Dear (insert college name here),
I would like to go to this college because (insert reason here) and I feel this is good for me because (insert reason here).
Thanks very much,
overworked and tired seventeen year old girl.
_______
Dear (insert family member who worked/went to said college here),
Please write me a recommendation (like you have a choice) or donate a hefty sum of money. Because we are blood relatives you have to do something or else you will get an ugly sweater for christmas/hanukkah.
love (haha yeah right),
blood is thicker than water
_______
Dear(insert teacher name here),
remember that one time I didn't tell the younger students what a mean person you can be? Or that time I did all that extra credit for funsies? Time to pay up.
Sincerely,
write me a recommendation, and a good one
_______
Dear (insert anyone)
Unless you feel obliged to fund my college experience, please stop asking me about it.
Sincerely,
yes that school does exist. No I did not make that name up.
______
Dear (insert athletically talented friend here),
Yes I am applying to 13 schools. Yes, really
Thanks very much,
not all of us can win every race ever.
_______
"I can follow your heart beats just like I wanted it to."
"And I know it don't read that well,
I got buried
No it won't be long before I rise in."
Friday, December 26, 2014
Monday, December 1, 2014
I Know It's True But I'm Sorry to Say
Today in class, we were talking about Ferguson, MO, and Mike Brown and all of that violence inducing discussion. One kid in my class had an opinion that was contrary to pretty much everyone else in the class, including the teacher. And he was defending his opinion to the death and everyone was yelling at him, and I put my hands over my ears and practiced my loud breathing because I am so tired of listening to people fight about this subject.
I have declined to really form an opinion about this particular subject because I don't think anybody really knows what happened- regardless of what either side of opinions says, nobody knows. That doesn't mean I don't feel strongly one way or another- I actually do have an opinion on the subject, but I've decided not to share this opinion. I'm doing this because I don't know what happened- I am a white, seventeen year old girl who probably doesn't know all the facts of this case and as such, I'm keeping an open mind about this subject in general.
Please don't think that because I've declined to have an opinion, I'm a terrible person who has had white privilege her entire life. I'm not an evil person who has prejudice against anyone because of the color of their skin. The main thing I am is sad, and dismayed. I cannot even begin to comprehend why people continue to have such prejudice against one another because of skin tone. I am sad that a kid had to die, but I think we should be focusing on the fact that a life has been lost. I don't think it should matter whether or not Mike Brown was white or black or asian or midde-eastern because frankly, I couldn't give less of a flying f**k about his skin color. I care that he was a kid, and I care that he is no longer in existence.
I hate oppression of any sort- probably because of the fact that I am Jewish and because every single person on my father's side of the family, save my great grandfather Sam, was killed during the holocaust. I don't understand why Americans felt the need to enslave an entire population of people simply because their skin was darker, and I probably won't ever understand it. And I do not understand how, in Modern day America, which is supposed to be the land of god damn opportunity- anybody could judge a person based solely off their skin color. But it still happens, and it happens probably a lot more frequently than people are willing to admit. I won't ever understand any of this- but that's not the point.
The point is that today in class, I witnessed a kid who felt really strongly that Mike Brown was shot six times because of the fact that he was black, get yelled at because people felt he was wrong. I'm a big believer in discussion, and I'm a big believer in learning from other people's opinions. I like discussing things with people who don't hold the same political beliefs as me, simply because it is really helpful to have as many opinions as possible, and to learn and to be able to discuss things in a civilized manner with people who are so different from yourself. This can never hurt anyone- if it is done in a reasonable manner- it can only help to expand horizons.
But today I saw people who refused to let someone else believe what they wanted to and it kind of upset me because there has been so much controversy over this case. People have used their unhappiness to loot and riot and pillage because they wanted to. It makes me unbelievably angry because while some people are trying to use this case as a platform to defend unequal treatment, others are using the death of a kid, a few months older than me, to do whatever they want and that is not okay.
It is even more not okay because of what is going on in the world right now. Afghanistan, ISIS, Russia and global warming. All of these are pressing issues and while I feel unequal treatment ranks among those things, it is by no means an excuse to riot and loot and pillage, just because you feel like it. There are other, important things going on and we need to focus our energy on righting them, in addition to righting the continued unequal treatment of blacks. We do not need to focus on burning and destroying because what is that accomplishing. And if we can't band together to fix all of these huge, ginormous problems, and put our differences aside and think of the greater good, then I am thoroughly disappointed with people.
Those are my feelings on the matter. I wish people would stop asking me what my opinion is, because my opinion is that someone died and some people are taking advantage of that. My opinion is that I'm sad and dismayed and unhappy, but I am not going to go burn down the nearest store. I am going to mourn someone's life and then I am going to do whatever I can to help fix the problem, fix the problems.
Rest in peace, Mike Brown.
I have declined to really form an opinion about this particular subject because I don't think anybody really knows what happened- regardless of what either side of opinions says, nobody knows. That doesn't mean I don't feel strongly one way or another- I actually do have an opinion on the subject, but I've decided not to share this opinion. I'm doing this because I don't know what happened- I am a white, seventeen year old girl who probably doesn't know all the facts of this case and as such, I'm keeping an open mind about this subject in general.
Please don't think that because I've declined to have an opinion, I'm a terrible person who has had white privilege her entire life. I'm not an evil person who has prejudice against anyone because of the color of their skin. The main thing I am is sad, and dismayed. I cannot even begin to comprehend why people continue to have such prejudice against one another because of skin tone. I am sad that a kid had to die, but I think we should be focusing on the fact that a life has been lost. I don't think it should matter whether or not Mike Brown was white or black or asian or midde-eastern because frankly, I couldn't give less of a flying f**k about his skin color. I care that he was a kid, and I care that he is no longer in existence.
I hate oppression of any sort- probably because of the fact that I am Jewish and because every single person on my father's side of the family, save my great grandfather Sam, was killed during the holocaust. I don't understand why Americans felt the need to enslave an entire population of people simply because their skin was darker, and I probably won't ever understand it. And I do not understand how, in Modern day America, which is supposed to be the land of god damn opportunity- anybody could judge a person based solely off their skin color. But it still happens, and it happens probably a lot more frequently than people are willing to admit. I won't ever understand any of this- but that's not the point.
The point is that today in class, I witnessed a kid who felt really strongly that Mike Brown was shot six times because of the fact that he was black, get yelled at because people felt he was wrong. I'm a big believer in discussion, and I'm a big believer in learning from other people's opinions. I like discussing things with people who don't hold the same political beliefs as me, simply because it is really helpful to have as many opinions as possible, and to learn and to be able to discuss things in a civilized manner with people who are so different from yourself. This can never hurt anyone- if it is done in a reasonable manner- it can only help to expand horizons.
But today I saw people who refused to let someone else believe what they wanted to and it kind of upset me because there has been so much controversy over this case. People have used their unhappiness to loot and riot and pillage because they wanted to. It makes me unbelievably angry because while some people are trying to use this case as a platform to defend unequal treatment, others are using the death of a kid, a few months older than me, to do whatever they want and that is not okay.
It is even more not okay because of what is going on in the world right now. Afghanistan, ISIS, Russia and global warming. All of these are pressing issues and while I feel unequal treatment ranks among those things, it is by no means an excuse to riot and loot and pillage, just because you feel like it. There are other, important things going on and we need to focus our energy on righting them, in addition to righting the continued unequal treatment of blacks. We do not need to focus on burning and destroying because what is that accomplishing. And if we can't band together to fix all of these huge, ginormous problems, and put our differences aside and think of the greater good, then I am thoroughly disappointed with people.
Those are my feelings on the matter. I wish people would stop asking me what my opinion is, because my opinion is that someone died and some people are taking advantage of that. My opinion is that I'm sad and dismayed and unhappy, but I am not going to go burn down the nearest store. I am going to mourn someone's life and then I am going to do whatever I can to help fix the problem, fix the problems.
Rest in peace, Mike Brown.
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