Murder in the Name of Honor by Rana Husseini

The novel in reading “Murder in the Name of Honor” by Rana Husseini is very inspiring. The novel discusses the violence and alleged heroism that is taking place in Jordan. Women and daughters are all being killed “in the name of honor”. When a daughter is raped, or sexually active, or when a wife cheats or choses to disobey her husband, she is murdered so the men can restore their pride and they can gain their family’s honor back and be looked at like hero’s. This whole thing is sick and twisted. When a women is raped, why should kill her? Why wouldn’t you go after the rapist and kill him? These are your family! This is your wife, your sister, your daughter. How can lives have such little value to you? These are the people whom you are supposed to love and cherish and protect. I’m disgusted at what is happening in this country. The author of her book tells of her journey for justice for these women. Many people in Jordan marched, signed petitions, tried to enact laws to protect these women and the Jordan parliament completely rejected all that these human activist were doing. Without even a second glance the parliament rejected the 370 bill not even thinking twice of all the lives they could have saved. Days after the bill was rejected, their prince came and initiated a march for women’s rights where thousands of people gathered to and marched together for all one cause, justice. It was one of the largest grouping of protesters many Jordanians have ever seen. Journalist from all over came to interview and cover what was happening down at the march. The march was huge success and brought the human activist a step closer to finding justice for all of these women who are victims of “so called honor crimes.”

Invisible children

Deerfield high school is raising money for the invisible children in Uganda. After I saw the documentary on Invisible children I found it extremely heart breaking that it’s taking so long to get these children help. This is genocide. The world should be coming together to help other people just like us. Living in Deerfield many of the people out here make plenty money to spare. I’m sick of hearing that our school chest fund raising money should be used locally because we need help too. Do we actually need help? With what? Road construction? Fixing up more schools? People in Uganda are dying and being tortured everyday of their lives. They are the ones who actually need help. Our road construction and fixing schools here can wait. You know why? The things that we need here locally always get fixed. We know that we are privileged and whenever we need help, help comes. People in Uganda are fighting this alone. This is something that people in the United States will never have to face. We don’t all live in constant fear that we and or our children will be abducted and forced to be soldiers who will be trained to kill and massacre villages. If we need help locally people here have the money to spend on it, the fact that those who have money and don’t want to spend it locally and would rather spend it somewhere else shows that they know there is a better use for their money that can go to a great cause. We’ve had local problems for years, many people never contributed to it, but once those same people heard about invisible children they were willing to help. This doesn’t mean that we are taking away money that could have been used to help us locally, because the people who live here could have donated their money whenever they wanted to help our local community. They chose not to and they chose to donate to the invisible children. So the money was never “there” locally so there’s no money that is being taken away. Plus living in such a privileged community we know that were safe, we will have food, we can live without fear. Children and families in Uganda have never had a day in their lives where they have not feared the LRA, or that they have not felt hunger. Our small problems can wait. Our problems are not life or death problems. The people living in Uganda NEED our help. The people in Uganda need to feel peace, harmony, and safe. The same feelings many of us in the United States take for granted every day of our lives. The priorities here need to change. Lives are more important than any “local problems” we might have.

Muder in the Name of Honor by Rana Husseini

In the novel Muder in the Name of Honor by Rana Husseini, a women activist tells of the stuggles of her journy that she encountered during her "honor killing" interviews. these honor killings take place when a family member kills a family member to clense their familys honor, for instance when a women is raped it is her fault for seducing the man so she must be killed, or if a women talks back or doesnt clean the house up to her husbands standards. One of the many stories Rana dicusses spoke out to me more than others. it was a story of a couple who fell in love when they were young but were not allowed to marry. the girl was forced to marry a man who beat and raped her almost daily. The couple came up with a plan to escape and take train far away and get married. The couple in the dead of night were caught at the train station where the couple was stopped by the girls father who began shooting at the couple. both were shot and hospitalized. but that didnt stop the live that the couple had for eachother. Leaving your husband is a crime and when the girl nursed back to health she was put in jail. while in jail she had a restraining order against her family to protect herself from another family member coming to kill her  to replace their familys honor. after 3 years being inside jail and writing apoligizes to her family she became desperate to gain their love back. Many members of the family wrote to her promising they would not harm her and that missed her, they were sorry for what they did to her and they want her to come home. the girl was convinced that she was safe and she was released to her fathers custody and right as she walked outside those jail walls, she saw her uncle who shot and killed her and then turned himself in. He was later a considered a hero for clensing his familys honor. so many of these stories take place and it needs to stop. The betrayal of loved one, people dying for unjust causes. The real perpatrator needs to be prosecuted. Many of these honor killings happen with in people with middle/ lower income and in rual areas where pride and honor are all they have and they will stop at nothing to keep it.

abortion

My views on abortion. I know many people think that abortions are killing babies but I don’t consider an “egg” a baby until it starts developing human form. I will admit that when I hear things about young girls getting abortions because of foolish mistakes, I look down on them. I do think that every person has their own right to decide whether they want an abortion or not. But I think that people, who have sex without a condom and or without a birth control, obviously know the repercussions of their actions and don’t really care about how it’s going to be affecting their lives. I think that those people don’t deserve abortions if they don’t care enough about preventing them. I think there should be harsher laws for those who solely got pregnant because they didn’t do anything to prevent it.  I think it’s immature and sick to use a surgery as your first backup plan from getting pregnant from lazy sex.  I don’t think its wrong for certain people to get abortions but I do judge some of the people who do. I know accidents happen but if you do nothing to prevent the accident then I don’t feel sorry for you. Women who get pregnant from rape, or get pregnant and then their husband die, or they get a divorce during the pregnancy or their single mothers, those women who want abortions shouldn’t have to go through such a process. They should be able to get the procedure when they see fit.

 I think that we should do better things to prevent the need for abortion. Like make birth control and condoms cheaper and educate people (guys and girls) more on what they can do to prevent a pregnancy. I think that those people who are pro life have no business telling other people what they can or can’t do with their body. Just like how its no0t appropriate to comment on a how a woman is raising her child or family it’s none of your business to tell her what she can or can’t do with her future baby. Yea I might look down on young girls who get abortions because they were being lazy or ignorant but all I’m doing is placing an opinion on those people. It’s not in any way my business to say whether certain people can or can’t have abortions.

Having all these bans and restrictions on abortions is only making it unsafe for women as well as her unborn child. If people are so upset about women “killing” her unborn child then they shouldn’t be making all these laws and restrictions that could kill the women and her child. I’m 100% pro choice.

Final Death penalty post

The abolishment of the death penalty in Illinois was both just and unjust. I believe that in some ways the death penalty is needed to show that death crimes will not be permitted and we will not stand for the involuntarily taking of another life. The problem with the death penalty isn’t the death penalty itself; it’s the death penalty’s system. 1 in every 7 inmates on death row is proven innocent. I think that if ONE innocent man is falsely accused and then sentenced to death, then the whole system should not be in place. No innocent people should have their lives taken from them, and for innocent people to die while being accused of such brutal crimes, is completely 100% unjust. The death penalty should only be in place if there is 100% reassurance that the person being accused has committed that crime. I personally don’t think that anyone, even an authority figure has any right to end a life. They didn’t put us into this world so what gives them the right to take us out? There are certain brutal crimes I’ll hear of and at that moment im just thinking, “that person is sick and they deserve to die for they did.” But our personal feelings about someone and about their actions shouldn’t be what determine whether another person gets to live or not. Nothing gives us the right to take another person’s life. Yes I do think that certain people deserve to die for their crimes, but I do not think that certain people should be allowed to determine the life another being. When I say that I think that certain people deserve to die for their crimes, I’m not suggesting the death penalty. I’m suggesting karma, if you rape someone and then kill them, then I think that you do deserve to die, not by death penalty but maybe your hit by a train, or you drown. Life kills you. Not other human beings who falsely think that they are given the right to choose the fate of someone else’s life. Life in prison is enough to punish someone. We as human beings deserve to live and experience life. Whether that is locked up in a prison or in the outside world. I think that is wrong of us as human beings to be so hypocritical and take someone else’s life right after we preach about how wrong it is to take a life. I’m embarrassed that we have this system and I’m happy that it has been abolished.

The Pathetic Divorce Rates in America

Divorce rates are definitely a huge problem in America right now. More and more people are getting divorced than ever before. Look at Kim kardashian, she was just married 2 months and she’s already getting a divorce. In America 50% of first marriages last and 65% of second marriages don’t. Nevada has the most known divorces. Most people go to Nevada to have a quick divorce and move on with their lives. It’s been proven that the younger a couple is to get married the more likely they are to get divorced. Race also makes a difference in our divorce rates. 11% of African American couples end in divorce, 10% of whites end in divorce, and 8% of Hispanics end in divorce. I think the reason our race plays a part in our divorce rates is because of our cultural differences. Every culture has some similar morals, yes, but the way we behave within our culture is not a different than other cultures. I think that it’s sad how many marriages end in divorce. It’s extremely heart breaking and sad for everyone involved. Especially the children. Growing up without having both parents in the same household is extremely difficult and all the arguing it causes gives the children stress, low self-esteem, they are also more likely to have problems with their relationships if their parents had problems. I know that my parents divorce did nothing but help me in a way. I fight with my parents all the time because of their divorce but their divorce makes me want to really try to make all my relationships work because I want to have a stable family someday and be happy. I don’t want to put my kids through any negative if I can help it. People need to really think about what they’re doing and weigh out the pros and cons of their decisions. Marriage is supposed to last a life time. Not just a few years or until someone decided to give up. Think about what you think you will want 10 years from then, and see if that matches up with your partner. If not, then you most likely will grow apart for wanting different things.

Death penalty #2

                It’s been proven that 80% of the inmates that are executed on death row are African American and it has also been proven that those with low incomes are more likely to be sentenced on death row. I think that it is true that justice isn’t blind. Even though America has changed drastically to make everyone equal, if you are a white American with a high paying income then you are more likely to be successful and then a person of color with a high paying income. I think that money gives us a lot of power. If you are poor and the court issues you a lawyer, that lawyer could be terrible, he could be racist, he could be known for losing a lot of cases. You have no choice but to settle for whatever lawyer is given to you. You are not always given a chance to pick the lawyer that you think will best represent your case. People with more money are more likely to not get sentenced to death row because they can afford better lawyers. Money has a lot to do with it. I know America is supposed to be free and equal to all but people still have stereotypes, people still categorize other people. It may not always be intentional but humans are very judgmental creatures. A lot of the time when people think of things like “gangs or rappers” they think of people of color. But that’s not always the case. There are people of all races that do those things. We are all guilty of it. I believe that even though people may judge other people or stereotype, they do not need to act on it. When you have a random jury of people, they may all have different beliefs and different morals. If you have someone who is racist in any way that does play a part in the outcome of the decision. Same thing if you were to have a feminist. People cannot always help the way they think but people can help how they act based on that thinking. There are not many people who can look at every situation and hold back their feelings and make a 100% unbiased opinion. It’s sad but it’s true. I don’t think this is fair. There are a lot of things in our legal system I don’t agree with. But complaining about it doesn’t fix anything. Actions do.

Death Penalty

Death penalty. Those who are convicted of a crimes such as brutal murder, murders that shock the community, involving the killing of a government official like a police officer are all actions that can make you eligible for the death penalty. After a person is accused and convicted of their crime they may have to go through a judicial session which is where they judicial court will determine fact or law. Before that court begins they will announce if they are seeking the death penalty or not.  I think that almost every method of the death penalty is cruel and unusual. Such as hanging. The inmate doesn’t die right away. They’re awake and alive and they feel everything. Their body just dangling there while they gasp for breathes while everyone just sits around and watches. I think it’s disgusting.  The firing squad, where 5 men just should the inmate with all of their bullets. I think that this is a little unusual. But I think it would be a relatively fast death. They get one bullet to their head they’re dead instantly and don’t feel a thing. The electric chair on the other hand is just down right inhuman. I can’t believe there are still places that use the electric chair. That is gruesome and disgusting. It inflicts soo much pain and the person doesn’t even die right away. The gas chamber I think is disgusting as well. Suffocated a person and burning their lungs. What isn’t cruel or unusual about that? The only method that I think isn’t cruel and unusual is the injections. The inmate is put to sleep right away. No pain, no cruel pain is inflicted. They are dead and that’s it. The lethal injections get the job down with inflicting pain or being cruel. I think that in order for you to eligible for the death penalty you have to meet really high standards. I don’t think anyone should ever take a life. But I do think that some people are just so evil and cold hearted that they don’t deserve to live. People who kill don’t have anything to offer society. They only hurt society. There should be no tolerance for those who maliciously kill people. It’s just not right. I’m sure that a lot of innocent people are put to death do. That’s why I think that the standards for being eligible for the death penalty should be a lot higher. We should not take away a life of anyone who could just the lightest tiniest bit, be innocent. It’s true that there are probable some inmates that are put to death who have a lot valuable talents and lot of people question that if they are really talented and can use their talents to help society then they should not be killed. My opinion, there is a LOT of talented people out there who give a lot to society who are probably more talented than those on death , but they don’t kill people. So whether a person is talented or not. If you kill someone. Pay the consequence.

Bullying

Washington, New york, and Massachusetts all have laws against bullying. But what draws the line between bullying, or just a disagreement, or dislike for someone? I think there is a very thin line between bullying and fighting with someone. I do think that having the law against bullying will help stop teens from bullying and help change a lot of lives but I also think the laws will hurt many lives. If I fight with my younger brother and I call him a weirdo, am is that considered bullying? Should I be penalized for calling him a name? Is it fair to punish me and put something on my record just because I had some sibling rivalry with my brother? What is considered bullying? I think that bullying is an awful terrible thing and I want to become a social worker or a high school counselor so I can help those that have been bullied to see that they can change their lives and make it better. I’m not saying that I’m ok with bullying at all. But should young teens really be severely punished for making childhood mistakes? Having anything on your record can hurt your chances of getting into college, getting a job. Children will fight and children will say mean things. No matter what it is going to happen and those kids should also be punished. The effects of bullying can be really traumatic and should be stopped. But the severity of the punishment is too much. I think there should be a really fine line between bullying and just not getting along with someone. I think that schools should put more severe rules against bullying so they can help stop it. Most bullying takes places in school. So that’s where our focus should be. If schools make rules like “if you are found bullying someone you will not get a co9llege recommendation.” Or “suspended”. I think that is enough to stop a lot of the bullying and not too severe to hurt the futures of young teens. They will see that bullying is not going to be accepted there and that they need to stop. If they don’t, then there will consequences. Bring the law into I think is going to hurt a lot of the lives and futures of young teens who are still growing up and making mistakes. I don’t they should be held accountable for mistakes that made as children, for the rest of their lives.

Drug Testing in Schools

Schools have strict policies about drugs. This is completely understandable. I know that some school do random drug testing on any of their students that participate in school activities to make sure they are drug free and are not using any performance enhancers. The way I feel about this is, you should have a reason to suspect the person of drug use before you can just drug test them. Also, many of the high school students that do take drugs aren’t in any clubs or sports because they are doing instead. I don’t think its fair to only test those students are showing an interest in after school activities. If your going to test anyone at the school then everyone should be acceptable to the drug testing. I feel like this could prevent many kids from doing drugs or continuing drugs but this could also backfire at the school. If many of the kids on sports are doing drugs and they rather keep doing drugs than continue their sport, then we could loose a lot of athletes. Also many high school athletes are allegeable to get scholarships for their athletic ability. If they get caught with a drug/drugs in their system and are therefore not allowed to continue in their sport I don’t think its worth risking their future over a silly mistake they made as a teenager. I think the schools really need to weigh out the pros and cons before they start doing something this drastic.

Gay rights

I completely support gay rights. You can’t help who you are or who you fall in love with. Who is to tell you who you can and can’t marry? I really believe that the heart wants what the heart wants. I don’t understand why some people are against gay rights. If you’re not the one getting married or in a relationship with someone of the same sex then mind your own business. Who other people marry or chose to love is not your problem. It in no way affects you. Who is to say that being straight is the right thing and being gay is wrong? Yes we need a male and a female to reproduce. That’s true, but what if people were meant to reproduce with the opposite sex and then fall in love with someone of the sex? Plenty of people and couples do that now and it works. I am 100% straight but I have no problem with people who are bisexual or gay. There is nothing wrong with it and it doesn’t effect my life in anyway so why not just let it happen. I think its wrong to hate a specific group of people or put down anybody who is different than you. I have no respect for the people that cannot accept specific groups of people based on sexual identity, race, sex or religion. That goes against all my morals. We are all human no matter who we love, what we look like and what our beliefs are. We need to be accepting of all people so our world can live in peace without hate. Accepting all gay rights will bring more peace to many people and influence other countries to do the same so everyone can get the chance to fall in love with whoever they chose. Everyone deserves to feel love and love whoever they want. Feeling love and belonging is one of our basic human needs.  

aranged marriage

In many countries and cultures arranged marriage is how they have always done it. They believe that marriage leads to love. In the U.S.  We believe that you fall in love and then you get married. It’s pretty interesting when you actually think about it. In the U.S. our divorce rates are crazy. Each year more and more people are getting divorced. In other countries like India and Africa they can’t understand why we are still doing marriage the way we are when we can see that a lot of our marriages are failing. How other countries do it is the parents find the person they want their child to be with. They find a person who was raised on the same morals, has a personality that would fit their child, they have things in common, they have money to support a family, same goals ext. they make sure that their children will be compatible with this person for a life time. Not just short term like us where we fall in love with who that person is currently and expect them to always be the same. That’s not very realistic. They’re marriages work because they find people who will grow and change together and have similarities and goals that will keep them together forever. I personally want to be able to fall in love and then get married and I hope that the person I marry is going to have the same long term goals as me so we don’t fall apart. But I do understand the concept of arranged marriage. It does make sense to me. People with arranged marriages do have lower divorce rates and end up falling in love with that person over time and end up extremely happy together. I don’t think arranged marriage is a bad method.

women's rights

I'm reading an incredible book by Rana Husseini called Murder in the Name of Honor. The book is about this journalist who travels to other countries that have a completely different culture then we have in the U.S. the journalist learns about how the women in other countries are treated. In Jordan their culture believe that women are less than men and in almost every scenario women are to blame. For example, if a young is raped, it is her fault for “seducing” the man who raped her. Therefore she is not the victim. Women who are raped are then killed by a family member to restore their family’s honor. In their culture by killing the one who was raped, they were doing it out of kindness because after she has been raped she cannot wed and will grow old and alone. Also the only way to remove the shame that has been caused is to kill the one who is bringing shame. This completely blows my mind. Rape is when someone is forced to have intercourse against their will. How could the women be seducing the man if she doesn’t want to have sex with him? It is clearly not the woman’s fault if she is found attractive and is then raped. It’s not rape if you want it to happen. Rape is a horrible disgusting thing that should never be allowed to happen. I cannot believe that the real victims are being found to blame because they attracted an evil person who raped them. After everything these victims have gone through they are still being betrayed by their own family and killed for something they had no control over. How could it possibly be ok or even encouraged to kill somebody? How are these people getting away with rape and murder? This isn’t right. Something needs to be done to stop this. I don’t care if this is their culture and that’s the way things have always been done. Killing and raping is WRONG. There’s no argument. Rape is never ok and it is never ok to punish the victim and not the person who assaulted them. What is wrong with these people?! We need to step in and help these women. This cannot keep going

nike

I watched a video in my Contemperay living class about how nike treates the peopel who make all of their products. these amazing people are forced to work in these factories for hours with only $1.25 an hour. they barely have any money for food, water, shelter. these people are living off of nothing. while these poeple are slaving away all day and only making $1.25 an hour they are making the people who represent nike millionairs! nike has the money to supply these poeple with food and water and shelter and yet they do literally nothing to help these people. these people are happy to work they are proud they are making money to try and support their family. theyve been tought they deserve better. they deserve so much more then their making. no one ever thinks about the people who work behind the scenes of these company. we go and buy all their products and the people who are making these products we are using are literally dying from starvation and disease becuase the million dollar company they work for doesnt pay them or give them any type of insurance so they can support them selves and their family. something needs to be done about this. these people are amazingly strong poeple who deserve so much better. we need to find a way to help them.

So at my school theres one day "class colors day" where every grade dresses up in their own class color. freshmen=white, sophmores=grey,juniors= red, seniors=black. we have this dress up day every year the day before homecoming. the whole day is supossed to be about the school uniting and having school spirit. a lot of the teachers are debating not doing class colors anymore because they feel like that only unites each grade instead of the school as a whole. its true that each grade is more excited to dress up for their grade then they really care about uniting as a school. but in dressing up for class colors we are all uniting and class colors gives us all something to look forward to. each year when we get to dress up in a new color it makes us feel good about how far we've come. we unite as a grade and a school. we look at each person in every grade and we comend them for how far theyve come. everyone looks forward to the year where they can dress up and wear black. by taking away class colors we lose our sense of pride and that will only hurt the uniting of the school.

9/11

In my Issues and America class we saw this documentary on what happened during the 9/11 terrorist attack. The documentary we saw was originally going to be a documentary on becoming firemen. During the process of making that documentary the fire fighters were fixing an oil leak a block from the twin towers and you can literally see the first airplane hit. In this documentary you see the first fire fighters to enter the building right after the first plan hit. I’ve seen videos of the planes hitting the towers but it was such a crazy experience to watch this video of what it was like for the people INSIDE the towers. At first it looked like the firemen were just standing in the lobby talking while all these people were running out. I was really confused as to why the firemen weren’t going up to go save people. Then about a half hour into the attack, the video shows the elevator doors open and people get out and they had noo idea what happened. They were completely clueless. I found out later that all the other elevators were on fire and that’s why the fire fighters couldn’t go up the stairs right away. A lot of the video we see the firemen in the lobby discussing tactics to get up to the people and as were watching this we can see the actual people jumping out of the building and you can see them fall and hit the ground through the windows. This lobby was mostly all windows so we could see something drop and then hear a bomb when they landed. It was crazy to see the actual people. Knowing all this was real was just crazy. My heart goes out to all the people who died or lost loved ones. The documentary I saw was so heart breaking and watching that showed me that there is such a thing as evil. The bravery the firemen had to run up those stairs when everyone else is running down is incredible. And it was more then just people running down. Some were on fire, bleeding, screaming, and missing arms. It was ridiculously hard to run up to a death trap while watching all these people around you dying. The firemen were running up to what they knew could have been there death. Watching this documentary made me cry and I even felt my chest get heavy. I cant imagine what all of those people must have felt.  

Freedom of Speech

In my new issues in America class we've been discussing freedom of speech and whether certain forms of freedom of speech should be restricted. It does need to be restricted in some forms because having full rights to freedom of speech can be dangerous, start confrontation, go against the law, disturb the natural flow of society. We went over some discussions in class and there was one that really stood out to me. I thought the answer to whether or not this man should have been punished was an easy conclusion to make, yet my class had many different opinions and reasoning for how they came up with their conclusions. Situation was about a man who was drafted and he is against the draft so he burned his draft letter. Burning a draft letter is against the law. He was sentenced to jail. So the question is, was it wrong to punish him for this when he was just protesting against the draft. Did the government go against his right to freedom of speech? I thought that they did not go against his right to freedom of speech because our freedom of speech is limited. If your act of freedom of speech involves committing a crime then you should be punished for it. I think that there are better ways to protest against the draft than to commit a crime. Another person made the argument that everyone should be able to protest against things they don’t believe in and if they don’t believe in the draft then they should have the right not to join. My opinion is that just because you don’t believe in a law doesn’t mean you don’t have to follow it. This person did have the right to protest against the draft but in the manner he did it he still committed a crime and should still be punished for the crime he committed.

                 The rights to our freedom of speech need to be somewhat restricted because if it’s not than we will have a lot of people breaking the law, and being put in dangerous situations. Everyone knows the examples screaming "BOMB!" in the middle of an airport and "FIRE!" in the middle of a movie theater. Yes people have the right to freedom of speech but screaming things like that in those places that are filled with a lotto of people is not safe and your freedom of speech should be stopped if it involves causing the unsafe of others. I went to a Catholic school for one year in fourth grade (even though I’m not catholic). We had to wear uniforms of Corse and that included no makeup, only black headbands, clips or hair ties and no nail polish. So the school would give you your uniform early on and you have to wear that same uniform every day and every year you attended the school. People grow? Maybe the school district forgot about that but kids grow. A lot. So on my first day of school I showed up in this tiny short dress I wasn’t yet comfortable wearing, nail polish and a hot pink headband. I was sent home for wearing nail polish and a colorful headband. I got over it. I didn’t mind looking the same as everyone else because then I would be fitting in, in this new school and I would be drawing any unwanted attention to myself. After maybe a month I was just way to uncomfortable about the length of my dress. God forbid i were to drop a pencil I would be exposing myself. My mom came up with this idea that I could just wear shorts under my dress and no one would know. Silly me. I didn’t think about all of the extreme jealousy I would be getting from all of the other girls when I would be able to pick up my pencil off of the ground with no problem. Of Corse the teachers found out and I was sent home. Again. My parents were furious at the school and the next day I dressed exactly the way the school wanted me too but I didn’t speak to anyone or do any work. I just sat there with a note from my parents saying that if my freedom of speech isn’t allowed there then I might as well not speak at all.

college stress

Its the 3rd day of my senior year and i'am already beyond stressed out about what I have to do to get ready for college not to mention all the things I have to do to get in college. I am completely clueless about everything involving college. I have no idea how to find the schools that I even want to apply to. I live in the northshore where everyyyone goes to college and they know everyyything about how to get in and all the steps they need to take to get there. Most of them have their parents helping them apply to colleges, taking them on college tours, applying to colleges. Me? No. i do not have parents like that. My dad went in the military right out of college and my mom never went either. My parents are just as clueless about the college process as I am. I know this is the year I have to step up and take control of my grades and set out to look at colleges and be a responsible young adult, but what some adults now dont realize is that I just turned 17 a week ago. I also dont have as many of the resources to help me, such as parents. How can kids my age be expected to know what it is we want to do for the rest of our lives? iv been 17 a week and i have to aply to the college that basically will determine the type of life I am going to have, in a matter of a month. Wednesday was my first day of school this year and the seniors had to stay after school for a college meeting. One of the teachers were giving a presentation of different colleges, how to send a transcript, scholarships, college cost. The whole time i'm sitting there i'm like "what???". I cant be expected to wake up out of bed one morning at 17 years old and automatically know the college I wan't to go to, my major, the cost of the school, how to send a transcript, write an essay, and apply. How do I even find colleges to apply to? Dont get me wrong, I know for a fact that i want to go to a great four year college. I know I wan't to go to a school with a small campus but a lot of students, and I wan't everything to be with in walking distance. I also want to join a sorority. I don't how ever know what I wan't to major in. I LOVE kids. I worked at an elemtary school in the after school program and I absolutely loved it. But I know that I don't want to be a teacher. I can handle kids for 3hrs a day but to be teaching them for 6hours a day, I would go crazyyy. I'am also really girly and love to color my hair, cut it in different ways and play around with it. I would love to do hair for a living. my problem is that the chances of me making it big or owning a hair salon is very slim. i need to find something that I love that can make me successful and I dont know what that is yet. Also don't even get me started about how I'am going to pay for college. Most of the college cost I will have to pay myself.I have a job right now but there is no chance in hell i'll come even close to being able to pay. my dad is also making this hard on me. He wont even let me look into a college if it's one that he doesnt want me to go to. He also wont let me now when he will be available to take me on college tours and it's not like my dad will let me drive acouple hours away and visit a college by myself. Besides the normal teenage stress like boys, grades, friends, looking my best, exc. I have so much college stuff to worry about too. I need help.