SPOILERS AHEAD

So, I’ve finally finished reading To Kill A Mockingbird, and I have to say, it was an astounding read. I actually finished reading this book on Halloween day which I thought was very interesting because as it turns out the story actually ended on that very same holiday. I can’t believe I missed out on this novel in high school. Speaking of which, we have a literary-rhetorical analysis essay coming up for this book, so I’ll use this post to fill up my ideas for what I might write about.

A big question about this novel leaves me to ponder, what exactly does the title To Kill A Mockingbird mean? The story lets us know that mockingbirds do nothing wrong and that we shouldn’t harm them. “Mockingbirds don’t do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don’t eat up people’s gardens, don’t nest in corncribs, they don’t do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That’s why it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.” Perhaps it’s a sin to kill them because the mockingbird portrays innocence. The two characters–Tom Robinson and Boo Radley–immediately come to mind when I look at the theme of innocence.

Tom Robinson and Boo Radley as seen in the movie.

Tom Robinson’s innocence of the crime he’s accused of makes him similar to the mockingbird. Tom is a man who shows compassion to those in need and is one of the reasons why he wanted to help out Mayella Ewell. This, unfortunately, leads to his unruly trial and ultimately his fate. Similarly, although he isn’t killed as Tom was, Boo lives shuddered up in his house because of how negatively the town perceives him. Everyone views him as some sort of deranged lunatic because of previous episodes during his childhood. As the story progresses, he makes kind, subtle gestures toward Scout and Jem and we later find that he isn’t anything like the what the rumors say. Not to mention he saves the children’s lives in the end. 

Tom Robinson and Boo Radley have a lot in common despite one man being black and the other white. Both of them have had minor altercations with the law, but this doesn’t stop them from showing kindness to others in the story. Both of them are also handicapped. From what we read in the book, Boo is found to be somewhat mentally unstable while Tom is physically damaged as a result of an accident leaving his left arm crippled. After doing a bit a research on the novel, I found that the title of the book could very well be a metaphor for both men in the story. As in this case, one mockingbird is killed and the other is forced to kill. 

Scout talking to Boo as seen in the movie

From these two characters, a number of themes for an analysis can be applied for further research. Themes such as disability, class, race, etc. A major theme, however, that comes to my mind is perspective. The porch scene at the end of the novel, where Scout learns an important lesson about understanding people by putting yourself in their shoes, demonstrates this really well. This is an intriguing moment for me in the novel because of how vast of an application it is to real-world scenarios in day to day life. Of course, this essay I’ll write will have to focus on the story of the novel only, but the thought still remains. Whoever reads this, wish me luck on my paper!

As the semester comes to a close, I figured that I should share this story before I wrap up my blog; this happened to me way back in the summer of 2012. On October of 2011, I received an invitation from People to People Student Ambassador Programs, and I was invited by them to go on a trip to Australia for 17 days during the coming summer. You’d imagine how ecstatic 14-year old me was to hear this news. The invitation led my family and me to a meeting explaining details about the trips they go on. People to People offers elementary to high school aged students educational travel opportunities, and I would be one of the lucky ones to participate in this program. The program was to set me up with 39 other students in my age group who also lived in Georgia and were also invited to the program. Over the months before our departure, we were to meet up in conferences, get ourselves acquainted with each other, and participate in events that would help us fundraise for the trip. On the very the last conference before the trip, we threw ourselves a bon voyage party where we ate food, played some games, and explained some last minute info. I have to tell ya’, this was quite a trip for me especially experiencing it at such a young age. It was also a mountain moving experience for me and my family, both financially and emotionally. This trip cost over $7,500. Originally, we had no idea how they were going to pay this and we didn’t have much time to fundraise, yet somehow we still managed.

Below is a day to day summary of the events that took place while I was on my trip. Each of us was required to summarize how our days went in a journal in order to receive 1 high school credit in ambassadorial studies to go towards our GPA. I’ve managed to keep up with my journal, so I’ve attempted to transcribe what I wrote back then. I had to remove a few names to protect their identities. I also had to correct several spelling and grammatical errors because what kind of English student would I be if I didn’t. With that being said, it’s quite long…

DAY 1–OUR DEPARTURE FOR AUSTRALIA: On July 2, 2012, my family and I went to Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport in Atlanta where we met with the other students and their parents, along with the leaders of the group. We were happy to see each other again and were all excited about this trip. Everyone waited in line to get our luggage settled for the American Airlines flight and when everything was done, we all cheered and applauded because it was time to leave. Before we left, we took a group picture and said our goodbyes to our families. This was very emotional, but of course, we knew this moment was coming.

DAY 2–EN ROUTE TO AUSTRALIA: On the plane, we flew to Dallas, Texas to switch planes. We were now flying with Qantas, an Australian carrier. The Qantas plane took us on a 16-hour flight to Brisbane, Australia and we skipped a day when we traveled across the International Date Line. In Brisbane, we switched again to a smaller plane to fly to the first city on our schedule, Sydney, Australia.

DAY 3–OUR ARRIVAL IN AUSTRALIA: In the Sydney Airport, we met our delegation manager who was a resident of Sydney. Unlike the leaders (who were our supervisors), he was in charge of everything on our journey including the hotels we stayed in, the meals we ate, the activities we did, etc. After we met him, he took us on a coach (or charter bus) to begin our day.

We traveled to Bondi Beach, a popular beach in Australia. It was too cold to for swimming that day, but if it was warm, they would have given us the opportunity to take a relaxing dip in the water.

We also discovered the history of Hyde Park Barracks; it’s a museum originally built to house convicts sent to Australia a long time ago.

The day ended with a stroll around the Darling Harbor located at Cockle Bay, Sydney. There were souvenirs to buy, and street performers to watch, at all sorts of stuff. It was a very fun little recreational spot.

DAY 4–RAPPELING DOWN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS: Today, we traveled to the Blue Mountains National Park in the outskirts of Sydney. Here, there are lots of beautiful sights and landmarks including the “Three Sisters” which we managed to get photos of. We had to take them quickly though because of the weather. It was very chilly, and no one wanted frostbite today.

Later that day, we partook in the Full On program designed specifically for People to People delegates. This lasted the rest of the day as the Full On crew helped sharpen our mental focus and physical strength by karate chopping boards.

This was for when they would take us rappelling. We practiced a little, and then took a short hike to the rappelling site–a 60 foot exposed rock face. For some, it took courage to drop down that high, but I thought it was exciting, and personally, I don’t mind the heights.

After we were done rappelling, the day ended with tasty refreshments, games, dancing, and more karate-board-breaking.

DAY 5–THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE: The next day started with a trip to The National Opal Collection, a store/museum where we got to examine the Opal–Australia’s national gemstone.

Later, we climbed aboard a ferryboat for a cruise on Sydney Harbor. We had lunch onboard and were allowed to roam the deck and take photos of the city’s iconic landmarks.

The highlight of today was when we explored the world-famous Sydney Opera House. We learned the history behind the architecture of the facility and experienced areas that are not accessible to the public on a guided tour exclusive to People to People delegations.

Finally, we took a stroll through the Sydney Aquarium. This was a nice quiet place to enjoy different kinds of sea life. This concluded our activities in Sydney before we’d set off to the next city.

DAY 6–CANBERRA AND THE OLYMPIC CENTER: Today, we said goodbye to Sydney and took a road trip over to Canberra–Australia’s capital city. We explored behind the scenes of Australia’s Parliament House and learned more about Australia’s system of government and political history.

In addition, we visited the Australian Institute of Sport–a training ground for elite athletes, including past and future Olympians. Here, we took a tour of the site and viewed the different gyms the athletes train in for the Olympics. For fun, we were allowed to play training simulators which were much like physical video games.

DAY 7–EMBASSIES, ARMED SERVICES, AND LOTS OF SHEEP: The next day we began with a short bus tour through Yarralumla–a district of Canberra, which houses many embassies and consulates. I remember passing by the American Embassy and ironically, it was the biggest one.

Soon after, we went to the Australian War Memorial. This is where we paid tribute to members of the armed forces in Australia and the U.S. on an exclusive ceremony designed particularly for People to People delegates.

Afterwards, we took a visit to Gold Creek Station. Here, there were sheep everywhere. This was a family owned sheep farm where they taught us how to shear sheep and throw boomerangs. They also provided us with a delicious barbecue lunch consisting of kangaroo and crocodile meats.

Later, we took another road trip back to the Sydney Airport to catch a flight to our next city. We were now headed to Darwin–the capital city of the Northern Territory (a state of Austraila).

DAY 8–CROCODILES: Upon our arrival in Darwin, we started our day with a stroll through the city streets. There were more shopping opportunities for us to get souvenirs as we traveled from store to store.

At the end of our shopping spree, we went to explore the Northern Territory Museum. This was mainly an art gallery of aboriginal art, animals, and other miscellaneous items.

Our journey continued as we traveled to a place called Crocodylus Park, a game reserve housing freshwater and saltwater crocodiles. I was told that the crocodiles were up to 15 feet in length. There were also other kinds of animal life here too like emus, and wallabies; not to mention I got the opportunity to hold a baby crocodile (It weren’t very happy though).

DAY 9–KAKADU NATIONAL PARK: On the following day, we left Darwin and took a coach to Kakadu National Park. We stopped at the Visitor Center where we took part in an environmental service project to help protect the floodplains in this area. While it may have been tough work, I found it quite enjoyable.

While riding throughout Kakadu, we came across East Alligator River which is on the border of the park. We were told that this is one of the largest aboriginal reserves in Australia. A motorboat was set up for us to relax and take photos of the wildlife while enjoying our mini cruise.

After gaining a unique perspective of this park that is known for its remoteness, and the traditions of its native inhabitants, we soon realized that we were definitely in the outback.

As daylight settled we marched up Ubirr Rock–one of Kakadu’s famous landmarks–and caught amazing views across the wetlands as we watched the sunset. We couldn’t stay too long though; it apparently gets very dark in Kakadu at night.

DAY 10–THE SEARCH FOR ANCIENT ABORIGINAL ROCK ART: After our stay in Kakadu National Park, we traveled to a nearby town called Katherine where we spent a night. In the morning we went on another shopping spree, but this time it was just for snacks. We packed on food because we were headed back to Kakadu National Park for a hike to explore Nourlangie Rock–known for its ancient rock art painted by the aboriginal people many years ago.

To cool us off from all that heat, we got the opportunity to swim at Edith Falls­­–a series of beautiful waterfalls and pools.

DAY 11–CULTURAL IMMERSIONS: On the next day, we left Kakadu National Park and continued our journey to Manyallaluk–an aboriginal community in Katherine, Australia. Manyallaluk has a unique group of native Australians who showed us first-hand the way of their life.

Interacting with this tribe of aboriginal people was a blast. They taught us how to throw a spear, start a fire, and even play the didgeridoo (it is a lot harder than it looks). We also got the opportunity to paint our own aboriginal artwork.

For lunch, the aborigines prepared a barbeque for us. We (not me) ate even more kangaroo meat which earlier, they showed us how to skin.

Later that day, we took another refreshing dip in a nearby waterfall to cool us off.

DAY 12–SOAKING UP THE SCENERY: The following day, we got on the coach for another road trip and headed back Darwin. Of course, we made some stops on the way.

We visited several other cascading waterfalls which we weren’t allowed to swim in for simple reasons–crocodiles–and that wouldn’t have been pretty if we did.

Another stop we made was at a giant, magnetic, termite mound located at Litchfield National Park. I remember there being large, rock-like structures with holes in them sticking out the ground and bugs flying around.

It was quite hot, sticky, and uncomfortable at that moment, so to cleanse us of the bugs, we went for yet another swim in a waterfall pool called Wangi Falls. This was my favorite waterfall.

Later that evening, we went back to Darwin to prepare for our early flight to the next city.

DAY 13–MEETING OUR HOST FAMILIES: We bid farewell to Darwin as we were on our flight to the city of Cairns in the state of Queensland. Cairns is a very stunning city and looks like a nice spot for a vacation.

When we arrived, we stopped at Cairns Esplanade Lagoon, complete with a large, beach-like, swimming pool. It even has a marketplace full of nifty knick-knacks and treasures like jewelry made from opals, carved bones, and more.

Sometime later, our delegation manager told us what host family we were staying with for the homestay portion of the trip. The parents of host families are volunteers for People to People and they all have at children who attend the same school.

When we arrived at the school, all of the host families were there. I think most of the children there were between the ages of 2 to 5. We all got our suitcases out of the coach, and then we left one by one or with a roommate with our host family to spend a day with them.

My host family had two children, a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl, and two pets, a cat and a dog. They welcomed us into their home, had a snack, and talked about our lifestyles. Later on, we had a homemade pizza dinner. My roommate and I also played a few games with their kids before they went to bed. At night, I, my roommate, and the parents watched a movie, and when it was time for us to go to bed, we slept in their boy’s room on inflatable mattresses.

DAY 14–MY DAY LONG HOMESTAY: In the morning, the parents woke us up early in to do several activities. The mother generously prepared breakfast for us and packed sandwiches too for a picnic. We had our picnic on a nearby beach and got our feet wet when we were done eating.

For our next activity, the parents took us for a nature walk up Mount Whitfield–a once massive rainforest that now has hiking trails for exercising or just enjoying the environment. We also went to a botanical garden that was adjoining the hiking trails. There were all sorts of plants, some familiar, and others quite odd.

Later on, we went to a place called AJ Hackett–it’s a bungee jumping site. We didn’t actually bungee jump that day, but we did spectate and caught amazing sights of people doing this outrageous stunt.

As evening fell, the parents were required to take us to the school their children attend. At the school, there was a barbecue party set up and all of the other students and the host families also came. We mingled and talked about the things we did with our families. We even got the chance to play with children from the other families. After we ate the food and played some games, we and the other students went back home with their host families where we stayed one more night, and then we had to leave in the morning.

DAY 15–A VIBRANT VILLAGE OF A WILDLIFE AND DANCING: After we bid farewell to our host families, we traveled to the colorful village of Kuranda, known as “The Village in the Rainforest.” We hitched a ride through the rainforest in an Army Duck, a World War II amphibious vehicle which can traverse land and water. These unique vehicles were used in Australia by the U.S. Military during World War II.

The same village included an active wildlife sanctuary, occupying many of Australia’s native animals including koalas, kangaroos, dingoes, and wombats. We even got the chance to get a picture holding a baby koala (it was kind of smelly though).

Later that day, we met up with another People to People delegation from different U.S. state on the same trip. They joined us as we ended our day in an Aussie bush dance (much like square dancing), moving to the beat of a local bush band.

DAY 16–THE GREAT BARRIER REEF: On our last day Down Under, we braced off to go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef—the world’s largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching around 1,600 miles.

We all got our cruise tickets and started on our way. Our journey to the Reef was quite long as we traveled across stunning aqua-blue waters. While on the cruise ship, a marine biologist gave us safety information to cram in before we’d a dive in the Reef. He also gave us some fascinating, elaborate information about the inhabitants living there.

Soon after, we arrived at a large floating station which is used as a rest stop. This is where we’d dive. We geared up in our lycra suits, snorkels, and flippers, and settled off. A marine biologist was also out there; he’d tell us information about the coral polyps beneath us as we snapped photos of them using our underwater cameras. Although the weather was rather choppy out there that day, it was a lot of fun swimming around with my buddies. For those who didn’t want to snorkel, there was another neat way to see the Reef and its inhabitants–through a submarine. Our activities at the Reef lasted the rest of the day and we were pretty drained, so we headed back to the hotel we were staying in.

We arrived at the hotel by nightfall, and our delegation manager gave us survey forums to fill out. The survey was about our trip asking for information including our opinion on the meals, our opinion on the activities we did, and our overall trip experience. I rated everything an excellent because I felt like the delegation manager and the leaders did an awesome job at directing and supervising this trip.

DAY 17–OUR DEPARTURE FOR HOME: Most of us didn’t sleep last night because we were told to wake up, and be packed and ready at around 2:00 am for a very early flight back home. After everyone was ready, we boarded the coach and traveled to Cairns Airport for a flight back to Sydney. The flight from Cairns to Sydney was about 2 hours long.

At the Sydney Airport, it took awhile, but our international flight finally was ready to take us back to the States on another 16-hour flight. It was a Wednesday when we left, and it was still Wednesday when we arrived in Dallas, Texas because we were flying with the time. From Dallas, we flew back on another 2 hour flight to Atlanta, Georgia, where all our families and friends were waiting.

At Hartsfield–Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, we rode an escalator to the bottom floor of the terminal where, through glass doors, we saw all our families and friends happy to see our faces again. I remember as soon as I walked through the door, my older sister hugged the life out of me. After I exchanged hugs and kisses with my mother, father, and sisters, we said our goodbyes to our buddies and fellow student ambassadors as we left the airport and parted ways.

For this post, I’m gonna write about what I learned in one of my Computer Science classes. It’s about data centers. “But what are data centers?” one may ask. Data centers are special types of facilities or virtual infrastructures that are set aside to incorporate an organization’s IT equipment and operations. It is essentially the brain of a company. It is also the place where the bulk of the company’s critical processes are run. A data center would be particularly customized for the business which it is pertaining to.

The concept of data centers began as early as the 1940s back when computers systems were very large and occupied entire rooms. As time progressed, computers have gotten smaller, cheaper, and faster, but data processing needs began to increase drastically. This gave way to the use of networking servers to increase processing power, thus giving birth to the data center. Current data centers are likely to have thousands of very small and very powerful servers running 24/7.

The purpose of a data center is to deliver fast services for businesses; its sole purpose is to ask “what are your necessities?” Its tasks typically involve storing, processing and serving large amounts of critical data to its clients. Today nearly every large company, government entity, and even some smaller companies take advantage of a data center by some means. Companies such as IBM, Facebook, Netflix, Cisco, Google, Amazon, Intel, etc., all incorporate data centers in order to continue their daily operations.

Specialized IT technicians are in charge of managing data centers; they are responsible for overseeing the technical and IT issues within the data center and keeping it secure from potential threats. The management of a data center is necessary for an organization to be able to focus on a variety of situations they may face today and in the future. Plenty of research and preparation needs to go into managing a data center because there is so much equipment that needs to be managed.

With the vast amount of equipment, data centers are intended and configured built on a consumer’s desires. It can run with concentrated vitality and proficiency with the tiniest conservational influence. It gives you the ability to focus on your own business, you can help boost your services for greater success. As a company evolves, its data grows, and computing needs increase. Data centers are truly beneficial for any organization.

Before I say anything, I would like to note that I’m not sharing my political opinion or anything of that sort here at all. This is all just an observational exercise.

In Mike Luckovich’s cartoon from September 28, 2017, the image displays several elements to be described. In a literal description, the picture shows an airplane flying over a sparse grassy field. On the side of the airplane, it reads the words in all capital letters ‘chartered private jet’. Situated on the top of the airplane is a small white pig wearing eyeglasses with a smirk on its face. The pig has the words ‘Tom Price’ printed on its abdomen. Next to the pig is a speech bubble that simply reads ‘oink.’ On the sparse grassy field which the airplane is flying over, a Caucasian man is standing in the foreground. Sited in the background sits a small blue house, a red pickup truck, and vegetation. The man in the foreground is wearing red shirt along with a red hat. The man’s hat has the letters ‘MAGA’ written on it, and above the man is a speech bubble which reads, ‘I’ll admit the administration isn’t about draining the swamp when pigs fly….’

Upon closer inspection of the elements in Mike Luckovich’s cartoon, one would find that they represent a few real-world figures. The airplane in the image is indeed a charted private jet as it says, but more importantly, the pig riding on top of the jet is a caricature of Tom Price, the former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. This information shows that Tom Price has some sort of relation to transportation via this method of travel. As for the elements underneath the jet—the open grassy field, the Caucasian man, and the little house with the pickup truck—they characterize common traits that are typically associated with rural America. Additionally, the man in the foreground symbolizes supporters of President Donald Trump. This idea is supported by the letters ‘MAGA’ printed on the man’s hat which is short for the phrase ‘Make America Great Again’—the campaign slogan used by Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign. Lastly, the man in the cartoon gives a bit of commentary about the ‘administration’ to which he is referring to the Trump Administration; he also notes the ‘pig’ that is flying above him.

Like many other political cartoons, Mike Luckovich is indeed attempting to convey a message here. The two terms that the man in the cartoon uses are important components that Luckovich uses to make his point. The first term “drain the swamp” is a term typically used by many American politicians and in this case, Donald Trump. Trump uses the term to describe his plans to fix issues in the federal government, and one of those issues revolves around excessive government spending. Price, whom Trump initially appointed as head of the Department of Health and Human Services, recently found himself under fire for the use of private charter jets and military aircraft for work-related travel at the expense of taxpayers’ money. Politico, an American political journalism company, made a series of reports regarding the scandal. They reported that Price had consumed over 1 million dollars in department funding for his travels. They also found that for many of his flights there were several cost-effective alternative methods of transportation available including flying commercially or riding trains. Price attempted to mitigate the criticisms by promising to reimburse taxpayers about $52,000 for the costs for his seats on those chartered flights, however that offer didn’t come close to the total costs of the trips he took. The sustained disapproval Price received for his actions in these events later led him to resign from his position.

The second term the man in the cartoon uses is “when pigs fly.” This phrase is a hyperbole and a way of saying that something will never happen. Luckovich, however, uses this term in a more metaphorical sense to describe Tom Price. Therefore, this is the reason why Price is drawn as a pig in the cartoon; Luckovich is essentially calling him a pig for his actions. Looking back at the speech bubble from the man in the cartoon, the fact that the man is a Trump supporter and is making this comment about Price expresses that Luckovich is attempting to illustrate the internal conflict within the Trump Administration and uncertainty among its supporters.

So why did I write all this? Well, while it may have been a not so subtle attempt at ‘killing two birds with one stone’, I’d figure I’d share this exercise as a way to inspire others (particularly people of my age group) to follow politics more closely. I had a conversation about this with my American Government professor the other day. He loves to stress the fact that my age group is the currently the largest voting block (18-24), yet we simply just don’t vote enough. Part of the reason for that is because we may not really see a need to do so. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t vote. Because were that largest voting block, we could definitely change the political atmosphere if we want to, and those are the keywords if we want to. We’d totally have the power to push policies that are in our favor as opposed to what grandma and grandpa want. All we have to do is get informed and be a little more civically engaged. It doesn’t even have to be of large scale, the most important things that affect us in our day to day lives are in our local municipals. Election day is on the November 7. I’m feeling compelled to go out and vote.

The year is 2017, and it’s November. I’m sure by now you’ve heard of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Maybe you even thought it was over and the water has been cleaned—unfortunately, it hasn’t. It’s been over 3 years since the Flint Water Crisis began in April of 2014, and things have only gotten worse. Ever since the decision was made to switch Flint’s water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint River, over 1,700 citizens of Flint have been affected by the poisoned water that flows through their pipes.

Lauren and her children.

From having to use bottled water for just about everything, to suffering through lead poisoning and Legionnaire’s disease, now it seems the toxic water is also affecting women’s ability to have children. In a recent interview done with the news outlet Rewire, Rachel Lauren—mother of four, wonderful, healthy children— shared her ordeal with her last pregnancy. In the past, Lauren has had no complications or issues with her previous pregnancies. However, on her fifth child, she suffered a miscarriage; “I really believe it’s the water”, she told Rewire. Lauren delivered her baby just one short month after discovering she was pregnant. Lauren says she moved to Flint, Michigan shortly before the water crisis began, which means she has more of a reason to believe that her unsuccessful pregnancy was due to the contaminated water supply. Studies show that although it’s not certain that Flint’s water is the cause of this, since 2014, fetal death rates have increased by an astounding 58%. Fertility rates have also decreased by 12%. Certainly, if every resident of Flint were to put themselves of the registry of those who have been exposed, these statistics would be of a higher degree.

The Water Crisis of Flint, Michigan quite possibly is a good example of systemic racism here in America—being that the city’s population is majority black—and as a method of genocide. Perhaps if most of the residents were on the lighter, whiter side of the skin color spectrum, something certainly would have been done already. For now, the recorded deaths since the crisis began is at 15 people, but if this issue is not soon resolved, the effects on the city of Flint could be disastrous.

On the more hopeful side of things, in March of this year, the EPA awarded Flint $100 million for drinking water infrastructure upgrades, and a federal judge has approved a $97 million settlement, in which the state of Michigan agreed to replace the lead or galvanized steel water lines in Flint. So far, the water lines have not yet begun to be replaced, but I’m optimistic that things will get better. In the meantime, we can all do our part in helping alleviate the suffering of the citizens of Flint, Michigan.

Howdy folks! Have you ever had trouble trying to study hard memorizing those formulas for that math exam, cramming in all those dates in for history class, or even overcoming writer’s block for that essay in English that’s just around the corner? Well, maybe it’s about time you tried changing up your studying environment with the new Grade Saver 3000!

Alright anyhow, putting all the “as seen on tv” jokes aside, this semester has really seen an increase in my productivity using these methods. Check out the original article here for more information. Basically, there are a number of factors in your environment that impact how well your able to study and retain information.

Background noise. Some thrive better in an environment where there’s so much background noise that it becomes one collective sound that keeps them in the zone somehow. Others need to drown out all the noise by listening to their favorite tunes. Then there are also those who need absolute silence to make for a productive environment. Whatever fits best for you is what you should aim for when trying to find a place to study.

Lighting. This surprisingly affects me more than I thought. Dark rooms are just asking for a naping, but rooms with enough illumination keeps me awake and ready. Additionally, many students are using devices such as a laptops or tablets to complete assignments nowadays. Anything with a screen can pretty much harm the eyes over time especially if you find yourself studying way into the night. Using “night-mode” or “blue light filter” can help keep the harsh blue light that’s emitted from screens from straining your eyes. I would really recommend for heavy nocturnal studying.

Distractions. The reason I know I don’t always do well studying in the GSU library is because there are too many familiar faces in there. When you make one too many friends on campus, it’s hard not to make conversation when you encounter them. “While it’s been great catching up, I really have to get this essay done.” This is something you don’t hear me say very often because I’m just way to passive aggressive when it comes to this. Don’t be me. When you know there’s work that’s needed to be done, don’t put yourself in a situation that can make you become distracted.

So with that being said, this is what works for me personally: I like a warm, well-lit environment while being surrounded by other productive individuals and not too many familiar faces. It makes me comfortable enough to be able to study but not too comfortable to the point where I would easily find myself getting distracted. I also enjoy listening to non-lyrical study beats that are constantly being streamed live on Youtube. You can check some of them out here by clicking on this headphone emoji >>> ? . So, try these methods out sometime and see what works best for you.

The Las Vegas shooting that occurred Sunday night was without a doubt an act of terror when a man fired into a crowd during a music festival killing at least 59 people and injuring hundreds more. This tragedy is currently being labeled the as the deadliest shooting in U.S. history topping the nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida that happened last year. My heart goes out to all the affected families who’ve lost loved ones or had to witness such a horrific event. I couldn’t imagine what they’re going through at this moment. There is currently no known motive for the shooter actions.

What scares me is the frequency of such shootings. I don’t want to reduce this event as ‘just another mass shooting’, this tragedy is very heartbreaking, but nowadays, are families even able to grieve the loss of their loved ones without having to worry about the impending doom of another public shooting? It can sometimes be desensitizing seeing these catastrophic events unfold over the news just for another shooting to occur months later. Is there a way to stop these mass shootings? Is this a matter of gun control? Is this a matter of mental health issues? Is this a matter of poor upbringing and exposure to violence? I’ve recently written an essay on the gun control debacle and based on the statistics personally, I believe that stricter gun legislation is necessary, however perhaps it needs to be handled from another angle. Politicians can hold off on the debate of these policies in respect of those we’ve lost and that’s understandable, but once the dust settles what will America do about these issues?

On a positive note, I would like to focus on the heroes of this crisis. The great thing about this country is how we bound together in devastating events such as this. People were able to help each other out in the midst of the chaos providing aid and transportation to those who’ve been injured. After hearing about the tragedy, people are now actively donating blood to the victims of the shooting. Additionally, there are already several funding campaigns set up to aid the families of the victims. It’s hard not to get emotional when you realize how willing people are to help under a such a looming threat. These actions give me hope that we still value the sanctity of human life. I guess now it’s just a matter of that sanctity of life versus the profitability of gun sales.

Yesterday’s English class was very powerful to me. It was powerful in a sense because I know it’s something that has impacted people close to me. In our reading of Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy”, we’re following Stevenson’s career as a lawyer for those who’ve been falsely convicted or harshly sentenced. The book alternates between Stevenson’s experiences including the founding of his organization the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) to the encounters of many of the different clients he’s tried to help. Walter McMillian’s story is the central focus of the book. Walter McMillian is a black man who was wrongly sentenced to death for a murder charge he didn’t commit. At this point in time, I’ve only read half the book and it’s already overloaded with so much emotion from the injustice that it’s at times infuriating.

Here’s are a few shocking statistics pulled from the book:

• “We [The United States] has the highest rate of incarceration in the world.”
• “One in every fifteen people born in the United States in 2001 is expected to go to jail or prison.”
• “One in three black male babies born this century is expected to be incarcerated.”
• “Black men are eight times more likely to be killed by police than whites.”

Additionally, Bryans Stevenson’s book has brought up many thought-provoking questions regarding the American justice system and ultimately argues that the system is too quick to punish and condemn when mercy is severely needed. “The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.” Perhaps the biggest question is why are people being judged unfairly? Is there a racial prejudice in these rulings or is it just a coincidental pattern?

We’ve also taken a brief look at Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”. In it, (or at least from what I’ve read) Alexanders outlines a new system of oppression among blacks in comparison to old Jim Crow laws has re-emerged in the form of mass incarceration. This can best be connected by another quote from Stevenson’s book. “Hundreds of thousands of nonviolent offenders have been forced to spend decades in prison. We’ve created laws that make writing a bad check or committing a petty theft or minor property crime an offense that can result in life imprisonment. We have declared a costly war on people with substance abuse problems. There are more than half-million people in state or federal prisons for drug offenses today, up from just 41,000 in 1980.”

I didn’t really intend on filling this blog post up with quotes but perhaps they say what I wanted to convey very effectively. I am a black man, and I understand that I live in a world where my people have been marginalized as a result of the figures above. I don’t want to sound so cynical but from the stories (the instances in history, books such as these, the frequent news reporting, accounts from my own family, etc.) knowing that these issues are still at large in the current year can sometimes be disheartening. At the same time, however, efforts from individuals such as Bryan Stevenson and the EJI, the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, and current movements such as Black Lives Matter, shows that we’re not stagnant people and we are actually doing something about it. I look at people like Barack Obama or Oprah Winfrey and more–those people have defied the odds against them. The only direction from here on is up.

A conversation I had yesterday with a classmate reminded me of about one of my favorite pastimes, that is PC building. Over the years, the PC (or the personal computer) has managed to find a way in many of our everyday lives. Whether it is used at school, at work, or in your home, many of us come into contact with this technology one way or another. Personally, PCs have played a huge role in my life. At around age five or so, I remember when my parents started investing in getting one of these machines. When it finally arrived, it was a Hewlett-Packard Windows XP based machine and I think my parents bought it specifically for word processing. They also used a calendar creation software which deemed useful for their business. This strange machine was unheard of to me at the time, but I soon got myself acquainted with using this device and the numerous software it included. Eventually, I found myself spending hours creating random documents of “keyboard mash”, differently themed calendars using the calendar software, works of art on the popular MS paint software, and losing sleep to that 3D Pinball Space Cadet game the Windows operating system came with. I feel that these actions were the initial spark for my interest in computers.

As I got a little older, I needed to start using the computers for some actual productivity. Unfortunately, the computers we had started to become obsolete over time and couldn’t keep up with our needs (well, more specifically, it couldn’t keep up with my needs, my folks were pretty content). It would frustrate me when one of the computers would malfunction and we had to pay someone to get it fixed. This inclined me to start experimenting with by taking some of the broken computers apart to get an idea of its inner workings and how they function. Instead of constantly having to go to my local computer service shop, I would ultimately try to fix the things myself in a “do it yourself” fashion. This took quite some trial and error. I broke a few devices in the process, but in some cases, I actually managed to get the computer working again which really surprised me.

Later on, around my mid-teens, I discovered that you can actually build your own PC from scratch (well not really from scratch, but you can select from a number of parts to assemble into a working machine). While this can appear mundane to some people, after all, it is just a computer, I saw the craftsmanship behind the idea of customizing your PC build to your liking and your needs. It was like a form of art to me. It gave me a similar feeling to how people view furniture for their home. So with me being a little older and finally having my own disposable income, I set out to start saving up for my first PC build. I mentioned earlier in my blog intro bio that I’m a gamer, so I built this PC with gaming as the main focus. It took quite some time in researching for the right components that were in my budget and figuring out what goes where, but with the help of several YouTube videos, forums, and message boards, I finally got my PC up and running.

Now, I won’t lie and say it was the easiest thing in the world, however, it was relatively a straightforward process that took some time and patience. While I was doing research for my first PC build I noticed a lot of people liked to equate the building process describing it as “Lego for adults”, and while that may be true in some aspects, it is a little more complicated than that as you have to make sure that those “Legos” fit well and are compatible with each other. Despite all that though, I found my first PC build a very fun and enjoyable process.

Unfortunately, I never documented my first attempt at building a PC, however, I have done so for some of my other builds. There is this website called PcPartPicker where people can share their PC builds and give PC building advice to those looking for it. People really demonstrate their craft well on that site as some of the builds on there look out of this world. Here’s a link to my profile on that website; there you can check out some of my work. The photos you are seeing in this blog are also from my profile on that website. Nowadays, I like building PCs for friends and family, but one day I would like to expand that at start building for customers. Who knows? Maybe it could be a business one day.

Yesterday in English class, we were tasked with the not so unusual job of reading from a select number of news articles, choosing one of those articles, and then posting our analysis of that article here on our blogs. So the question is, how can you go about effectively analyzing a text?

Well, that is where the APATSARC drill comes into play. In case you didn’t know, APATSARC is an acronym; however, It’s not just an acronym, but a useful exercise in learning how to analyze text critically. Here are what the letters stand for:

Audience

Purpose

Argument

Tone

Structure

Assumptions

Rhetorical Style

Context

When reading critically, keeping these points in mind as well as annotating will aid in the process. So, here is my attempt at this exercise. Sorry if it looks a little strange, I hand-wrote most of my notes in digital form. The article I chose was titled, “The Non-Politics of Disability” by Jay Ruckelshaus, and you can read it for yourself here. He talks a little about the dialogue surrounding disability politics, or in this case, the lack thereof.