non-awkward hellos please

There are at least 5-10 times a day that i see people who i either have had bad or good experiences with and either awkwardly a say hello or look the other way.

As a senior at Syracuse University, i have met hundreds of people. These are people i have been friends with, had classes with, was a member of band or another organization with (prssa, suoc, etc). There are some people that I was best friends with, and now barely speak to. To tell you the truth, it makes me very upset sometimes when i think about how sad it is to not have a relationships with sonmeone i had once been best friends with.

I think this is something that all people deal with as they get older. It is impossible to stay close to all people you are friends with forever. We have to learn to go out of our way for the people that mean something to us and understand that if we speak to this friend once every week or two, than that is great.

There will also be people who you dont speak to for years. Now, the next time you encounter this person, it can go one of two ways. First, you can act really awkward and barely say hello. OR you can take the route (which i am doing my best to be more comfortable with) and be happy to see that friend and catch up on lost time.

I am a person who grew up in a small town and have called the same house my home for my whole life. There are people who i have had in my life for as long as i can remember and therefore i never had to get used to not seeing people for such long periods of time. After my four years at Syracuse, i have learned many life lessons. And this is one that i need to work at, or else i will have a lonely future.

sorry about the babbling, I just want to say that in life, it will be impossible to talk to all of your friends consistently. Also, if someone goes out of their way for you, try to do the same, truly good friends who will do something for you are special...keep them close. If a friendship is important to you, make sure you put the effort into keeping them close to you. After graduation, we will all be going our separate ways and will have to look forward to seeing friends every once in a while, instead of everyday.

So, if you see me and it's been months or years since we have last talked, let's not make it awkward and please give a friendly hello and catch up on the lost time. We are all growing older, living our own lives, and looking forward to making non-awkward hellos with old friends.

which is correct?

I'm currently taking a class called Race, Gender and the Media. We were assigned to do readings and write a journal entry, and in honor of MLK, Jr. day and how far we have come with civil rights, here it is:

My question is that I am not sure which term is more socially acceptable or politically correct, "African American" or "black". In many of my classes last week, including COM346, I found that each of the terms were used, so I guess it is OK to use both, but I have trouble understanding why it is necessary to say African American.

Last semester, I asked one of my good friends (whom is black) which term he prefers. He told me that although many of his friends like to say black, he appreciates when people call him African American. This confused me because I thought that in this day and age, people have come to just say black instead. It’s not like every time people see me they call me Italian American or even European American. I am simply white, so why can’t black people simply be called black? It is not as though many of the black people I meet are directly from Africa, just as many of the white people that I meet aren’t directly from Europe and many of the Latino people that I meet aren’t directly from Latin America. I understand that our ancestors were from these places, but does that mean we need to refer to our ancestors all of the time?

While I was studying abroad last spring, I became used to calling black people black, simply because I was not in America and knew that they weren’t African American. I had a tour guide while I was in Dublin, Ireland tell us that he had an American girl in a group who saw a black person walk by and she said, “Look! They have African Americans here!” The tour guide said he just smiled and shook his head.

This brings me to the idea about how Americans do not look outside of the box that is America too often. This is a large world and I have learned that there is much more out there than our fifty states. I will not get into my views of this topic...now at least.

To continue with my issues of African American/black terms, one of the readings that stood out to me this week was when the author did first-hand research with elementary school girls. These young girls are a prime example of much of the hypocrisy that is racism. The young black girls grew up learning that their culture is sacred to them and that no one except black people can act like them. I understand that black people have a history of oppression, but we have come a long way to unite people as people, not by our skin color. When a black person tries to act white, there is NEVER a white person who tells that person to stop acting white (not that i completely know what it means to act white, but i know that if a white person were to ever tell a black person to stop, they would be called a racist).

My friend who I had spoken about previously told me that he hates it when black people use oppression and anger as a reason to lag behind. What I mean is, my friend, let’s call him Brian, has learned that there are a lot of privileges out there for minorities. Brian is from Paterson, NJ and he is one of the only people in his family to make it to college. Although he had a rough time being one of the only blacks in his predominantly white private high school, he has made his way to Syracuse and is now an RA. Brian finds the time to do everything he can to be on the top. He knows that just because his skin is black does not mean he has to be lazy and take the easy way out in life. Brian has many plans for his future and he uses his minority level to get everything he can. For instance, Brian has received scholarships, awards, and positions of authority due to his color. Although he understands that his color shouldn’t be a reason to have some advantages, he also understands that there is a reason which these minority advantages exist. White people have been working the system for a long time so that they can be on top, and Brian knows that due to the civil rights movement, affirmative action and other policies, he can work just as hard as the other white students, but he will stick out because he is one of the few blacks that has come so far. Brian will be successful because he works hard and knows that his skin color does not make him a better person, but it provides advantages which whites do not have.

Personally, I have learned that being a white American girl is going to make my life much easier than it is for many other people. While I was studying abroad last year, I knew that I felt safe anywhere I went because I can speak English (which is used everywhere), and that by being a white female, people always have a sense of trust in me. People are rarely afraid that I am going to do anything wrong. This is a privilege that I know many other people do not have, especially those of color. So, I can see why people of different heritages, especially blacks and Latinos, seem angry that they are the minority and they don’t want others to act like them. I think that instead of being so hasty towards others for acting like them, they should be complimented and learn to use their heritage to get them farther in life. It is a tough road, but we have already come such a long way with civil rights.

The musical Avenue Q features people dancing and singing with puppets, which although it seems like a ridiculous show, it has many meaningful ideals and songs in it which I will probably use quotes from frequently. Here are some lyrics from the song "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist":

Everyone's a little bit racist
Today.
So, everyone's a little bit racist
Okay!
Ethinic jokes might be uncouth,
But you laugh because
They're based on truth.
Don't take them as
Personal attacks.
Everyone enjoys them -
So relax!
Everyone's a little bit racist -
All right!
Bigotry has never been
Exclusively white
If we all could just admit
That we are racist a little bit,
Even though we all know
That it's wrong,
Maybe it would help us
Get along.

I want to end this entry with my excitement of having a female candidate and a black candidate running for president. Not only are they in the running, but they are the frontrunners right now. It is exciting to know that Americans are finally looking past gender and race and learning that people are PEOPLE. We all have the ability to make decisions. Just because white men have run this country for the past 240 years or so, does not mean that the streak has to continue. What is so special about white males anyway? I think they have had their turn and it is about time to see what someone else can do.

new blog

I have learned that I really enjoy reading blogs. This is because I am a very opinionated person and I appreciate when other people are bold enough to show everyone else their opinion. Therefore, I have decided to start a blog of my own. I do not expect many people to read it, but it will be interesting for myself to look back on my views of life.

i am currently packing and getting ready to go back to Syracuse for my final semester and do not have the sufficient amount of time to write a decent blog, but I would like to explain my title. LiveLaughLove. These three words go hand in hand and are basically the most important things to all people: we wouldn't be here without life, laughter is necessary to be happy with your life, and love gives us a reason to live.

I am from New Jersey which is a rather strung out place. By that, I mean the people here are always on the go and they get stressed out way too easily. I myself have found that I get mad at stupid things that do not really affect my life, so I have decided to do my best not to let these little things affect me so much. I'm sure you have no idea where I am going with this, I'm not sure if I even know. But i do know that I want to use this blog to promote peaceful ways of living and peaceful views of life. If we do not enjoy life or do not learn to take things for what they are worth, then we will simply let life fly past us without realizing how good we have it.