Week 9 in the Series

I’m going to start this week off by telling of something new that I learned. While I was volunteering my time at the Senior Center this week I was talking with a lady and we were discussing what it was like for her growing up and how the education system has changed. She informed me that kindergarten was non-existent back in her day. I had absolutely no idea of that and it just amazed me. She also told me that a majority of boys never made it past the eighth grade because they were required to take a test in order to qualify to attend high school. She said many chose not to take the test so they could stay at home and work to provide for the family. It was a very enlightening conversation and we were both just amazed at how much everything has changed. It’s not uncommon to have a 3 or 4 year old enrolled in some type of pre-school program today and while there are a number of tests given to all students, I don’t think there is one that you have to pass in order to get into high school.

On that note, my Capstone project has continued on as well, but not like I was hoping it would. In all honesty, I am struggling a great deal with it. I understand the basis of the paper, but it seems too broad to me. I can’t seem to find a specific topic that will satisfy the requirements and have a strong thesis statement. I find myself starting over from scratch on a daily basis and it’s becoming quite frustrating. And, it’s not like I need to remind myself of this, but I’m running out of time in a hurry. I have high expectations for the work I do and I really feel I’m letting myself down on this one. It isn’t like I’m not trying, but I just don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere. I’m afraid of what my final paper will look like.

There was a lot of reading to complete this week. At least it seemed like more than usual, but I could be wrong. Luckily, the stories were all fairly interesting. The two that caught my attention the most were “I Have a Dream” by Dr. King, and “The Ballot or the Bullet” by Malcolm X. I think they were both trying to portray the same message, but they have their own unique styles and you can really see that in these two stories. There were also plenty of writings by feminist authors on equality in a number of different areas. I actually chose to write my post on “The Mother of All Problems” by Danielle Crittenden because I could somewhat relate to it, but I thought “The War Against Boys” by Sommers was very interesting. I liked how she took a different view and turned the scenario around. There had been such a concentration on improving certain areas for girls that now the boys had fallen behind and essentially had taken the place of where the girls used to be. It was nice to see a different take on the subject. Now, I’m off to next week!

Josh