Red shoes

This video of Duncanville High School student Jeff Bliss has gone viral on YouTube. with millions of views on this video, it's safe to say a lot of people has heard about this man. Some teachers these days do not give the students anything to get excited about. they come to class expecting an  passionate class that wants to learn. But in reality these students aren’t there to learn, they are just there for the credit and pass the class. Jeff explained what teachers should do to make their students future bright? His actions was very inspiring because if something is wrong and you don't speak out, it will just keep happening. He said all that to let the teachers know that the students are not learning even if they give them packets because there is no connection between them. Emily said in passion project, “...in many classroom where the teacher just teaches and doesn’t interact with the students much.” This passage shows how students can become uncomfortable with the teacher if they don’t be nice, helpful, and interested. How students will learn if they don’t feel comfortable? I believe if teachers should be passionate about their job because if they would love their job then they will definitely do something new to prepare their students perfect for the future.

Andrade video

I found it especially interesting how Andrade highlighted the homicide rates and how endemic it will become if left unabated. Another point Andrade made that I found interesting was how students that live in poor conditions have post traumatic stress disorder, a condition primarily associated with soldiers returning from battle. All these issues culminate in the student as an incredibly heavy burden that teachers must be aware of to properly understand their students. I have had many teachers who were very unkind to many of my classmates and I’ve never seen them attempt to understand why the student behaves the way they do.
I agree with what Andrade had to say. Teachers should always keep in mind that their student's go through struggles everyday and should refrain from judging them. Teachers also shouldn’t assume less fortunate students are inherently bad. They should actually sit down, talk to them, and get to know them. It is also important to ensure students have the basic necessities they need to keep up with the class and achieve their goal.

Success

What is success?

1) To me, success is what you achieve in a given time frame. It is a measure of how much you accomplish within a certain interval in your lifetime which can also translated into reaching a life goal. Success can be as broad as completing a massive task as a group or it can also be defined by the contributions made by one person of a team of many. Success can easily be observed and achieved within the workplace, or in our personal life.

This will motivate you to learn how to get success in your life!

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!"

2) Nature has significant importance in my life because I have learned farming since I was 8 years old and I respect nature greatly. My family has over 100 acres of land in India. I was so attracted to nature because I was always working in my fields. While my grandparents on my dads side were illiterate, there was not a single source of education in their time. So, they all had to learn farming because nature doesn’t boss us around in order to get paid. In India, farming was my whole life and it was the main source of income for my family. Krakauer quotes “The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences”. I agree with Krakauer because if we want to achieve something greater in life, we must try out new things and react accordingly. For instance, education isn’t the only way to earn money and there are other options available. I am more open minded now than ever before because there will be times when I need to change my carrier goal to adjust my needs.
           
                   Nature seems to have great importance for Chris because he wanted to go in the wild to get away from his family and friends. He was tired of living under pressure of others. He wanted to have simple and ordinary life just alone with nature. Krakaeur says “If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, then all possibility of life is destroyed”. I agree with Krakauer because life isn’t life if we are forced to live under harsh conditions and always having told what to do. When people are under bad influence, they tend to keep everything to themselves. Chris felt as if he was constricted under influence of the society. He felt the need to connect with nature to relieve his stress and move on to a greater goal.
           
                  Nature holds great value for Chris because he wanted to live by his own rules. He felt if nature has created humans, we should be free from any kind of government. He hated politics and government because he doesn’t want his goals to be influenced by anyone except himself and nature. He wanted to spend every moment of his life in mother nature and he seemed to like it a lot. Chris says “12 years? Twelve years - to paddle down a river?” I agree with Chris because mother nature has created us and we have an equal right to enjoy it with no extra charge. It is ridiculous that we own parts of mother nature that are supposed to be free to everyone and we are putting price on nature itself. 
          
                 Nature holds great importance for Chris because he doesn’t want anything in his life that has a monetarily value. He feels that we are born with nothing and we must live and die with nothing. He was tired of getting everything easily in his life. He wants to live in nature and use only nature as his source of food and shelter. Chris says “I read somewhere... how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong, but to feel strong... to measure yourself at least once”. I agree with Chris because life isn’t all about fame and fortune. If we don’t feel proud of our work and we are working everyday just to get our paycheck, there is no point of living such life. Furthermore, if we don’t feel strong about who we are and what we do, we have little to no meaning in life.

True story on privilege and passion relationship

This is true story regarding the connection between privilege and passion. After the partition of Pakistan and India in 1947, many Sikhs who lived in Pakistan lost everything who. Milkha Singh was one of those people. Since the age of eight he was a thief. When he turned 18 he fell in love with a woman, but due to his shady past the girl said that if he wanted her then he should find a legitimate profession and so he put in the hard work to change his life. He decided to join army where he was recruited as a cook (chef) that would cook for an entire regiment. One day he saw a coat hanging on the wall which was only to be worn by Indian champions.  He quickly put it on, but when the champion players saw him with the coat they attacked him and said only champions could wear this coat. They said if he wanted this coat then he would have to compete with the champions in a race. From that day onward, by day Mikha worked as a cook, but by night he practice hard to become a better sprinter. Determined to be the best and realising his talent as a sprinter, the jawan took to training five hours every day. Motivated by his coach Havildar Gurdev Singh, he left it to the elements to hone his craft: running on the hills, the sands of the Yamuna river, and against the speed of a metre gauge train. He says his training was so intense that very often he vomit blood and collapsed from exhaustion. Before the day of the race, champions of the Indian team once again attacked ferociously him and attempted to break his legs. The next day he Mikha went on to win the race with his broken legs and even succeeded at breaking the national record. He was selected as a Indian champion and started his career at the International level. He would go on to win 78 out of 80 races in his career. 

The reason behind this is relationship between privilege and passion. First Milkha Singh didn't know about his passion but once he is hurt by the other champions and forced to compete with them then he realized his passion. Sardar Milkha Singh is the greatest living Sikh Athlete. Born in a family of modest means, joining the army and then discovering the penchant for running and winning is his life in summation. He, deservedly, had an epithet named the "Flying Sikh" from Pakistan General Ayub Khan. Until the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the 'Flying Sikh' was the only Indian to have broken an Olympic record.

Real picture of Milkha Singh

Into the wild

Imagine what its like to be nature. Always having someone cut you piece by piece until there is nothing left. Hiding under your branches and stabbing you in the back. This is wild nature. Nature is the world around us, except for human made destruction. Humans are the only animal species that intentionally influence the environment. We confess that in an unbiased view we are merely one of many organisms, and that we are not able to survive outside of our natural elements. We tend to be poor leaders when compared to animals. Despite our greatness, we are always fighting, wasting and self centered human beings. First, with the technology advancing our generations are getting more acknowledgeable and interested in these matters. Krakauer writes “Happiness only real when shared”. I agree with Krakauer because happiness is not happiness unless there is someone to share it with. When there is no one around to share my happiness and sorrows with, I usually go to the park and talk to trees, air, and old people etc. This is soothing for me and a great way to release stress from busy life and college. I spend most of my free time interacting with nature. . I learned this from my grandmother because she had a stressful life and she would go to lake everyday and talk to nature. I believe we can be fully humans even if we are slightly attached to nature because we have so much going on in our lives and there is less time for us to interact with nature in a meaningful, extended or full manner.

                       

Nature brings me happiness through good mental health. When I observe the wilderness around me, my troubles seem to go away. The wilderness is very valuable to me because of the stress reduction and general inner peace. Although I have never visited nature as much as I perhaps wanted, it still has a definite positive impact on me. I am not the only one that has similar feelings about nature, John Davis PhD says, “A variety of studies over many years have shown faster recovery from stress in response to nature stimuli than built settings”. This reminds me of how I feel when I am surrounded in landscape. Nature brings out the joy of anyone who is fortunate enough to have experienced it. Stress and mental fatigue disappear when I and others like me hear birds chirping or smell flowers blossoming. This is important to me because if more people had a chance to heal their minds through nature, most people would be in better health. Due to nature I can enjoy good physical health. There is nothing better than knowing I am in good physical health. Without good health I would not be able to enjoy life. If I ever get sick or hurt I can depend on nature to be one of the mechanisms that brings me back to health. Researcher Roger Ulrich says, “a view of nature (rather than a built environment) from a hospital room's window facilitates recovery from surgery “. I feel this is important because whenever I am at the doctor’s there are always pictures of scenery all over the clinic. I have always noticed those sceneries and stare at them for minutes on end wondering how it would feel to be in that scenery. When I was younger, this might have distracted me from the pain of an injection. Nature as had a profound effect on my health as well as many others. It has been proved through experimental research that nature truly is a panacea for some physical health problems.

                                         

                                 Relationship between privilege and empathetic

There are many ways to change a privileged person to be more empathetic in society. We can create a situation where any regular person can be forced to feel the pain of others. Also, if we can get a privileged person to really try to put his or herself in the other person’s shoes, empathy will probably develop naturally. Once we can get a privileged person in a tough situation where he or she is forced into depression, empathy will develop naturally because that person will be able to feel the pain of others. Whether its changing privileged person to be more empathetic towards humans, nature, animals or inanimate objects, they will all yield similar impression in the end. Thom Hartmann quotes, “we have cut down so many trees and made our planet a deserted land.” I agree with Hartmann because trees are people too and we have no right to harm our creator that is mother nature. If we can get a privileged person to realize the pain a tree feels when its being cut into pieces, I am sure that person will change his or her mind instantly. It’s easier for a privileged person to live a luxurious life but that person doesn’t know that he or she is privileged because of mother nature. Everything a privileged person owns is made from earth’s natural resources whether its oil, plastic, paper, car, TV, shoes etc. For that person to become privileged, nature has played the most important role in his or her life. I believe it is extremely important for a privileged person to feel the pain of mother nature. In the book, Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer quotes, “Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt". I agree with Krakauer because in order to change a privileged person to be more empathetic, he or she needs to be willing and open minded to cope with the harsh situations. I believe that a privileged person is obstinate from the beginning and if a privileged person is willing and attentive, he or she can learn to be empathetic faster.

Second way we can change a privileged person to be more empathetic is voluntary work. A privileged person lives his or her whole life mostly from unearned assets but that person doesn’t know how hard it is for the underprivileged. We can change a privileged person to be more empathetic if we can get that person to be involved in voluntary work such as charity work, emergency evacuation services, training material, transportation within the region, orientation on arrival etc. Krakauer quotes, “If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy.” I agree with Krakauer because to change a privileged person to be more empathetic in a society, he or she needs to lose something for the greater good. A privileged person needs to lose a part of his or her luxurious life and perform some voluntary work for the community. Once a privileged person realizes how hard it is for the underprivileged to achieve something in life, he or she will become empathetic. Krakauer says, “it would be a shame if you did not take the opportunity to revolutionize your life and move into an entirely new realm of experience.” I agree with Krakauer because there is nothing challenging in the life of a privileged person. A privileged person spends his or her whole life in a paradise where everything he or she needs is available. I believe that life isn’t life if we do not experience sorrows.

Third way we can change a privileged person to be more empathetic in society is through social interactions. A privileged person needs to see the lives of underprivileged people. It’s important for that person to interact more often with the society. A privileged person will be able to develop certain feelings when he or she meets others face to face. People who are privileged use technology to interact with others but it is not the best way to become more empathetic in society. Krakauer quotes, “I also know how important it is in life not necessarily to be strong but to feel strong.” I agree with Krakauer because a privileged person is only stronger than non privileged and that person doesn’t experience much interactions within a society. So, what’s the point of being strong in wealth and status in society if you can’t interact with another person face to face. Happiness and sorrows cant be shared on face book, cell phones, mails etc. It is important for a privileged person to interact whether it’s with nature or society, I believe that a privileged person loses touch with mother nature because of unearned assets. Krakauer quotes, “Some people feel like they don’t deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.” I agree with Krakauer because many people who are privileged often keep things to themselves rather than sharing with others. They feel unloved and unappreciated. People who are privileged often fear being judged by others when they are seen talking to the underprivileged. The fear of being rejected by the society keeps many privileged people within their own little fantasy. To overcome this fear, it is crucial for a privileged person to interact with others and share their happiness and success.

Two difficulties

Two difficulties:-

When I came to Chabot college the first problem I faced was the language barrier. The main reason behind the language problem is that I came from overseas. Back home in India I used to study in my own language which was a lot more comfortable for me. I studied all subjects in English as well, but I understood them in my language. So when I started coming to classes I felt like nothing and complete lost, I had no idea what to do. I barely spoke in English and whenever I didn’t understand anything then I couldn’t ask the teacher because if I won’t speak clearly then the teacher would have difficulty understanding me. I always came in the class trying to understand what the teacher was saying.

The second problem I faced is an extension of the language barrier, trying to understand questions being asked. As time went on. for the most part I could understand what students and teachers were saying but whenever anyone spoke too quickly then I became lost again. I always nodded my head to let the other person know that I understood everything they said, but in actuality I couldn’t understand them. Whenever a teacher spoke with an American accent then I always asked if they could repeat their message. Because of these two problems I had difficulty learning anything during the first semester.

How I dealed with them?

I did as much studying by myself until I encountered something I couldn’t teach myself. After receiving the homework in the class I came straight home. I studied for my classes online through my language videos and I tried to speak as much English as possible instead of in my native  language. I conversed with students in my free time and I also joined the conversation club at Chabot where they gave us Q cards. We had to choose the card and then had to say something about it. I started watching hollywood movies so I could become more comfortable understanding the importance of tone in speech. I shared these problems  with my  counselors who helped me a lot to understand and speak English. As a result, I started reading books with less and less difficulty..

Relationship between privilege and passion

Some people have almost limitless options when it comes to passion and some have no opportunities to pursuing their passion. While I wish with every ounce of me that it’s something everyone can enjoy all around the world, realistically it isn’t. Not in the world of today at least. The joy that comes from doing what you love is often wrapped up in some type of uncertainty that some people just can’t afford. Passion is a privilege. And for those of us who have this privilege, we have a responsibility to do great things with it. “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” This passage shows how privilege can help you to find yourself, your passion, your guts, and what you want to do.  Many of my most meaningful interactions with computer programs occur when privilege and passion intersect: the privilege of being in that moment with that computer program and the passion for wanting to make a real difference in that program.

This movie Vimeo speaks about following things:-

First and foremost, try to understand who you are. What you really want to do in your life? How could you make your life happy by choosing what you like to do? We have seen in the movie how we take decisions by giving preference to money instead of passion. How families push their children to those fields where they can make money, so they can live a life of luxury. Parents rarely ask their children what they want to be. Samira expressed her opinion on what a teacher should really do by stating, “Do I think a teacher should start going into the classroom with a vocabulary of passion? Absolutely, YES.”  This passage shows that teacher has to talk about passion in the class briefly so students can learn what passion exactly is. If students would know the meaning of passion then they would definitely think about their passion, in which field they have their interest, and what they actually want to do. Emily said, “...in many classroom where the teacher just teaches and doesn’t interact with the students much.” This passage shows how students can become uncomfortable with the teacher if they don’t be nice, helpful, and interested. How will students will learn if they don’t feel comfortable?

In my opinion, true happiness comes when you do what you're most passionate about. You have gifts to give to the world. So, what's holding you back? Break through the fear and overcome your obstacles and start pursuing your passion today.