Self Evaluation

I have really been able to express myself more than I ever have through writing this semester. I have been able to ween out my imperfections to the point that I am a decent writer. The most difficult essay was the Argumentative Essay because of the fact that it would never be finished. I had so much to say but not enough time to be able to say it. I really enjoyed this essay; I got to express my opinion on a subject that I was personal to me. My entire ENC 1101 experience has been a great one and I have learned a lot.

No Reform Needed!

Why would the education system need to be reformed?? It has been working for decades; why do we have to change it now? Just because you didn't get into the school of your choice, doesn't mean that the school's admission system needs to be reformed, it means that you needed to work harder in grade school.
The FCAT is a legitimate way of evaluating teachers' teaching methods. The FCAT tests things that should be learned by the grade that the student takes it. How else are the teachers, students, and overall school supposed to be evaluated?
Financial aid, there is no problem with financial aid. It sets standards of which they evaluate your need of financial aid. If your house income is too high, you do not need financial aid. Your parents or whom ever you live with can pay.

What do they think!?!?!?

We the "Millennial" generation are innovating the work place and are setting our priorities. Work should never have to come before our everyday lives. Family and friends should not have to take a back seat everyday of our lives because we need to work. We saw our parents struggle daily to make ends meat. Through their guidance and example, we strive to do bigger and better things with our lives. Is that not what all parents say that they want their kids to have?? A better life than the one they have lived?? That is what I am going to tell my children if or when I have them.
One thing that really bothered me about the video was the fact that they said that we didn't live through the tough times they did. Ok I am truly sorry that they went through their "terrible times" but that is not our fault. We go through bad times of our own. They may never measure up to the problems that they have had in the past, but they may just by pass them. Everyone is going to compete in thinking that they have had harsher times than everyone else, because it seems as though they have something to prove.
We are the Millennial Generation and we are going to do what we want when we want to on our terms and we are going to do it in a smart way. If someone has a problem then deal with it because we are not slowing down.

HOW RUDE!

i agree with what the girls were saying on the satellite. How could the most popular lyrics not influence the the people that listen to it? i don't think that anyone was attacking anyone. i believe that the people on oprah had no evidence to support their claims. this does affect my emotions/values/beliefs because its basically about me. it's my gender. i find it rude and unethical for a man to be calling me a hoe, slut, bitch, etc. i also think its racial for them to be calling each other niggahs. even though its something that has been happening since a long time ago i don't believe that it should continue, nor do i think that it should be ignored. this is a serious topic that needs to be discussed and needs to be ended or a solution has to be found. as for the girls that dont agree with the fact that profanity in hip hop influences the culture that mainly listens to it, i believe that maybe they like to be called out of their names and it doesnt bother them. but personally its insulting and it should end now. we are in a new millenium and we should begin to act like it and end all the disgusting behavior that has be performed since way before a lot of us were born.

New Cultures Exposed

After watching the videos about these other cultures in different countries, I have learned a lot. Just from sitting at my desk watching them for just about a sum of 6 minutes, I have opened my eyes to new cultures. I saw how their traditions both are done in order to show stages in each individuals lives. The first one about the women and the rings that they have to wear around their neck was very interesting. The way that they enclose their necks like that and leave it on for years on end was amazing to me. When the lady was washing her neck solved one question I had from the beginning of the segment, how do they wash in there? and it also answered my other question of what would it look like when it has been taken of? The other video about the men being cut and going through "initiation" into man-hood, i thought, was a bit much. Having a man be put through so much pain both physically and emotionally is unnecessary. But that is a culture that we have in this world and just like we have cultures that they do not like, they have cultures we do not like. The things I learned from this video were disturbing, how they would willing be put through such a treacherous process.

Leaving the nest

I am 18 years old I believe that I am old enough to go out on my own to college. My parents don't believe that I am capable of being successful. I will prove them wrong. I want to do this because I need my freedom. I love my family and my home but i need to get out. I need to live the college life, be on my own, and do what I want to do. I love all my friends from high school that I have stayed in Miami but I want to get out. I want change.
On the other hand, I love the school I am at now and the people that I have met there. There are great opportunities for me here. But I know that if I stay here I will be happy at school but miserable at home. I know that I will keep in touch with the friends that I have made here. They are basically one of the only reasons that I am kind of regretting accepting me moving. But this is a sacrifice that I made before I met them and I need to go. I need to get out. I am not happy at home. I am leaving.

Save Darfur

In my highschool I would see men and women wearing dark green shirts that said "Save Darfur" on them with white letters. I would always ask what Darfur was and why do they need to save it to my fellow students, they would just reply with its some country in Africa. Immediately after saying that it is in Africa, I would understand it to be some sort of poor, famished country; like all other African countries seemed to be for me. When I read that I had to do a research on a social issue I thought, what a good oppurtunity to explore what social issues Darfur was facing.
Darfur is a region of far western Sudan, bordering the Central AFrican Republic, Libya, and Chad. Darfur is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, Noth Darfur, and South Darfur; and is currently in the midst of an armed conflict and resulting humanitarian emergency. One side of the armed conflict is composed mainly of the Sudanese military and the Janjaweed (a militia group recruited mostly from the Arab Baggara tribes of the northern Rizeigat aka camel-herding nomads). The other side comprises a variety of rebel groups, mainly the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality movement, (recruited primarily from the land-tilling Fur, Zaghawa andMassaliet ethnic groups). While publicly denying that it supports the Janjaweed, the Sudanese governement has provided money and assistance to the militia and has participated in joint attacks targeting the tribes from which the rebels draw support.The dire situation in Darfur dates back to March 2003 when the predominantly Muslim militants of the Sudan Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement started attacking government forces and installations in the western regions of the Sudan.The militants accused the government of President Omar al-Bashir of neglecting the region and oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs in the state of Darfur. About 60 percent of the people in the area are subsistence farmers, with the rest being nomadic or semi-nomadic herders. The government, caught by surprise by the militants' attacks, had very few troops in the region. In response, it mounted a campaign of aerial bombardment in support of ground attacks by an Arab militia, the Janjaweed, that it had recruited from local tribes.
The death toll in Sudan stands as 400,000 and rising. Just the other day the Sudanese army killed 105 people in the former rebel town of Haskanita. The United States has provided humanitarian aid, but has declined forcefully to press Sudan to stop the massacre. Earlier this year, the Senate passed a resolution called The Darfur Accountatbility Act which required sanctions against Sudan. This pass Monday the Sudanese government troops and allied militia, attacked the only rebel faction, to sign a peace deal but not all rebels signed it. All rebels who did not sign it have a set attack on Muhajiriya.

Response to Carlos Mencia

I don't take any of the things that Carlos Mencia said as offensive. Everyone says these things, but Carlos just says it publicly. I would take it offensively if he didn't speak about as his own heritage in a negative manner. He speaks about every heritage, race, or gender. He speaks equally about everyone. He called whites "trailer trash" and Hispanics (him being one) "spic's."
But I am going to have to disagree on his view of lowering standards of education. It has become very difficult to keep up in school, let alone get into college. My parents tell me all the time how they wouldn't be able to handle my work load and how much more work we have to do than they did. I believe that some people have special circumstances in their learning abilities, some people are slower than others. Yes what Carlos Mencia does is comical but people might take it offensively. I enjoyed the first video Take a Joke America much more than the other one. It can be taken in different ways, Mencia's style, but he is a comedian that you either love or hate. You will either take his comedy as offensive or just laugh about what he says disregarding how it pertains to you.

The Media and it's influence

I don't watch the news and I try not to listen to what the media is saying because half of the time it is a twisted truth. They tell you what they want you to hear. They hold some truths from us and make us understand only what they want us to understand. For example, the on-going question in every Cubans mind is, "Is Castro dead?" This question has been pushed back and forth, in and out of the media.
There are then those people who live, breathe and eat the media. They are a walking, talking news headline. A prime example is my grandmother. She only talks about what she saw on univision today and about the killer in kansas. The media feeds her these stories that may or not be true but she believes all of it because it is the media, "the truth of our world today."

Miss Teen South Carolina

Everyone has those moments. Moments that you know what you want to say but have a hard time trying to get it out. Miss Teen South Carolina knew what to say but didn't know how to say it. She rambled from one end to the other but didn't focus at what she needed to say. Truthfully that has happened to me plenty of times, especially when I am asked a question and caught off guard. I just start rambling not really know what I am really saying but once I finish it all comes back to me and I know what to say but it is too late to say it. Sometimes I might begin to ramble and catch myself and try to redeem what I truly wanted to say. Everyone makes mistakes, especially teenagers, so I don't think that this mess-up was that great of a deal that the media is making it out to be.

Writing a blog...

Hello my name Elizabeth Rosa and I am a freshman currently attending Florida International University (go class of 2011!). I have never written a blog before. I had heard of them through myspace but never had the time nor the guts to do it. Writing something down for everyone to see is a bit nerve-racking. I am the kind of person who keeps things inside and only lets them out when I feel is necessary or I am obligated to. It is difficult for me to just start talking to someone, let alone a whole bunch of people. I am trying to get out of that habit. I have been attempting to be a little bit more talkative. But I truly open up if someone comes up and speaks to me. So here I go beginning a new year, in a new school, and I am excited to meet new people. I believe that through this blog and the many after, people will be able to see who I truly am.