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.