Thrive!

When I first got the Thrive article in class, I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to think of it- thrive to succeed? accomplish my goals? thrive to.. what? Then as I read I saw it dealt with making yourself a happier person, regardless of material things, money, and grades. Mr. Sal. said it would be one of the most influencial and important articles that we would read, ever. I definitely agree. It was interesting to see what it takes for us to live a easier, more satisfied life and honestly after reading it, it makes sense. When it talked about community, I connected to that the most because when my parents decided to move when I was still a baby, my mom chose this community specifically because of it's safety, education, and how you really can get to know your neighboors and feel comfortable. Since most homes in our area consist of the typical parents, and a few children either my age, older, or younger. The house is a decent distance to their work place and we have family and good friends around us. Most people typically put these things into account, espcially when starting families; this way their kids can grow up in a connect social enviornment. This also allows us to connect with friends we go to school with, grow up with them, etc. The article really did bring the factors of money not equaling happiness which unfortunately some people take for granted, and explains that family, friends, a healthy relationship and good health are the key's to happiness.

What's YOUR Subculture?

Earlier this week in class we discussed subcultures and how we are all a part of many different subcultures, whether it's the school we go to, our religion, or our community; we all make up a subculture. For example, i discovered just like our school has its own folkways, values, and mores i commonly share some with the school and have a combination of others due to my religion, ethnicity, and region. For example, my material culture connects with the school- Uggs, school apparel, Northfaces, and I also realized that due to our region we have different material cultures for each season with fashion fads that come with each. An example is gladiator sandals for the summer, and Uggs for the winter. Some mores of mine include going to college, influenced by family and friends and the school environment. Folkways I share in common with my community is silly, apparent,"haunted" areas in the community, and from Christianity people think we go to church every Sunday. Unique words I share in common with my community of course is the names of our towns, nick-names that come up with the schools around us, our school mascots. Finally, I found that I share common values with my classmates, which isn't something peculiar; however due to our community it shapes us that way and makes us a subculture using everyone in our school and community. For example, everyone has the value of going to school to get good grades to go to a decent college he/she is happy with. We were all raised that way, and go to a school that influences those morals on us.

American's and Our Values

Last week as a class we read the Values Americans Live By. I found it interesting, and very true, how we have many odd but fairly important values to us that differs in many other societies. For example, when we read how time is possibly one of the most valued things by us, Americans, I didn't want to believe it since that would make the person seem like a "control freak" because those are usually the people who do everything by the book. They take a certain amount of time to eat in order to make sure they have enough time to get somewhere, with time to spare. When ironically, in a previous article Social Time, many other countries aren't so scheduled around time as we are. Our entire day revolves around it, when really we are the ones who make it so scheduled. An example of that is when classes are five minutes from being over, majority of the class begins to pack up. It doesn't surprise me that everyone packs up, it surprises me only because I realize that everyone, whether it's the teacher, or the students, must glance at the clock at least 5 times during class. This shows that we do value time, and where our time is spent. Another value that I found only strongly valued in America was competition. Around here, everyone is competitive, whether it's in a job, at a sport meet, in school, it's all around us. An example of that is our school. Everyone is strongly competitive in big things- grades, athletics, tests, etc that it shows when competition really doesn't matter. For example when running the mile in gym a girl in the class must run and follow behind the fastest runner in the class or else she feels as if "she didn't give it her best". I found this shocking because little things such as a gym mile time become such large factors into our lives. Partially because we have been accustomed to these social norms ever since starting high school, however, it becomes so valued we don't take the time to just relax and take things as they are. During tests, teachers have to always remind the class that this isn't a "who can finish first test" which incorporates time and competition as well; and the ACT isn't designed to see which friends can out beat others- yet we have been formed to act in competitive ways.