Lost in the Wild

As we finally reach end of the year, we finish the content with the study of globalization, how nowadays, nations are so dependent in each other, and how cultures are able to mix and spread, by the migration of the different people. As we finished globalization, our teacher showed us the movie Lost in Translation, in which we are able to learn how different people decide to take in the new cultures they are presented.

Trailer for the movie: Lost in Translation

I enjoyed the movie, but more than that, it made me stop and rethink my own actions. Several tourists travel hoping to familiarize with new cultures and new experiences, but end up “trying too hard”, and become offensive due to the use of stereotypes.

In order to enhance our perspective about the topics, we had to complete a reading. When presented with both the movie and the readings, it is hard not to reflect upon our own actions and how we deal with outside influences. The first reading done was called Global Soul, by Pico Iyer.  It presents us with the ‘global soul’, someone global, able to live and adapt to different locations and cultures, ready to embrace any global experience.

At the same time, as we watched Lost in Translation during our History classes, we began the movie Into the Wild, in our AcademicLeadership classes.

           

Trailer of Into the Wild

 As I watched the movies and read the provided texts, I was able to find where they connect, and join in order to create a greater meaning of each one of them.  Into the Wild truly connects to the ideal ‘Global Soul’, since we begin seeing Chris McCandless as a global soul himself, due to his facility and willingness to move out of his comfort zone and into the wild – no pun intended. Chris, now known as Alexander Supertramp, breaks away from his life, leaving his family and hoping to reach Alaska and finally conquer happiness, by getting rid of all materialistic needs as well as relationships and personal bonds.

Another aspect that surrounds globalization is presented  by Kwame Appiah, who “prescribes” a method of exchange of ideas and beliefs, something common that is several times taken for granted: conversations. Not only do conversations allow people to talk about their daily lives, but they are a great way to express one’s beliefs and ideals. In a conversation, there is no need for a final consensus, since they are friendly and do not have to become a serious discussion.  

The final reading is by Gary Snyder, who takes on a different side, since he mentions religion. Snyder uses Buddhism to explain and to exemplify the ‘globalization’. He says that “the universe and all creatures in it are intrinsically in a state of complete wisdom, love, and compassion, acting in natural response and mutual interdependence.”

When reading, I was able to understand what he meant, since we are all somehow connected, even if just by the fact that we need the Earth in order to live, yet, we still find a way of separating ourselves. This happens to the point of creating a new name for a person that is truly globally connected. How about, in the future, anyone that is a ‘global soul’ becomes known as a human being, and instead of differentiating them from the rest of society, we differentiate the ones who do not become global, who do not use their resources in order to better understand or ‘fit in’ into the global society.

After watching the movie about Chris McCandless‘ life, and reading about a ‘global soul’, I notice that even though I hope  to grow and become e global citizen, will I ever become a global soul? Will I ever reach the point of breaking free like Chris did, before becoming Alex Supertamp? I’m not sure, and will probably not be until it happens, since situations change and so do people, nevertheless, I hope to follow Thoreau’s thoughts: “I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life”. 

Genocide. How to end it and how to watch it happen.

As defined by Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide

(1948), "genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group; 

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; 

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; 

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."

In Article 3 of the same document, it is stated that acts such as "genocide; conspiracy to commit genocide; direct and public incitement to commit genocide; attempt to commit genocide; and complicity in genocide" should be punishes, yet we see acts nowadays that are not punished, but do fit the description created by the UN. 

When discussing and talking about genocides during class, mentioning the ones most people refer to and know about - like the Holocaust -  to the ones occurring now that are not receiving the needed attention, - for example the one in Darfur- our teacher asked us where we thought the next great genocide would occur. We began talking to people who surrounded us, each coming up with a different idea or guess of where the next tragedy would take place. When we were done discussing, the teacher asked if any of us thought there would not be another genocide. The class seemed very surprised with that question, because no one had even considered such possibility!

After that lesson, we were asked to write this post, talking about what we would do if there were a genocide occurring, would we take action? Would we only be bystanders? 

                            - The bystander effect is "a social psychological phenomenon that refers to cases in which individuals do not offer help to a victim", most cases due to the presence of other bystanders, which creates the thought that someone else will help the victim.- 

              While each person decided what they would do, how they would help, or not, the situation, I started thinking, brainstorming what I could do and in which way it would affect the genocide. That is when I noticed that I am not doing anything, I'm not taking any action, and there are genocides happening now. So if I created a great plan talking about how I would save the children and stop the killings, I would be extremely hypocritical, and anyone could, and should, ask me why I'm not doing that now, right now, when people are dying and populations are suffering.  After pondering over that, I could still sit down and create an auspicious plan, in which i am able to save the massacred population, but I decided to reflect.

Why do we not do anything? How can we do something? 

One way I see that can decrease genocides, is preventing them. We saw in class the "Pyramid of Hate", which shows the 'steps' taken before a genocide actually taking place. If such steps are interrupted, maybe we would be able to decrease the number of genocides the happen form now on. 

The Pyramid of Hate: 

Anyhow, in order for this to actually take place, people all around the world would have to end with the "acts of subtle bias", and that, even though it would take a lot of effort, should happen. I do believe that if our society begins to understand how simple acts can lead to greater ones, changes will be made. The UN even provides a "Office of the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide (OSAPG)" 

 But now, what should be done about current genocides? 

What I believe is the right thing to be done is the United Nations recognizing the genocides as actual genocides, which would force them to take action, since they see genocides as acts that have to be punished. 

Sites such as Genocide Watch are always updating and keeping their viewers informed about current genocides and facts regarding them. People like these are the ones who give hope to our society, the ones who try to spread awareness of something everyone knows is happening, but ignores it, once again showing, the bystander effect. 

              Nevertheless, here I am, being hypocritical again. Yes, I am a bystander, I have noticed and I do feel bad about it. Will I continue being a bystander? Yes, probably. Does that mean it is fine for the UN to be a bystander? No, because the United Nations is supposed to be the organization that deals with such conflicts. Nonetheless, I am not trying to decrease my guilt, because I see how one person taking action is significant, but at the same time, how can I, as a teenager, stop genocide? This is where I stopped and changed my train of thought, going back to how to prevent genocide. 

              Because, even though I see them happening and I do not take action to try to stop the deaths, I do feel like I have a greater chance of preventing them. As a class, we have improved throughout the years when it comes to the pyramid of hate and the ‘steps’ leading to genocide, because we have always stopped at the “acts of subtle bias”, and anything above that would have been too much, but I see how people can improve and change, by seeing how much we were able to.

             With that, I thought: in which way can we spread this idea to the world? Because if a class of teenagers can change and decrease their prejudice, can’t others?  

Maybe a way of spreading this idea is having 17 boys and girls write about in their academic blogs, it might not be, but it will not hurt to try.

              What if these posts affect people, are shared by people, read by people; some kind of influence it will make, and that is what any person that tries to spread a new idea or belief hopes for; they hope that what they believe in will end up influencing others, maybe to become a better person, or even only to discuss it with their friends, because either way, it will count as something. 

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Orienting the Future

At all moments, the future is one step ahead of us. People think about it at all times, they plan for it, prepare for it, but what they do not notice is that they never actually live it. The future is always ahead of us, ready to surprise us in all ways; while we are stuck in the present, preparing for something that we will never actually reach.  This does not mean preparation for the future is useless or unnecessary, it means the opposite actually. Planning and preparing for the future is extremely necessary, since like said before, it is ready to surprise us. I always thought we had to be entirely in control of our lives, ready to take on anything that came to us. But the more I think about what is to come, the more I notice how little control I have and how things can, and probably will, happen differently than planned. This lack of control over my future scares me at some points, but intrigues me as well. 

The last couple of weeks, we have been working on career orientation and personality testing with the school’s College Counselor during our Academic Leadership classes. This gave us, as sophomores, the capacity to understand possibilities as well as our interests, providing us with a broader view when it comes to choosing our IB courses, and even our college majors.  These tests and analysis of our personalities and interests we made using tests such as the Myer Briggs Typology Test, and we used pride experiences to create our Holland Code. Both the Typology test and the Holland Code presented us with ideas of majors and professions that match our personality, in this way providing people who do not know what they want to pursue, with inspirations.

 While this testing can be a source of hope and inspiration for those who do not know what they want to work with, it can be a burden and a worry for other who do know.  In my case, it caused me to be uncertain, since I have a plan, I know what I want to work it, but I kept on considering: What if my dream career does not match my personality?  What if it says I’m supposed to be a lawyer, not a doctor? Those were the moments I finally stopped and thought; who cares? These tests are meant to help me undo the knots inside my mind and make my plans easier, they are meant to simplify my views, not confuse me even more. One of my classmates even asked the counselor, Vanessa Benaci, what would happen if they got a career they did not want to pursue, and she answered saying that the test is only meant to give you ideas, match your personality to known careers, not define your future. This made sense and calmed me; it seemed to take a weight off my shoulders, a weight that should not even have been there.

   

I have somehow ended up with the idea of becoming a doctor, and putting my life towards helping others. I was reluctant at first, a doctors life is not easy, but after talking to doctors and hearing their side of the story, the phrase I heard the most was similar to: If you feel it in your heart, its right for you, if you truly love it, do it. This applies to all careers, because several times, high school students are afraid of choosing a major or a career because they do not know if they will be good at it. But that’s not what matters, what truly impacts your decision should be: Do you love it? Because when it comes to being ‘good’ at your profession, what will matter is if you love it and you enjoy working with whatever you chose, because if you do, you will be more than just good, you will be great. 

And now, my answers. You, reader, might be wondering, so what? Did you get the career you wanted? I will admit it, as much as I tried to calm myself, repeating in my mind it was fine it I did not get doctor as one of the options, I could still be a great surgeon if I truly loved it. As much as I told myself that, I was still nervous. But, as I scrolled down the options, passing the various careers, including Marriage and Family Counselor and Library Technician, I finally relaxed when scrolling past Pediatrician ,Surgeon and Psychiatrist. I feel quite hypocritical, saying that I does not matter whether the result you get matches the result you want, but hopping that I get the final result I dreamed of. Nevertheless, I do believe that if my result was different, telling me to be a lawyer of a CEO, I would still dream of being a doctor, taking other people’s lives into my hands and helping whoever I was able to. This lesson in class really helped me, and I feel that by the end of this course, my worries will have decreased greatly, because I can see how every lesson, or group of lessons, is able to calm my mind about one thing that worried me about the future. But, as I see my ideas clearing up and slowly joining to create my future, I see my classmates struggle and worry more and more about what’s to come, and after realizing that it does not matter if you are naturally good at the career you choose or if it will bring you enough money and fame, I know that what truly inspires me is this video we watched several times during class, summing up to:  Choose what you love, because if you truly love it, it will bring you what you need the most in life, happiness.

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Should standards really be a standard?

Standardized tests.  Most people take them, whether it is the SAT, PSAT, Vestibular, Enem or the MAP Test, and yet, there have been little action towards changing and creating a less standardized and more appropriate way of testing students’ knowledge and progress. Teachers from Garfield High School boycotted the MAP standardized test and believe that such tests should not be used to assess a student’s education, since it will only asses a ”snapshot of a student on one particular day.”. Students, having to take the same tests twice a year, do not try their best and end up using this assessment as a method of competition or a waste of time, either way, not reaching a result that reflects their actual knowledge and understanding. This method of testing is out of date, and should be replaced by a gathering of accomplishments done by each student, since those will be a great example of what the student truly understands and what subjects she has not yet mastered. Examining students’ performance throughout the year, instead of in one particular test, will provide the teachers and school administration with a legitimate conclusion of how the students have been working and what they were able to achieve. 

As a student, I agree that actions should be taken, since I believe that my progress and growth school-wise cannot, and will not, be truly, or entirely, exposed by a standardized test. Nevertheless, I understand why such examinations are created, and the ‘importance’ of standards to be made. Yet, I believe that in order to allow a student the very best education she can get, she should not be compared to other students ‘capacity to learn and understand, neither should she be compared to others’ testing abilities. A student should be recognized by their hard work and own achievements, not by standards created by testing others. 

My views can be explained with the quote: “Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water”. I truly believe that standards should be thrown out the window, together with the MAP Test and the bath water, but also remembering to keep the baby. Even though, when it comes to test taking, standards are not essential, some have to be kept in order for schools and students to know what should be learned, with the purpose of getting pupils worldwide with the same basic knowledge. However, besides that ‘basic’ knowledge that should be taught, I believe that students should follow their own pace when learning, since it will provide them with a greater intake of information. This would allow them to study subjects that interest them further, while also allowing them to understand the topics they have a harder time with in a slower pace, in order to fully ‘digest’ the challenging information. This is where the standards would come in handy. Instead of allowing students to learn only the subjects that interest them, they would be expected to master the ‘basic’ subjects, yet they would be able to take their time and learn in a way they are able to better understand. 

Our current society has been going through several changes regarding technology advances, and I believe that such innovations should be put to a better use inside our education system. Why not use such resources to change learning into something more personal, in which each student can chose the way they prefer to learn and use it to turn their learning experience into the very best.

The Future

Lately I have been thinking about it very frequently. Not only in classes like Academic Leadership, or IB Prep which we had last year, but at home. The idea of choosing Medicine as a major came to me around seventh grade, and until now it continues to interest me, and seems to grow more and more. To be able to major in medicine, I would have to stay in Brazil and graduate from college here, because if I went to the United States it would be too hard to validate my degree in order for me to work here. When I was younger, I thought I had to go to college in the United States, and my dream city was New York, I was sure I would live there. But when I decided medicine was what I wanted to work with, the dream of studying in New York was shattered. Whenever I told someone what I wanted to study, they would always have an unnecessary comment, for example: asking me if I was sure, telling me I’m going to have to study a lot or telling me it was a good choice because doctors get paid well.  First, no I am not sure, how can I be sure I chose the right career if I was in seventh grade. Second, any major you chose will make you study, and I hope you study a lot so we have trust worthy workers in the future, and finally, no, I didn’t choose this career because I hope to get a lot of money, that is not a good reason when picking a career, you are supposed to choose something you love and hope to be successful with. Together with the useless comments, there was always the heart breaking reminder, ‘You know you will have to study here right?’ At first I was sure there was something I could do to study there and work here, but after talking to several people, like doctors and professors, I finally accepted the idea of studying here, since there is the opportunity of having your residency in other places. After this amazing discovery, I was almost sure that was what I wanted to do of my life, but there is always that small fear, present in the back of our mind which makes me ask myself if I’m not making the wrong decision, if I won’t change my mind since I’m only a sophomore. This was not only present in my mind, but my parents were also unsure. So, during my break between ninth grade and tenth grade, I visited a college here in Brazil, called Universidade Positivo, and I was able to talk to the course administrator of the medicine course and ask him about my doubts and he explained to me how the course works. I was also able to visit the university and see the classrooms and labs. After that visit I was in love. I was they labs and surgery room where they practice techniques, I saw their study space, a room all about medicine with books form topics starting at bones and going all the way to each vein in your body. I was an amazing experience and it helped me a lot, since I knew that was what I wanted to study. But my biggest concern was if I was going to change my mind. This concern is still present, but yesterday, it settled since we had a guest speaker at our school that said something that was very significant. I thought it would be just another speaker talking about how we should save the planet, but he told us how he knew what he wanted to work with, and he said that the idea of becoming an urban farmer came to him when he was eleven. The fact that this idea came to him when he was young and he was able to grow up and become who he wanted to become when he was eleven really inspired me and helped me realize that if I really want something, just the fact that I am still young doesn’t mean that my decision isn’t legitimate.

Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow.

Since I won’t be going to a university out of Brazil, there is no need to apply to college because our system here is very different. But even though I won’t have to apply to college it doesn’t mean I won’t use what I am learning about college application and what recruiters are looking for. There are always job interviews, applying to internships and residencies. When it comes to those opportunities, being an academic leader will help me very much. Not only will it help me work with others, which will be a great part of the career I chose. It will also help me before in life, because after I graduate from school I will probably have to study chemistry, since it a great part of the Vestibular of medicine, and in our school it is not entirely covered. Being an academic leader will help me to prepare myself to be able to deal with a year of studying for the vestibular, in which I will be doing cursinho and studying chemistry on my own as well. This would be another reason why I am sure I’ll be able to choose this career, or any other, because I feel that I am being well prepared and when the time comes, I will be able to succeed in any choice I make. 

The Project

During this school year, we are going to be creating a personal project, in which we will be able to explore any topic that is interesting to us and that we will enjoy working with. I have been thinking about what I will choose to work with, and I have thought about two different topics that I am very interested about. One of them would be art, and I would love to have a project related to drawing and painting, since I have always enjoyed art and I’m not having art classes this year, so it would be a great opportunity to be in touch with a talent I love working with. The next topic I considered would be something related to biology and medicine, since it is another topic I really enjoy as well as something that interests me greatly, to the point I am considering becoming a doctor after I graduate. I’m not sure which one I will choose to work with, or if I might join them and create art inspired in biology and medicine related subjects. I still have to think about it and see if any of those ideas will mature to something more concrete.

I’m very excited for this new class, hoping it will help us develop new ways of studying and working in which we are able to use thing we are better at. I also hope I will be able to choose a topic and create a great project that will inspire me and that is will be something I will enjoy working with. The last thing that I hope this class helps me with is my speaking skills, and my tendency to being shy. I hope that since it is about leadership, this class helps me become a more ‘vocal leader’, so I have the possibility to be any kind of leader, form the one who inspires to the one who spreads the ideas. 

Academic Leadership

"In our first two weeks, you have read several articles, seen several videos and been engaged in several discussions related to the concept of academic leadership. At this point, and in your own words, what does the concept mean to you? What subjects or interests do you have a sophisticated, intellectual understanding of that you may want to turn into a major academic project in this class? How do people sometimes abuse academic knowledge to manipulate others? How would you feel if someone used your work to manipulate other (as Jared Diamond claims Mitt Romney has)? How can creating academically sophisticated, intellectual leaders help prevent such people from taking advantages of others the way they do? how can this created a stronger democratic society?" 

Academic leadership will teach us how to be great leaders, by our own standards and by using what we are good at. It will allow us to understand how to improve our talents in a way that will benefit both ourselves and others, since it will allow our capacity to work with a group to be improved, facilitating future projects. We were also able to learn how leadership doesn’t always come from the head managers from companies, and just because you have a good job doesn’t mean you are a great leader.  Something that was told is how leadership can come in any way and from any person, by learning about several leaders, and how they used their leadership in situations they were confronted with. For me this is very important since I’m not entirely comfortable with being a leader that stands in front of a big group and tells people what to do. I would just rather be a ‘silent leader’ that instead of telling others what to do, inspires them to do things by performing them himself.

 I believe that a leader is not created alone; one example is the Dancing Guy, who would not have been a leader if others did not follow him. But that is not the only way in which a person needs more help in order to become a leader. Another example would be the leader’s ideas; because even though a leader might have a set goal or idea, he will, or already has, been inspired by others. Those who have or will inspire the leader should also be considered leaders, since even though they did not go out and state what needed to be done; they somehow showed someone else that, and ended up motivating that person. 

"A leader always sets the trail for others to follow"

As this picture says: “A leader always sets the trail for others to follow”. In this way, the person who inspired someone else to star leading is also a leader, because they helped create the trail that should be followed. Even though I believe that ‘silent leaders’, as I would like to call them, are important, I also agree that the leaders that state their leadership by going out and actually leading people with their words are as important, since without a ‘vocal leader’, which will be their name, several actions would not have been taken, and ideas would not have spread. So, both the ‘silent leader’ as well as the ‘vocal leader’ are needed for something to happen, but both of them are leaders and both are able to show leadership, only in different ways, that please their personalities and talents.

We have also learned how people sometimes abuse academic knowledge to manipulate others by misrepresenting ideas and using them to support their ideas, this way using an illegitimate source of support. One example is Mitt Romney, who thought that by using Jared Diamond’s argument, it would only support his idea, but against his will, his representation of Diamond’s book only harmed him and his idea. If my ideas are any day, misrepresented like what happened in this case between Mitt Romney and Jared Diamond, I would be very offended, since my ideas would be used wrongly. Also, I believe I would do something similar to Diamond’s response, since instead of confronting the person who distorted my ideas, rephrasing them and explaining what I really meant would have a better result.  This is where academic leadership would fit, since a professional with this knowledge would know how to deal with the problem, without making a fool of himself, and instead, by re-stating his idea and explaining how it was misunderstood. If more people were academic leaders, then I think mistakes and misrepresentations like this one would be less common, and people would know how to support their ideas without damaging another person’s word, or how to protect their idea with strong and stable arguments.