My Place as a Citizen and Student

Everyone has their own views on what it means to be an American citizen.  Not one person's perspective can be considered right or wrong, because of the freedom given to us by our country.  Being both a citizen and a student I can connect them to make both experiences more fulfilling.  I can use my education to learn about my rights and obligations that I can utilize in my everyday life.  

So far in my life I have formed my own opinion on what I must give back to my state and country.  I know that I am not obligated to join the military, or risk my life for my country because of the freedom it has given me.  My only civic duty is to use my rights and education to form my own opinion and vote.  I am to try my best to make the most acceptable and feasible choice in the presidential elections.  This is the best way to represent my country and add my own input in attempts to improve it.

Many kids my age (18) tend to ignore their civic duties.  They ignore their right to vote, or choose candidates for unrealistic reasons.  This makes it harder for society to take them seriously and harder for them to expand their political views.  This close-minded attitude is what gives kids a bad reputation and I find that my biggest duty as a citizen and a student is to not follow this example.  

Want to Know Me?

My name, as you may know, is Samantha Barry.  My nickname is Sami and my pseudonym is Samara.  I go by so many names because I feel that each part of me goes into different things.  Samantha is what my mother calls me, and what I expect to hear in a serious situation.  Samara is only what I am known as in the poetry community.  Sami, my common, everyday self, is who you will be learning about.  Through creating my own blog, I am learning about and discovering others.  By this I can learn and explore more about my own personal interests.  In order to understand my thoughts and opinions a little more, I am going to give you some insight into my interests.

The first one I am going to talk about is marine biology.  It is my major in college and I am hoping to do research with sharks.  By looking at blogs such as I can’t bear the ignorance any longer. Spread the facts: SHARK FIN SOUP IS BAD, I can learn more about my favorite animal and the crucial issues surrounding my future career.  By using blogs I can keep up with any research updates in my field of study, and maybe even use them as sources for my classes!

The next interest of mine that I will discuss is gaming.  I am a decently hardcore gamer and am always interested in finding out about new games and new cheats for them.  I can use blogging for this by looking at blogs such as What's Hot to find out what is popular and is worth trying out.  

Finally, I will talk about my love for fiction.  I love reading books, and especially ones about vampires and demons.  My fantasy interest can be expanded by using blogs by looking at ones such as New Books for July.  Blogs like this can help me learn about new books, and hear what other people think of them.  When I read about them, I can form my own opinion on whether it is worth reading or not.

As portrayed, blogs can help me in many ways.  I can use them to explore my personal interests or even as sources for school work.  I would encourage everyone to look for blogs that interest them and, as I am still learning about them, I will as well.  Remember that sometimes other people may have the same opinion as you, and blogs are a great place to find those people.

Why Sympathize?

In the novel The House of Sand and Fog by Andrew Dubus III, he creates a main character named Kathy.  In the story, she comes into conflict with another character.  The conflict stems from a house.  The house had originally been her fathers, and before foreclosure, was her own.  The foreclosure  occurred after she failed to recognize the letters coming constantly as warnings that this would happen.  The excuse given to her by the author is that she is a recovering drug-addict that is more focused on the recovery.  This excuse is created in order to grab the readers attention and to make them feel sympathy towards her.  

Kathy should not be sympathized!  The fact that she is in a state of rehabilitation is no excuse for not following up on her everyday life.  Had she just taken the time, and not been lazy, to open the letters she would have known the whole time that this process was occurring.  If anything, the fact that she is recovering should mean that she is taking more time to focus on her everyday life in order to keep her mind off of the addiction at hand.  When beginning a habit as such, one has their own choice and should never expect to use it as an excuse.  Though addictions are life-changing, the government is not exactly understanding towards the effects of something already illegal. 

As well as the drugs, Kathy takes advantage of someone who shows he cares about her, Lester.  She uses him to try to get the house back, even though she is well aware that his entire life could be ruined by what she wants him to do.  If she can't feel sympathy to those she is blatantly hurting, then why does he deserve sympathy from the reader?  It is just as the childhood "golden rule" says:  "Treat others the way you would like to be treated."