The Stranger

In The Stranger, by Sherman Alexie he introduces a character that is a teacher who teaches poetry in a prison. There was a riot that was going to happen in the prison and she had no idea. She was in the middle of reading her students a poem when the riot started. There was no way she could be rescued. All of a sudden her students carried her into a supply closest. They put her in a cardboard box and started laughing. At first I figured they were just messing with her but then I realized they were trying to protect her. They were laughing because they couldn’t believe they were doing something good for once. They told her to not to move until the guards come so they can help her. When people are in prison for a while they start to realize that they don’t want to live their life in a bad way. I have a cousin that just got out of prison and he started to do good by getting his GED and started to take care of himself better. When I read this article it made me think of him because he started to be a better person while being in prison. It was a huge wake up call for him and he doesn’t want to go back. He has now improved a lot. Being in prison can change how people think in life. Some people learn a lot from their experience in prison and don’t want to go back but there are the people that don’t learn their lesson. There are people that need to experience prison to realize it’s not a good idea to live their life that way. In the Stanger I realized that they were trying to help her because they said how they shut the box and tapped it loosely, she would still be able to get out so they weren’t trying to hurt her. Another clue was when they said to wait for the guards. If they were trying to hurt her they wouldn’t tell her that so they wanted her to get help. They were returning the favor because she goes in to teach them and they wanted to protect her. 

Dentist/Teacher

As a society we tend to blame teachers when students don’t pass or have bad grades but is it really the teachers fault? Are our teachers really the blame? In class we were presented with a quote, “ we don’t blame dentist when we don’t brush properly and we get a cavity so why do we blame teachers when kids don’t pass because they don’t study?”  I believe everyone is responsible for making their own decisions. People should be held accountable for their own mistakes. Sometimes students blame teachers because sometimes teachers make errors but its not always the teachers’ fault. It’s very easy to put the blames elsewhere and not look within yourself. This goes into other areas of life as well. For example if your driving to fast and you get pulled over its not the police officers fault who is issuing you a citation. It’s your fault for breaking the speed limit law. The officers are just doing their jobs just like teachers are doing theirs by making sure you are learning. Teachers do what they need to do to insure us that we move forward in our schooling. It’s very easy for people to blame others but that doesn’t do any good.  

Commencement Speech

In McCullough’s commencement speech He talks a lot about how no one is special. Graduates may feel entitled or special just because they are graduating. The truth is, students have only begun their journey into life and still have many more obstacles to overcome. I also believe he’s trying to tell the graduates that there’s more then just graduating to be successful. He wants them to do something successful with their life like going to college to continue their education and to do things they always wanted to do. People tend to put off going to college but if you wait to long it might not happen. Graduating is an accomplishment but that’s only the beginning. After graduating you have to work hard and set goals for yourself to lead you into a career path.You must dedicate yourself to other things outside of education such as helping others, building a family, and being a good example in order to be a more well rounded individual.      

Labels and Stereotypes

Many people use the term “blonde moment” when someone says or does something stupid. We saw a cartoon in class of a white blonde woman with a shocked expression on her face saying, “OMG, I have to read a lot and write a lot to be a writer?“ People like to label others based on how they act or speak. The phrasing she chose, “OMG”, make people think that she is uneducated or dense. People shouldn’t stereotype because not all blondes are dumb. No one can be dumb just because of their hair color. If the picture was a man with brown hair people probably wouldn’t think much of the picture. They would probably think he is being sarcastic. People can be very judgmental towards others and it shouldn’t be that way. Not everyone is the same, we are all different individuals.       

Famous Failures

 Have you ever wanted to give up when you failed at something? Is that really what you should do? Most people tend to give up when they fail at something. It shouldn’t be that way because people should never give up. In class we watched a short video called Famous Failures, It talked about how many famous people failed before they accomplished their goal. There were famous people like Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss that really stood out to me in the video. Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper for lacking imagination and he is the creator of Mickey Mouse. 27 publishers rejected Dr. Seuss’s first book and he now is the best selling children’s author in history. Even though they failed at one point they never gave up and they became really successful. This video showed me that a lot of people make mistakes or fail but they learn from their mistakes and work on them. No one really starts off successful it takes a learning experience to become successful. Failing is a part of life but you grow from it to reach your goal. This video really taught me a lot by showing me its okay to mess up because once you keep working at it you will reach your goal and become successful in life. Good things in life come when you take the time. When ever something goes wrong it should motivate you to do better. When people tell you that you wont succeed in life or that your to stupid to do anything you should prove the people that doubted you wrong. Anything is possible if you set your mind to it and achieve your goals.