Perfection is all in the mind

Life and Career Choices

I had previously used this blog for a school project and did not realize that it existed until I tried to sign up for a new account. Hmmm... lately I've pondered what choices and qualities I possess that gave me the idea of going into the major of Family Studies. I gave it up as a result of emotional family difficulties and shyness and graduated with a General Studies degree with concentrations of Criminal Justice and Sociology instead. Well here I am a few years later wondering what to do... I am not emotionally and financially ready for Graduate school, nor do I care about my job sitting in a cubicle all day.... what to do? Well I thought about going to Grad school to study Health Policy but it is not actually a career, more of an interest. I googled US Best Graduate Schools for Health Policy Programs and found a forum of individuals who have MPH or MS Health Policy and they have not been able to apply themselves. I have ideas about Universal Healthcare or Assistance with Health Insurance, but I was informed by Grad schools that I should have some medical or health experience, which I have neither of, just personal experience. Then I thought about Pharmacy, but I am horrible at Science and Math. I just dropped a trigonometry course for my poor grades. I also believed it was because I did not stay consistent by taking my focus complex; Neuro PS. I'm also really burnt out of school at the moment. I can't work in a hospital setting because I had a double lung transplant therefore I would be exposing myself. I've always wanted to work with kids as in a learning center but my doctor's said that kids carry disease and are constantly sick, therefore I should not work with kids. So I thought about counseling... but that requires more school. It's tough finding a job as it is; and finding a job where I am not sitting all day and or exposing myself to sick places is tough. I am a great observer, shy, friendly, petite, and hate whiners. I learn quickly and can apply myself to anything I am taught. My work history is very random; computer technician, beauty advisor, and legal assistant. I prefer physical and creative work over mundane non-physical work. I am not looking for 1 specific thing, I'm good at a lot of things.

Chapter 16 Family Ties: Changing Relations with Relations

As adolescents stive for autonomy, parents have the tendency to be more protective in some cases. Adolescents who grow up without authoritaritive style of parenting usually do not cope as well during adolescence. Authoritaritive parents are warm, caring, and supportive, especially when they know their child is going through peer pressure and making changes in their life. Adolescents are also trying to gain the role of an adult and gain more independence from their parents. This can be hard for parents since adolescents will begin to test their parents, break the rules, and give in to peer pressure. Since their biggeset influences at this time are their peers, parents are going to have a harder time getting their teens to accept their advice. The parenting style ties into how well adolescence cope with stress, peer pressure, and maturation. Those adolescence who are incapable of dealing with all the changes usually go into a depression. According to the book, boys elicit depression in a more hostile way and girls elicit depression inwardly and feel helpless. Since depression is so common among adolescence, I think there should be more assistance for students in high school and more training for teachers when dealing with depression. I remember having many rude and degrading teachers once I got to high school. I felt so embarrased once when I was the last student taking the test and the teacher asked if anyone was still taking the test. I raised my hand and I guess she did not see me so I outloud I said I was still taking the test. Her reply in front of the class was, "If you weren't such a slow poke, you'd be done. Go outside and finish." At that point I wanted to just leave and never come back to the class. I had never been so embarrased by an adult in my life and I will never forget it. Teachers should be encouraging and supportive, especially in high school when adolescence are dealing with so many changes. In order to control depression among adolescence, schools should take part and train their instructors to have a more positive attitude and influence on their students, since they are the adults who have big impacts on students lives.

Gender and College

In chapter 15, they discuss gender and college and the ways it could hurt or benefit women. The book talks about the physical science classes contain more men than women. As I have observed in my major, I would say even if I went to a college that was always co-educational, Family Studies would be predominantly female. I started in community college taking Cisco Systems' classes and was the only female in the class. My instructor was female but she seemed so lenient and there was not a lot of rules or structure in the class. I agree that instructors treat men and women differently in their classes. I felt like all of the guys just spoke out loud and never had to raise their hand. Since I could not speak over them without sounding mean, I had to rise my hand. I feel like the argument of single sex education is a great idea due to the evidence provided. After the third semester of my computer courses, I stopped showing up since I felt I did not receive the attention I deserved. I agree with the research stated on page 429, that women's self-esteem increases when they are in a learning environment with same-sex peers. I know that my self-esteem has increased since I have been at Texas Women's University.

"Threats to Adolescent's Well Being"

Being a parent is not an easy thing. A lot of parents now a days see their child as a reflection of themselves, thinking they're a wonderful kid and they don't do anything bad. With this thought, parents don't question their child as much as they should, especially when their child is getting into trouble or making bad grades. When another adult mentions the thought of using drugs, the parent is just in denial or thinks, "No, not my child." Like it explains on page 397, drug use starts as early as twelve years old. It is more common now for adolescence to try drugs. Some interesting statistics that are found on page 398 were, "out of a survey of 50,000 students, 20% of eighth graders used marijuana as well as 50% of high school seniors." I think parents and especially the media are major factors in controlling drug use among adolescence and teens. The media portrays images of people with perfect bodies, and teens and adolescents admire them. This leads to eating disorders in teens and adolescents. If parents kept authoritative style of parenting throughout their childs' lives, than they could keep their children aware of the media and peer pressure.

Chapter 10

In the section on The Emergence of Theory of Mind, it talks about the factors involved and one of them is older siblings. They discuss how preschool age children who have older siblings have more sophisticated theories of mind. I grew up with three older siblings, so it really did promote more social interaction and play. Especially since one of my sisters' and I were one year apart, we would share everything and cooperate well with each other. Once I started school I always had a variety of kids that I would play with. Kids always chose me to be on their team. Just like the book discusses, brain maturation is important, when talking about how preschoolers' family lives have a big influence on friendships. I had actually started being rude and feeling jealousy towards one of my long-time best friends when my parents began their divorce. I began to talk more aggressively with my best friend, the more my parents argued and grew distant. The influence parents have on their children's' relationship can have a negative or positive impact on their children's relationships.

Chapter 12: Bilingualism: Speaking in Many Tongues

In chapter 12 they discuss bilingualism and how it is increasing in the United States. They point out that it is crucial for bilingual students to learn the curriculum as well as the language the curriculum is taught in. The decision that most school districts face is whether to integrate bilingual students into English speaking classrooms or have separate classrooms where they are taught the curriculum in their native language, gradually shifting to English instruction. This really is a tough decision to choose just one since each students' learning style varies.
When I worked retail I would get majority Spanish speakers who would get upset since I was Mexican and did not speak Spanish. I would even get them a Spanish speaker and the customer would end up speaking perfect English to the associate. I never understood this until I had a conversation with a guy who was a Mexican immigrant. He said in school ESL classes taught him how to read and write in English, but he does not feel comfortable speaking it or conversing with people. This made sense because I took two years of Spanish; I can read it and write it, but I feel uncomfortable speaking it because I have always spoken English. So in the book it says it offers cognitive flexibility and versatility, it is true, because they can communicate with a variety of people, providing them with advantages in their jobs. It also would help minorities have higher self-esteem if they learn in a separate classroom and slowly switch to English. This is also beneficial like the book says because they will have greater metalinguistic awareness, understanding the rules of the language better. Overall both sides have their benefits, but either way these native speakers will benefit in the long run.