Juno

Since I didn't get to see all of a Bronx Tale, even thought I saw it last year, I don't think I know enough about it to blog about. However, I did see Sal's post about Juno and thought it was very interesting. I saw the movie over Winter Break and I loved it. However, it was until I read Sal's blog that I realized that the pregnancy itself was never really shown as a negative thing. One possibility is, since the writer did say that this was a story of maturing, he didn't want people to focus just on the pregnancy itself. Instead, maybe he was simply using the pregnancy as a metaphor. If the writer wanted to make a movie about pregnancy, I imagine that he would have focused much more on the social, emotional, and physical effects of pregnancy. However, the fact that Juno was pregnant during the movie was focused upon, just in a different way. Thinking back now, it's weird to realize that although the entire movie revolved around her pregnancy, it wasn't in the way that most movies about teen pregnancy would be. I think that the movie is using the pregnancy to show the conflicts of maturing of growing up, instead of showing the conflicts of pregnancy. When I first saw the movie, I thought it was simply just a cute movie about teen pregnancy, but I never got the impression that it was giving off the message that it was ok to get pregnant as a teenager. Maybe others did, but I think most movie goers knew going into the movie that it was simply going to be light-hearted and entertaining. Nonetheless, I am glad I'm now able to understand that the movie really wasn't about the pregnancy as much as it was showing how Juno adapted to growing up and maturing.

Volunteering

I have always wondered the real reasons behind why people volunteer. I have always volunteered through my church, through school, and for other organizations. However, throughout high school, you have to wonder why people feel the need to volunteer. I can admit that many times throughout high school, I volunteer in order to be able to put that work on my college applications. Now, obviously, that wasn't the only reason I volunteered. This past winter, I was on Give-A-Thon, and my committee was assigned to bring all of the gifts that were collected and sort them at a shelter in Waukegan. It was absolutely freezing outside, and I didn't get to see the looks on the faces of the families when they picked up there bags full of Christmas presents, but knowing how big of a difference I was making in the lives of hundereds of families during the Holiday season, was one of the most fulfilling feelings I have ever had. I have always enjoyed volunteering, but I can admit that my initial incentive was in order to put it on my college applications. Obviously, adults don't volunteer for college applications, but I just think that in such a changing world, volunteer efforts are slowly changing from good hearted efforts, to furthering themselves in their lives. I hope that our society can look beyond the present state of fame and wealth ridden individuals, and take time to think about how their volunteer efforts are helping people tremendously, and allow themselves to feel the pure happiness that one should get out of helping others.

Freaks and Geeks

I was really excited to watch Freaks and Geeks in class this past week. Even though I have already seen that episode Sophomore year in Sophomore english, I was able to analyze it in a different way: a sociological perspective. Even though this is supposed to be a high school in the 80's, it really is funny how little things have changed. Even with all of the vast changes between the 1980's and now in the economy, politics, and culture, the behavior of teenagers in high schools have remained the same. The "nerds" still have crushes on the "popular Cheerleaders" and there's always the group of people that everyone thinks are the rebels.
I remember before I went to Stevenson and I was still in 8th grade, people told me that at Stevenson there really isn't just one "popular" group at Stevenson because of how many students there are. Although I would agree that the "popular" groups at smaller schools are slightly more distinctive than at Stevenson, there are most definitely still "popular" groups at our school too. There is still one group of guys, which, ironically, always seem to be the jocks even in a school of 4,500, and one group of girls, who are pretty and have nice clothes and expensive cars. However beyond that one group, which usually there is one group like that per grade whereas in a smaller school it might just be one group for the entire school, there are also "popular" people within other groups of friends. They aren't necessarily the jocks and the prettiest people but everyone within that group of friends knows them. I'm not sure if I'm making this make sense, but my point is that even in a school of 4,500, there will always be the popular group, the nerds, the athletes, the stoners, and the lists go on forever. I honestly don't think these distinctions will ever go away from high school students.

The Awkwardness of Silence

I think that many people feel uncomfortable when surrounded by silence. However, in most cases it seems that they feel most uncomfortable when someone else is in the room. What I mean is, when someone is alone reading a book or laying down and trying to fall asleep, silence is appreciated. But if one is sitting in a room alone with another person and there is silence, then people tend to feel awkward or anxious. On the other hand, many people have to listen to music or watch t.v when they fall asleep because they can't stand the silence. For me, there are some situations that are awkward when silence and others that aren't. The only time I'm by myself and require sound is when I'm driving. In my opinion, listening to music or watching t.v when reading, doing my homework, and sleeping is a distraction. Like I said, I think it all depends on the individual. I think that some people do talk too much simply to fill the air. People may feel almost guilty when they are alone with someone and there isn't conversation flowing. They think that they need to be the ones to carry on the conversation or else it will be awkward. I think that if people took more time to stop talking and listening to what the other person had to say, that many fights and arguments could be avoided. If people stopped expressing their opinions so frequently and listened to what other people thought, it would allow others to understand both sides of the argument instead of sticking strongly to their own. I also think that age plays a role in one's tendency to like or dislike noise. Young children and teenagers greatly enjoy music and like listening to sounds and music at all times of the day. However you tend to hear of older people and adults that are begging for silence. People that are older didn't grow up with as many forms of music, television, and movies as our generation did. They didn't sit around a t.v all afternoon or listen to I-Tunes or their I-Pod because those things weren't invented yet. Instead, they enjoyed going outside or playing with things around the house, not minding or even noticing the silence. I have experienced awkward silences when I am walking in the halls or talking on the phone with someone I am not very close with. When it comes to my best friends or my boyfriend, I don't get anxious if there is a short amount of time that we aren't talking. But if I'm talking with someone who I don't know very well, I feel pressure to come up with topics to talk about to fill the air. I think that our generation needs to be more comfortable with silence because if we begin depending on constant noise and feeling more and more anxious when silence fills the room, conversation between two people will become increasingly forced and manufactured. The best conversations come from flowing and natural thoughts, not forced ideas spit out to fill the silence and create a noise to ease our nerves.

Me on Blogging

I'm very excited to be blogging! I've actually blogged before. Last year in AP Spanish we had to respond to our teachers blog every week. I absolutely hated it. But this time I get to make my own blog, which hopefully will be different. Plus the added benefit that I don't have to write my blogs in a different language might help :). Anyways, hopefully I'll be able to relate to the questions asked throughout the semester. I think that blogging is very unique compared to writing responses on a piece of paper or typing them and printing them out. Our generation is very technologically advanced, and I think blogging is clear proof of that. I can't wait to start blogging this semester!