Profession of Belief

I believe that there is a higher being up there. I believe that he/she created the universe and everything in it. The religion that I was raised on calls this being God. I believe that God has a plan for the people down here and that nothing that we do will alter this plan. I didn’t grow up in a religious family, though we attended church every Sunday and I was in Sunday school while my parents attended service, and I was a member of the children’s mission, Vacation Bible School and sang in the choir, there were never any real strict guidelines of religions to follow. Both my parents were raised Southern Baptist, and though church was never something they were forced to take part in they all believed in God. I believe that the guidelines for those who believe in God are outlined in the Bible. However, I am not one who believes that you must follow those guidelines to a very strict degree. I think that one should follow the Ten Commandments, but should not be shunned for breaking one. I also believe in religious tolerance and that those out there who have different faiths should be allowed to follow those faiths without persecution. I believe very strongly in being tolerate of other people’s faiths, views, and values.

I also believe that everything happens for a reason, and that God does everything for a reason. Although I have had a hard time believing this in the past, I have come to understand that there is a purpose behind everything that he does and let’s happen. When my grandmother was sick last year, I had a very hard time believing in God and trusting in him that everything would work out for the best. While she struggled to stay alive and my family and I struggled to stay strong I found what little faith I had left in me disappearing. However, my faith was restored after she passed. You are probably wondering how this could possible, I just watched my grandmother, the woman who helped me raise me and was one of my best-friends die, and yet I begin to believe in God again. The reason for this didn’t strike me until the night of her viewing, and it hit me hard.

In order to understand why my faith was restored that night you’ll have to understand a little about my family. My mom’s family had always been close and up until I was about 7 or 8 we were always together for every holiday and birthday. My cousins and I would spend hours together, playing and running around, while the adults would cook and talk. When I was about 8 my family stopped getting together, most of my cousins were grown and no longer felt as though they had a reason to be with us. So my family very slowly fell apart. I would go years without seeing my cousins and one of my aunts. Now with that being said, here’s where I begin to believe again. When my grandmother was in the hospital my family instantly came together again. My cousins and I would go visit her just about every day. I had family come up from Blacksburg, VA and down from Harrisonburg, VA to see her. We would spend hours with her, talking about the good times and what our lives were like now. Well when my grandmother was first admitting to the hospital and we were first told that she didn’t have very long, my grandmother told me, my mom, and my aunts that she didn’t want to die until she got to see her entire family and she knew that we would all be okay without here. She would then be ready to go.
The night before she passed my mom, two of my mom’s sisters, and my uncle Nick sat in her room with her for a good four hours just talking. She was in a lot of pain then, and was not even capable of talking. She fell into a restless slumber about an hour before we left and after she did we all began talking about how we knew this was the end. At that point my aunt Jean said something that has stuck with me ever since then. She said “I know Mama doesn’t want to leave us, but I know that she’s happy. I don’t really believe in God, but I do believe that he has been here with us through this. He brought her family to her, the people she needed and loved the most, and for that I am thankful.” We all nodded in approval and as the tears fell she looked up at the ceiling and as if she was talking to God she said “We’re ready for you to have her.” And as we all held hands she whispered “I know we will be okay.” We stayed a little longer and talked about how we would never let this tear our family apart like it tore apart my father’s family (which was my biggest fear through the whole thing). Instead, we were going to use this as a way of making us stronger and closer, and it worked.

At her viewing there were people from my past that I hadn’t seen in years, all there to remember my grandmother and to lend their condolences and support to my family. About half way through the night I went outside with my cousin DeAnne to get some air. The second we walked out of the door we saw the most beautiful sight. Five of my cousins and their kids, some of who I had not seen in at least 5 years, were walking up the drive. My cousin and I both started crying and I ran inside to find my mom and my aunts. I found my mom talking with my godparents and with tears in my eyes I said “They all came. They’re all here.”. Not understanding what I was talking about she followed me and my aunts into the lobby of the funeral home. All of us started crying as we hugged each other and then as my cousins apologized for not making it on time my mom looked at them said, “She’d just be glad to have you all here”. And I think that was the truth. On the day of her funeral the pews were full, and the funeral precession was 21 cars strong, one of the longest the Pastor had ever seen. As we stood around her grave and cried it finally hit me that God had not been neglecting her and our family, he was not trying to put us through pain. He kept my grandmother alive long enough for her family to see her and be with her. He gave us all a long enough time to make it together.

It is often said that God works in mysterious ways, and I believe that is true. There are many instances in my life in which I hated God for putting me through. Though in the long run, they have all taught me something great. They have brought me and my friends and family closer, and in the end, have renewed my faith in him.

Please Do This

http://www.letssaythanks.com/Home1280.html

Courage

I think that the virtue that I need to work on the most is courage. Courage has always meant a lot to me, and has always been a large part of my life. I have faced a lot of hard situations during my short life and so having courage has been almost like second nature to me. Over the past year I seem to have lost the courage that I had as a young child. I lost courage in the fact that things would turn out okay. I lost the courage to stay strong through the hard things I encountered. Even though I am often able to appear strong and courageous on the outside, I seem to have lost all that on the inside.

One of the reasons that finding courage is so important to me is because I am beginning to face a lot of things that I do not believe I will be able to get through based on basic human strength alone. See a really good friend of my dad’s (who is practically like a big brother to me) Ashley is leaving in February for Afghanistan. He’s in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, so we’ve all known for a long time that this was always a possibility. He was recalled twice before, but never made it any farther than Camp Pendleton, California. It has been hard on everyone in both my family, the family of people at the company that both he and my dad work for, and his family. He has two young daughters and I can’t even begin to imagine how this will affect them. We have all been trying to squeeze in as much time with him as possible before he leaves for Quantico on Saturday, but it does not feel like enough. I have always been the strong one in my family, but this is becoming one of those situations where I do not think I can be as strong as everyone expects. I want to find the courage in order to stay strong, both for myself and my family, throughout what is sure to be a life changing experience.

Another reason why I feel that courage is important is because I currently lack the courage to believe that everything is going to be okay. I used to be such a optimist when it came to just about anything, and I was never one to worry about what the future would hold. Even upon graduating from college, when most people are worried sick about where to go from there, I knew where I was headed. I knew that I would be at J. Sarg and I knew that for the next two years of my life I wouldn’t have any worries about what to do. However, now that those two years are slowly drawing to a close I am completely lost as to what to do with myself and my life. I have ideas of where I’d like to be, and who I’d like to have next me, however, I am having a hard time accepting that things will work out for the best.

So that is why I think that finding courage is the most important thing for me to do. I need it in order to stay strong while Ashley is gone; and I need to have the courage to believe that everything will be okay.

Virtues

My 12 Virtues (I hope I did this right...)

1. Courage: To stay strong for both myself and my family through the hard months ahead.
2. Forgiveness: To forgive the people who have harmed me; to not hold grudges.
3. Thankfulness: To be thankful for all the good things and people that I have in my life.
4. Charity: To donate myself and my time to help those less fortunate.
5. Happiness: To try and stay both positive and happy throughout the next few months.
6. Honor: To honor my parents and all that they do; my friends and everything that they do; my brother and other soldiers who risk their lives for us.
7. Patience: To be patient and not rush through everything.
8. Enthusiasm: To stay enthusiastic about the months ahead, and all that might happen during them.
9. Balance: To keep balance between school, work, family, and friends.
10. Respect: To respect myself and the people around me.
11. Honesty: To be honest not only with the people around me, but also with myself.
12. Kindness: To be kind to those around me, even those who I do not know.

An Early Christmas

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/21522646/detail.html

I'm gonna send one. Will you?

Reflections

One of the most important things that I have learned over the past few weeks is that I need to put more effort into posting on this site and getting my assignments done on time. I feel as though the reason I haven't been able to update as much as I'd like is because I find some of the topics for post hard to understand and uninteresting. I have a hard time sitting down and writing about things when I don't think they are interesting or are going to benefit me in the long run. I'm trying to overcome this obstacle, but as you can see, it isn't working very well. I haven't been keeping up with the weekly reflections but I have learned a lot of things from the posts that I have written over the past few weeks. In my "Welcome To America" post I learned to think about this country and what makes us unique in a totally different way. I started to see that the things that we often take for granted are what truely makes us such a great nation. The "Ideal Me" post taught me to look at myself in new ways. It made me think back to the things that are special to me and help to make me, me. In the "Living the Ideal Life" post I also learned some things about myself and I started to really think about what's important to me. My post about feeling something "Sublime" made me look back on one of the greatest years of my life and smile. When I was living thru my senior year I took a lot of things for granted: my friends, my teachers, how easy school was; and looking back on it now I realize how amazing of a year it really was and I often find myself looking back on that year and wishing I could relive every moment of it. Writing about it helped to teach me not to take things for granted as much as I used to. In my "Nature Walk" post I realized how much at ease I truely feel when in the outdoors, surrounded by nature and fresh air.

Nature Walk

Over the past week I have gone on two nature walks. One of which took place at Belle Isle with Savannah and the other one of which took place on the JMU campus with two of my best-friends: Alana and Darryl. On both walks I got to see some very pretty things, all of which were made prettier by the soft colors of fall.

I have always been an “outdoorsy” girl, and when the weather is nice (and a lot of times even when it isn’t) you will find me outside. I’m not sure what it is about the outdoors that makes so happy, but does. Whether I’m running in the cool, early morning of fall, hiking in the George Washington National Forest on a nice spring day, swimming under the hot sun on a summer afternoon, or sitting on the front porch swing under blankets, drinking hot chocolate and laughing with friends, I’m always much happier when outside. I feel a peace that I find it hard to achieve anywhere else. I go outside when I need to think, or when I need a break from the mounds of homework that seem to consume my life these days. I exercise outside, do my homework outside, and often spend time with loved ones out under the warm sun.

I feel most at peace in two specific places: the mountains and near water of any kind. I’m not sure why the mountains have always made me feel at peace, but they have. I love to be in the mountains; regardless of whether or not I’m hiking and camping, just driving around, or visiting a national monument. When near the water I always feel at peace and extremely relaxed. It doesn’t matter if its an ocean, a river or lake, or a simple little creek; it always has the simple ability to make me extremely relaxed.

On my walk at Belle Isle I was by the water, and felt more relaxed than I had in weeks. The James River is one of my favorite places and I think it is so neat to have such a beautiful thing so close to home. When I went on my walk at JMU I was in the mountains. The air was so crisp and fresh, and even though it was freezing I felt more free and at peace than I had in a long time.

Sublime

When thinking of what to write for this week’s topic “feeling the sublime” I was a little concerned that I had never felt anything that could account for this, but after reading a few other people’s posts I decided that instead of having to write about something scary or horrifying, I could write about something joyful, something that made me so overwhelmingly happy and free.

My senior year in high school I was a member of my school’s yearbook staff. Now I’m sure you’re thinking that this can’t possibly be exciting, at all, and could be nowhere near to sublime, but wait, it gets better. I had been on the yearbook staff the previous year, but my senior year, I was a veteran. I had pull, and experience, I knew what worked and what didn’t. I hadn’t been there as long as my friend Stacey (who had a year on me), but I was one of only 6 returning members, so those 6 of us were in charge. We had lost the teacher we had had the year before to another job and we were all skeptical and frightened of who the new teacher could possibly be. I remember sitting in that dusty, cluttered classroom at 11:47am waiting for the new teacher to arrive and our fate to be decided. The room was full of new kids, quiet and reserved, all seated in the back, almost scared to death of the 6 of us that had formed an unbreakable bond with each other the year before. I was surrounded in the front by the rest of the veterans, and a few senior friends of mine that had decided to give the class a shot. Ten minutes after meeting the new teacher half the class wanted to quit, starting with the 6 of us that had already dedicated a year of our lives (two in Stacey’s case) to the cause, and we weren’t ready to just throw away all our hard work for nothing.

Okay okay, so now I’ll get to the point of the story…

We worked hard; harder than I’ve ever worked my entire life. We came to school two hours early, stayed four hours late; ate vending machine food and had Pete (our faithful night-shift janitor) “leave the lights on for us” on more than one occasion. We took over the floors of the hallway with our ladders and spreads, and massive amounts of other school’s yearbooks. There were lots of second period Physics classes spent rushing through my assignments so that I could get to the yearbook room and work. Many a seventh period AP-Honors British Literature class skipped in order to make a deadline, many a lunch spent eating a slice of pizza in between moving pictures and rewriting quotes. Every teacher at Hermitage High School hated us by the first semester was over, if not because we were often seen dancing in the halls to “Cyclone” in the middle of fifth period (who knew that was a distraction to World History I and US Government?) or from yanking kids out of class because we needed a quote, a picture, or just needed something. We fought with ourselves, and oh man did we fight with each other?! There were doors slammed, things broken, and tears were cried. But through all of it, we never stopped working. By the end of the year, we were like one big family (or at least most of us were) and there wasn’t much we weren’t capable of doing, as long as we worked together. We stayed up late, had group lunches, and even travelled to the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s annual yearbook conference at Columbia University in New York City. For a few of us on the trip it was our first time flying, and for some, their first time in New York. Many new friendships were formed, some were broken, but in the end we conquered what everyone else had said was impossible: taking a staff of 6 veterans, 13 newcomers, and a teacher who had never done this before, and turning them into a staff. A staff who overcame all of our differences, though it took up until a few days before the final proofs were sent in to do so, and who produced a book that no one thought they could.

The sublime part of this story: the day of reckoning, fee night the following year: the day our yearbooks were released. When I opened the book for the first time I felt an overwhelming rush of emotion. Not only because it was my SENIOR yearbook, but also because I knew that I had helped make this. I had put in hours of hard work, sweat, and tears into that book. I had fought with friends, I had grown closer to friends, I had done things I told myself I would never do. I was ecstatic with the end result, and was so proud of myself and my fellow staff members that it was probably scary. I felt free. Free because for once in my life I had something tangible to hold in front of myself that showed that I had done a good job. Something that meant more than a goal in soccer, would be seen by more people than my 3rd grade report grade that contained all A’s, and did a wonderful job of summing up the best year of life I had experienced thus far.

Living the "ideal life"

To me, living a full life means living a life that you are happy with having. You don’t have to have a lot of money, a fancy car, a big house, a glamorous job, three college degrees, and the perfect little family to achieve that (although, for some people, that is exactly what makes them happy). When I think about living a life that you are happy with, a life that you are proud of, I often think of my dad and the life that he has lived. Through his life experiences he has taught me that it does not necessarily matter how high up you live your life, but how high up you hold your head while living it. The reason that my dad comes across as a perfect example to me is because he has not exactly lived the most “glamorous” life. He has many obstacles and challenges, has fallen to the bottom and turned right around gotten right back up. He lost his dad when he was only 8 years old and his mother was forced to go back to work in order to support four young children. He worked hard in school, but ultimately wound up dropping out in order to work full time and spend time with his friends. He and my mom married young, and before they were even 20 years old they were on the own. My dad continued to work his butt off in order to support him and my mom, and eventually, me. Even though he sometimes regrets that he never finished high school, went to college and got a degree, and then got, what society calls, a “real job”, he is very happy with what he has in life. We’ve never done really had to do without, we’ve always had a roof over our heads, food on our plates, clothes on our backs, and a little extra money on the side to travel and do things we wanted to do. My dad has taught me a lot of things in my short life, but the greatest thing that he has taught me was that as long as you’re happy with the life your living; you’re on the right track

With that being said, I wish to follow the example he has been providing me with since the day I was born. I want to live a life that I will be happy with, one that I will be proud of and will want to one day share with people. The life that I am living now is a little off track from what I think ideal would be for me, but that’s okay, because I have learned, that sometimes you have to get pushed off the tracks in order to realize that you were going in the wrong direction in the first place. I have made a lot of wrong decisions in my life; I’ve also made a lot of right ones. I have hurt people and I have been hurt. I (especially over the past year) have faced a lot of obstacles: some of which I pushed to the side and ignored, some I am still fighting with to this day, and some that I have overcome.

One of the biggest obstacles I have faced was how to get through the death of my grandmother in early March of this year. She had been sick since October of 2007 and she should have been dead a good four months before she left us. One of the reasons that this was hard was not only was she my grandmother, but she was also my best-friend and I loved her more than anything in this world. She never worked a day in her life, so she considered taking care of her 10 grand-children and 10 great-grand-children, her job; and that’s exactly what she did. She baby sat me when I was younger, she came to most, if not all, of my soccer games. She was there every Thanksgiving, every Christmas and Easter; she showed up at every birthday party, sent a card every Halloween, and called on every Valentine’s Day. She never missed a beat. She sat through the long nights of no sleep, listened to every wild dream, cooked many a grilled cheese sandwich, and spent many an hour playing board games with me. I could tell her anything and everything, and I did. She was the one person who never gave up on me, she’s the one who convinced me that it wasn’t crazy to want to be a pilot when everyone else just shook their heads, and when I wanted to be a marine biologist she bought me a bunch of plastic sea animals and told me it was start. Now that she’s no long here I’ve had to go through an Easter without her famous mashed potatoes, a Mother’s Day on which I avoided the card section at all costs, a birthday with no 8am wake-up call, and a family reunion full of good food and amazing company; all without her. I struggle with it a lot more than people think (cause I’ve always been the strong one), and every time something amazing in my life happens I have to stop myself from picking up the phone and calling her.

Even though I’ve had to fight through obstacle, and many others, it has made me a stronger person. I’ve learned that in order to help me be happy I have to do whatever it takes to keep the people who make me happy in my life. I’ve learned to not take things for granted. But most importantly, I have learned to never give up. No matter what it is, I’ve learned to keep my head high and just keep moving on.

Groups "Ideal Me" Posts

After reading my group members posts about their ideal selves I have found that everyone sees their ideal self as someone different than what they are right now. Everyone also seems to have different goals for their ideal self, some that seem reachable, some that don't. I liked that in Andy's post he talked about how the main thing that got in his way was himself. I find that I often have this problem when faced with situations in my own life. In Ebbony's post, I liked the way she broke up her essay into three different parts: her past self, her present self, and her future self. I also liked how in Ashley's post she said that even though she sees herself as a self-reliant person that when she looks deeper she "sees someone that is scared of the future and what it holds for me and my child". I like this because I think that even the most confident person is scared of what the future holds, I know that I am.

The Ideal Me...

What is my ideal self? Well, I honestly do not know how to answer that question. As I said in my ‘introducing me’ post, I find it very hard to write about myself. Not necessarily because I don’t find myself interesting, but mainly because I fear that how I see myself is so far off from how other people see me that they will think that I am two completely different people. After reading Ebbony’s piece about her ideal self I found it a lot easier to think of myself like she did, in three parts: the past me, the present me, and the future me.

The old version of me is a version that existed long before I came to J. Sarg. It was a version that inhabited my body up until my senior year in high school. That version of me was reserved, and quiet. I always lived in fear of what other people thought of me and how they saw me. That version of me tended to hide away from the world. I spent all my time living in a world of fiction. I spent many an hour in front of the TV watching anything from a show about a group of wild ER doctors just trying to make it from day to day without killing anyone to a show that followed the lives of four unique characters who travelled from planet to planet trying to defeat alien races and save Earth. That ‘me’ did not have social connections, I had friends, but they tended to be people with whom I shared a passion for that fiction world with. Back then, I did not like me. I was not a strong person and I had no self confidence. I got pushed around and walked all over. I was always the person for whom you could turn to for help and advice, but who never turned to anyone for help and advice of my own.

The current me has grown substantially since my senior year. I credit this growth mainly to my yearbook teacher my senior year, Molly Buckley, and the amazing group of friends that I formed that year. Ms. Buckley was one of the teachers that everyone wanted to have. She was loud and funny and made going to class seem like not so much of a bear. She did not care what others thought of her, and it showed. She is probably the most confident person that I have ever met. She taught me that it does not matter what others think of you and what they see in you. What matters is what you see in yourself. Her confidence was contagious and I soon found myself being more proud of myself than I ever had been. When our yearbooks were finally done and we all sat back and marveled at the creation we had produced I felt even better. I saw for the first time in my life just how much I was capable of doing, and that I was capable of doing it well.

My friends also helped to teach me that. I went through a transformation of sorts that summer, and walked away from a very rocky relationship with a very good friend. But I did not let it stop me; instead I used it to my advantage. I set out to show him that it was possible to be happy without him, and that I did not need to rely on him anymore. My friends were there for me every step of the way and instead of letting me walk away and not share my feelings with them like the old me would have done, they pushed and shoved and wouldn’t let go. Even people with whom I had never really talked to before became rocks to me and helped me to grow. The current me is still living in that life. The new me has a new found confidence, one that has only grown since I came to Sarg and made the friends that I have made, and kept the friends that I have kept. I am still shy and timid when it comes to some things, but I know for a fact that I hold my head a whole hell of a lot higher than I used too. I have overcome so many obstacles and have grown because of them. I recently lost my grandmother due to a serious of heart-attacks and strokes that spanned the time frame of six months. As hard as it was to lose her, and to watch as my family struggled to keep it together when the rock that held us up was gone, I learned probably the most important lesson of my life: live each day as though it is your last. I have learned to see the beauty in the little things, and when things bother me, I am now more likely to just walk away and give an issue up than to fight about it. I love more than I ever had, and I make sure that the people that I love know it. The current me has learned to never give up, ever. If my grandmother taught me anything over the 6 months that she was fighting for her life it was that you can never give up. She fought until the day she died to stay with us, and was as stubborn as a bull the entire time.

The future me, well I don’t know what exactly I want the future me to be like. I want to be strong and confident. I want to continue to work hard at everything I do and have the passion for the things that I have passion for now. I hope that the future me holds her head high and never lets anyone bring her down. In the future, I hope to have a good job, somewhere that I will be happy and will love what I do. I hope that in the future I get to continue to help people out, something that I have been passionate about for many years. I want my ideal self to love who I am, and to not be ashamed of the things that I have done and the things that I have been through in order to get to where I am. I want to have a family and friends that will love me and be there for me as they have been throughout the past 19 years of my life. In the future I want me to continue to, well, just be me.

Massachusettes "What Is An American?" Posts

After reading the blogs of my group memebers I've come to realize that everyone has a different view of this country and what makes up it's people. I agree with Ebbony when she says that she thinks that our country has fallen off track. As great as I think this place is, and it's people, I think that our not only has our nation's economy and lifestyle faded, but so has our pride. I like what Ashley said about getting to choose the way we live, who we vote for, and what religion we want to be. I think that reading other people's views on what makes an American an American has helped me to think about what makes me feel special being an American.

What I Have Learned So Far...

So far this semester I have learned several different things about America and what truely makes us Americans. When I first read the assignment to write a letter to someone coming to this country for the first time telling them what an American was I was a little skeptical. The main reason for this being, that I wasn't entirely sure how I was going to be able to tell someone else what makes us special, but then I really sat down and thought about it. After I began brainstorming for the assignment I figured out that there are actually lots of things that make Americans unique, and lots of different ways in which to describe our culture to other people. Another thing that I have learned so far is what different people think about our culture and Americans as a people. Many people share the same views about this country and it's people, but not everyone has the same feelings. I've always known that not everyone in America feels as lucky and unique as I do, but now that I've gotten to read different people's opinions and descriptions of "What An American Is" it has made me think about some of the reasons as to why they feel differently.

What is America?

What is America?

America is place of freedom and life. It is a place where so many different people come together as one. Everyone always says that America is a “melting pot”, and it’s true. As far back as America has history we have been a nation of many different breeds of people. When the settlers first came here in the early 1600s we were a nation of Englishmen and Dutchmen, Irish and Swedes, Germans and Frenchmen. Over the centuries, our nation has become a home to many other nationalities as well. Italian and Greek, Asian and African, Hispanic and Russian alike have come to this country seeking something that has always been labeled as “the American Dream”. Now I am not entirely sure what exactly this “dream” entails, but I am pretty sure it has something to do with the freedom that our country has fought so long to keep. When this country started out a little over 400 years ago it was established as new colony of Britain. Over the years, people began fleeing to the new world from other countries, seeking freedom from things such as religious and political persecution. After a while though, even they became sick of the British rule that was being forced upon them (and that often stood against the very values that this country was founded upon). In the end, they fought long and hard to free themselves from England, and as we all know, they won. And so began a 400 year string of continuous fighting to keep America free.

As an American, I pride myself on being so, and though I have Italian, Irish, and German blood in me, I consider myself an American first and foremost. I think that this is one of the greatest things about living in this country; most people who are here are damn proud of it. So many people are ashamed of where they came from, but the people of America, we take pride in living here. We raise our kids to be proud of this country and where they came from. We fly flags outside of our houses, have them stuck to the back of our cars, and even tattooed on our bodies. The pride we have in our country is known not only among those people with whom we share this great land with, but also with those people from other countries.

American is a place of many things. We are a place of hope. Hope for a better life, hope for happiness and peace. It is a place of choices; a place of forgiveness and trust. We are a country of happy people, not necessarily because we have power and wealth, but also because of the family and friends we have, the simple, mundane job we may work at 9-5, the choices that we get to make on how we live our lives. America is a country that never stops moving, that never sleeps. We have worked hard for the things that we have, and continue to work hard for the things that we want. We take pride in our lives and how we live them. We are a country that is never above doing what makes us happy. We are a country full of people who are just trying to make it from day to day in one piece. America is a nation full of people willing to help others (though we do not do so as often as we should). We, as a nation, love our pieces of media. From the latest U2 song to the newest episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien; from news stories about a teenager being reunited with her family after being gone for twenty years to books about wizards and vampires. We love our crime scene dramas and a comedy about a dysfunctional family with a talking baby, and a talking dog. We love our food! From Big Mac’s at one in the morning to a Peppermint Mocha Twist Frappucinno Blended Coffee before that big business meeting; slow, home cooked meals from a southern style restaurant with rocking chairs and checker boards lining the “front porch” to pizza that will be delivered in 30 minutes or less, or it’s free. We are a country where convenience means everything and if you can access it from your Blackberry or iPhone, well, that’s even better. We always have our lights on; from small towns to big cities, you are always welcome. Americans always want more! And we always want it now! Doesn’t matter if its money, sex, food, news, or sleep, we want it as fast as possible.

America is a country full of dreamers. We have dreams about everything: where we want to go to college, what we want to do with the rest of our lives, who we want to marry, how many kids we want. We start dreaming about these types of things as kids, and even then, we dream BIG. We dream for things that might never happen, but the joy of America is, no dream is ever too big. And we, as a nation, encourage our kids to dream, and dream BIG. As they grow into teenagers we tell them to keep dreaming, despite how far out of reach their destination may be. And as we grow into adults we tell ourselves, and our peers, that now it’s up to us to make the dreams come true. Our parents and teachers, friends and even enemies, have helped to get us this far, now it’s up to us to make it happen.

America is a country where anything can happen, and nothing is too far beyond your reach. Here we dream BIG and we dream small. We embrace our different nationalities, and as the differences of them all unite, we call ourselves Americans. In America we are free. Free to make choices, free to love what we want to love, and to be who we want to be. America is place full of things that are silly and weird, controversial and wrong, stressful and heartbreaking. We are a country that is proud of who we are; of where we have been and of where we are going. America, well America is full of people who love being Americans.

Introducing me!

Hello all, I’m Brittany and I am currently a sophomore at J. Sarg. I find it incredibly hard to describe myself to other people and I’m not entirely sure why, so I’ll try my best. I was born on July 5, 1990 in the wonderful city (yeah right) of Richmond, Virginia. I am an only child and I currently live with my parents and four cats. I have two best-friends: Alana is an advertising major at VCU and Stacey is a Psychology/Occupational Therapy major at VCU. I use music to describe my moods, and my lifestyle, more often than not because I feel that there are certain songs that can describe me and my situation better than I’ll ever be able too. I currently work at Pump It Up, in Ashland, as a Party Attendant. This basically means that I stand there and supervise/entertain children while they play on giant inflatable moon bounces. I’m unfortunately guilty of watching A LOT of TV, which again, can often tell a lot of people more about me than I probably could. The main shows that I keep up with are: NCIS, Burn Notice, Criminal Minds, CSI New York, Bones, and House; I’m also terribly addicted to Chelsea Lately and Ace of Cakes. I'm a Salvation Army volunteer, and for the entire month of November, and the first 20 days of December, you can find me at malls all around the Metro Richmond area working at an Angel Tree booth. The company that my dad works for, Howell's Heating and Air Conditioning, is one of the major sponsors of the Angel Tree program, and over the past five years they have recruited my dad and I, along with a good friend of ours Jeff, as spokespeople for the program. I love the program and what I do for it more than just about anything else that I spend my time on :). I am really into photography, and I use this as a way to represent and describe me and my lifestyle, it is rare that I’m ever seen without a camera in my hands. Let’s see, I’ve been friends with the same group of kids for almost 5 years now, and there are very much like a second family to me. I’m a very active person, and it is rare that you ever see me sitting still for more than ten minutes at a time. I’m an avid runner, I swim probably better than I walk; I also dance, play soccer, and hike.

So enough of me rambling about the stuff that doesn’t really matter, and on to the interesting stuff: Why I’m here? and more interestingly: Where I’m headed after Sarg? As for the first question: I’m taking this class A) because it was the only way I could get Survey of American Lit to fit into my schedule and B) because I’ve had Steve for English both in the Fall of 2008 and in the Spring of 2009 and I liked his teaching and the way things were done and figured that if I had to take an online class that I would feel safe taking it with someone that I already knew. Now onto the question that a lot of people seem to be asking me lately: Where am I headed after Sarg? Well right after I graduate, in the Spring of 2010, I’m headed to Blacksburg, Virginia for a week to be with family, but I don’t think that’s what people want to hear, so here’s the answer I think you’re looking for… After I’m done at Sarg I’m hopefully (keep your fingers crossed) headed to VA Tech (Radford University is my second choice, VCU my third). While there I want to major in Psychology, with a minor in Political Science. (If I go to Radford I plan to double major in Psychology and Criminal Justice, with a minor in Political Science; I have no idea what I’m going to do if I get stuck going to VCU). I then want to go to Grad School to get my Masters in either Forensic Psychology or Social Psychology (I have no idea where at yet though). My dream job is to be a profiler for the government and for any of you who have ever seen an episode of Criminal Minds (the entire show is based off profilers for the BAU) or Bones (Dr. Sweets is a profiler for the FBI) than you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t ever seen one of those shows, and have absolutely no clue what it is a profiler does here is the Dictionary.com definition: a set of techniques used by law enforcement agencies to try to identify perpetrators of serious crime; also called offender profiling (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/psychological+profiling?o=100074). I mainly I want to work in Terrorism Prevention, but at the same time I want to take a crack at the BAU (Behavioral Analysis Unit) of the FBI. Other than having that dream, I have no idea where I’m headed after I graduate from Grad School.