Throughout life people are asked who they are. This is simple at first with people saying their name, address, and ages. As you get older and gain more responsibility your identity changes to your major in college, current or past jobs, and who you are dating. These changes, while small have a great impact on how people perceive themselves. The changes lead, to the problem that today’s society is having. Today’s society Identifies themselves as being apart of multiple systems where there is no defined stability like in relationship and employment.

When people are in a relationship they are supposed to love each other and they are supposed to date and marry someone that makes them happy. When someone has a relationship based on materialistic goods, instead of feeling, it can cause unhappiness in the relationship, which could cause a divorce. Statistics from Mckinley Irvin Family Law States there are 876,000 divorces a year. The amount of divorce there per year is affecting people psychological identity and sudden failure of the opposite spouses will change the personals ideals and point of view of themselves. The loss of am important relationship like a spouse from a divorce changes the other spouse’s point of view. They question their view of themselves as a graduate student to a husband to I am a graduate student and recently divorced. They question what they did wrong and what they could do differently and what negative effect happen in their relationship with their spouse. The break up causing them to losing their identity. When both spouses agree to the divorced there is still a a identity crisis. Both spouse have emotional damage and Identity damage.

People who are workaholic can lose their identity by fully investing their life into their work. If they fully devote their lives to a particular type of work they are more likely to have no other way to define themselves beside their work. Working hard at your job is not a bad thing. They have a higher chance of a raise, promotion, and the ability to network. It can still cause inner conflict with themselves later on in life. Jobs aren’t forever and when  they retire from their jobs that they dedicated their life, what do they have? So much time of a person’s life is spent working to get a perfect job and once they get the job then the goal is to plan for retirement and to pay off student loans. They have little or no time for personal time and fun until retirement. Working in certain fields like medicine can cause a person to not have a chance to define themselves outside of work with eight to ten years in college and residency, While this could cause them to have a higher quality of life, it could also caused them to have a mental issue during like depression and anxiety with little to no outlet to let off stress. The fact that they don't have an outlet for destressing allow them to mentally have a breakdown more easily and lose themselves and who they are. So when retirement comes around they have no idea how to enjoy life because they don't know what to do because they don't really know themself.

The best way to stop people from losing one’s identity  is to stop following the principles of the previous generation. Throughout history people lived and learned from the beliefs of the past generation. With each new generation there a new set of principles that are commonly shared with everyone in that generation .With having ideas for the previous generation being pushed down to the next generation in concern of relationship and jobs. Past generations has there after college experience be to meet someone and they get married and get a job and a mortgage in there early to mid 20’s. They had to take responsibility much earlier than the newer generation. While the principles changes thought out the generation the ideal stayed the same about wanting to be a good spouse and parent and being a valued member of their respective community. The difference from the two generation is a small change of the newest generation having the choice in there early adulthood. This choice caused them to be able to  expression what they want in life before they have to be fully committed to a job. This is something that older generation like bosses and parents doesn’t really understand about the younger generation. These are not the only factor that caused people to lose their self-identity. In 2008 newly graduated college students found the economy in a recession. Student could not get any jobs during that time and this causing them not to know what to do with their life with no job employment in their field and. This made them not know how to fit into the world but these are factors that are man-made. We can all fix and change how we view society idea of a person self image. There identity, makes the next generation can become successful and healthy by the idea only they define their identity.

The skills we learn in school can be often be used in our daily lives. However, not all of those skills can be used. For example, as you get older the math you learn in school becomes less and less usable in daily life. The only real acception is a career that has a lot to do with math, like engineering or something involving physics. My main point is that school can’t teach you everything, and not everything you learn will be usable later on. The goal of school is to increase your understanding of different topics.

There are kids that lack things like social skills, and a school is not really focused on developing social skills. That is where the scouting programs come in. Scouting helps develop social skills even if the scout has Autism, which makes it harder for someone to develop those necessary social skills. I know because my older brother has aspergers and scouting has helped him to be more social. He still struggles with those skills, but his social skills are much better than they were. Scouting doesn’t just develop social skills, it also develops skills a scout may need to react to an emergency.

On October 11, 2017 the Boy Scouts of America made an announcement that starting in September of 2018 girls will be allowed to join Cub Scouts, progress into Boy Scouts, and earn the rank of Eagle Scout. Most people, like the BSA’s Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh,  agreed with the decision, and thought it was a great idea. “‘The values of Scouting—trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind, brave and reverent, for example—are important for both young men and women,’ said Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh in a statement. ‘We strive to bring what our organization does best—developing character and leadership for young people—to as many families and youth as possible as we help shape the next generation of leaders.’” However, the decision also received backlash from both Boy Scout and Girl Scout leaders. “‘The need for female leadership has never been clearer or more urgent than it is today—and only Girl Scouts has the expertise to give girls and young women the tools they need for success,’ the Girl Scouts said in a statement.”

I agree with the decision made by the BSA, and think it is a good idea. Like Surbaugh, I think the values that the BSA teaches are important for all people. The BSA’s main goal is to teach the scouts how to be better people. The Boy Scouts does a great job at making sure each scout leaves the program as a better person. Just like an Eagle Scout I remember from when I first joined my troop. His name was Christopher Alvelo, and I had only known him for a short time when many news reports like this one came out, “A teen Eagle Scout, killed in a car crash, is being hailed as a hero for taking the wheel of his stepfather's SUV after the man suffered a medical emergency. The teen's actions saved the lives of the man and two other passengers.

17-year-old Christopher Alvelo, his stepfather, 51-year-old Joe Snyder and two friends were driving home from an Eagle Scout trash clean-up project in Pennypack Park on Saturday when Snyder suffered a medical emergency shortly after 12:30 p.m.” The friends in the SUV were two scouts also in my troop. Here is what happens next, “Alvelo, who was in the passenger seat of the 2007 Ford Explorer, grabbed the wheel and tried to take control of the SUV.

The teen was able to steer the vehicle off the road and into a parking lot for the North Philadelphia Jet Center at Northeast Philadelphia Airport along the 2800 block of Red Lion Road. However, he couldn't get to the break and the vehicle slammed into an unoccupied Paratransit van.

Alvelo died at the scene.”

These tragic events happened on October 26, 2013, but if Chris wasn’t a scout he may not have been able to react the way he did and save three people’s lives. At that time I had just started Boy Scouts and Chris was one of many scouts in the troop, so I didn’t really know him. However, I do know that at the time that Chris died he wasn’t technically an Eagle Scout. In order to earn the rank of Eagle Scout the scout must have a certain number of merit badges. Then, the scout must complete a service project they come up with and supervise. Lastly, there is a ceremony acknowledging that the scout has earned the rank of Eagle.

There never was a ceremony for Chris, but my Scoutmaster and my dad, the Assistant Scoutmaster, decided that Chris met all of the requirements needed for the rank and that he lived the Scout Oath and the Scout Law. So even though Chris wasn’t there to receive the Eagle Scout award, he saved lives and he truly earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

Intro

This is an essay I am proud of. For this paper, my biggest goal was to make sure I understood the project and developed something I knew was quality. There have been instances where I have written a piece, but realized later that I didn’t follow the directions at all and had to start over. An area for improvement though was the amount of editing I did, and how I didn’t end up changing a lot from my rough draft to final.

Essay

Each person has a hidden identity. No one is a completely open book; everyone will have their secrets. You see a lot of examples of hidden identity on social media, but you don’t notice it for what it is. If you look at somebody's facebook feed or Instagram page, you’ll see that they will only share what they want others to see. Everybody with a social media account wants to craft an identity for themselves online. However, it isn’t an accurate representation of who they are. Think about it. How would you feel if there was an accurate representation of your emotions and activities on the internet for all your friends to see? Would you want people to see the depths of your personal life online? People will only post about things in their life that they would want everybody else to see as well. Social media isn’t even just about sharing your life, it’s about bragging about it and crafting an ideal persona online.

Social media also changes the genuine expression of emotion from people. While Facebook is a place where people vent about their siblings and show their video game high scores, they also will tell all of their Facebook friends that somebody close to them passed. In my personal experience, I feel a certain level of guilt if I see a status update like that and I don’t like or comment. However, this does not feel genuine to me at all. If somebody close to me lost a loved one, I would make sure I am showing support in person, and not through a Facebook comment. I read a Time Magazine article on mourning on facebook. It introduced the idea of if Facebook is the right place for important issues such as loss, depression, death, etc. A quote from the article read,“There’s no ‘right’ way to mourn, but I question whether Facebook — which seems more and more like a junkyard of complaints and raw emotions — does justice to our feelings about meaningful things like death if we discuss them on the same platform as complaints about our cable company.” This quote raises a really good question on the topic of worth. Can somebody’s death really be dumbed down to a social media post? Death is a massive topic, that cannot be just summed up with a speech, a funeral, a gravestone, and especially not an Instagram post. If a funeral doesn’t give justice to somebody’s death, then how can a post on social media?

There was a relatively well known local musician named Brian Nowell, who recently passed because of a drug overdose. It was a very sad event, and I did see and feel the effect of it on people around me. But not in person, it was all expressed on Facebook or Instagram. I never actually heard anybody who involved themselves in sharing or posting about his death, speak about it in person. It was uncanny, to get texts, facebook messages, and more about this tragedy, which made it seem very sad. However, without anybody actually talking about it, made it seem very fake. This is because, without a real connection to the person, a person doesn’t feel as much remorse as somebody close to the tragedy. Somebody can feel sympathy, but won’t feel the same way as somebody who was close to Brian. Just from my perspective, it felt like many different people were putting this persona of themselves on social media to make the tragedy about themselves, and to show that they care, and not to actually show support to the ones truly hurt. Sharing and posting about a tragedy like this can help craft this ideal online persona, one that is not only busy, smart, and having fun, but is also caring and supportive.

People end up crafting different identities because they want to create a persona they find ideal for the public. There are different reasons for this, whether it’s to feel more important, seem caring and supportive, seem popular, and much more. People use different ways to craft ideal identities for the public. This can be done with social media, by sharing things that will make you seem like somebody more interesting or popular. People will also often utilize their hidden identities to seek attention, sympathy, or approval. This isn't something that can really be addressed, but it is an issue. Considering how important people's social lives have become to them, an online persona can influence your personality greatly, and change you for better or worse.

Bibliography

Zneimer, Lia. “Social Media: How to Mourn on Facebook After Someone Dies.” Time, Time, 6 May 2014, time.com/47252/mourning-social-media/.

Introduction

The goal of my paper was to analyze the streetwear culture and social media’s influence on its growth. I wanted to understand and attempt to explain both sides of the argument of culture vultures, and I believe I did a good job in my attempt. I believe I did a good job in establishing the relationship between social media and streetwear and analyzing the argument of those who criticize culture vultures. One area I do think I could’ve improved in was my overall argument. I feel as if I repeat my argument one too many times in certain areas and that is in part due to my lack of word variation.

Advanced Essay

Social media has created a virtual global village that connects people from all over the world. An influencer in London no longer only has influence in London, but has influence from places like Zhuhai, China to Jonesboro, Arkansas. This global reach has given power to the influencer and has accelerated the rise of trends. Trends can blow up in a matter of minutes on the internet. One of the booming trends today is the rise of streetwear and brands like Supreme. However, unlike your favorite 6 second vines or meme, it is a trend that hasn’t gone away. As the streetwear culture is just starting to hit the mainstream market, there has been backlash from those who believe the culture is losing its authenticity. Those who consider them “original” streetwear enthusiasts have criticized adopters of the brand, however, Supreme’s rise is due to social media and the natural growth of clothing brands.

Supreme started as this exclusive club meant for only the most authentic and raw of skaters and artists in the New York Area. As Alex Williams from the New York Times stated, “For much of its 18-year existence, Supreme was confined to the in-crowd, a scruffy clubhouse for a select crew of blunt-puffing skate urchins, graffiti artists, underground filmmakers and rappers.” The store represented the culture of its city and thrived in this space. If you walked into the store and didn’t pass the “authenticity check,” you were looked down upon(New York Times). This was true for most underground brands such as Palace and Thrasher. Brands like Supreme established this ethos that they are anti-culture and different from the norm, however, one could argue that they are the new norm. As streetwear has gone mainstream, its ethos has lost some of its grunginess.

Social media has undeniably provided a platform for individuals to create careers and cultivate huge followings. Anyone who denies this can be pointed to Kim Kardashian’s Instagram. As of March 16, 2017, brands have to pay up to $500,000 for an Instagram post to her 94.8 million Instagram followers (Talia Ergas). On a smaller scale, social media has established a pipeline for the growth of streetwear. Leo Mandela, most notoriously known on Instagram as Gully Guy Leo, is one specific individual who used social media to his advantage. Leo Mandela grew up in Warwickshire where the most streetwear thing to do was wear skinny jeans. Due to the lack of inspiration in his community, he turned to social media where he found inspiration from individuals like Jaden Smith, Kanye West, and Justin Bieber. Once he reached around the age of 13, Leo Mandela started finding the money to purchase clothes that were considered “hype.” From there he was able to build up a following on Instagram and currently he has over 590,000 Instagram followers. He models for brands such as Converse and and is flown out to fashion events all over the world. He hangs out with major celebrities on a consistent basis, doing all of this at the age of 15. His free to sign up Instagram account has opened doors that wouldn’t otherwise be possible at his age.

Leo Mandela has also been heavily criticized for his following. Dubbed by many as a “culture vulture,” he is viewed as one of the many that are ruining the culture. However, there is an argument to be made that Supreme’s growth as a brand is inevitable, and social media is only speeding up the process. Brands like Nike, Clarks, and Stussy all started off small. They did not have overnight success. It took the consumers to express their enjoyment from the brand to fuel their growth. Social media just makes it easier for the consumer to spread their enjoyment with a certain brand, thus speeding up its growth. Social media’s reach has fused Supreme’s urban sensibility and suburban mainstream, drawing a fine line between those who wear the brand because of its urban authenticity and those who wear it because it is hype.

As our world becomes more and more connected, the popularity of different art/expression/culture/niches will grow too. This is becoming an issue as people are quick to protect a part of their identity and keep it a secret from the masses. All it takes is a couple of minutes to find like minded individuals or to find a niche you are interested in. What were once subcultures are being thrust into the spotlight and there is no longer a boundary for its reach or influence. More and more people are facing the fact that what they consider unique about themselves is quite common when looking at grand scope of things, and it is up to each individual to decide whether it will affect them or not.

Bibliography

Ergas, Talia. “Kim, Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian Make Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars for Instagram Ads.” Us Weekly, 16 Mar. 2017, www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/kardashian-sisters-make-how-much-for-instagram-ads-w472080/.

Williams, Alex. “Guerrilla Fashion: The Story of Supreme.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 21 Nov. 2012, www.nytimes.com/2012/11/22/fashion/guerrilla-fashion-the-story-of-supreme.html.

Davey, Jacob. “How Gully Guy Leo Harnessed Hate to Become the Coolest Kid on Instagram.” Complex, Complex, 1 Feb. 2018, www.complex.com/style/2018/02/gully-guy-leo-converse.

Introduction:

The goal of this paper was to try and make sense of why working class whites in America have the beliefs and prejudices that they do. I attempted to do this without insulting or vilifying them, though I’m not sure if I succeeded. While I’m overall content with the essay, I find that I repeat myself a little too often and that my analysis is quite long-winded.

Advanced Essay:

Ethan Larrabee

Mr. Block

Advanced Essay

March 9, 2018

The election of Donald Trump has ignited the discussion of a very important question: how did this happen? The answer lies in many places, but one key factor in his victory lies in a previously unexpected region of the United States. Known sometimes as the “silent majority”, America’s rural communities are rarely regarded when considering massive social and political change. This past election, they proved to be a driving force behind Trump’s seemingly out of nowhere victory. Trump, or rather his campaign staff, manipulated these people by exploiting their fear and their inner rage against the “urban elite”.

The best way to manipulate people is through fear and rural, working-class whites have a lot to fear. Their main source of livelihood, mostly low-skill manufacturing jobs, have been on the decline as more and more companies ship their business overseas where labor costs are cheaper. They believe to have been passed over by their government, left with no representation. They’re led to believe that other races of people receive “special treatment” while they’re seemingly forced to fend for themselves. This leads to them creating extremely insulated communities where everyone shares a similar mindset. Without any new ideas coming into the community, they continue the same way they always have, which only serves to worsen their problem. The typical conservative viewpoint tends to come from a place of ignorance. Racism, xenophobia, pro-gun beliefs, anti-abortion beliefs, and so-called “conservative family values” are harder to find in more densely populated urban environments because there is a far greater concentration of people with different beliefs from different backgrounds. This exposure to different ideas makes one more accepting of change and more open to new concepts. In a place where everyone is the same race, has the same worldview, has access to the same limited information, and have all lived there for generations, progressive opinions are hard to find. This creates an echo chamber where misinformation is repeated from source to source until it becomes fact.

That’s not to say that these people are monsters. A part of their fear and hatred stems from wanting what’s best for their communities. People who live in rural areas pride themselves on their resourcefulness, their grit, their status as American citizens, and the strength of their communities. They believe that most problems can be solved with determination and hard work. This leads them to perceiving other oppressed groups as lazy. They don’t understand the effects of systematic oppression because they don’t experience it, at least not obviously, nor do they know anyone who has because minority groups are regularly regarded with contempt and mistrust. These people have been fed misinformation for generations and are so steeped in their own way of life that they fail to see the world from any other viewpoint aside from their own extremely limited perspective.

In a USA Today interview with several Trump supporters, a man named Zach Broullire gives his reasons for supporting such a candidate. “Right now, our immigration system is not working for the American people, and our trade isn’t working for the American people. Really, I support Trump because our government is not necessarily working for the American people and more for their agenda, whatever that may be. I want American first policy; any American citizen, that’s who our immigration policy, our trade policy and every other policy should be working for is American people.” This is how people like Donald Trump get elected. Working-class whites feel ignored by the government and are looking for anyone willing to speak to their beliefs. They are willing to ignore and excuse a great deal of problems because they are desperate for representation. Any politician claiming to have an “America first” policy has an easy time gaining their favor.

Instead of looking for ways to help these people, politicians abuse their predictable responses and generally limited educations to garner support for their campaigns. As Adolf Hitler stated in Mein Kampf, “All propaganda must be popular and its intellectual level must be adjusted to the most limited intelligence among those it is addressed to. Propaganda must be limited to a few simple themes and these must be represented again and again. Here, as in innumerable other cases, perseverance is the first and most important condition of success.” One can observe these tactics used time and time again. By utilizing a limited vocabulary and catchy phrases like “America first” and “drain the swamp”, propaganda appeals to these people’s identities as Americans and gives them a clear and simple goal to fight for.

It is important to remember that these are still people. They may say horrible things, they may commit horrible acts, and sometimes it’s impossible to forgive them, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t hope for change. If the root of the problem here is caused by ignorance and the manipulation of said ignorance, than the education of these people is of utmost importance. If we ignore the white working class, they will only withdraw further into their isolation, and the situation will only get worse.

Works Cited

Capehart, Jonathan. “Opinion | Working-Class whites can't handle their status as 'the new minority'.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 20 Apr. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2017/04/20/working-class-whites-cant-handle-their-status-as-the-new-minority/?utm_term=.b8e5c6c1f1d6.

Glasser, Susan B. and Thrush, Glenn, et al. “What's Going on With America's White People?” POLITICO Magazine, www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/problems-white-people-america-society-class-race-214227.

“Trump Nation.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, www.usatoday.com/pages/interactives/trump-nation/#/?_k=4y2pq5.