I believe in the power of change. I believe that people have the power in them to not only change their lives but also the world around them, if they try hard enough and make the right decisions. The reason why so many people find this hard to believe is because they see the world as a big scary place where it makes more sense to sit back and not take any chances than to try something new and bold that could really change the world for the better.
Despite the fact that not many people are willing to go out of their way to change the world, the world is always changing. There are people that are making it a better place to live each and every day. For example, modern medicine allows people to survive what used to be thought of as life-ending injuries and illnesses. Through the use of better technology in communications such as cell phones and the internet, a vast array of information is always available at one’s fingertips. Steps are being taken to ensure that we are creating a cleaner, more hospitable environment for generations to come through advances in alternative energy sources as well.
However, in a world where access to such powerful technology is so readily available, there are people that wish to use it to harm others. Terrorists and online predators, for example, take the advances made by people trying to make the world a better place and use them for their own selfish desires instead. They are changing the world too, but in a way that makes the world more dangerous, intimidating, and divisive.
To overcome this, people must focus on making efforts to not always help themselves and their own agendas, but make sure that what they’re doing can also benefit others. Everyone can change the world they live in, and most want it to be a cleaner, more accepting place to live. If people truly want this, though, they must be willing to give up a life of normalcy and security to reach out and make sure others have the opportunities that they have to live better lives. Change is inevitable; but if people learn to use their talents and opportunities for the good of those around them and across the world, good can prevail over evil and the world can be a safe, clean, happy place to live in.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Writing for a Living
My ideal job after college would likely involve writing, one of my hobbies. Having taken several writing classes in college, I’d love to be able to write novels and other books to make a living. I realize that this isn’t very realistic, though, and so I’d probably have to take up a steady paying job while writing books in my spare time.
Because I couldn’t rely solely on writing books to get by, I’d search for a job that allowed me to make a steady living but hopefully still dealt with writing. Working for a newspaper, for example, would be fine with me while I tried to write books on the side. I’ve always been interested in the news and media, so getting to work for a newspaper would be very satisfying, even if I didn’t make as much money as I would writing best-selling novels. Another possibility would be to write for a popular magazine, but this probably wouldn’t happen unless I made a name for myself first working for a newspaper or something similar.
The fact that I want to be able to ultimately support myself through writing and selling books that I’ve written suggests two things: I would get to do something that I love for a living, and I’d be able to be my own boss. These two things are very important to me, but I also understand that it will take a long time and a lot of hard work if I want to be in that position someday.
Because I couldn’t rely solely on writing books to get by, I’d search for a job that allowed me to make a steady living but hopefully still dealt with writing. Working for a newspaper, for example, would be fine with me while I tried to write books on the side. I’ve always been interested in the news and media, so getting to work for a newspaper would be very satisfying, even if I didn’t make as much money as I would writing best-selling novels. Another possibility would be to write for a popular magazine, but this probably wouldn’t happen unless I made a name for myself first working for a newspaper or something similar.
The fact that I want to be able to ultimately support myself through writing and selling books that I’ve written suggests two things: I would get to do something that I love for a living, and I’d be able to be my own boss. These two things are very important to me, but I also understand that it will take a long time and a lot of hard work if I want to be in that position someday.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Minors and Majors
My time spent at UMBC has had its ups and downs, with fun classes and boring classes just like anyone else. There have been good professors and bad professors, but only two of them have convinced me to make major changes to my academic plan.
It was my freshman year and one of the first classes that I had in college. I had always enjoyed my history classes in high school, so naturally that was what my major was when I first got to UMBC. When I got to my first history class, though, I started having second thoughts. The professor was rarely prepared for class and showed up late several times. Also, he spoke in a low, monotone voice so that staying awake through the lectures was a challenge on top of learning the material covered. When there were lectures that were semi-coherent, the professor would often ask very drawn out, seemingly rhetorical questions that nobody knew the answer to because we hadn’t yet covered the material. After waiting for at least ten seconds for someone to answer, he’d yell at the class and ask us why we didn’t know anything about U.S. History. Luckily for me, and several other people in the class, most of our grades came from easy quizzes on Blackboard that followed what our book said instead of what little information we may have gotten from the professor. After such a negative experience with history, I changed my major to sociology after my first semester and haven’t looked back since.
My best educational experience, though, didn’t come from one of my sociology classes. Instead, it was a creative writing class that I added to my schedule at the last minute because I couldn’t get into a sociology class I wanted. In high school, I had gotten decent grades in English, but I didn’t consider myself to be an expert writer by any means. In my creative writing class, we spent most of our time revising and talking about the stories we had written instead of using our time to read lots of books and talk about them. The class itself had no more than twenty students in it, and the professor let the students do most of talking, only jumping in to the conversation every now and then to offer what we could improve on. Unlike the history professor, my professor for creative writing never talked down to us to show that she knew the material and we didn’t. Instead, she acted like just another student in the class, albeit a wise and well versed one on the most important aspects of successful writing. I finished the class with an A and soon after, started pursuing a minor in writing.
- Joel
It was my freshman year and one of the first classes that I had in college. I had always enjoyed my history classes in high school, so naturally that was what my major was when I first got to UMBC. When I got to my first history class, though, I started having second thoughts. The professor was rarely prepared for class and showed up late several times. Also, he spoke in a low, monotone voice so that staying awake through the lectures was a challenge on top of learning the material covered. When there were lectures that were semi-coherent, the professor would often ask very drawn out, seemingly rhetorical questions that nobody knew the answer to because we hadn’t yet covered the material. After waiting for at least ten seconds for someone to answer, he’d yell at the class and ask us why we didn’t know anything about U.S. History. Luckily for me, and several other people in the class, most of our grades came from easy quizzes on Blackboard that followed what our book said instead of what little information we may have gotten from the professor. After such a negative experience with history, I changed my major to sociology after my first semester and haven’t looked back since.
My best educational experience, though, didn’t come from one of my sociology classes. Instead, it was a creative writing class that I added to my schedule at the last minute because I couldn’t get into a sociology class I wanted. In high school, I had gotten decent grades in English, but I didn’t consider myself to be an expert writer by any means. In my creative writing class, we spent most of our time revising and talking about the stories we had written instead of using our time to read lots of books and talk about them. The class itself had no more than twenty students in it, and the professor let the students do most of talking, only jumping in to the conversation every now and then to offer what we could improve on. Unlike the history professor, my professor for creative writing never talked down to us to show that she knew the material and we didn’t. Instead, she acted like just another student in the class, albeit a wise and well versed one on the most important aspects of successful writing. I finished the class with an A and soon after, started pursuing a minor in writing.
- Joel
Monday, March 3, 2008
A Peaceful Approach
Although I admit to not knowing much about the Black Panthers before going to see this exhibit, I thought I knew one thing about them. Whereas MLK, Jr. and other civil rights activists fought for rights through peaceful demonstrations, the Black Panthers were very aggressive in getting their message across.
After seeing one of the images in the exhibit, however, I found out that my previous assumptions weren’t completely true. In the photograph that I chose, Black Panther members are talking to students at Yale University in May of 1970. There are seven Black Panthers in the photo and three white students sitting in front of them, listening to them speak. The Black Panther in the middle of the photo is talking to the students with his hand extended towards them. The look on his face is one of determination; he doesn’t look like he’s hostile or dangerous, but he does look focused. Next to him is a Black Panther taking notes on a small pad of paper. There are three other Black Panthers with sunglasses on that are looking off in different directions, leading me to believe that they’re watching out for any attackers that may try to disrupt the speech. The other two Black Panthers also look like they’re guarding the speaker, but they’re carrying bundles of newspapers that they’ll likely hand out to the students after the speech.
While the Black Panthers certainly employed violence and fear in their fight for civil rights, this photo shows that they also used more peaceful methods. I think that this is a good example of the tactics used by any group attempting to change their culture; when forceful actions no longer work, peaceful measures can get the message across just as well.
- Joel
After seeing one of the images in the exhibit, however, I found out that my previous assumptions weren’t completely true. In the photograph that I chose, Black Panther members are talking to students at Yale University in May of 1970. There are seven Black Panthers in the photo and three white students sitting in front of them, listening to them speak. The Black Panther in the middle of the photo is talking to the students with his hand extended towards them. The look on his face is one of determination; he doesn’t look like he’s hostile or dangerous, but he does look focused. Next to him is a Black Panther taking notes on a small pad of paper. There are three other Black Panthers with sunglasses on that are looking off in different directions, leading me to believe that they’re watching out for any attackers that may try to disrupt the speech. The other two Black Panthers also look like they’re guarding the speaker, but they’re carrying bundles of newspapers that they’ll likely hand out to the students after the speech.
While the Black Panthers certainly employed violence and fear in their fight for civil rights, this photo shows that they also used more peaceful methods. I think that this is a good example of the tactics used by any group attempting to change their culture; when forceful actions no longer work, peaceful measures can get the message across just as well.
- Joel
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The Honda Family
When my brother, Jared, was seven years old, he wanted to get a dirtbike. Of course, he wasn’t very tall yet and he had to settle for the smallest size of dirtbike, commonly referred to as a “minibike”. When my family went looking for minibikes, we found that Honda made a 50cc minibike called the Z50. It was the perfect size for Jared and so we bought one on the spot.
Fast forward eleven years and Jared had just gotten his motorcycle license. Looking to buy a streetbike, he looked at Hondas first, eventually settling on their 1000cc flagship bike. The next year, I wanted to buy a dirtbike like Jared. However, I had my eyes on a Suzuki and not a Honda, much to the shock of Jared and my dad, who also had a Honda motorcycle. Looking back, I think this was because I wanted to be different and not just follow everything that Jared did. In the end, though, I settled on a Honda dirtbike. Despite being very similar to the Suzuki in terms of cost, performance, and styling, there was something about the Honda that drew me to it. I think that being able to say that I was part of the “Honda family”, so to speak, was more important that making a statement about how different I was.
After buying my first Honda, my parents and I bought a Honda Civic for me a few years later. Why did we buy the Honda? Well, it’s like walking into a class on the first day and knowing only one person in the class. Where do you sit? Next to that person, of course. They already know you and you know them, just like when you buy something from Honda.
- Joel
Fast forward eleven years and Jared had just gotten his motorcycle license. Looking to buy a streetbike, he looked at Hondas first, eventually settling on their 1000cc flagship bike. The next year, I wanted to buy a dirtbike like Jared. However, I had my eyes on a Suzuki and not a Honda, much to the shock of Jared and my dad, who also had a Honda motorcycle. Looking back, I think this was because I wanted to be different and not just follow everything that Jared did. In the end, though, I settled on a Honda dirtbike. Despite being very similar to the Suzuki in terms of cost, performance, and styling, there was something about the Honda that drew me to it. I think that being able to say that I was part of the “Honda family”, so to speak, was more important that making a statement about how different I was.
After buying my first Honda, my parents and I bought a Honda Civic for me a few years later. Why did we buy the Honda? Well, it’s like walking into a class on the first day and knowing only one person in the class. Where do you sit? Next to that person, of course. They already know you and you know them, just like when you buy something from Honda.
- Joel
Thursday, February 7, 2008
My Media Habits
To obtain my daily media, I usually watch CNN and parts of the nightly news. The stories that I pay attention to the most are the ones that deal with national and world news. I find that local news often covers depressing stories that I can’t do anything about, like murders, fires, or other disasters, so I tend to avoid those stories. I also don’t follow news about celebrities and their lives because they don’t affect me. My media habits have been influenced mostly by my parents. My mother always watches the nightly news when she gets home from work, but my father rarely keeps up with the news, preferring to relax when he gets home from work. I think that this has led me to try to keep up with the news, but only if I have time. I also watch CNN from time to time to keep up with national stories.
I think that one of the best aspects of my media habits is that I don’t focus on one particular news station to get my news. I try to get it from a variety of places so that I can form my own opinions about stories. However, because I get almost all of my news from TV, I don’t always get the insight that newspapers and blogs can offer. Also, I only watch the news when I have time or if I’m following a particular story. To improve my media habits, I could try to read daily newspapers and use the internet to get more points of view on stories.
I think that one of the best aspects of my media habits is that I don’t focus on one particular news station to get my news. I try to get it from a variety of places so that I can form my own opinions about stories. However, because I get almost all of my news from TV, I don’t always get the insight that newspapers and blogs can offer. Also, I only watch the news when I have time or if I’m following a particular story. To improve my media habits, I could try to read daily newspapers and use the internet to get more points of view on stories.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Introductory Post
Hi, my name is Joel Nave and I'm a junior here at UMBC. I'm majoring in sociology and minoring in English. I like playing football, videogames, listening to music, and hanging out with my friends.
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