Agents os Soc

This week we discussed agents of socialization and read an article on them. One of the main agents I would say is family. The impact my family has had on me and the person I've become is astonishing. Without them I wouldn't be the same. My mom has molded me to be just like her personality wise. My sisters have taught me to be good with kids, patient, and loving. My dad has taught me everything there is to know about the world and is still teaching me. I can't image what I'd be like without them. And I think most people would agree that family has the biggest affect on who you become. They're always with you whether you like it or not.
Not only has my family greatly affected me, but also my friends. I've been friends with the same group since forever. They're basically like another family to me. And also the new friends I've made since. I've started to act and talk like them without even noticing.
Religion has also been a huge part of my overall development. Since I was little, my parents have drilled me with religious everything. Everyone knows us for our religion.
It's natural for people to have these things or people create who they are. I just never stepped back and realized how important these things are in my life until we read that article.

Society

This week we learned all about how important our society is in molding the people we become. I never realized how much of an impact it has until we viewed kids such as Genie. Genie couldn't even do things that we think are simple and what we do everyday, such as talking, eating and walking. The fact that Genie's father would actually keep his own child locked up in a room for their whole life is absolutly astonishing to me. I can't even image having that be done to someone. But that situation really showed how improtant society is in shaping us. Without the people we interact with everyday, we wouldn't talk, walk, dress, or do anything the same as we do now. Our family and friends have made us the people we are today. My mom, for example, has truely made me the person I am today, with a little help from my dad and sisters. Me and my mom act exactly the same way; we laugh at all the same stuff, we both adore little kids, and we have a hard time getting or staying mad at people. If it hadn't been for my mom, I feel like I would be a completly differnt person. The lack of love and attention from a parent can change ones life dramatically, as we can see through feral children. It's interesting to think about if I hadn't had the life I do today, and didn't have my family. What would I be like?

Death

When someone dies, it's natural to cry, right? Well, in our society it is. But this week I found out it's not the norm for most other places. Our culture tends to think of death as an upsetting loss, and has trained us to believe that it is. I like the idea of celebrating death insted of mourning it. In certain cultures, they celebrate the life the dead person lived and are happy about it. My grandma recently died a few months ago from cancer and I was really close to her; our whole family was. It was a extremly hard time for my family, especially my grandpa. All he could think about was how he lost the person he loved the most and the negatives of the situation. But he never even stopped to think about the wonderful life my grandma did live. She was a happy, go-lucky person all the time. She was a fantastic wife, mother, and grandma, and even as she was in the hospital for the months before she died, she won the town trusty because of the support and love from her community. So in the end, my grandma lived her life, and was happy the whole time. I think that's something to celebrate.

I definatly think Americans are afraid of death. We obsess over silly material things, that in the long run, wont matter at all. The amount of money you have or the kind of car you drive won't matter once you're dead. What we should be focusing on is living life the right way. Giving and recieving love is the best was to go. That's why I loved the movie Tuesdays With Morrie. I thought he had the best answers to all of life's important questions. He really made me think and appreciate life a lot more. He really touched me even though he was just a movie character.

American/Stevenson Culture

When we had to make an outline this week about American culture, I found it kind of hard. I never really think about American culture even though I'm a part of it every day. It was the same with the Stevenson outline, too. I'm so used to these things that I don't really think about what goes into being an American or a Stevenson student. I never realized how different American culture is from other cultures. Almost everyone in class agreed that American culture was based on success, materialism, and convience, when most other cultures are based on things completly differnet from that. In American, you would never show up somewhere a half hour late without letting the person know. That's an inconvience to them and we consider it rude. Also, Americans value being successful. People like actors, singers, and porfessional athletes are looked up upon because of their accomplishments and are role models for us. Everyone wants that kind of success. Americans always want the biggest, best, and newest thing. Stevenson culture is much the same. Most people here also want the most recent ipod or cell phone. It's just the American culture to desire those things and want to be the best.