This year has been another year of high school: full of friends, inside jokes, and new classes. Now, the new friends and inside jokes have, for obvious reasons, not been terribly strenuous on my mind, but my new classes have worked my brain in new ways, just as they always do. Every year, I get new classes that increase in difficulty. This increase in difficulty makes school all the more interesting, however, because new doors are opening as we delve deeper and deeper into fields of academics. Last year was less stressful overall, however my chemistry class really was a challenge. This year, my math, religion, English, and Spanish classes are all significantly more difficult, but are also more interesting. For the first semester, I only had those classes on my plate, and I’ve kept my grades up, but this semester, I have more to deal with. I auditioned for the spring musical for tri-school theater, and I just found out today that I got a call back. So, I’m not entirely sure what’s going to happen with that, but something will, and that is going to take up a lot of time. On top of that, dance competition season is starting, and I have to start studying for the SAT and SAT subject tests. This semester is going to me much more difficult, but I intend to keep learning and enjoying it all the while.
This semester I’ve learned about Transcendentalists and their beliefs in my English class. This particular subject struck a chord with me, because I am particularly interested in their idea of the “oversoul”, which is the thing that connects all of the world together. Transcendentalists believe in the deep spiritual union between nature and man, and their literature reflects the human-like characteristics of nature. In Emerson’s “Nature”, he says that nature always “wears the colors of the spirit”. This image is one I particularly love, because I definitely see this as true. Nature is a powerful force, but it bends to the perception of those who are among it. A person who is upset and angry with the world would see the trees shadows as dark and foreboding, and a churning river as tempestuous and dangerous. At the same time, a person who is completely happy would see those same trees as great testaments of strengths that have stood the test of time, and that same river and powerful and beautiful. This recognition of the power of nature and the connection we, as humans, have with it, is something I can really appreciate.
I have also learned more about America’s rich history. I was already aware of the big events, like the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the suffrage movement, but the different things leading up to and following those key moments of history were virtually nonexistent to me. In history, I learned about the long term effects of war, and I’ve become much more aware of just how much our country went through, especially considering it is a very young nation. I’ve learned about the technological advances in World War I, the hardships and troubles America’s work force went through while the upper classes thrived, and the darker aspects of the “roaring twenties”. It’s given me a different perspective about our history, and I’m glad I learned more.
This year, I’m also taking biology. Frankly, the science curriculum at my old school wasn’t well thought out. Throughout my elementary and middle school life, I learned many random bits of information about geology, the planets, and plants. This year however, I’ve learned so much more about everything that makes everything in the world keep running. I’ve learned about genes and the translation of DNA to RNA, a more in depth explanation of meiosis and mitosis, and the way different genes from parents can display different traits for three children. I haven’t learned any of this before, but I find it fascinating to learn about the intricacies of the world we live in.
I would really like to learn more about both biology and Transcendentalist literature. We have read a few samples of Transcendentalist authors, however, I would still like to read more. I also really enjoy biology, and I want to continue, hopefully, into AP Biology next year, because it has been the science that really fascinates me. I’d like to learn more about everything I’ve learned this year, because as I said, this year is even more interesting than last year, and I like having my mind opened to new things. So far, its been a good semester, and I’m looking forward to another.
Conversation in Spanish with CB and Amaya
In this conversation, CB and I discuss lunch and the terrible quality of the chicken terriyaki, as well as my tendency to only ever buy salads from the lunch service.
As a society, we pride ourselves on progress. It’s what we crave more than anything. Throughout history, we’ve moved slowly to make changes in our civilization. We have gone from a society made up of all white men having all the power, to a society where no matter what color your skin is, you generally have equal opportunities. Despite all of our great leaps in creating equality, there are still some instances in our life today where racism and prejudice is found. Even though it has been hundreds of years, we, as humans, often find it difficult to improve the rights of people as much as we should.
The world started out being dominated primarily by Europeans. After Europeans traded with Africa, slavery came to be more of an important aspect of the lives of many. When British colonists settled in America, they brought their value of slavery with them. After many years of cruelty at the hands of slave holders, African-American slaves started to vie for their rights in the 1800s. Though attempts such as Nat Turner’s violent rebellion only further convinced the colonists that slaves were inferior to them, after many more years and more reform attempts from both the white Americans and the black Americans, the abolition movement finally reached its goal. Eventually, slavery was abolished throughout the United States, and not just in the Northern territories as the Missouri Compromise had dictated. Despite slavery being outlawed and African-Americans being given the right to vote, people of a different skin color were still discriminated against, and in a few cases, still suffer from some prejudices today. This is just further proof that while people have evolved in their laws, they do not always evolve in their minds. There are many cases in today’s society where people are discriminated against based on their sexual orientation, and much like racism, this prejudice has significantly declined in our world, but still exists to some extent. The Lutheran church has been striving to achieve equality within its congregations through allowing gay people in committed relationships to join the clergy. This is a small step towards equal treatment, and many more like these are needed for true equality to exist. Despite these movements for change, prejudices are carried out for centuries and will most probably still remain, hopefully in fewer numbers, in the future.
Though issues of racism are still important today, the more pressing issue of equality in today’s society is the issue of gay rights and marriage. Personally, I think it is tremendously important that everyone is treated equally, but this is, sadly, not the case. The United States of America was founded on the idea that all are created equal, with equal freedoms and equal opportunities. It is because of this, that it is completely hypocritical for Americans to outlaw gay marriage. If you really sit down and think about it, the concept of denying one group of people happiness simply because of their sexual orientation is completely and utterly ludicrous. In a nation of promise, hope, and equality, the outlawing of gay marriage violates everything our country stands for. There are approximately 8.8 million gay, lesbian, and bisexual people living in the United States; there are 8.8 million people, approximately 10% of the population of the United States, that others are willing to deny their right to happiness, as it was endowed to them by our forefathers in the writing of the Declaration of Independence.
If gay couples were to be married, what would the consequences be? Really. Gay couples would get married, and be happy. That’s all. Ice caps wouldn’t melt, whales wouldn’t die, and the world wouldn’t be thrown into apocalyptic turmoil. Just happiness, and humanity’s progression to being one step closer to equality. People will often say that if one permits gay marriage in their state, they would soon after have to give their consent for things like bestiality or marriage between a person and a table. This is ridiculous. The last time anyone checked, neither a dog nor a table can give their consent to a lifelong union. If two people love each other enough to pledge their lives to each other forever, what is the harm in letting them be happy and get married?
The constitution of California says “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Directly after this section (section 7.5 of the California Constitution), the first thing in the declaration of rights in the California Constitution states that “A person may not be disqualified from entering or pursuing a business, profession, vocation, or employment because of sex, race, creed, color, or national or ethnic origin.” The fact that California does not allow any form of discrimination based on those factors as said by our Constitution, shows that California is trying to acheive equality in the state. However, if the first of the rights as dictated by the Constitution is looked at more closely, it becomes clear that even in this, gay rights are omitted. For the same reasons that gay people should not be discriminated against while they try to get a job, gay people should also be allowed to marry; we are all equals. If we found our laws based on the idea that we need to acheive equality, stating that marriage is solely between a man and a woman is a gaping hole in our attempts at justice that needs to be remedied.
The California Supreme Court later wanted to change section 7.5 of the California Constitution, but failed. With proposition 8, the Constitution of California stayed as it was, not granting equal rights to all. The issue of gay rights is primarily contested in religious areas. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (or ELCA) determined that gay people in committed gay relationships were still allowed to serve as clergy. This is actually a huge step forward, especially because religion is the primary source of people’s problem with gay marriage. Recently, some of the older parishioners have said that by allowing gay people to assume roles in the clergy, the Lutheran church is “undermining scripture”. However, as more and more young parishioners join the church and as the old parishioners leave, the Lutheran church is still standing strong in their support of gay people who want to become members of the clergy. This just another step in the long line to complete equality in gay rights and marriage.
As sad as it sounds, people have always and will always hold seeds of prejudice. Even after years, decades, even centuries, there will always be people who believe that women are inferior to men, that African-American people are inferior to Caucasian people, and that gay people are inferior to straight people. However, as a society, we do have a say in what we do to progress more towards equality in our country, and I sincerely hope I live to see the day when all people are truly treated as equals to each other and when bigotry and prejudice cease to be factors in American life.
http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14652499
