Being a director for Fish Camp this past year opened my eyes to a lot that I hadn't paid much attention to before. Its come to my attention that everyone (no matter how hard you try) is biased and prejudice. The mere fact that we have to tell ourselves not to be prejudice means that we are. Its how we are raised. It is in the history of every culture.
A specific thing that bothers me is when people try to say things like "Black or white, male or female, young or old, gay or straight... etc". Putting labels on people (besides being potentially hurtful) means that you are excluding so many others. There are more than 2 races/ethnicities, genders, age groups, and sexual orientations. If you want to list out every label you can think of, you would still be missing out. To miss out on even one "label" is failing to acknowledge the aspect of someone's personality that makes them truly unique. If we so desperately need to put labels on people, we should come up with 7 billion of them... one for every person in the world.
Putting even one "label" on another person is also failing to value anything else that is unique about them. As T.R. Knight (George O'Malley from Grey's Anatomy) said, "I hope the fact that I'm gay isn't the most interesting part of me." We get so caught up with our labels and first impressions that we overlook other qualities, good or bad, and every event that has helped define that person's life. Its sad that we miss out on so much about each other.
When I walk into a room, what do people see? I am a white male, probably college aged. I usually have clean clothes. I wear glasses. There are a number of assumptions that you could make about me. Most of those assumptions are probably true, but how do you know? Just because I am different than you, doesn't make us enemies. Just because we have similar qualities, doesn't make us friends.
The world isn't black and white, no matter how hard people try to see it that way. Looking at yourself, are you made up of extremes? Are all of your qualities middle of the road? What makes you unique?
What makes us all the same?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
First post in a while...
Well, its been a while, eh? Since my last post, I've applied to vet school and been rejected by most of them.
I interviewed at A&M and Kansas State. A&M rejected me for a second time, but I made the alternate list for Kansas State! Truth be told, I like KState's program better and the people there are really nice. Plus, it would be a good change of scenery. If I went to A&M, I'd be closer to family, but I would also be in College Station for a total of 9 year (5 down, 4 to go) and that would make me here for a 3rd of my life by the time I got out. As much as going to vet school is my dream, I'm not sure I would be happy at A&M anyway.
I am also on the alternate list for Michigan State and waiting to hear back from Oklahoma State. As much as I don't want to live in Michigan at all (let alone for 4 years), they have a good program and nice facilities so I'll take what I can get. If I get into Oklahoma State, I will obviously go! Its the closest to home out of any of the schools I have left in the running and its almost 10k cheaper per year than KState and Michigan State. Obviously, I will go wherever accepts me. I think I have pretty good chances of getting in to KState off the alternate list as they usually go pretty far (if not completely) down the list and most people who were accepted out of state will get into their in-state school and opt for the cheaper tuition. Better for me!
In other news, I've been dealing with a lot of personal issues. I think I'm finally to the point where its not affecting my life as much, but my grades took a big hit last semester and I'm trying to keep them from doing so this semester too. We'll see how that turns out. If I don't get into vet school this year, I will definitely have my work cut out for me.
I quit my job. My last day is this coming Friday. I appreciated that they gave me a job, but it wasn't ideal for my life in many ways and I think having that much less stress on me right now will be good for my grades.
I think I will try to keep up with this more often. Its a little bit like therapy where I get to just write down everything I'm feeling and whats on my mind.
I interviewed at A&M and Kansas State. A&M rejected me for a second time, but I made the alternate list for Kansas State! Truth be told, I like KState's program better and the people there are really nice. Plus, it would be a good change of scenery. If I went to A&M, I'd be closer to family, but I would also be in College Station for a total of 9 year (5 down, 4 to go) and that would make me here for a 3rd of my life by the time I got out. As much as going to vet school is my dream, I'm not sure I would be happy at A&M anyway.
I am also on the alternate list for Michigan State and waiting to hear back from Oklahoma State. As much as I don't want to live in Michigan at all (let alone for 4 years), they have a good program and nice facilities so I'll take what I can get. If I get into Oklahoma State, I will obviously go! Its the closest to home out of any of the schools I have left in the running and its almost 10k cheaper per year than KState and Michigan State. Obviously, I will go wherever accepts me. I think I have pretty good chances of getting in to KState off the alternate list as they usually go pretty far (if not completely) down the list and most people who were accepted out of state will get into their in-state school and opt for the cheaper tuition. Better for me!
In other news, I've been dealing with a lot of personal issues. I think I'm finally to the point where its not affecting my life as much, but my grades took a big hit last semester and I'm trying to keep them from doing so this semester too. We'll see how that turns out. If I don't get into vet school this year, I will definitely have my work cut out for me.
I quit my job. My last day is this coming Friday. I appreciated that they gave me a job, but it wasn't ideal for my life in many ways and I think having that much less stress on me right now will be good for my grades.
I think I will try to keep up with this more often. Its a little bit like therapy where I get to just write down everything I'm feeling and whats on my mind.
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