I have reflected heavily on my high school experience as my graduation approaches. There were valuable lessons I have learned and skills I have attained throughout my time at SLA, such as learning how to partake in a productive conversation, understanding the nuances of group projects, and meeting demanding deadlines in short time frames can prepare students for the working world. However, I could not deny the fact that some elements could be added or modified to SLA’s schooling and support structure in order to better aid the student population in finding what they want to pursue after high school. Therefore, I decided to focus my capstone around how SLA prepares its students for life after graduation, and how certain areas of its preparation can be improved.

I constructed three surveys that I sent out to juniors, seniors, and alumni, asking them question about SLA’s curriculum, capstones, SLA’s college assistance, internships, etc. From there, I formulated charts and conducted research around life after high school on a national scale as well as information about the current and future job market in order to compare and contrast that information with the data I extracted from the responses of current and former SLA students. I synthesized all of this information into the form of a report that provides reasonable suggestions for changes in SLA from not just me, but other members of the student body.

Link to Full Report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zQ9uCVch87l8ReF1-P00TyhlvVDKgEvN14g9mIgxhm4/edit?usp=sharing

Link to Annotated Bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/13HsNeTTuJWlYkCvcM-NTWbZULfi4RBasn67Mz5HHCw8/edit?usp=sharing

Author’s Note:

In this piece, I specifically chose to blur the lines between the past and the present, so that the repetition of phrases had more impact. Alexander Chee’s advice and metaphors, such as the monster in the corner of his mind, were the main inspiration for my piece. I incorporated both a great fear of mine (forgetting) and one of the most important memories of mine that I can remember from my early childhood. A stylistic choice Atwood incorporated was making one aspect of Offreds’ memory super clear and the rest a bit fuzzy. I tried to do my best to emulate this with the phrase about gripping my dad’s jeans really tight because I was so afraid. I accompanied this piece with Adeline by Alt J, which encapsulates the wonder and the somber tone of this piece.

Intro:

My goal for the paper was to look at member or two of the Islam community and Jehovah’s Witnesses community, and how their life was influenced by their corresponding religion. I feel that I have a lot of sources that give thorough context, but I feel as though I didn’t analyze the quotes to the best of my ability. I plan to get better at this skill in the near future.

The unwavering faith a person has in a divine being or energy that they cannot see can be astounding to some. A person becomes people that over centuries have formed groups based on their beliefs, resulting in religions. From these original religions, subcategories called denominations have come forth due to different interpretations. These groups have been judged at times based on misconceptions built out of scandals and radicalism, but when forming opinions about something, it is best to look at the facts, or in cases, the religious texts or beliefs of the actual people. How does religion really influence a person’s behavior or actions and what lengths will they go to to prove their faith? Well, let’s start by breaking down a religion not too many of people know about. Jehovah’s Witnesses are one of the many denominations of the monotheistic religion, Christianity. Its members believe that the creator of the universe is named Jehovah, and its core beliefs come from both the New and the Old Testaments. They acknowledge Jesus as a son of God, technically making them Christians, but they do not recognize the Trinity doctrine or Jesus as the “Almighty God” (“What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe?”). After gathering this general idea of what the religion was based on, one may become curious about personal stories to get a first hand account of members’ upbringings and/or conversions. My father was brought up as a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and he spoke rarely of the door-to-door ministry, but I felt like there was more he was not saying. Then, I stumbled upon Walter Hudson’s story. He reveals, “[Jehovah’s] Witnesses are religious in the same sense that radical Islamists are. Their theology defines every aspect of their lives and dictates the most trivial nuances of their behavior,” (Hudson, Walter). After some digging, some intriguing rules were “You shall not celebrate birthdays,”, “You shall not lie, but you may refrain from telling the truth to those Jehovah’s Witnesses deem do not deserve it,”, “You shall not vote in political elections,”, “You shall not abort your child, even if it is medically confirmed that the child will be born dead,” and “You shall shun disassociated persons,” (“What is wrong with being one of Jehovah’s Witnesses?”). With these rules and pages more, one might run into some obstacles. Some of these rules could absolutely result in a small social circle at the very least and if you don’t get along with anyone in your religious community, a lack of friends. Steph Le Gardener speaks of being bullied when not saluting the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance, sitting alone during sports and holiday activities while others pitied her, and a loss of innocence during meetings at the Kingdom Hall (their place of worship) where no filter was applied for the young members when speaking of the gruesome deaths non-members would suffer during Armageddon. “My story as a Jehovah’s Witness child is not at all uncommon. As a matter of fact, I’d say it’s probably quite typical… It was demanded that I trade in my childhood dreams of becoming a ballerina or a gymnast for the dream of serving Jehovah 90 hours a month in the door-to-door ministry. I would have to knock on doors and peddle magazines for the prize of some day, being able to ‘play with a panda in paradise.’ I can tell you that the price was far too high, and the trade-off was not fair,” argues Gardener. Through her experiences it appears that this religion causes one to grow up too fast while simultaneously not being allowed to really be a kid. As those kids grow up they either stick with what they know or leave because of that nature of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and this results in the shunning of that person to the point where their own family is highly discouraged from speaking to them. Members also believe that the end is near, and go about preaching to save as many as they can, but with this mindset they are encouraged to sell their property and await Armageddon, resulting in homelessness. Society would look at this religion as quite extreme while devoted members believe that they are dedicating their lives to doing right by Jehovah and helping people to them who would seem educated, find their way through this religion and recognize that the end of the world is coming. A religion that is more well known is Islam. It comes from the word “salam” meaning peace, and the word itself means “surrender” to the word of God. The belief is that many prophets were sent to convey that Allah, the Arabic word for the one true God, is the only deity worth worshipping, also making it a monotheistic religion (“What is Islam?”). This religion speaks of improving oneself before trying to impact others’ lives, which is a profound lesson that seems to looks down upon arrogance. Some steps to self-purification are included in the Qur’an and the teachings of Muhammad: “Strive to increase your knowledge whether it be religious or academic knowledge. Endeavor to be an informed and active citizen,”, and “Improve your moral standards by cultivating integrity, conscientiousness, and right action,” (“Importance of Self-Improvement in Islam”). These statements are suggesting that by bettering yourself, you are bettering your community. One 31-year-old Chicano man talks about how he had used various drugs in the past as a means of escape from depression and was not even seeking to be part of a religion when he read the Qur’an for the first time. However, reading that religious text was a turning point in his life where through this religion, he reflected on the way he’d been living and how he could improve himself. “I have been a Muslim since 1997. I’m at peace with myself and clear in Religion….I think that Islam is the answer for the problems of the youth and society in general,” (“A Muslim’s personal testimony”). When people join religions, they don’t just join a group of people who believe in the same God, Gods, or energy as themselves, but they also agree to uphold a certain way of life based upon the divine beings’, prophets, or philosophers’ teachings. The Jehovah’s Witnesses rules are more like a handbook for life, giving strict directions that if followed will save you from Armageddon, while the Islam’s texts seemed to be more like advice on how to be a better person. Based on these texts people make sacrifices that they may not even be aware of or that they may painfully be aware of to do right by their God, God’s or energy. At the end of the day, these beings or energies that eludes our physical senses brings people together from all walks of life to form a sense of community.

Works Cited

“What Do Jehovah’s Witnesses Believe?” JW.ORG, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/faq/jehovah-witness-beliefs/.

Walter Hudson. “My Childhood in the Cult of Jehovah’s Witnesses.” Faith, PJ Media, pjmedia.com/faith/2016/05/31/my-childhood-in-the-cult-of-jehovahs-witnesses/.

“Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Rules - avoid jw.Org.” Jehovah’s Witnesses, 9 June 2016, avoidjw.org/en/changes/jehovahs-witnesses-rules/.

“My Life as a Jehovah’s Witness Child.” Watchtower Watch, 16 May 2013, watchtowerwatch.com/blog/my-life-as-a-jehovahs-witness-child.

“What is Islam?” Facts about the Muslims & the Religion of Islam - Toll-Free hotline 1-877-WHY-ISLAM, www.whyislam.org/islam/what-is-submission/.

“Home.” The People of the Book, www.thepeopleofthebook.org/why-bother-to-share-with-muslims/a-muslims-personal-testimony/.

PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/teach/muslims/beliefs.html.

Introduction: I feel as though the goal of this paper was to address the different ways a person can use or violate the freedom of speech. I am proud of the research I conducted, but feel as though the paper in general could flow better, and I could include more scenes.

On September 25, 1789, Americans were given something that some take for granted and others do not use to its fullest potential. Yes, I am talking about the freedom of speech/expression. The law that allows us to partake in symbolic expression, give money to campaigns involving politics, gives us the right not to say anything, etc. The law that is not a safe haven for any type of inciteful speech that does not pass the Brandenburg test, a test spawning from the arrest of a KKK leader who made a speech that advised violence. What comes from the freedom of speech/expression and how do people find loopholes? Protests, activism, and the right for newspapers and such to criticize the government are all proper uses of this section of the first amendment. Even though people use words that the freedom of speech protects, some are highly offensive and can cause outrage, which can ironically result in the above proper uses of the freedom of speech/expression ( i.e. protests because of ignorant statements from well known people). In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue”, Gloria Anzaldúa discusses an action that would be against the freedom of speech when she states, “Attacks on one’s form of expression with the intent to censor are a violation of the first amendment” (34). When analyzing different ways to look at freedom of speech I stumbled upon how freedom can affective the user in negative ways. The National Review examines how verbal abuse can affect the one who uses it, claiming, “Racist hate speech has been linked to cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and requires complex coping strategies. Exposure to racial slurs also diminishes academic performance. Women subjected to sexualized speech may develop a phenomenon of ‘self-objectification,’ which is associated with eating disorders”. This, as cheesy as it sounds, shows that what you say won’t just hurt others, but can also hurt yourself. People are also allowed the luxury of lying or stretching the truth without consequences from the government depending on the situation. It is also true that people can say things that others do not agree with, and this can create a healthy argument. Mike Rose, the author of I Just Want to be Average, gives a realistic scenario of when one could possibly encounter an argument when he comments, “No matter how bad the school, you’re going to encounter notions that don’t fit with the assumptions and beliefs you grew up with”(4). A school is a setting where one can alter, completely change or, solidify their ideas by talking with their peers. A real life example of an attempt at a healthy argument was last April, when I was sitting on my bed, dialing the phone number of one of my black male friends for the first time after I’d seen him at the bus stop on the way home and exchanged contact info with him. I had always been self-conscious about talking on the phone because there were always awkward silences that ensued when I had no interesting conversation starters. However, before we could even get to the inevitable awkward silence, right after I said “Hey, what’s up? I just got home,” , he couldn’t stop himself from claiming, “You talk lik’a white girl.” That completely stopped me in my tracks. “What do you mean?” I fired back. I had talked to him in person before and he’s never said anything remotely close to that. Was there some type of vocabulary that was associated with white people that blacks were presumed not to possess? If so, how could he have picked that up from me simply saying “Hey, what’s up? I just got home,”, or was this a cumulative question out of all the times I’ve talked to him, which was still minimal? Did my voice sound like a white girls’? If so, who cared, and since when was designating types of voices to certain races a thing? Of course, I didn’t overwhelm him with all of those thought provoking questions. I personally felt and still feel that everyone has their own unique voice, including myself. He went on to give a desultory answer, but it made me question where this idea of his came from. Judging someone for the way they talk is not uncommon. However, he must have given a white voice high expectations after experiencing it at least once in his 17 years of life and subsequently lowered the expectations of a black voice, much like the rest of society. Overall, the freedom of speech is a human right that we are lucky to have. Whether people choose to use it or not, demean people or compliment them, lie or be honest, is a reflection of that person.

Works Cited:

“The 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” National Constitution Center – The 1st Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, www.constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-i.
“What Does Free Speech Mean?” United States Courts, www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/what-does. Abusing the Limitations of the First Amendment – Columbia Undergraduate Law Review. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2017. http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/culr/2015/08/09/abusing-the-limitations-of-the-first-amendment/. French, David. “National Review.” Free Speech Violations — Radicals for Censorship Persist | National Review. N.p., 22 June 2017. Web. 10 Dec. 2017. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/448886/free-speech-violations-radicals-censorship-persist.

Mi comunidad es en el sur de Filadelfia. Hay una amplia gama de personas como los camboyanos, italianos, afroamericanos y más. La gente de nuestra comunidad realmente no conoce. Realmente no hablar con nadie excepto para nuestros vecinos y no hay ninguna actividad como fiestas. También hay mucho de la delincuencia. Sin embargo, en que vivimos es conveniente porque hay un montón de maneras diferentes que usted puede tomar transporte público. Nuestra comunidad está bastante sucia y me encantaría vivir en algún otro pero bajó el valor de la propiedad. No sé exactamente dónde le pongo el mural. Había un mural hecha hace un año que se de en ninguna parte en el lado de una tienda de conveniencia. Me ha sorprendido y no parecía fuera de lugar. Sería genial para hacerlo en la calle. Sin embargo, sería muy difícil de mantener. Otro lugar que podría considerar ponerlo sería en la acera o en el lado de la escuela de Francis Scott Key. Mi mural estará formado por personas de diferentes razas. Habrá una persona asiática, persona caucásica, persona afroamericana y mexicana persona caminando en la acera. Esto representa la diversidad de mi barrio. Todavía he estado tratando decidir si lo quiero en blanco y negro con muchos detalles o colores. Este mural sería bueno en el lado de la escuela de Francis Scott Key. Creo que el diseño de mi mural es simple. No se supone que en tu rostro. El mensaje es que todos somos iguales. Aunque puede haber problemas entre las razas, nos debemos todos llevamos. Esto haría más fuertes, mejor comunidad.

I’d always heard of people getting poisoned in movies and books. In scenarios where an evil senior advisor wants the power all to themselves & poisons the king to gain it. Taking a life only for the sake of fame seems unrealistic. I had never really heard of people being poisoned in my life. That was until, my mom got an unexpected text message.

I was lounging on the couch in my sweatpants and my favorite old t-shirt. It was yet another bright, sunny Saturday and I was bored out of my mind. There were no homework or projects to do. So, the choices were to either go work on my unfinished poem for club, read a new book, or go watch my brother play video games. Watching Tony play video games won because he was so obnoxiously loud I couldn’t possibly do the other two.

“Hey Ana, come upstairs real quick,” my mom called. I hopped up the steps two at a time and turned right, then jogged to her room before flopping on the bed.

“What’s up?,” I asked with my speech muffled in the blanket. I looked up just as I saw her place her phone down on the pillow.

“I just checked on Brian the other day because we haven’t talked to him in a bit,” my mom stated. It was a habit of ours to see how he was doing because he didn’t live in the same state as us anymore.

“He got poisoned,” she sighed with disappointment coloring her voice. Although Brian is 28, and not related by blood to either of us, we kind of adopted him into the family. So this knowledge was a big blow shock. The fact that we no money, nor time to go and visit him

“What?! How?”, I shouted, my tone full of disbelief. I dove to snatch her phone and went to messages, so I could see his words with my own eyes.“This can’t be happening,” I thought. “Things like this didn’t happen to good people like him who had already been through so much in life.”

Ever since he had lived in Philly, then moved Alaska, I’d had questions regarding his departure. Sure Philadelphia wasn’t the nicest town, but I never found out what his line of work was there.

“His drink was served to him with cleaner in it while he was out at a restaurant…and you know because of his lupus he was put in the hospital. There’s no way cleaner could’ve gotten all the way from a maintenance closet or something like that and into his drink. That means there was most likely malicious intent. What is wrong with people?” my mother declared.

The exact same things were running through my mind. It just didn’t add up unless someone had done it on purpose.He had expressed before that he lived in a town where there was a lot of discrimination towards the African American race. This caused us to presume because he had spoken of altercations between him and Caucasians. However, neither of us thought it would go that anyone would have taken it to such lengths.

I couldn’t come to terms with the fact that one of my family members was almost killed. Neither us nor Brian ever found out who possibly put the cleaner in his drink or how this (what could only be explained as an accident from the restaurant) took place if there wasn’t someone involved.

Eventually, Brian was discharged from the hospital and decided to move back to Philadelphia after much deliberation. I was glad to hear the news, and personally, I wouldn’t blame him for wanting to move back. All people have a choice at some point in their life to something right or wrong.

A few weeks after the incident I looked back and shook my head in shame because this is the society we live in today. I just hope our generation is the one to change it for the better.