The Masks We Hide

Recently in class, we spoke about the countless masks people put on for others. Some believed these were bad and that by doing so individuals hide their true self, but I believe that having different personas can be a good thing.

For one, think about all the different ways you act around different people. If you were meeting the President, you wouldn't act in the same manner as you would if you were hanging out with friends. Or the way you act around your parents vs. the way you talk to a teacher. There are some things you would never tell a teacher that you don't even think twice about when telling your parents. In this way, it is great that we act in another way with other people because it allows us to censor our thoughts and say the right thing in the current setting.

Also, by putting a mask on, we allow ourselves as individuals to test out a different side of ourselves. For example, if you were to go with a parent to work and act more maturely than usual, you have an opportunity to test your professional side, and discover if you enjoy being in that type of work environment. By putting on a facade, it also allows you to adapt to a setting. If you had, instead of acting maturely, goofed around all day, people would view and treat you differently. This would in turn change your perspective of a work environment if people were being harsh to you instead of treating you like a grown up.

I honestly believe that putting on a mask is a good thing. It can be very beneficial to the way you see things and can also change your mood entirely. I wonder too then, if we change personas constantly, then what are actors doing when they are on stage? Are they changing to fit to a new persona? It seems unlikely, since when we usually switch masks, they are still constant with our individual thoughts and actions. Whereas actors are not controlling how their characters reacts to a situation. Instead they must almost put on a double mask, the first which controls how they as an individual will play out the role, and a second that has to only respond to what the character would do!

The Debate Over Whether Or Not to Protect

Recently, I was watching the news, when a fascinating topic was discussed. Representative Michelle Bachmann v. Gov. Rick Perry over his mandate in 2006 requiring all 6th grade girls in the state of Texas to receive the HPV vaccination. I find this a very controversial debate, and it's extremely hard for me to pinpoint who is right or wrong.

On the Gardasil website this is what it states about the drug: What is GARDASIL? GARDASIL is the only HPV vaccine that helps protect against 4 types of HPV. In girls and young women ages 9 to 26, GARDASIL helps protect against 2 types of HPV that cause about 75% of cervical cancer cases, and 2 more types that cause 90% of genital warts cases. In boys and young men ages 9 to 26, GARDASIL helps protect against 90% of genital warts cases.

Basically Bachmann believes that it is a violation of individuals' civil liberties and suggested that the vaccine could cause mental retardation. She went as far as to say it is, "a government injection through executive order" (Foxnews).

While I understand her points, I also very much see Perrys. The injection, while it does not prevent against all cervical cancers, can save many people from death resulting from cancer or major illness. It is a preventative medicine that can greatly change the course of someone's life. It can also save the government a lot of money considering the less people who have HPV related cancers, the less research they will have to spend billions of dollars on.

This is very hard topic to say whether which is right or wrong, but by my gathering of information I have come to conclude that while it was not right for Rick Perry to create a state order demanding girls receive the vaccination, because it really does conflict with many civil liberties, it was in good interests. This drug can save many peoples' lives and therefore should be taken, but only at the choice of each individual.

Home is Where the Heart Is?

As I sit here today, and watch as the T.V replays the pictures and videos from 9/11, I recall my own experience on that day very clearly.

  I was sitting on the floor of my first grade classroom playing with blocks. It was the first week of school and I was enjoying my new life in Chicago. All of a sudden my teacher, Mrs.Reynolds, got a call. Immediately, a look of horror took over her face and she rushed across the room to turn the T.V on. I remember looking up and being so excited that my teacher was going to let us watch a show. But, when I turned my face upwards and saw the horror playing, I was stunned. I watched as smoke billowed out of the first tower. And then, watching the live T.V, I can still clearly remember seeing how at 9:03 on that tragic day, the second plane hit the towers. I recall someone saying that it was no accident.

After that, our school lined us up in the hallways and had us sit and wait until our parents arrived to pick us up. I was surprised to see my dad waiting for my sisters and I at home, but then he told us how  much of the buildings in the city had evacuated in the case there was going to be an attack in Chicago. I remember the terror that crossed my mind, as the thought that my home and the people I love could be destroyed.

It's also important to know at that point, I had only lived in Chicago for about two or three weeks. After 9/11 I thought (as a naive first grader) this was the kind of thing that happened in the U.S and that it was in no way a safe country. All I wanted to do was go back to the security I had felt living in Hong Kong and Singapore.

I never really thought that 9/11 had that much of an impact on my life. But over time I have come to realize it has made a big difference. I have not viewed America as my home since the day before 9/11. It's not that I don't feel safe in America or even that I don't feel a strong sense of nationalism toward the country, because I do, but after that day I never thought that we would stay in the country. Yet I have been here for ten years, and it is still not my home. I believe that my home is wherever the people I love are, and because of that I have less concerns about moving than most people. I believe that as long as I have the people I love near me and I can communicate with friends I'll be fine anywhere in the world. People say that I was too young to understand the full impact of 9/11. And maybe I was. But it definitely did have affect on me and not only the way I view the world, but also how I view what a home really means. Because of 9/11, a home will only be a physical shelter for me.

Defining America

When the class began talking about what our own ideas of the "American Dream" were, the first thing that popped into my head was the tv show, American Dreams. This show set the stage for me at an early age of what an American dream is. Through watching the show, I began to think the perfect American lifestyle would be achieved by having a happy family, living in a good neighborhood, and having a loving marriage. Since then, my view has very much changed. While those things are nice, they no longer seem as important. I have come to believe that the American Dream is more about the freedom to make decisions that will ultimately make yourself happy. So to one person that may be earning millions of dollars, whearas to someone else their dream may be to own a boat. The basic idea is that people can choose what they want to do, and hopefully aquire the skills to do so. While I was trying to think of my interpretation, another thought popped into my head. What defines an American?

This weekend I was away in California, and the people I saw were very different than those in Chicago. Or not the people, but more the way they intermixed. Chicago is known to be one of the most segregated cities in the U.S and San Fransico is not at all that way. I spent a day in a high school and realized how completely homogenous New Trier really is. Walk through the halls of New Trier and almost every single student is white. Their are some Asians and African Americans, but those are definetely the minority. Then walk through the school in San Fransico, and you will see students of every race and ethnicity, and they are not the minority, because the whole school is so mixed. Looking at all the different people, I came to the realization that every person will define an American based on their surroundings, upringing, and many other factors, and that there is no single answer for what an American truly is.

So can there be a definition of an American, or even an American Dream? Of course, but there is no correct answer. Every single person will interpret them differently because of the experiences in their lives.There is no common factor in every persons interpretation, but there is one in their process of finding the answer. Every single American is lucky enough to have the freedom to determine their own answer, and are not limited or forced to believe in certain things.