Things on my mind

1.  How cool is Abby Sunderland?  It makes me so mad when I read these comments on articles about her with people blasting her for being reckless and her parents for being negligent and irresponsible.  Just because someone's dream is outside the norm and doesn't consist of finding a 9-5 job or persisting in the mediocrity that seems so celebrated in our country sometimes, does not mean that they are a horrible person.  And supportive parents aren't a bad thing.  It's not like they shipped her off without knowing anything.  She's been training for this for years.  ALSO it wasn't to break a record, she'd already given that up, she was just trying to fulfill a dream.  Some people dream big, and there's nothing wrong with that.  In fact, I'd say it's admirable.
Dan thinks I'm silly for caring about this so much, but I just don't like it when people are mean/disrespectful to others.

2.  What is with all this restricting of education in Arizona and Texas?  America is made up of multiple peoples and multiple cultures, so it's got more than one version of history.  Sometimes it's not pretty, but part of life is facing up to past mistakes and fixing them, not ignoring or brushing over them.  Rewriting history is dangerous territory, and (to me) it rings of facist regimes.  Like it or not, the world is expanding, and with that our worldviews.  America is a nation of immigrants, and at some point, lawmakers in Arizona and Texas are going to have the face the facts and be grown ups about it.
P.S. That link to the Texas article is a pretty unbiased one, and neglects to mention the...let's just call it the lightening up of the horrors of the slave trade.  In fact, if these new rules take effect in textbooks, Texan students won't be learning about the slave trade, but the, "Atlantic Triangular Trade," which hardly rings of the human trafficking system it was.


3. I think what makes me so passionate about the two topics discussed above is that there seems to be a complete neglect of respect for other people, ideas, and cultures.  I thought this was the 21st century.  I thought we had grown more accepting of others.  I thought maybe we'd lost the fear that different=dangerous.  I thought maybe that Christians would be more concerned with helping and caring for others.  What motivates most of my political convictions is my faith and morals.  And at the heart of my faith and morals is charity and compassion towards others, even if I don't agree with them on everything.  It just makes me so mad to live in such a judgemental world.  Negative vibes, man.  They're no good.

4. This brings me to the conclusion of my post.  All of these are factors in my decision to try and get a job with Teach for America next year.  I don't know that I'm qualified enough to get into the program, but I've been thinking over my future career a lot lately (seeing as how I graduate in like two months), and education is something I feel strongly about.  I've always wanted to be able to make a difference with my life, and I think this path will help me to do that.  However small of a difference that may be.