Parents and their influences

This week in class we talked about how from birth until our death we are constantly influenced by those around us. One of our most important and needed influences is our parents. From birth parents are vital in providing care and nurture. However, they must also interact with us and socialize with us. I did not realize until this unit that a baby's brain is like a sponge and picks up on other people tendencies. This attention stimulates a child's brain and allows for normal physical and mental growth. On the contrary we learned about neglected kids and how they devolp physically as they age but have the mental capacity of an infant. Research found that the longer these children have been neglected the less they can learn later. We learned of a 13 year old who was locked in a closet her whole life until being rescued by authorities. Once rescued doctors tried teaching her to walk, talk, and do things we take for granted. They found it difficult eventually running into a wall where nothing else could be absorbed. Her brain function comparable to a patient in a mental institution. I am thankful for the loving and caring parents that I have and am grateful for their care now and during my infancy.

Tuesday's With Morrie

This week in class we watched the movie Tuesdays With Morrie. It is about a dying man and his former student Mitch. Mitch hears Morrie is dying and decides to visit him one last time before he dies. At first Mitch doesn't take much time to visit as he is constantly caught up with work and is always trying to make his deadlines. Morrie teaches him an important lesson - You need to learn to die before you can live. He expresses that Mitch's busy lifestyle may be making him a lot of money but if he isn't happy he questions him whether or not its worth it. I think this is a valuable lesson for us all because we are all so stressed about school, college, work, etc. While these are important those are only pebbles in our life our rocks or foundations of are life (family, friends, and health) are far more important and we need to focus the majority of our time on the rocks. I believe if we all make more time for our rocks we will live much happier lives.

American Values

This week in class we talked about American values compared to those values in other places around the world. I believe the most important American value is competition. Everywhere we look in our society there is competition whether it be from the two gas stations that are across the street from one another competing for business or from employees competed against fellow co-workers for a raise. It is this competitive nature that makes America great because with so much competition each person keeps striving to do better and better which in turn makes us better as a whole. From my personal experience I face competition in athletics and I know that when I am competing for a spot to start I work much harder trying to prove to the coaches, teammates, and myself that I deserve to be in that spot. The great thing about competition is that words have nothing to do with it and it is our actions that will speak for us. I believe that without our competitive society we would not be as strong as a nation as we are.

Cultural Norms

Last week in class we learned about cultural norms and the taboos, folkways, and mores. Different cultures across the world have different norms that we must follow when we visit their countries in order to be respectful and fit in. For example in America a taboo issue would be talking about sex or using the bathroom. Folkways here would be putting your elbows on the table. Finally a example of an American more would be doing drugs. On my family vacation to Mexico I noticed that at many of the outdoor eateries the person who was working would often engage in long conversations with my parents and I. I just recently looked up cultural norms in Mexico to discover that Mexicans tend to value personal relationships. I know understand all of our lengthy conversations had a deeper meaning.