Blog#6

The value of a college education is important for many reasons.  For me, the value of a college education means being self-reliant and being able to provide for my children in turn giving them a better life.  To other people college is important in order work in a field that they are passionate about, or working toward living the American dream. 

Not everyone should attend college; college is not for everyone.  Some people choose to take a different path and that is okay, though it may be more difficult to be successful.  A person needs to be ready for college when they decide that that is the path they want to take.  They need to know that going to college is what they really want, keep their eye on the big picture, and be prepared to stick it out when the going gets tough.

A liberal arts education should certainly be a part of all higher education.  Liberal arts such as communication, and writing are used in almost every career and everyday life. Therefore it is important to know how to write and communicate well if being successful in a career is desired. 

College is way too expensive for most Americans.  I do not know the exact reasons why, that is a good question.  I think the government takes advantage of students going to college.  Though college is expensive, there are many resources to help lighten the costs that come with continuing education. 

I have never been the school type.  I have never enjoyed it, never been good at it, and it never has come easy to me.  However, going to college and getting a degree means the world to me, it is something that I want very badly.  Getting a degree is the difference between being stuck where I am now, being codependent on others, and being independent and not needing assistance from anyone.  I want to show my children that I am a hard worker and be someone that they should look up to.  I love my children very much and if going to school could give them a better life, I will do it and I will do it well.  

Blog #5           A Cultural Event

When I was 17 I joined the National Guard, shortly after I enlisted I was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina to attend basic training.  I remember being on a big bus full of people of all different races and religions.  I had never seen so many different kinds of people before.

Being from Helena, Montana I was not used to such different people.  People who were not white or Native American stuck out like a sore thumb in Helena.  I had always thought people with tan skin tone that spoke Spanish as their first language were without a doubt from Mexico.  On the bus I think I accidentally offended a girl who fit that description because I assumed that she was from Mexico and she was actually from Guatemala. 

 I had never been around many black people, my friend Jamie (who I graduated with) was black, but there was nothing really different about her.  I do not recall ever meeting an Asian, Middle Easterner, or really anyone else from the million races in the world.  I had realized that I was in fact sheltered, and that the culture shock was about to be a rude awakening.

I stepped off of the bus to all of these drill sergeants yelling “toe the line privates!” All of the Drill Sergeant’s looked different but not one of them was white. As these angry people were yelling at me and everyone else I heard many different accents.

 It wasn't long after I stood on the line that I had a short tan skinned male drill sergeant and a big black female drill sergeant screaming in my face.  The drill sergeants immediately made us get into the push up position while yelling “you don’t know what you got your selves into” and “you’re going to wish that you were never born, your mine now!”

They made us do many different exercises, keeping their promises to make us wish that we had never been born.  My heart was pounding and I wanted to cry, I was scared. 

That was my first experience with others outside of my own race and honestly I was not too thrilled.  I had wondered how someone could be so mean and if they were always this mean. I was wondering what I had gotten myself into and wanted to turn right around and head back to my sheltered little town in Montana.

The weeks passed buy in this hell that I had for some reason signed up for, but mid-way I had started to adapt.  I made a few friends of all different races and all indeed different values and upbringings than I.  We were all each other had and we had to stick together and make it through.  I soon realized that it wasn't the race that made someone mean, it was the title of Drill Sergeant.

I have met many wonderful people throughout my career in the Guard and going to different training in different states.  I am friends with a lot of them on Facebook and keep in touch with a few of them regularly.  I am happy to have had this experience even though I would not do it again even if someone paid me. 

Blog #4 A Current Event

Methamphetamine is an extremely dangerous and addicting drug that affects many communities throughout the United States and is an issue among the teen community as well.  Meth does not only affect the user but also affects innocent people, including children because of the paranoia affect it has on its user and unsafe environment in which Meth is made.  Statistics show that 13 million people in the United States are regular methamphetamine users and 4.5% of high school seniors have admitted to using meth at least once.

Meth is not a new drug; it was created in Japan in the 1900s.  The usage of the powerful drug became heavily used during WWII to keep soldiers awake longer to complete their missions.  Not long after, the drug became available to the public and was used as a prescription to fight illnesses such as depression.  Soon after, the drug was used by athletes and college students for the same reason it had been used in WWII by the Japanese.   The United States eventually made Meth illegal and is presently available all over the country mostly due to Mexican drug cartels smuggling it into the United States.

            Methamphetamine use and addiction needs to be stopped and children of our society should never come in contact with meth let alone become users.  Although there are some great programs for methamphetamine awareness and the number of users has significantly dropped over the past few years, there is still room for improvement.  The best fight against the war on drugs is education, and it should be mandatory that children learn about drugs, meth in particular, in school.  By learning what is going into their bodies, and learning how to say no when peer pressured, the number of high school meth users will drop.  In high school I was an active participant in an organization called the Montana Meth Project. The Montana Meth Project has done a tremendous job of getting the message across to teens by television, radio, billboards, newspaper, and the Internet.  The organization does a great job of getting teens involved in the movement. The Montana Meth Project is the largest advertiser in Montana and their messages reach 70-90% of teens 3-5 times per week.  In 2005 Montana ranked number 5 in the nation for meth use.  Since their campaign launched, meth use declined 67% among the teen population.  If every community did what the Montana Meth Project does there would be hardly any teens abusing this dangerous drug.