One of my first favorite memories at HAIS was going on the Buddhist temple/Mandir field trip. We traveled such a short distance to experience a lifestyle millions of miles away. Our tour guides helped us explain what each ritual meant and the meanings of different symbols on and around the temple. I always personally wondered why Buddhist monks shaved their hair off their heads and why they had fruit and flowers all over the place. The religion of Buddhism was really fascinating to learn about, such as the meaning of enlightenment and long-living souls. I discovered that Buddha, the beginner of the religion, was enlightened and coming from a religion like Islam, the way the Buddhist admire the Buddha is what really intrigues me. Before and after the field trip, in our AP World History class, we were covering about religions all over the world and this trip enriched the way I learned and the little details helped me analyze things I could never understand from reading the book. In all, I believe that everybody should investigate the world and see what is beyond the stereotypes.
This semester in Ms. Fischer's class for English, we read the book called "Enders Game" by Orson ScottCard. As a class, we did a background analysis of the book and related it to topics that were actually going on in the real world around us as of the day we speak. Our class was split into groups as we integrated our knowledge of what we retained from the book into the real world. We were given topics (such as the one above which is the "One-child policy" in China), government role on obesity, school vouchers, and abortion laws. In the third grade, (yes, the idea of having one child was enforced that long ago!) I remembered a really good friend of mine from China told me that her parents moved to America because they could have more children. At first, I was outraged. As a third-grader, I did not understand why but I soon figured it out. She explained how her aunt found out that she was pregnant but she knew she had to give up the child because she already had one. Why can Chinese people only have one child? Was it illegal? This exposure at a young age terrified me, and me being naive, I told myself I would stay away from Chinese people in case they told me I couldn't have any children when I grew up. (Of course to this day, I have learned the situation). Connecting this to "Enders Game" was very crucial in understanding Utopian societies. The people at my table argued that the data from the amount of people that lived in China was growing at an extremely fast pace and that this idea should be enforced in order to keep factors stable, and others argued that abortion was wrong and the rest were stuck in the middle. To myself, I believe that in order to survive here on Earth, we must look ahead and see (with the population data, GDP, and other factors) how we all would live and I think that the one-child policy should be enforced with those ideas in mind. I researched about abortion and the process of it and I have found out that within a certain amount of weeks, you are able to safely remove the baby regarding the growth of the fetus. http://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/medical_versus_surgical_abortion/
LEAD11-12.INV3. Analyze, integrate, and synthesize evidence to formulate a coherent response to a globally-focused question
This semester I took History 1302 which is the second part to History 1301. This was my first History class at HCC and I am glad to say I made through it! Our major paper (our only paper actually) was a free topic related to history that you could elaborate and give your opinions about. My topic was specifically about freedom for women in the middle East. This included, but was not limited to, violence, a voice for women, arranged marriages and abuse. It was a sensitive topic and one of many articles I had to surf through online. I also was very lucky to have an interview with a newly wed girl at the age of 12. Even though there were many logistics where in some way, there were no solutions, I understood that people carry their cultures on their backs and that sometimes, it's us as a human population to understand that. Although I received a failure, I spoke to my professor and she said I had a passion for this topic and my learning experience from this research paper was something I wouldn't trade for the world.
This semester I took History 1302 which is the second part to History 1301. This was my first History class at HCC and I am glad to say I made through it! Our major paper (our only paper actually) was a free topic related to history that you could elaborate and give your opinions about. My topic was specifically about freedom for women in the middle East. This included, but was not limited to, violence, a voice for women, arranged marriages and abuse. It was a sensitive topic and one of many articles I had to surf through online. I also was very lucky to have an interview with a newly wed girl at the age of 12. Even though there were many logistics where in some way, there were no solutions, I understood that people carry their cultures on their backs and that sometimes, it's us as a human population to understand that. Although I received a failure, I spoke to my professor and she said I had a passion for this topic and my learning experience from this research paper was something I wouldn't trade for the world.
Mass Incarceration in The Age of Colorblindness: Michelle Alexander
LEAD11-12.INV1. Identify, describe, and frame questions about an issue, and explain how that issue is locally, regionally, and/or globally-focused.
For my English 1302 class at HCC, my professor challenged our composition course by using a book written by an author that talks about the War on Drugs, the rising of a new caste system (Jim Crow) and mass incarceration. Coming into this class, I did not know much about the War on Drugs but touching base, I discovered that it takes place in the U.S. prison system, and the majority of the people that it involved are African American and Latino men. Mass incarceration occurs by circulating the victim in the prison system by branding them a felon, undermining them from any government support and there were studies in the book portraying that crime rates were increased. During Reagan's administration, the delivering of drugs into America through Cuba and other places was forced by his administration into the streets of low income neighborhoods and made it easier to bring the victims into the system by placing the police in those areas. By connecting it to my local area, I realized through data that 3rd ward and 5th ward had the highest arrest rates for drugs and higher tax property areas had the most crime. My biggest question throughout this book was "How did anybody not know about this?" Alexander did a wonderful job of answering that question by using story lines and critical evidence that it is being hidden from us.
For my English 1302 class at HCC, my professor challenged our composition course by using a book written by an author that talks about the War on Drugs, the rising of a new caste system (Jim Crow) and mass incarceration. Coming into this class, I did not know much about the War on Drugs but touching base, I discovered that it takes place in the U.S. prison system, and the majority of the people that it involved are African American and Latino men. Mass incarceration occurs by circulating the victim in the prison system by branding them a felon, undermining them from any government support and there were studies in the book portraying that crime rates were increased. During Reagan's administration, the delivering of drugs into America through Cuba and other places was forced by his administration into the streets of low income neighborhoods and made it easier to bring the victims into the system by placing the police in those areas. By connecting it to my local area, I realized through data that 3rd ward and 5th ward had the highest arrest rates for drugs and higher tax property areas had the most crime. My biggest question throughout this book was "How did anybody not know about this?" Alexander did a wonderful job of answering that question by using story lines and critical evidence that it is being hidden from us.