Since the pandemic struck or even since then, can you think of new “civic activities” that have arisen? What are they? What are the civic commonplaces that they embody?

The COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020 took the world by storm. The pandemic was something no one has ever seen before. The last pandemic that struck was over 100 years ago, so people were not equipped and were not ready for the disastrous effects that come with a global pandemic. Since we haven’t seen anything like this global pandemic before many new civic activities and duties rose through this. One of the most prominent ones was the civic activity of wearing a mask. Wearing a mask before the Pandemic was not a very common thing and would only be worn if you were seriously sick and had to go to the doctor. But with the pandemic wearing a mask became a normality within our society. It was proven by the CDC that “Wearing a mask can help lower the risk of respiratory virus transmission. When worn by a person with an infection, masks reduce the spread of the virus to others. Masks can also protect wearers from breathing in infectious particles from people around them” (CDC). As seen by this statement by the CDC masks were very effective in reducing the transmission of COVID-19. This information is what led masks to be worn and mandated during the pandemic. With the pandemic, masks were worn every day and anytime that you went outside of your house. The activity of wearing masks became such a new phenomenon. When the pandemic started to slowly dissolve the activity of wearing masks became less and less prevalent. But this was due to the fact that the threat of getting sick from COVID-19 became very minimal. While the pandemic ended a new precedent had been set that when you are sick and can’t stay home you should wear a mask out in public. This wasn’t a common thing before the pandemic. Before the pandemic, people used to just go out in public while being sick and not wear a mask. Due to the pandemic, many people saw the positives of wearing a mask while being sick and now wear one when they are sick. Before if you wore a mask out in public it was seen as weird and unusual but now it’s not. An example of this was 2 weeks ago when my roommate was feeling sick, he went to class wearing a mask. He did this as he wanted to protect the people around him and not spread his sickness. When he walked into class no one even batted an eye because wearing a mask when sick has become such a commonplace within our society. But if you were to wear a mask before the pandemic you would get weird looks. Wearing a mask used to act as a commonplace of sickness, while it still does it’s also now seen as a sign of respect as you are being cautious and thoughtful towards others. While there were many negatives that came from the COVID-19 pandemic we did adopt some very positive civic activities like wearing a mask.

https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Luke+Ryan+Speitels+Zoom+Meeting/1_1gzivobc

Draft your team with precision. Draft your team with passion. Draft your team with strategy. Draft your team for victory. I thought I followed these last few phrases pretty well when I drafted but now, I am unsure. The last two weeks I have lost in both of my leagues, I am now starting to rethink if I drafted my teams for victory. These last two weeks have been a struggle, I am still in the playoff hunt for my family league, but I would say I am pretty much out for my friend’s league.

My Family league this week was a complete disaster. I got blown out by my brother “Farmer in the Dell” I lost 166.04-109.66. I had an unsuccessful week in fantasy football due to several players: TJ Hockenson (3.3 pts), Nick Chubb (5.0 pts), and Kyren Williams (8.6 pts). My record is currently 6-5 and I have been on a 3-game losing streak. With all of this, I am still somehow in 4^th place and am still in the playoffs. I am just barely holding onto my spot “Combat Mama” is right behind me. I play My dad “Creepy Pete” this week and should hopefully get a win. This is a much-needed win for my team.

My Friend’s league has turned into a complete disaster. I have not been doing well at all, due to my slow start in the season I needed to win pretty much every game to have a shot at playoffs. Now losing two straight those chances are not looking so good. I am currently 5-6 and need to have a mass turnaround to try and get back into playoff standings. My lineup is looking solid this week as I have no injuries and players on bye. Hopefully, this week will get me out of my Fantasy slump.

Now onto the Eagles, the birds had a big win against the Commanders on Thursday. Last week I expressed how important this game is as it’s a divisional game. The Eagles started with a very slow start. But in the Second half, we pulled away after a big interception by Reed Blankenship and a Touchdown by Saquan Barkley. The Eagles held a very defensive game and once again our defense looked great. The Birds go into an easy matchup this week against the Rams. The Rams are currently 5-5 and have had a lot of struggles over the season. The Eagle’s defense should be able to exploit this weak offense. Hoping for a big win this week and seeing the Birds move to 9-2! GO BIRDS!!

The Rise of short-form media content has become a large public controversy over the last few years. Many people now are starting to push back on the use of short-form content as people are becoming aware of the risks involved with consuming it. This new wave of social media releases large amounts of dopamine which creates a feeling of pleasure and joy causing people to become addicted and mindlessly scroll for hours on end. Another large concern is that short videos are now creating smaller attention spans for many people. While there are a lot of concerns people are still greatly invested in this content. Many people see no problem and think that there shouldn’t be restrictions on the use of this content. This could be a very interesting topic for our group as everyone of us has some type of short form content app on our phone. Furthermore, there’s a lot of data and information on this topic.

Another topic that could be discussed is abortion. Our group could cover the controversy of this by looking into people that are pro-life and pro-choice. This could be a very interesting topic as this is a very current topic and was very monumental in the presidential election. I think there is a lot to investigate with this topic as well.

https://pennstateoffice365-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/lrs5827_psu_edu/EZkLJhuLLHBMrI_kaLATlkUBbB2IEgUofK294um-TOLlKw?e=Qp4NXI

I figured this is a good time to take a break from reporting my weekly matchups and talk about how I got into Fantasy football, because who doesn’t love an origin story? It all can be pinpointed back to when I was in middle school. My best friend in middle school loved football and I would talk to him about football all the time. I started to watch a lot more football because of my friend. I started to help him with his team and would give him advice on which player to sit or start. After helping my friend with fantasy football, I decided I wanted to try and do my own team. Luckily for me, my uncle was a big football fan, and he decided that since some of my cousins were starting to move on to college, fantasy football would be a good way to keep in contact. This was my first ever fantasy football league and I was so excited. My uncle said that whoever won the league would get $50, I was ready to win, because who wouldn’t want to win $50? I became very invested in the league, so much so that every week I would research which players would be best to start. Every Sunday for the whole season I was glued to the TV. I didn’t end up winning that season, but I got 2^nd place. Ever since that season I have become very invested in fantasy football and have become pretty successful within my leagues. I now have gotten many of my friends and family into fantasy football. Fantasy football has not only been a fun thing to do but has been a great way to stay in contact with my friends and family while in college.

Now just because I skipped talking about my fantasy teams this week doesn’t mean I’m skipping out on the Eagles. The Eagles these last few weeks have been looking great! We seem to finally be back to our normal shape. The birds are currently 7-2 and are the leader within their division. Jalen Hurts has been playing amazing along with Saquan Barkley. The defense has been phenomenal these last few weeks, Zach Baun and Quinyon Mitchel have been playing out of their mind. The Eagles face a tough divisional matchup this Thursday against the Commanders. The Commanders have been very strong this season due to their new rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. They are currently second in the division with a record of 7-3.  If the Eagles keep on playing as they, have we should be able to pull out a win. I remain hopeful and can’t wait to watch this game! GO BIRDS!!!

This week has been a Fierce Fantasy Football Frenzy, I managed to win in both of my leagues keeping the dream of making the playoffs alive. Managing a fantasy football team is like being the coach of the Avengers, you have to assemble your superheroes, balance their strengths, and hope Thor doesn’t end up on the injured reserve list. Having to manage a fantasy football team with lots of injuries and byes can be very challenging but so far, I am doing a pretty good job. This week I pulled off another big win in my family league. I was matched up against Eileen’s Excellent Team, I won by a considerable amount 146.0 – 115.66. My team has once again proven to be a strong contender within this league. I am currently 6-2 in the league but am creeping up to the number 1 spot. I had a lot of notable players in this week’s matchup: Ceedee Lamb (39.6pts) Kyren William’s (22.6) Baker Mayfield (22.3pts) and George Kittle (24.8pts). As you can see my team put up some pretty good numbers and should continue to produce. I have a fairly easy matchup this week against Noah Cash Shmoney Speitel, and I should move to 7-2 if everything falls into place.

In my friend’s league I am continuing my win streak, I am currently on a 3-game win streak. I had my biggest matchup yet as I went against the best team in the league. I Beat Team McIntyre 139.84 – 122.02. My win this week proves that my team can produce good numbers and that I have a solid chance of making the playoffs. As of right now, I am in the playoffs in the last spot. I need to continue my win streak if I want to hold my place in the playoffs. I have a tough matchup this week against team Grad, but I should be able to pull out the win if all things go accordingly.

The Eagles once again had another amazing week. We started the first half a bit shaky against the Bengals, but we really brought it together in the second half. Our defense remained strong the whole game and it’s looking like the draft picks that we selected for our defense are starting to look like real prospects. On the offensive side, the Eagles looked great, we dominated the second half. Jalen Hurts had himself a game, he threw for 236 yards and 1 TD and had 3 rushing TDs which is crazy numbers for a QB. The Eagles face the Jaguars this Sunday and should continue their success as the Jaguars so far have proved to be a weak team.

This week both of my teams did alright, I won in both of my leagues. This week in my family league I beat Combatmama, keeping my second-place status. This match-up was a very close one, I started the week off very strong with the Bronco’s defense scoring 24 points!! I was up by 20 points until the last game of the week. My mom tied it up at one point at 122-122 but my team pulled through and got me the win! I won 132.3-125.28 it was a good week, and my team looked very promising. Some notable players this week were Baker Mayfield (27.0pts), Kyren Williams (19.6pts), and Kenneth Walker (23.3pts). This week should be successful, I finally have all my players back from injuries and bye weeks so I should see a good week.

My team pulled out another very big win against Team Cox in my friend’s league. I dominated this week winning 138.16-101.04. My team has been on a 2-game winning streak and is looking pretty good. I said last week that my team has a good chance to make a playoff run, I just need to win out every game. So far that is going well for me, I’m not sure if I will be able to maintain this success though. My best WR Chris Godwin dislocated his ankle and will miss the rest of the season. Godwin is currently the best WR in the league, losing him will be a very big hit to my team. I still have some good WRs but am lacking depth on my team. I might investigate possibly trading some players around to try and freshen up my roster. I face some very tough competition this week, I go against Team McIntyre who is currently 6-1. This matchup will be a true test of my team’s strength and ability to win against big matchups.

Now for the BIRDS!!!

The Eagles had a very big win this week against the Giants beating them 28-3. Our defense looked very strong this week as we only allowed 3 points. This was Saquan Barkley’s big debut, as it was his first game against the Giants since being traded from them. He went off in their own stadium dropping 176 yards with 17 carries and 1 TD. Barkley had more yards than the whole Giants’ offense had all game. Giants passed up on a gem and Barkley made that known. Eagles face a tough matchup against the Bengals but if we continue to play how we played last week I think we can come out with a win.

I enjoyed the TED Talk that Russel Wilson gave on staying focused under pressure. I thought this was a very helpful video to watch as things are starting to pick up within my classes and that comes with a lot of pressure. What Russel Wilson said really resonated with me a taught me some very valuable life lessons. He said to not be super emotional when pressure arises and stay focused. I think this is a very valuable lesson as emotion starts to sway our opinion under pressure and can cause me to not believe in myself. While Wilson said to not be super emotional, he still says to not entirely shut away your emotions as they are valued. Overall, I really enjoyed this TED Talk and found it very valuable for my future success.

(https://www.ted.com/talks/russell_wilson_my_secret_to_staying_focused_under_pressure/transcript?subtitle=en)

Possible Ted Talk ideas that I was thinking of are how the values and information behind cigarettes have changed over the years. In the 1930s-1950s doctors in many advertisements had endorsed cigarettes furthermore during this time cigarettes were seen as cool. Many people used to think that smoking cigarettes made you cool. Over the years these values have drastically changed. Doctors now bash cigarettes and say how awful they are for your body. Furthermore, smoking cigarettes is now seen as uncool and disgusting. I think this is a very interesting switch of values that would fit very well into my TED talk. I would find statistics of the decline of peoples use of cigarettes. I would also research the health complications that come with smoking and how that research has changed over time.

Another possible idea that I would talk about would be how the values of professionalism have changed over the years. Many years ago, being professional was a very big thing in daily life, fast forward to today these values are rarely upheld in daily life. I would research the values that people thought many years ago of professionalism  and find the current values that people think of professionalism.