Barack Obama: the self-made man

In class we defined a self-made man as someone who struggled through adversity, and despite his obstacles found a way to persevere. He is a rarity, and through self-reliance and determination was able to find extreme success. These men include Bill Gates, Michael Jordan, Chris Gardner, and our new president-elect Barack Obama.
Barack Obama didn't have the privileged childhood lifestyle similar to most U.S presidents. He wasn't born into money. First of all, Obama's biological father wasn't really in the picture. He moved back to his home country, Kenya, when Obama was very young. He then died in 1982, having only seen his son once since his move.
Obama also had a hectic upbringing. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He then moved to Indonesia with his mother and new stepfather. After that, Obama moved back to Hawaii. All of this travel took place before Obama was ten years old. When he returned to Hawaii he came without his parents. He lived with his Grandparents while his mother stayed with her new husband in Indonesia. He lived with his grandparents from 5th all the way through high school. Even with his grandparents for support, high school was still tough. He struggled with drugs such as cocaine and marijuana. His mother returned to Honolulu in 1994. She then died in 1995 of Ovarian Cancer. Obama had a hectic childhood, and it was far from easy.
Even with these obstacles Obama was able to reach success. He was able to graduate from high school, and then went on to study at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Two years later he transferred to Columbia University in New York. He built his way up, and he later graduated from Harvard Law School. At Harvard he was elected president of the Harvard Law Review. He was the first black man to be president of the review. After law school, Obama was elected into the Illinois Senate in 1995. After much hard work, he became the Illinois State Senator in 2005. He built his way up. He created extraordinary credentials for himself. He was able to learn and educate himself to prepare for probably the most important campaign of his life. This was his campaign for President of the United States of America.

Barack Obama is a self-made man who rose above his challenges to become the man he is today. We are lucky to have a president, and a role model that can inspire people across the country. Obama offers a sense of hope that it can get better for all who are struggling. Things can change, and we can make it happen.

Are blogs worth blogging about?

Blogging.
Until the early 1990's no one really had any idea what it was. There were services such as UseNet and Bix that offered online conversation through threads, but that was basically it. Now, with the advances in technology, blogging has become a worldwide phenomenon. Thus giving the opportunity for individuals to post almost anything. They can post be textual entries, pictures, and even videos. Bloggers can also comment on fellow bloggers entries. This has created an entire online community. We have created a blogosphere. From celebrities to juniors at New Trier High School, everyone has seemed to catch a ride on the blogging bandwagon.
Is the blog a form of progress for the world? I would have to say yes. I think that blogs are a technological success. It offers a way to connect with people. People you would never have interaction with outside of cyberspace. It strengthens our rights as individuals due to the fact that we can express anything we choose on our blog page. Most of these ideas we express are simplified and straight to the point. This causing a more generalized idea or one specific thought. It strays from a lengthy proving argument. It can therefore be argued that the blog can take away from a higher learning. David Carr, the writer of "Is Google Making us Stupid", had much to comment on this topic. He comments on the situations of his peers by stating, "The more they use the Web, the more they have to fight to stay focused on long pieces of writing. Some of the bloggers I follow have also begun mentioning the phenomenon." Carr explains that the Internet has caused people to avoid in depth reading, and instead lead us to skim through shorter texts such as blogs. Therefore making us less defined readers because we can no longer manage through long works of literature. It could be argued though that many people read more now than ever before. Different stories and thoughts are much more accessible now. Blogs offer a whole new assortment of reading that even a library shelf cannot offer.
In Carr's article he also states, "Even when I’m not working, I’m as likely as not to be foraging in the Web’s info-thickets’ reading and writing e-mails, scanning headlines and blog posts, watching videos and listening to podcasts, or just tripping from link to link to link." In this argument he is trying to explain how Internet advancements such a blogs, have lead to almost an addiction of searching for quick facts and ideas. We as readers subconsciously choose to read something short. Here Carr is using this as a negative connotation, but I on the other hand, give it a positive spin. Carr is learning something new every time he goes onto the Internet. After his workday is through, a time he would usually spend watching TV or resting, he is now searching the Internet. I think the latter offers much more learning possibilities. Carr definitely makes some great points, and there are negative aspects to blogs. All in all though, I believe blogs to be a progress for the world.

The economic crisis: a world issue

When you are suffering it is hard to imagine others feeling the same pain. In reality, many people have experienced the same situation or one very similar to your own. It seems as if the United States isn't the only country in economic despair. People across the globe are hurting financially as well, specifically China. China's issues appear to be almost a mere image of the problems affecting the U.S.
The U.S, currently amidst an economic crisis, is not at it's financial best, and many companies have fallen under. To help assist the situation a $700 billion bailout plan was created. This bailout plan has helped in the saving of many companies from bankrupcy. Even with this bailout, the economy still seems to be plummeting. During this rough time for the U.S, China is also struggling. Their export and investment growth has slowed, and therefore leading to a depression in stocks. As a result of these problems, many companies have had to close or lay off many workers. In order to help restore the situation China has just implemented a $586 billion Economic Stimulus Plan. This new plan will help assist their country with the rebuilding of railways, subways, and towns hurt by the recent earthquake. The money will be used to help restore the global market as well.
With both major countries experiencing similar problems, it would make sense for them to find a way to work together. The president of China, Hu Jintao, will be traveling to Washington soon to meet with President Bush and other world leaders for a global economic summit meeting. Our new president- elect Barack Obama has also gotten in on the action. On Saturday, Jintao and Obama shared a telephone conversation discussing ways to solve economic issues using each others help.
When I read about this topic, it gave me some hope for the future. I now have a stronger belief that our economy will get stronger. It may take time, but I have faith in what our country and the world can accomplish. I also see a lot of great possibilities for our soon to be president. He is becoming involved in this issue, and paving a path. When the world can come together, problems can be solved.

The intrinsic possibilites of pass/fail

After having discussed extrinsic and intrinsic motives in class this past week, I decided to look into some different methods of grading. I came across the pass/fail system. This idea focuses on in depth learning with a lesser emphasis on the grade. When a student performs satisfactory they pass the class. This puts less pressure on the student because whether they recieve a B+ or an A-, they still pass. This way students don't have to stress about the small differentiations in grades. On the other hand, if they are not up to par, and perform unsatisfactory, they fail. This intrinsic method of teaching allows students to become active in a class because they want to further their own knowledge. This can help cancel out the extrinsic desires to better their own transcipts.

Pass/fail classes have become extremely popular in college curriculums. Colleges such as Yale and Stanford have already begun the pass/fail grading system specifically in their law programs. Their system readies students for the world outside of college. These schools have found great success in their programs, and because of that more schools have decided to follow suit . A new outlook to learning helps the students focus on the class itself rather than their semester report cards. Harvard will also begin to offer pass/fail classes in 2009. The dean of Harvard, Elena Kagan believes that the new system will "promote pedagogical excellence and innovation and further strengthen the intellectual community."

All in all, I think it is a great idea to expand a students outlook on school. They can take classes that allow them to recieve an extraordinary education without as much pressure on the grade. The classes aren't as much about the grade, but more so about what the student gets out of it.