"Fantasy is my reality".....From rags to riches

       The term rags to riches refer to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, or sometimes from obscurity to fame. For this blog, I will be telling the rags to riches story of Onika Tanya Maraj also known as Nicki Minaj. Nicki minaj was born on December 8, 1984 to parents of Indian and African descent. She lived in Trinidad and Tobago with her grandmother until she was 5 years old. When she left Trinidad and Tobago, she lived in Queens, New York with her parents. Her father was addicted to drugs and once tried to kill her mother by setting the house on fire. While in middle school, she participated in plays. There, she gained a passion for performing on stage. She then went to a performing arts school in LaGuardia. There, she became interested in music and drama. During her college experience, she worked at Red Lobster and as an administrative assistant so that she could have money. On the side, she started doing underground rap. She was discovered by Lil Wayne through one of her mix tapes. People always wondered why she use different voices in her songs. There is one answer for that, her alter egos. She gained her alter egos to keep her mind off of her parents arguing and fighting all the time. “Fantasy was my reality” stated Nicki in one of her interviews. Some of her alter egos vary from cookie, harajuku barbie, Nicki minaj, and Roman Zolanski. Her image and style does not conform to the norms. According to what I read on a random website, she presents herself this way because she wants to be her own person and show that it’s not always about looking sexy. Now she is widely known because of her alter ego and her image. She rose from the struggles of her parents and became a star.

Living Within Stratification

      Social stratification is the division of people into groups where there are large differences between wealth, power, and prestige. Class, gender, age, and ethnicity also play a role in social division. The way I see it, these divisions cause inequality because if there was no division, then we would all be equal but sadly there is a division. People of the upper class are the wealthy people who we see driving the most expensive cars, wearing the most expensive clothes, and living in the biggest house by the beach or own their own private property. People of the middle class are not as wealthy as the upper class but they are people who have a job, a decent house in a good neighborhood, a nice car, and have just enough money to survive. For the lower class people, they don't have as much as the middle class. They are probably the ones to live in a bad neighborhood and who may have difficulty getting a job that pays a decent amount of money because they probably didn't have the privilege of getting an education so that they can get a decent job and not live in poverty. This is where inequality takes place. Majority of the upper class ignore people or things that are below them. “For decades, surveys have shown that upper-income Americans don’t give away as much of their money as they might and are particularly undistinguished as givers when compared with the poor, who are strikingly generous. A number of other studies have shown that lower-income Americans give proportionally more of their incomes to charity than do upper-income Americans”- New York Times

(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22FOB-wwln-t.html). I really don't understand why majority of the upper class refuse to use their money for a good cause like donating to charity. Instead they spend it on nice and expensive things. No, I'm not saying that they should give all their money away to the poor but at least give them a little of what you have. Maybe then some of them can gain respect. It’s sad how people who barely have a thing give away more money than the people who have more than they can manage.

   When you have wealth and power, don't abuse it because it can all go away as fast as a lightning strike. If you were rude and obnoxious when you have power it isn't good because when you lose your power, you can lose your wealth and when you lose your wealth you still won't have prestige. Whereas if you were nice and didn't abuse your power, when push comes to shove at least you will still have the respect and honor for being a good person. All I am saying is that it is not good to ignore and treat people differently based on their class and how wealthy and powerful they are. At the end of the day, we are all humans and we all need a hand to make it through life without the ignorance of people who think they are better than everyone else just because they have better advantages.

Pressures Within The Youth

The youth of this time encounters many pressures whether it's from school or just trying to fit in. We get pressure from our parents to do well in school so that we can get into college and be successful in life. We are so much under the pressure of our parents that we push ourselves twice as hard without even noticing it. We stay up from late night to early morning doing homework and studying and then we have to wake up early in the morning and get ready for school. If you really think about it, we barely get sleep during the week. We are not only trying to meet up with our parents standards but also social standards. We are trying to be the average kid. Not too weird and not too extra. We are constantly trying to be who we are not just to fit in with everyone so that we won't be made fun of. However, it's not always good to be like the "in" crowd because they can get you in trouble. For example, they might tell you that you have to do something bad like sneak out or throw a house party while your parents are out of town but in the end, they don’t get in trouble, you do. Never let anyone pressure you. If your parents are putting pressure on you because of your grades, simply take their concerns into consideration but don't let it control you. Move at the paste that works for you. Your parents don't know what you go through at school so just do what’s best for you. If someone at school is pressuring you to do something that you are uncomfortable with, don't do it! It is not worth getting in trouble for. Ignore the pressures of being a youth because no one is getting stressed out except for you.

Marijuana Use Among Teenagers

Teenagers are blind to marijuana usage. They get under the influence probably because they want to feel a part of the “in crowd” or just to be a rebel. Marijuana is not something to play with. Teenagers especially shouldn’t be thinking about marijuana. Marijuana interferes with memory and learning. “Young people are increasingly seeing marijuana as not dangerous”, a reasonable statement made by the lead investigator Lloyd Johnston of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. In an article from USA today, teens in 8^th, 10^th, and 12^th grades display a positive and favorable attitude towards marijuana. Teenagers do not know that marijuana can control their lives. They pay attention to the present and not to the effects of the future. Someone needs to speak up to teenagers and make them aware of what marijuana can do. It is not “cool” to use marijuana. It can cause teenagers to lose jobs and lose connection from the world. There is a way for teenagers to stop using marijuana. It’s never too late to stop. It is up to you to make that decision. Make the right choice and stop using marijuana.

BLUE TAPE! :)

     I am so happy right now! Someone finally understands that we need blue tape to learn! Blue tape is the best tape ever. It’s so blue and pretty. It is also the same color of our school (yes! blue tape shows school spirit!). No one understands how excited I am about blue tape. Every time I go into class and I see blue tape, I feel like I am learning something. I had the worst experience ever. I went into my second block class and *gasp!* there was GREEN TAPE on the board. I WENT CRAZY! It was so hard for me to look on the board. I tried so hard to pay attention but it broke my heart. I don’t know if Im the only one who feels this way but without blue tape I don’t know what I would do!

      Okay let me step back into reality. Yeah, Yeah I understand that blue tape would help us to see the board more clearly because everything on the board will be more organized BUT we are high school students. We as high school students should know how to see what work is ours and what work isn’t. Also, I am pretty sure that High School teachers know how to make things organized on the board without blue tape. For example, they could us different color markers for different classes. We have four blocks. It should be easy to organize the board without blue tape. If a school has seven classes, yes then maybe I would agree that they would need blue tape because it would be a hot mess on the board. The most ridiculous thing that I ever heard is that there will only be ONE blue tape for everyone to use in school. What in the world were they thinking? Blue tape is not a necessity.

Cute talking kitten says "I'm new"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0jTKL3Dp00&feature=related
SOOOOOOOOOOOOO CUTE!

Goth Subculture

Subculture is a distinctive way of life within the wider culture in society. There are many types of subcultures such as male and female subculture, ethnic minority subcultures, and youth subcultures, etc. Being that I am a teenager, I am more interested in the youth subcultures. In class we spoke about the Goth subculture. I found it pretty interesting. I realized that the media didn’t like the Goth subculture because of an incident that happened at Columbine High School in 1999. Apparently two students, who claimed that they were “Goth”, went to school and shot a lot of students, teachers, and staff. The media then came to the conclusion that the cause for the actions that took place was the music, video games, bulling, and the Goth subculture. From this event, the Goth subculture was looked on as bad and evil. Each Goth has their way of what Goth really is. I personally believe that Goth’s aren’t evil people. Just because they dress and act different from other people doesn’t mean that they are evil. They have the right to be different from everyone else. Being gothic is probably the way they choose to show who they are and the things that they like. They really shouldn’t be judged based on two boys who decided to make the wrong choice. Don’t judge people until you get to know them for who they are.

Suicide is NEVER the answer

         Suicide should never be an option to solving all the problems that life brings. There are many causes of suicide. For example, a death of a loved one, a divorce or separation in a relationship, a terminal illness, intense emotional pain, feeling that things will never get better, abuse (sexual, verbal, or physical), bulling, low self esteem, and feeling like a failure. With these aspects, individuals start to feel like they do not belong. This is a bad mentality to have because it can cause someone to commit suicide.

         There are ways that someone can save a person from committing suicide. First identify a person who is suicidal by observing warning signs such as appearing depressed or sad most of the time, talking about death, observing change in sleeping and eating habits, poor performance at work or school, withdrawal from friends or family, and acting recklessly. After these habits are recognized, it is time to take action. Comfort that person by letting them know that they are not alone. Let them know how hurt they would make their families and friends. Listen to what they have to say. Let them know that things will get better. Show them that suicide has no benefits. Seek help from professionals. Step up and save someone’s life! Suicide is not a joke. Know that someone is always there to listen. Life is too precious. Suicide is NEVER the answer.

The advantages and disadvantages of globalization

       Globalization is the theory that a single world order has been created out of social, cultural, and economic relationships between organizations located around the world. Globalization can be a good thing and it can also be a bad thing. With globalization, each nation has the advantage of coming together as one. With this advantage, the nations are able to communicate, which allows a better understanding and broader vision of each nation. Economies in other nations are growing because of globalization. With trade, other nations have access to new technologies. For example, if someone goes on the internet in the United States and goes on facebook or one of those social pages, he or she will be able to connect with people living in Egypt or China. With this said, globalization can also reduce cultural barriers because multiculturalism is spreading due to the increase in tourism, trade, and technology.
        There are, however, disadvantages that comes along with globalization. Some nations are losing their culture. Wealthy countries produce things such as clothing, technology, music, and movies which effects  some nations because they are trying to be like the wealthy countries. This leads me into the other disadvantage which is competition. Even though globalization is intended to bring the nations together, it seems that some nations are trying be better than others.This causes a nation to have more cheap labors to work so that they can continue to make trade goods so that they can trade with other nations to make themselves better. So as you can see, globalization has its ups and its downs but it is up to the nations to end the differences and become one big happy family.