I believe in simple acts of love. When I was packing almost all of my clothes and such to come to Penn State I was overwhelmed to say the least. I was starting this new chapter of my life; I was given the opportunity to have a total do-over if I wanted one- to start fresh. While I was sitting there, on my bedroom floor, feeling like I was at a loss because I didn’t quite know how I wanted to start this new beginning, I looked over at one of my unzipped duffle bags on the floor. Mixed in with my clothes in that unzipped bag, I saw my dog’s toy sticking out of the top of it. I look next to my bag and there is my dog sitting there looking at me with his head cocked to side, kind of whining. At that moment, my eyes started to tear up. My dog then proceeded to walk towards me and nuzzle his head under my hand so I was forced to pet him- not that I wouldn’t have anyways. At that moment in time, all of my problems that had been consuming me before seemed to melt away and the only thing that I was concerned about was the act of love that my dog had just shown me.

This is only the first example of one of the acts of love that I have witnessed more recently though. The next act of love that I experienced was when I was working at a summer camp. At the summer camp age groups broke up the kids into their groups. I was working with the thirteen to sixteen year olds at the time. One day, as I was doing my rounds to check on my kids, I saw a younger camper sitting alone. I stood on the side for a moment and waited to see if anyone else noticed. About a minute later, one of my older campers went up to him and sat down next to him. A couple of minutes later even more kids started to trickle over. From that day on, I never saw that boy sitting alone at camp. The act of love that I witnessed that day was my camper who I was training to be a counselor using what he knew in order to make someone feel more included. I have a feeling that the act of love made that boy’s day.

The final act of love that I experienced was actually one that I did not experience first hand, but read about online. One day a boy named Kyle was walking home with all of his books in his hand, it was freshman year. After Kyle got off of the bus some other boys ran at him and knocked his glasses off of his face and threw all of his books to the ground. Another boy who had observed this ran over to the boy and picked up his glasses and books for him. The boy, who helped Kyle out, invited him to hang out with him the coming weekend. Kyle accepted and became fast friends with this other boy throughout the next couple of years. Throughout high school, Kyle had grown into himself and by senior year was actually the valedictorian of his class and had committed to Georgetown. His friend was a star football player committed to Duke. The day that the boys were graduating Kyle was set to give the traditional valedictorian speech. What he said in his speech is what shocked everyone though. Kyle talked about how this start in this new school in ninth grade was a tough transition and the first weekend that he hung out with his best friend he had actually planned on committing suicide. That is why he had brought his books home—so his mother wouldn’t have to do it after the fact. But when that boy came up to him, picked up his glasses, and asked him to hang out that weekend, he turned his life around.

So, make someone’s day when they least expect it, and pass this on. I believe in the power that acts of love may have on another person because you never know when you could make someone else’s day or even change someone’s life. You never know what someone else is going through. I believe think that some of the biggest acts of love happen when no one is really expecting them.

I believe in acts of love. Acts of love can range between so many different things though. Some people think that acts of love are a hug, or a pat on the back after someone does something nice. I agree and disagree with this. I think that some of the biggest acts of love happen when no one is really expecting them. When I was packing almost all of my clothes and such to come to Penn State I was overwhelmed to say the least. I was starting this new chapter of my life; I was given to opportunity to have a total do-over if I wanted one- to start fresh. While I was sitting there, on my bedroom floor, feeling like I was at a loss because I didn’t quite know how I wanted to start this new beginning, I looked over at one of my unzipped duffle bags on the floor. Mixed in with my clothes in that unzipped bag, I saw my dog’s toy sticking out of the top of it. I look next to my bag and there is my dog sitting there looking at me with his head cocked to side, kind of wining. At that moment, my eyes started to tear up. My dog then proceeded to walk towards me and nuzzle his head under my hand so I was forced to pet him- not that I wouldn’t have anyways. At that moment in time, all of my problems that had been consuming me before seemed to melt away and the only thing that I was concerned about was the act of love that my dog had just shown me. This is only the first example of the act of love that I experienced in those last couple of days leading up to college though. The second act of love came from my sister and parents when had finally gotten all of my things settled in at school. We were standing in my newly furnished dorm room, when my sister said that she wanted to give me my going away present. She handed me a stack of letters. I looked at them all, without opening any, and they were all “open when” letters. To share just a few of them, they included “open when you miss me,” “open when you run out of money to do laundry,” “open when you have midterms/finals,” and “open when you’re hung over.” These are just a few of the many letters that my sister presented me with at that moment. The final act of love that I experienced was from my parents. My parents, similar to my sister, also gave me an envelope. I decided not to read it until they left though. So we all said our goodbyes, as tearful as they were, and my parents and sister were on their way. In the mean time, there I was sitting alone on my bed, without my family nearby for the first time in my life. | I decided that I would open the letter from my parents in the mean time. When I finished reading that letter, it was one of the nicest sentiments that I had received, definitely a tearjerker.

I still have more to add, have to figure out how to bring it full circle, etc.

My “This I Believe” podcast ideas include talking about the Golden Rule and how I believe that it is what people should live by. To go off of the Golden Rule, I will talk about how the ripple effect pertains to this and all about how if one person follows the Golden Rule, then many others will then follow suit. My other idea for the “This I Believe” podcast is about how a social life is important in a college education. I am leaning towards the first idea (if you can’t tell) but if people think I should go with the second idea then I will find a direction to go with that.

I only have one idea for my passion post thus far and I really want to run with it. My newest blog is going to be all about the different scenes at colleges and how they vary from college to college. I will post about a different school every week. The majority of these posts will be influenced by my experience visiting schools, my friends who attend these schools, and viewing different videos about these schools. There will definitely be some underlying things in common that these schools have. That being said, depending on where these schools are, how many students attend them, and what kind of education they provide– the scenes will vary a lot. Some of the schools that I am interested in showcasing are University of Colorado at Boulder, Ithaca College, University of Vermont, Tulane University, Colorado State University, and a few more… I cannot wait to share just some of the aspects that make these schools so appealing to everyone who attends them!

Finally, my idea for the Civic Life blog… I was thinking about talking about different political issues/rights that are presently happening. I will talk about either something that has been discussed as wrong or flawed in the government or in the political system or possibly a new controversial law that is  being debated to come into place. Any suggestions for this are welcome.

Happy end of sylly week!

Overall, I think that the TED Talks proved to be a tremendous success! I think that first and foremost, it speaks volumes when no one passes out or throws up- so definitely props to everyone there. I really enjoyed all of the TED Talks that I saw last week and I am sure that the talks presented this week were equally as good. All of the speakers did a great job of engaging everyone in different manners, which I thought was a definite bonus. All of the talks seemed to be appealing to not only the speaker, but also to the audience as well. Overall, everyone did a great job!

Sex and Propaganda TED Talk

The shift in mindset of how the perception of sex has changed throughout the years is one that has become particularly relevant more recently. In our more recent history so many people viewed sex and all that had to do with it as such a taboo subject. In public it was not something was addressed even remotely and if it was then those people were looked down upon. In history even further back however, mindsets were shockingly more open to the notion of sex. In today’s day in age people are more open than they have ever been about the subject. The mindset that was once present has completely vanished and there really is not any going back at this point. The real question is what caused this drastic change in thought?

The mindset that people had in regards to sex back in the day was considered to be such a taboo subject. This was seen in so many different ways. One of the most obvious examples of the lack of tolerance for sexual behavior was the prominence of separate beds for married couples. In today’s day in age, this is a thought that is taken for granted so often and really not even thought about. That is just one example of the severe shift in mindset that has taken place since the mid 1900s. This sexual revolution really started to take place in 1920s amidst the tail end of World War I. During this time period, feminists that were making themselves known by filling in for the males’ jobs began to contest the established female sexual role as well. Feminists during this time period began to disagree with the ideas that females had to start families. The feminists began arguing marriage, and not the sanctity of it, but the permanence that had always been in place. After this notion began to get out, divorce became more normal as did pre-marital sex. Up until this time period, pre-marital sex was generally looked down upon because it was viewed as something that disrupted the sanctity of marriage. This new idea was so foreign because people were generally accustomed to pre-marital sex being something that would ruin a woman’s reputation. This fresh new look provided women with a newfound opportunity to reinvent them and paint a whole new look for them. The real “sexual revolution” took place from the 1960s-1980s. Within this time frame gender roles and social norms became totally redefined. People had become much more accustomed to sex before marriage and that was taking off as well. The newest spin off of that was having sex outside of monogamous and heterosexual relationships. Because people had less social norms to abide by, they started to feel less deviant of those norms. The norms that people were straying from varied from what was socially allowed and just thought to be acceptable to advertisements. Sex was now introduced in a way that it never had before—the Playboy era had begun.

In the 1960s the first edition of Playgirl came out and contraceptives began to go on sale. By introducing contraception to the public it completely redefined the concepts of sex that had been present to humanity for years. Sex had previously been seen as a means of reproduction, but contraception took away that thought. With the introduction of contraception to society, it reshaped the ideals of what the purpose of sex was. It introduced sex as something that was supposed to be more fun and recreational without consequences and obligations. This was totally foreign to everything that had been previously established by sexual standards.

Today, those standards have continued to drastically change and progress in many respects. Sex has become something that is glamourized. Sex is seen as something that has become very socially acceptable in all respects over time. This is seen in so many different respects including sex used as propaganda. In today’s day in age, the human body is seen as something magnificent—and it there is not arguing that. However, the media and the public has begun to misconstrue that image especially for those growing up in this era of the media boom. These days, the more scantily clothed that people are in ads, the more that their product will sell. This is definitely a way more recent phenomenon.

Propaganda & exposure

Following this I will discuss all of the manners in which the topic and mindset of sex has changed up until now.

-There are many different ways in which it has changed for example—how public people make it these days, how willingly people volunteer information about it, and how people have no problems display their affection towards one another in public (PDA, etc.)

-Other examples of mindset changes that I will touch on may include what was/is appropriate to discuss or not.

I will discuss how this is both a good and bad shift in my personal opinion. It is good because people have the ability to potentially connect with more people. With that being said, it is also bad. This is a potentially bad shift because the secretive and very personal aspect of sex has been completely ripped away. In my personal opinion, this should not be shared with the entire world.

Finally, I will wrap all of this together. By doing so, I will be able to slightly contrast how the times have differed so much.

**This rough draft is almost “perfected”. I still have to find some more sources so that I can finish up my paper and really bring everything back together. Citations are also on their way**

-My main shift is how the perception of sex has changed throughout the years. Back in the day so many people viewed sex and all that had to do with it as such a taboo subject. In public it was not something was addressed even remotely and if it was then those people were looked down upon. In today’s day in age people are more open than they have ever been about the subject. The mindset that was once present has completely vanished and there really is not any going back at this point…

-After this I will discuss why sex back in the day was such a taboo subject and what some of the repercussions were for those who discussed it/were involved with it in unheard of manners.

-Somewhere in here, I will also discuss the different mindsets that were present within the differing eras.

-Following this I will discuss all of the manners in which the topic and mindset of sex has changed up until now.

-There are many different ways in which it has changed for example—how public people make it these days, how willingly people volunteer information about it, and how people have no problems display their affection towards one another in public (PDA, etc.)

-Other examples of mindset changes that I will touch on may include what was/is appropriate to discuss or not.

-I will discuss how this is both a good and bad shift in my personal opinion. It is good because people have the ability to potentially connect with more people. With that being said, it is also bad. This is a potentially bad shift because the secretive and very personal aspect of sex has been completely ripped away. In my personal opinion, this should not be shared with the entire world.

-Finally, I will wrap all of this together. By doing so, I will be able to slightly contrast how the times have differed so much.

TED talk:

I would like to possibly discuss my same topic within my TED talk. I would like to touch on some of the same points that I will be discussing with my shift paper. Also, I will talk kind of about the emotional implications that sex has on some people and why those people agree or disagree with the shift in the mindset that has taken place. I want to discuss sex as not just something that happens between two people, but how sex has moved onto younger generations, etc.

My first idea for the paradigm shift paper is the changes in the beliefs from faith in God and religion to faith in science. My other idea for the paradigm shift is to discuss modern medicine and how much it changed from all of the traditional plant and nature based medicine back in the day. I find both of these topics to be very interesting, possibly the second more so however. The shift in the belief in God and religion was a force that drove people for ages before science began to take over and control beliefs. The belief in science today has evolved a lot because of the concrete proof that it may provide as opposed to religion. The shift in natural medicine to modern medicine is also interesting. This is because the modern day medicine miracles have been so compelling. Furthermore, way back when, people would simply just die from various diseases as opposed to now when there are oftentimes cures and treatments for present day diseases.

I really had some trouble trying to chose what my favorite TED talk was, so I will post all three of my favorites here in hopes that you will indulge and watch all of them!

• Mark Bezos: A life lesson from a volunteer firefighter http://www.ted.com/talks/mark_bezos_a_life_lesson_from_a_volunteer_firefighter.html
• Meg Jay: Why 30 is not the new 20 http://www.ted.com/talks/meg_jay_why_30_is_not_the_new_20.html
• Jane Fonda: Life’s third act  http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_fonda_life_s_third_act.html

I will only discuss the first video here for sake of time. This video, contrary to many of the other TED talks that I have seen, is very short and concise. I like that it is less than five minutes, yet it still carries a lot of weight with it. This is something that I would definitely like to aim to accomplish within my own video. Also, I really liked the manner in which Benzos presents himself, with confidence, yet very humble, and with a great stage presence.

Unfortunately, cancer is a disease that touches so many every day. St. Baldricks is one of the many an organizations that impacts numerous lives all of the time. St. Baldricks takes a specific aim at ending childhood cancer once and for all through awareness, funding, and St. Baldricks events. The artifact that I am analyzing is the St. Baldricks video on their website. Because St. Baldricks is a childhood cancer organization, there are obvious appeals to not only the adults and parents, but also to the younger kids as well. The video does a great job of appealing to all of these audiences.

In the video, it aims to accomplish a few different things. The video first and foremost, wants to raise awareness in regards to this incredibly prevalent issue that is childhood cancer. The video also aims to raise funds for childhood cancer research. The organization does this in hope that they will someday (hopefully sooner than later) find a cure. Most importantly, the video really is trying to promote hope. They are trying to promote this hope in different areas. Because the video does have such a large target audience, the video aims to provide hope to the kids who are suffering from cancer as well as the parents who are just as scared as their children. Finally, they are trying to promote a general feeling of hope and wellbeing. The organization does not want people to who are suffering to worry about getting funds and finding a cure. All of those worries and concerns are in the hands of all of the researchers and people in charge of funding—things that the people suffering should not have to deal with.

There are so many things that are rhetorically appealing in this three-minute video. Ethos and pathos play an incredibly large role in the video. St. Baldricks as an organization first tries to establish its credibility within the video about the research, raising money, and the ripple effect that cancer has on the lives of so many individuals. When they speak about the ripple effects and just all of the numerous effects that cancer has on peoples’ lives that increases their credibility drastically. Their knowledge of the different ways in which people are impacted by the disease makes them look like they know what they are talking about and they are then more relatable from the beginning. There is also a strong pathos appeal within the video as well. This is evident almost continually in many aspects of the video. Certainly, cancer pulls at the heartstrings of so many individuals in so many different ways, therefore evoking a reaction out of many. The sole topic of cancer, let alone childhood cancer, is not their entire pathos appeal however. Unfortunately, one of the harsh realities of many who are battling cancer is that it claims their lives. The video shows this in an interesting manner. In the video, it shows a little girl trying to climb a mountain with an IV attached to her. This brings out a sense of sympathy and an empathetic appeal from the audience for the little girl and then the video states, “The path to survival is a brutal, dangerous road. And sometimes, cancer does have the last word.” With those words, the video shows a bleak gray landscape and a dark circle closing in on the little girl in the video. The main pathos feelings that are evoked are anger and sympathy—and both rightfully so.

The style within this video is truly mind blowing. It is written in an incredibly personal manner through repetition, imagery, diction, and tone. Like stated above, this video is so personal and that has a lot to do with the pathos that is brought about. As a result of the tone that is present, it really makes a person feel the pain and remorse that the families and children have to endure. The mood is incredibly sullen in the beginning of the video and somewhat shows the agony that people undergo. Then mood then moves to a more hopeful tone towards the end, with hope for a brighter future and a healthier tomorrow.  Now onto the imagery… The imagery that is shown in the beginning of this video almost hurts to think about. The image in one’s mind of a small kid being poked a prodded, losing their hair, and ultimately losing their life as a result of the horrid disease that overtakes them is not something that anyone wants to envision in their minds. The imagery is not only strong because of the harsh pictures that are being imagined as a result of this video, but also because people know how prevalent this disease really is and that’s not really anything that people want to face.

Another way that this video has such strong rhetorical appeal is by the repetition and diction that is present in within the ad. The diction within the video is so emotionally driven and all of the words that the narrator of this video chooses to use are so finite and brutal. On the other side of that however, the video is daunting because of the severity of the topic and the finite words that were chosen in order to accurately depict what is going on. This also helps with the appeal within the video though. The appeal is present because of the emotions that are evoked as a result of this word choice. Those words that are used are more appealing than listening to medical jargon; people can actually comprehend this, and that’s what is really scary for them.  Furthermore, repetition is used continually throughout the video. The most frequent things that are repeated are the words cancer and three minutes. Obviously, when one repeatedly hears the word cancer, it really gets beaten into them how real of a disease cancer is. The other, even more startling fact that the video continually reiterates is the three-minute statistic. The video states, “Every three minutes a parent somewhere in the world hears your child has cancer.” Throughout the video, the listeners are continually reminded of that statistic in different manners to keep in the back of our minds, cancer really is that prevalent. One of the other ways they remind us of that is by saying that cancer is a nightmare, and it starts again every three minutes. I believe that in repeating that statistic, it truly drives home how common this horrid disease really is.

In conclusion, through examining the rhetoric that is present throughout this video, it brings forth how truly compelling the video really is. Through the use of pathos, ethos, tone, imagery, repetition, and diction this video stands out from others of its kind. The organization that is St. Baldricks has a broad target audience ranging from the sick children that it hopes to cure, to the parents with these sick children, to doctors and researchers that the funds will be going to in order for them to find a cure. The people that were involved in the making of this video carefully chose the words that they thought would best depict the struggles that children diagnosed with cancer go through, and the struggles or triumphs that some also go through later on in life. The driving forces that really bring the points of the video home are the imagery and the repetition that are used. The words that are chosen to be repeated throughout the video- cancer and three-minute- are two words or phrases that really leave a lasting impact on the reader and give them something to think about or show empathy for. The imagery that is present in the video, engrains the images into the minds of viewers, which also causes them to empathize for the children who are diagnosed with cancer. I would highly suggest that you watch this video on StBaldricks.org!

Please take the time to watch this video, it truly does make an impact. http://www.stbaldricks.org/why-we-exist

I have had the pleasure of being able to read three very interesting and very different posts within my group. The following is a little blurb about all of them, and why YOU should tune into what they have to say (they’re all interesting, I promise)!

Let me start with Olivia… Olivia’s blogs are captivating to say the least. Throughout all of middle and high school, I would always sigh of boredom at the thought of covering any material even remotely related to Greek mythology. Olivia has done the incredible task of totally making my opinion do a 180. When she writes about mythology she does a fantastic job of giving the Greek gods and goddesses human characteristics which makes them so much more relatable and appealing. Every week, there is a different god or goddess with a different modern day issue. For example- sibling rivalries, the dreaded mother-in-law, relationships and more! If you think that you may be interested in Olivia’s blog, here is the link:

http://sites.psu.edu/oliviachristman/

Now onto Jake… It would be an understatement to say that Jake has a way with words. The stories that he creates are absolutely mind-boggling. I still cannot understand how he comes up with the topics that he does! Nonetheless, Jake’s topics vary every week providing the reader with a fresh new look at what is up next! When Jake writes, he really has a way with words to say the least. Jake’s stories totally captivate his readers and you really never know what kind of literary treat you’re in for during the week! If you think that you may like to take a peek at Jake’s blog, here is the link:

http://sites.psu.edu/eden/

Finally, we have Michael… Michael’s work, similar to Jake and Olivia’s, is absolutely incredible! Michael writes about ways in which our country (and other countries) have made repeated mistakes in history and what those mistakes and ramifications were. Michael’s blog is an interesting read for anyone really! That being said, if you’re a huge history buff, simply just interested, or possibly interested in being a politician/historian/next Presidential advisor (or President), then you should definitely consider taking a look at this blog as well as the two above! The link to Michael’s blog is:

http://sites.psu.edu/rclmichaelxb/

I got very lucky to have a group with such interesting and talented writers!

For my rhetorical analysis, I think that I will chose an artifact, similar to what I did for the civic engagement speech in the aspect that it is something that hits close to home for me. I would like to analyze a St. Bladrick’s poster (not sure exactly which one yet)!

I do not want to ruin why the St. Baldrick’s events are so near and dear to my heart, so that is all that I will say for now!