can do anything that you really want to.
After the in-class reading on Thursday about AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION please identify what have been the most significant people or groups (besides family) that have affected your self-concept, attitudes, behaviors, or other orientations toward life. Once you identify one or more groups, besides Family, explain how/what influences they have had.
I would say that my friends have had the greatest influences on me in my life. I am always interacting with them and our ideas have changed over the years. Because we all tend to think alike, our ideas have changed as a group. We all have some things that we dont agree on, but it helps in our friendship to balance it out. Too many people with the exact same ideas in the same place may be a little dangerous haha.

A Bronx Tale

In the movie, "A Bronx Tale," a young boy who is come to known as by "C" is a normal kid in the Bronx.

Throughout the movie, he is exposed to all sorts of behavior as well as a murder. He doesn't rat out the killer. This killer, happens to be the sort of "godfather" of this Italian neighbor hood. His name is Sunny. He could do anything he wanted because people had the most respect they could have for him than anyone else they knew. Sunny gambled, which is how he made the majority of his money. He quickly took in "C" as a son to him. He showed him his way of life and his philosophy. "The working man is a sucker," he always said. This influenced C in his way of life. He clung to Sunny as a father and learned his ways. As soon as Sunny took C in, everyone gave C respect.

It was mostly cause they all feared Sunny that C got respect. When people fear you, they do things for you without question. They respect you out of fear that someday you wont be there to help them out if they need it. Sunny was right. Being available is the key to being so loved as a public figure. You need to be distant so you people think that they need you but also be close to see whats going on with everything.

Does fear influence people more than respect?

Do people tend to react more to other situations when they are not directly involved?

Was C right in looking up to Sunny more than paying attention to his own father?

9/11

9/11 is always a sensitive time of year for everyone. people remember the terrorist attacks on the world trade center and the attack on the pentagon. more importantly, they remember the lives that were lost that terrible day. i was in 4th grade in math class when the news was announced on television. at the time i hadnt realized the heaviness of the event. it hit me a little later when i found out that the united states had gone to war. this event had changed american history forever. safety precautions have severely increased and the government seems more paranoid by the minute. as americans we have developed stereotypes about other races and now the muslim people have taken a hit for it. it wasnt their fault for the attack. its stupid to think that people should be judged by how they look or what god they pray to. it doesnt matter at all. there has only been one good thing that has come from this attack on american safety; its the way we have come together as a nation and how we are as close as ever. patriotism has increased a lot since this devastating event in history. we need to stop the stupidity of the governments plans to wage war and carry on with the fighting. the racism and stereotyping needs to come to a stop. we're americans and we'll be better than that.

First Day of Shool

The first day of this new school year went alright. I didn't really feel to pressured into the last year of high school. People were friendly and things seemed to work out. All my teachers are pretty cool and the classes don't seem too difficult. I'm looking forward to a good year in all my classes and to graduate in June.