Entry #11: Final Blog Reflection

Writing a blog was fun and challenging at the same time. The blog has the capacity to reach a large audience. Even though it was a class project, once I have a piece of writing with my face and name on it, and it is a reflection of me. It was very important for me to portray sincerity and credibility in my work. It began as a project and quickly changed into a fun pastime for me. I discovered some useful and fun blogs and some that actually helped with my homework. I love cooking and I stumbled upon vahrehvah. It is a great blog for Indian and vegetarian cooking. Another blog that I fell in love with was gardentherapy. It is great blog for gardening and small things to do around the house. It was also nice to get to know the other students through their writing. I was particularly impressed with the amount of work put in School and Blueberries blog.

I lose patience and interest with long pieces of writing. But blogs are colorful with pictures and videos and most importantly they are not long.  Blogs taught me to condense my thoughts and incorporate more mediums than just writing and expressing my opinion.  I have been aware of people making money through blogging. I have never considered it seriously but it looks like fun. Several people started blogging as a hobby and ended up with a full time profession. I have been considering being a part time blogger to make some money if I do not end up with a job this summer.

As an assignment, blogs were a welcome relief from research papers. As a writer, it gave us freedom to speak our minds. I like the informal approach to writing. I like how some blogs were given a direction with the topics and others were let open for us to explore our thoughts. They were also helpful in making up for lost grades in the research projects. They were nicely spaced throughout the semester.

In my opinion, blogs were fun because they were a platform to express true feeling. As a writer, there were fewer restrictions on the use of formal English, grammar, and punctuation. Incorporation of various mediums like photos, animations, videos added more interest to the writing. I would not change anything about blogging. However, I would wish that the last blog entry which is basically our view on blogging should not be graded for points. This makes it hard for students to criticize blogging or provide valuable feedback. Criticism is a powerful tool and is best used when it is unbiased and anonymous.

To sum up, I enjoyed blogging and reading other people’s blog. The best thing about blogs is that they are short. With time being indispensable, it is absolutely imperative that we learn to condense our thoughts and be able to express them using various other mediums besides just writing. Blogging provided us a broader audience and a way to express ourselves through writing.

Entry #10: How to Evade a Traffic Ticket

I was in English 101 on a late Friday class. The students were planning on they would be doing as soon as they got out of the class. Our professor, Dr. Thomas Carey, had the task of explaining to us how to use rhetoric in a process paper.  He came into the class and said that he was going to lecture for 15 minutes and then tell a story. If he fails to get the attention of any student during the story, that student is free to leave the class. Mr. Carey came from of family of traffic cops.  He told a story of how to evade a traffic ticket. Needless to say, no one left the class. As a matter of fact, every student took notes. Even the ones who came without paper and pen borrowed some paper to take notes. Fortunately, I never had to try any of these tactics but I would like to share them with you.

Never speed in a construction or school zone. Do not speed when you are the only car on the road. It is easy for the cop to pick the signal on his detector and locate it to you. Avoid using the far left lane. Cars in this lane are more susceptible to become targets for the cop who is hiding in the median strip or coming from the opposite direction in a divided highway.  It also helps if you have car stickers which support traffic police welfare organizations instead of something that says, “I brake for nobody.” If you are caught and see a cop with blaring siren behind you, pull over and remain in your car. If it is dark outside, turn on your interior lights. Turn off the music. Pull out your license and insurance papers and wait for the cop to approach. If you are pulled over, chances are that you know why. Do not start the conversation by admitting your mistake. If there is a genuine reason for speeding, tell the cop. If not, render him an apology. Crying is a very effective way to get out of a ticket. You can cry and plead but make it look real. DO NOT argue with the cop or act arrogant.  Never try to flirt with the officer to get out of the ticket, especially if it’s a female officer. Do not try to bring race/gender issues. Also remember once the Officer starts walking back to his car, chances are you are getting a ticket.  Ask him for a break or a written warning. Finally, the traffic cops need to meet a minimum quota for the month.  If you are caught towards the start of the month, the chances of these tricks working are far higher. If you are caught speeding, these tricks work only as long as you are under a reasonable limit.

Entry #9 Media: Boon or Bane

            

             We are surrounded by different mediums of information around us. Whether we love it or hate it, we cannot escape it.  The media influences how we think. It is our primary source of information. However, the media is controlled by corporations: their aim is to make a profit. Often, the media is used to serve corporate interests rather than provide genuine unbiased information. Several pieces of information that reach out to the masses have been molded and skewed so that it can generate revenue.  

 For instance, the image of beauty has constantly been redefined by the media. From archaeological relics, we have discovered that instinctively men were always attracted to women who were curvy and looked healthy. These healthy women were considered to be a symbol of fertility. Several figurines have been found that reinstate this belief. This was a process of natural selection to produce the most viable offspring.

 Today, the fashion industry has redefined the meaning of beauty to an almost unachievable and unhealthy level. Several corporations are selling products to change the physical appearance of people at the cost of their health. The computer enhanced photo should not be the idea and expectation of beauty. Several young people suffer from anorexia and low self-esteem because they do not meet these criteria of beauty. This misuse of media to promote a wrong image should be penalized by law. Laws need to be enforced that mandates the media to provide genuine information and unaltered images to the public. The media has the power to influence lifestyles. With the great reach and impact of media, it is imperative that there are rules in place to check that the information that is passed out is legitimate. 

Entry #8: A Teacher - An Inspiration

Dr. Carlos Nunez-Noriega is a faculty professor in the Technology and Consumer Sciences department at Glendale Community College, Arizona. I have had him as a professor for two semesters now. He teaches electrical engineering. However, this blog is not about his teaching skills or my opinion of him as the finest teacher in the department. This is the story of a man’s fight against cancer and living with honor while inspiring others.

When I first started decided to take an engineering class, it was challenging. I almost thought of dropping the class.  Dr. Nunez did not make life any easier for me. He just pushed me harder. He did not make the tests less challenging or give out easy extra credits to make sure we pass.  Instead, he gave us opportunities to work harder and smarter. He always seemed to reach out to students even if it was not regarding his class. He is a very intelligent man and is always willing to help his students. Recently, I found out that he was suffering from colon cancer and his cancer has spread into its fourth stage. He was diagnosed with cancer three years ago. The doctors gave him three to six months to live; however, Dr. Nunez was a fighter. He decided not to spend his final days laying in the bed and feeling sorry for himself.

He decided to give back to the society. Dr. Nunez had to struggle through his education as a young student. He had seen several of his students go through the same financial hardships. He decided to raise money for students and start a scholarship fund. In 2005, he completed the Tempe Iron Man Triathlon which helped to raise $21,000 for scholarships. In the March 2014 spring break, he hiked Pico de Orizaba which is Mexico's highest mountain to help raise money for scholarships. You can help support him and his cause by donating money. This money can be used to help students continue their education, buy books, or purchase bus passes. 

Dr. Nunez still teaches at GCC. Even though he is in constant pain due to the spreading cancer in his body, he is committed to helping his students. Even though the doctors do not believe he has a lot of time, he is making sure that every moment counts. He a great teacher and he is an amazing human being. I am glad to have known him in my lifetime. He does not only teach the subject material but brings the best out of his students. I hope and pray that he has a long life and he keeps inspiring others like he has inspired me.

Entry #7: Capitalism: The Real Story

A few days ago, we watched a documentary by Michael Moore's called "Capitalism: A Love Story". In this documentary, he talks about the effect of Capitalism and the adverse effect of privatization by companies. I could not disagree more. The topic was well researched and featured some top names including my favorite economist Elizabeth Warren. However, I felt the facts were severely skewed. It seemed like he was trying to blame our capitalist system while the people who were critical of capitalism should have been blamed. He was talking to about how rich people should be taxed more or there should be redistribution of wealth. But I believe you get what you deserve. America provides equal opportunities to everyone to excel in life. There are no shortcuts to success. If someone is not happy with their current position in life, they just need to work harder. Excuses and blame games do not produce results: hard work produces results.

In the movie, there was a detention facility for children.  This was owned by a private company.  To increase profits, the company bribed the judge to put more children into the detention facility for long periods of time.  This is an example of how Mr. Moore skewed facts.  It is an example of corruption, not fair capitalism.  Capitalism is based on making legal profits.  It is not based on illegal business practices.

Mr. Moore tried to appeal to the emotions of people by showing the videos of people who lost their houses to the sub-prime mortgage crisis of 2008. Yes, the banks were at fault to assume that the housing markets will always go up and gave out a huge sum of loans to people who did not deserve that money. The houses that these people lived in were financed by the bank. If one is unable to repay the bank, they cannot stay in the house any longer. There are no free lunches.  The popular “teaser payments” (mortgage payments that started low and adjusted higher) was agreed to by the homeowner and the bank.  If the person whose mortgage payment adjusted higher can no longer pay the loan, they have to give up the house to foreclosure.  People who claim they lost their houses never owned them in the first place. 

I am a strong believer in lassie faire and I consider myself fortunate to be in America. This country provides endless opportunities to individuals. This enables us to dream big and able to achieve it. This is one reason that geniuses from around the world come to the U.S. to work. The power of lassie faire is beautifully demonstrated in the rap song below. This song is written by Professor Russ Roberts from George Mason University.

Communism as a concept assumes an ideal scenario. It would work in a perfect world where one man works harder than the other for the same pay and benefits. This would mean that a Neurosurgeon and a Janitor would be paid the same amount of money. I wonder how many people would be motivated to become doctors in that scenario. We have a real world example from North Korea that follows communism. A documentary by National Geographic in 2009 showed that several people were rendered blind by a easily treated condition of cataract. People are not motivated to study challenging fields of medicine and other sciences. Volunteer eye doctors had to be flown in to treat these people. If we live in a communist world, the technological development that is growing exponentially would cease to exist.

Entry#6: Living with dyslexia

                                                                      

           I experienced this every time while reading. Yes, I was dyslexic.  I was labelled lazy, stupid and useless. I was not able to match up to the academic skills of my family. I always felt like a disgrace. But no matter how hard I tried I could not tell the difference between ƨ and s, left from right, or time on an analog watch. But I overcame my barriers and I am in my last semester at GCC studying Computer Science.

            I believe you are disabled only when you give up trying. Even though reading was harder for me than others, I knew that I was going to do it. Edison said genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. I gave in my 99% perspiration and the 1% inspiration just followed. Slowly and steadily with the support of my friends, family and teachers I was able to overcome my barriers.

Even Edison took 10,000 attempts to make a light bulb. The key is to not give up.  If you know someone with disability, do not give up. Nothing is impossible: all we need is a changed approach and hard work. The world has enough opportunities for everyone. In case you are still trying to figure out the first sentence, it says, “Dyslexia is a brain-based type of learning disability that specifically impairs a person's ability to read.”  

Entry #5: Are we progressing towards Dystopia

I remember the time when a mobile phone was a luxury, hanging out with friends was not a virtual thing, and fun was sharing a laugh. This has already begun to change. We can see it with our kids. This clip shows us a frightening future. As the technology grows exponentially, it takes over human relationships.  It frightens me to see what future we have to offer our kids.

During the winter break, my family decided to take a big family vacation in Hawaii. We had the plans already chalked out. Every day had some activity and some family time. Most of family was spent in uploading pictures on social networking sites, “liking”, and “commenting” on the pictures. Even at the beach, kids were playing on their Nintendo.  This is quite like in the video everyone is at the beach but watching their portable televisions.

I wonder if we have forgotten to relax. We are paying big bucks to learn Yoga and meditation techniques. Their basic technique is just breathing exercises.  No wonder the cases of depression and emotional detachment are going up. People have forgotten to read each other’s emotions. They have forgotten to hear the cry for help. This is also taking a toll on the health of people. As technology does a lot of work for us, people are reduced to couch potatoes. This is also shown in the video where the people are fat and engrossed in their own world.  Developing countries like Africa have a spirit of “Ubuntu” that seems to have lost its meaning in our developed world.

Technology is a bane and it has made the world simpler. It has provided us with easier and better ways to do our job. But are we overdoing it. This has scary prospects. We need to find a balance between technology and how we use it in our lives. We need to prioritize what is important and devote time to it. Relationships are organic they need time and nurture to grow.

Entry 4 : Back To School

Going back to school after being out of it for a while can be an intimidating choice to make. When I first thought of going back to school, it had been 10 years since high school. I had barely gotten through high school and I was not sure if it was the best idea to put my current job at stake and go back to school. I was scared and apprehensive. I wondered if I would be able to balance between home, work and school.

Like a lot of other people, I wanted to go to school to ensure a better future for myself and my family. I wanted to feel smart. I wanted my kid to be proud of me. Sometimes it was hard to keep the balance between home and homework. At times, I felt running short of energy to keep up with the work. This is where my incredible family provided support. My mother-in-law provided me with valuable information as in how to evaluate my options to choose a field of study. My husband took care of me when stress got the best of me. Having the tremendous family support enabled me to quit my job and pursue school full-time.

              Food tastes even better when your husband cooks it!

Some classes like Engineering just did not make any sense to me, while others like Java was made fun by the amazing teacher.  I also discovered several helpful websites that helps in understanding the concepts better. One of my favorite education websites is "MIT Open Course Ware". An excerpt from my favorite professor is "Walter Lewin Promo"

           Going back to school has been a roller coaster ride for me. But it has definitely been among the more sensible choices I made. Education is empowerment. I believe it not only opens up new horizons in the job market but shapes up your thinking process and makes you a more rounded person. I do not think there is a better use of my time and energy than to put it into learning. 

Entry #3: How does GPS works

It is amazing how we have progressed from using a magnetic compass to using global positioning satellites to navigate. A GPS or a global positioning device uses 27 Earth-orbiting satellites (24 in operation and three extras in case one fails) to determine our exact location on the earth using a technique called Trilateration .

GPS was invented by the U.S Department of Defense. It has several applications in our day to day lives ranging from a navigation tool to a tracking device on car.  I cannot imagine being in an unfamiliar place without GPS. I love hiking and GPS helps me track my path. In fact, I do not think I would dare to go on some trails without it. I also love driving and exploring new cities. GPS provides real time voice guided directions which allow anyone to keep their eyes on the road while driving. It can also pull up places of interest nearby like a gas station or a restaurant. There are times I need the GPS device to locate my car in a crowded parking spot. 

The U.S government spent more than $12 billion on developing GPS technology.  It is intriguing how some migratory animals and birds travel across the globe without GPS. We have spent billions of dollars to develop a technology that many animals have evolved.  This begs the question, “Are we becoming more dependent on technology in our daily lives or is it opening up new doors in our lives?”

Entry #2                                                       Love at first sight

               It was June 20th, 2011. I had married the man of my dreams just 4 months ago. After a crazy bureaucratic run for a visa and a passport in India, I was finally meeting my husband in the U.S. I was excited beyond words. But little did I know that I was about to meet someone special. Someone who would make me believe in "love at first sight".

                Jasper was my husband's best friend and soon to be my best friend as well. He had big deep eyes, sculpted body, and a distinctive manly scent to him. He gave the biggest wettest kiss of all.  He was the most stylish soccer player I ever knew. He was kind and considerate beyond words.  As we became best friends for life, he also became one of my greatest teachers.

                Jasper was a rescue puppy. He was 2 weeks old when my husband adopted him. He was 8 when I first met him. Jasper was apprehensive of me to began with, but we bonded. We were inseparable in a month. And that is where I learnt several things from him.

                 He taught me patience. He would wait patiently all day for me and my husband to return from school and work. He never questioned when we were late. His big eyes lit up every time we came home. His tail wagged with joy.  It did not matter to him if we left him for 10 minutes or ten hours he was always delighted to see us home. He taught me humility.  He taught me to look beyond myself and find true joy in making others happy. He taught me to be happy with the most basic necessities of life. He taught me to share and be a team player. He would bring all his toys every time we have a guest especially young kids. He taught me unquestionable trust. He never argued with any decision I made for him. He never liked his visits to the veterinarian. His tail went between his legs and he heaved big sighs. But ever time I told him "lets go" he believed in me and went.  But above all, he taught me the purest form of love.  The form I believe is divine. He taught me to love without any expectations. He never asked for any gifts, treats, or worldly possessions.  Instead, he showered me with his selfless love. It's his 11th birthday in two weeks. I am glad he is a part of my life. He continues to teach me valuable lessons of life and help me become a better person. Happy Birthday big guy!!

Entry #1                                                     The Small World

            Coming from India, the Internet is the best and cheapest way to stay connected to my family. Even though I am several miles away I get constant updates from my friends around the world through social networking sites. I love reading blogs.  I especially like to read about fashion, cooking and science blogs. Writing has always felt like work to me so I never initiated writing a blog. 

               While researching for this blog entry, I read a few blogs. I liked the ones that seemed to have a personal touch. Some blogs like "Brain Pickings" felt like doing homework to me. It was very well researched and written. It covered a wide variety of topics from philosophy to science to politics. However it was a little too long for me. After being in school all day I enjoy a lighter read. I liked the personal touch of  "A cup of Jo".  The writer had a lot of her personality in her writing. She wrote about things like fashion, home, food and travel. All these things were of interest to me. Reading her blogs were fun. Nevertheless, my favorite blog was "Goolge's Official Blog". Even though it’s not a personal blog, it has a lot of topics that stir my interest. Working for Google has been my dream since I was 15. The articles like smart contact lens which can measure glucose level in eyes are cutting edge. I was immediately hooked.

              I am looking forward to write entries and read more blogs through the course of this semester and in future. I think it will provide me an opportunity to know my classmates better, learn new things from their experiences, and share my own experiences.

             Hi , I am Shikha Mehta. I enjoy shopping, travelling , playing with my computer, programming and hiking with my dog. I am blessed with an absolutely amazing husband.

                His encouragement and support has helped me to go back to school and study Computer Science. My hobbies include cooking, painting, swimming, and taking long drives with my husband. I also love surfing the internet and playing video games. One of my favorite online games is called Plants VS Zombies. 

               I finished high school in 2004. But due to an unfortunate accident I could not continue with my education. Finally after two surgeries and three years later, I was back on my feet. I was apprehensive at first about going to school. I did not do very well at high school and barely had a passing grade. I worked in different sectors of the Hotel industry, but I wasn't really going anywhere with my career. Finally, with support and encouragement from my husband I decided to back to school in the spring of 2013. And here I am, sharing my experiences with all of you.