Author Archives: Sadie Willett

Anti-Semitism Throughout my Childhood

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My grandmother once gifted me a beautiful gold necklace with a Star of David pendant. She was so proud to give it to me, something that meant so much to her, to her people. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I knew I wasn’t going to wear it, no matter how much I loved it or her. I couldn’t tell her that, regardless of how far society may have come, the Jewish faith and its faithful still ran the risk of anti-Semitism and as a young kid, I lacked the confidence to be true to myself, my faith. Those days are long gone but I can easily recollect how those incidents have shaped me.

My very first experience of being singled out because I’m Jewish was in first grade. It was Easter season and my neighborhood was buzzing with bunny blow-ups, and trees donning fake decorated eggs. I had no idea what Easter was and didn’t care, they had me at painting eggs and chocolate rabbits. The rest didn’t seem to apply to me and my family. Well, that’s what I was soon to learn. 

Miss Brown, my first-grade teacher, hopefully well-intentioned but clueless, was my introduction to feeling separate, different, isolated. It was a beautiful spring day as my classmates and I anxiously waited for Miss Brown to hand out eggs for us to decorate to celebrate this colorful, candy-filled extravaganza also known as Easter. I couldn’t wait. I planned on making full use of my talents as an aspiring ovum artist. Miss Brown made her way around our classroom handing out our shelled soon-to-be masterpieces. When she arrived at my desk, she handed me a beach ball. A beach ball. I was confused too. She offered a clumsy explanation. Something along the line of knowing I was Jewish and painting eggs was against my religion. Also, news to me. 

Unfortunately, this was not the only instance where I felt isolated or singled out for being Jewish. 

Growing up in a coastal Connecticut town, with little diversity, it wasn’t unusual that I would be the only student of Jewish descent in my class or grade. In fact, in a town of 60,000 people, 1.3% of the population practiced Judaism. The bias I witnessed was hurtful and occasionally came from the people I cared for most. Classmates carelessly made anti-Semitic comments, recited songs chanting “Meinhaumpf” and, occasionally, the oh-so-hilarious Holocaust jokes. The Holocaust was obviously hysterical to those unaffected by the complete decimation of millions of human beings. It was disturbing and could have easily shut me down. 

It took a lot to defend my faith. I was terrified to draw further fire. However, I determined early on that every bullies’ kryptonite was confrontation. I had to dig deep to fight the urge to acquiesce to the ignorance, to conform. It was necessary for me to pick a team, so to speak. So, I did. My experiences proved to be the fuel I needed to find inspiration and discover my passion; inspiring change, fighting for equity and advocating for those who can’t advocate for themselves. I knew that if I wanted true equity for myself and my contemporaries, I would have to pursue a seat at every table where justice was being examined.

“This I Believe” Podcast Rough Draft

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Most people in life have one ride-or-die childhood best friend. The person that they met when they were about three years old and have been inseparable from ever since. Their families are intertwined somehow by a sport, hobby, or mutual connection. I am not that person you will meet. Growing up, I had many best friends. Having been playing softball since I was four years old, I was able to form many bonds and special connections as I aged. However, most of these bonds were artificial. I always made friends very easily. In each grade of elementary school, I had a best friend. We would exchange landline numbers in class or introduce each other to our parents at the pickup door once the school bell rang. That following weekend, we would eat dinosaur chicken nuggets with a side of Caprisun and Scooby-Doo fruit snacks, gallop in the woodchips, and calculate outfits for our Barbie dolls. I learned quickly that these friends would come and go, and when they made a new best friend, my heart was crushed. This was a continuous pattern up until sixth grade when I entered middle school. I quickly formed a close-knit circle of girls that I found common similarities with. One out of six girls turned out to be my best friend to this day, who would soon become my neighbor as well. Going through ups and downs of having people there for me who had my best interest up until college shaped me into the person I am today. The friendships that were formed out of love, loyalty, and companionship got me through stages of depression, grief, and anxiety. If it weren’t for them, I would not be as happy and feel as loved as I am today. This is why I believe that genuine relationships are the best thing you can have in life.

When the commencement of high school went into effect, I quickly gained tons of new friends. Being in numerous types of classes, on two sports teams, and in three clubs, I loved everyone. When graduating high school four years later, I remained genuine friends with approximately half of these people. I had your basic thirty-person friend group during my high school years until the middle of junior year when we naturally split up. Covid quarantine came into play and I felt like I had no one. I was lonely, constantly sad, and hopeless for a genuine connection. I learned that the people besides a few from this friend group were never my real friends nor did they have my best interest. My best friends were the ones that I still talk to every day even in college, the ones that I share core memories with that still crack us up to this day. The ones that we have been there for each other through boys, school, family issues, mental breakdowns, and most of all happy accomplishments. I became part of a new friend group towards the end of senior year where I was blessed with some of the best people I have ever met in my life. They are selfless, caring, kind, and reliable. They can always be counted on for a piece of advice, a good laugh, or to be there when desperate times call. 

Beginning a new chapter of my life, I was extremely anxious to start college. But, then I met my roommate. A funny story actually. We were both touring the University of South Carolina and bumped into each other. I needed a tour group to jump into and her family was kind enough to allow my mom and me to join in. We exchanged social media handles and decided to room together at Penn State. She is my rock. She has never once doubted me or done anything less than be an amazing friend. We literally do everything together, from going out on a Friday night to going to get our packages together at the Waring Commons. We both influence each other in the most positive way possible and have taught each other so many beautiful things about life.

The saying is true, you are truly the people that you surround yourself with and while I am self-dependent, the genuine relationships that I have built have the ability to stand against anything. I cannot thank these people enough for allowing me to grow while having them right there by my side.

Brainstorming Topics

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“This I Believe Podcast”:

  • Kindness is power
  • Genuine relationships are the best thing you can have

Passion Blog:

  • How the criminal justice system shapes society
  • How the lack of care for climate change is destroying our Earth
  • The rise of anti-semitism in culture
  • How the variety of different cultures throughout the world form an amazing melting pot
  • Self-care
  • Adventuring into new experiences

Civic Blog:

  • Discourse, Democracy, Rights, and Movements
  • Education, Equity, and Stigmas (and sustainability)

Extra Credit: Rhetorical Analysis of Ronald Raegan’s Challenger Disaster Speech

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In his “Challenger Explosion” speech, President Ronald Reagan consoles the country following the death of all seven astronauts when NASA’s Challenger Space Shuttle exploded shortly after takeoff. He conveyed his anguish and grief in this speech by using rhetorical devices including alliteration, allusion, anaphora, and euphemism. Reagan utilized alliteration in his statement to the families of the seven astronauts who perished in the Challenger explosion to express his sorrow. He uses the phrases “unique,” “spirit,” and “says” again to emphasize how highly he regarded the astronauts. The astronauts “had [a] certain grace, that special spirit that says, “Give me a challenge and I’ll accept it with enthusiasm,” according to President Reagan. Reagan believed that the astronauts had something unique that set them apart from the rest of civilization, as seen by his repeated use of the phrases special, spirit, and soul.

Emotions cannot be avoided. Reagan is responding to the heightened emotions of a nation in crisis with a speech on death. Reagan talks openly and rationally about the loss of seven lives, which cannot be avoided. However, he doesn’t wallow in his misfortune. He shifts the emotional emphasis away from that and onto a celebration of the astronauts’ life. He states, “They had that certain grace, that special spirit that says, give me a challenge and I’ll meet it with enthusiasm, and your loved ones were bold and fearless.” He adds a little ethos to that pathos as well, highlighting each crew member’s great qualities and extolling their virtues: By the way they lived their lives, the Challenger crew of the space shuttle honored us. Reagan is speaking about American heroes, not strangers who have passed away, to his audience. His statements do not attempt to justify the astronauts’ deaths; to do so would be cruel. He does, however, make an effort to make sense of the suffering caused by their deaths by looking at them historically. He paints a more comprehensive picture of human exploration and danger, in which the Challenger Seven play an important role. Not that the astronauts were victims, but rather that they made the ultimate sacrifice, is the key conclusion.

Under very strict controls, Reagan gave the “Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster Address.” He was facing a television camera while seated behind his desk in the Oval Office, probably on his favorite chair. He didn’t have to deal with a sizable live crowd, even though there was a sizable camera team in the room. Little was changed when Noonan’s speech was delivered to Reagan since there was little time for Reagan’s PR team to make changes. Reagan’s advisers disagreed with the phrase “pained to the core,” believing it to be excessively sentimental. Reagan spoke for only approximately four minutes, making it an extremely brief address in terms of length. That is around the amount of time needed to microwave a bag of popcorn.

Reagan knew he would need to speak to a sizable and varied audience, thus the speech’s organization is quite simple. With the exception of the conclusion, short sentences make up the majority of small paragraphs. By contrasting it with the brief phrases and straightforward terminology of the text before it, the final line’s rich language is made to stand out. 2Reagan had little prior preparation, which allowed him to give the succinct speech with clarity and composure. One of his most powerful addresses of his administration was further enhanced by his thoughtful and moving interpretation, which also made it more approachable.

Extra Credit: New Civic Activities

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Since the pandemic has struck, new “civic activities” have definitely risen. The Corona Virus outbreak changed the dynamic of the world. Life was altered for citizens socially, physically, and economically. The world basically went into lockdown. People started working from home, attending school through a screen, and going into public with a mask over their faces. Once the pandemic erupted, people were faced with new “civic activities” and duties to fulfill. It became socially unacceptable to go into a grocery store not wearing a mask or a movie theater. Many stores would not allow you to enter without wearing a mask. Schools around America forced you to wear a mask in the classroom. This depended on the governor and their state legislation. For example, most students in Florida did not wear a mask in school, whereas my mask mandate only ended in February in Connecticut. Another example of a “civic” activity people had to execute was getting the Covid vaccine. While getting the vaccine was not mandatory, people expected you to for the safety of yourself and others. Most universities adopted regulations that you could only attend their school if you had gotten the vaccine. In addition, The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene of New York City enacted a workplace vaccine mandate for all private businesses in New York City. However, this ended on November 1. Although, businesses can still require proof of vaccination or masking indoors if they choose.

The quantity of mortality linked to Covid-19 is the starkest indicator of the pandemic’s impact. By the end of 2021, more than 5 million documented deaths associated with the virus had occurred worldwide, including more than 827,000 in the United States (Our World In Data 2021). The health and economic status of different countries around the world due to Covid-19 depended on the responsibility of their patrons. Italy was hit brutally by the pandemic. In reaction, on March 9, 2020, the government of Italy, led by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, implemented a nationwide lockdown or quarantine, limiting people’s ability to move outside of need, work, and health-related situations. Another country that suffered drastically from the rise and spread of the pandemic was China. In an effort to contain the Covid-19 outbreak’s epicenter, the Chinese central government enforced a lockdown in Wuhan and adjacent cities in Hubei on January 23, 2020. The surrounding cities of Huanggang and Ezhou also had travel restrictions within hours of the lockdown in Wuhan, and eventually, all 15 of Hubei’s cities experienced them as well, affecting a total of nearly 57 million people. The reason for the lockdowns and the total number of fatalities is of course due to the cruel severity of the virus, but more importantly, how the citizens handled and reacted to it. When people do not fulfill their “civic activities” according to the pandemic, deaths increase which forced countries into lockdown. On the other hand, Sweden responded to the pandemic extremely well. Covid-19 vaccines in Sweden began in December 2020. At the end of March 2022, 87% of those aged 12 and older had received at least two doses of the vaccine. 62% of people who were 18 or older had received all three doses of the vaccine. 

The civic commonplaces that these “civic activities” embody were that mostly everyone agreed to get the vaccine and to stick with the mask mandate. Commonplaces are typically a non-original (common) concept, rule, phrase, or item that can be found anywhere (or any place). Social norms can be connected to commonplaces. The social norm of wearing a mask and getting the vaccine during the Covid-19 pandemic is a perfect example of a civic commonplace.

Wildemere Beach: Home

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Wildemere Beach: the place that I call home, the two-minute walk from my house, and the somewhat rocky, mediocre beach (but good for Milford), that is home to my best friend as well. When I was a freshman in high school, my parents decided that it was time to move. We had been living in the same house ever since I was two years old. While the move was devastating, it was necessary. My parents were searching for a house for months and had no luck. There was nothing on the market at the time. However, we luckily came in contact with a builder who had a house in the process. We bought our house when it was nothing but a couple of floor plans. We lived in a rental house for the first couple of months of my sophomore year while our house was being built. Finally, in November, we were able to move in.

I have been living in Wildemere Beach for approximately three years now and I would not change it for the world. I am a three-minute walk from my absolute best friend, I am a four-minute walk in the opposite direction from my other best friend, approximately a fifteen-minute walk from a creamery, and a mile away from an animal conservatory. Wildemere Beach is home to lovely people, a heartwarming community, and beautiful nature. Each summer was better than the other. My days would consist of walking down to my best friend’s house, catching up, tanning under the scorching sun, and going for a swim in the murky, green Long Island sound. We would usually go out to dinner that night, or take a walk to get ice cream. Some nights we would get dressed up and go out with our friends for a long summer night with the relief of not having to wake up early in the morning. When the summer of going into junior year came along, some of my friends began to drive. This sparked an entire new wave. We were approached with the freedom to go anywhere we wanted, whenever we wanted. The long summer nights of staying in and watching movies or venturing out on a walk turned into night drives consisting of singing our hearts out with the windows down and the humid air streaming through our souls. The memories that I have on the silly little street where I grew up will hold a place in my heart forever. When you think of the term, “core memory,” that is truly the definition of Wildemere Beach. Something so monumental that turns into something so special due to the bonds you build, the experiences you share, and the presence of others around you. Although I reside in Pennsylvania now throughout the year and time will evolve to the point where the community will shift, I know that I can always call this place home. Fairwood Ave may turn to have new neighbors, and Broadway may have new houses and stricter beach rules. However, no matter the distance between me and my best friend, our relationship will forever hold a special place in my heart, and I can thank Wildemere Beach for that.

Wildemere Beach, Milford,CT [OC] (3264x2448) : r/EarthPorn

Brainstorming Ideas for my History of a Public Controversy Project

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My first potential topic for the history of a public controversy project would be abortion. The topic of abortion is present both historically and in modern society. While abortion has been a heated subject for a while now, the first public discussion was broadcasted through Roe v. Wade. In the decision of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (7-2) on January 22, 1973, that overly strong state restrictions on abortion are unconstitutional. The Court found that a set of Texas laws that criminalized abortion in most cases violated a woman’s constitutional right to privacy, which it found to be implicit in the liberty guarantee of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (“…nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”). The majority opinion was written by Justice Harry A. Blackmun. However, this past summer, Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, sparking extreme public controversy. Justice Samuel Alito, who penned the majority opinion for the court, stated that the 1973 Roe decision and subsequent high court decisions affirming it “must be overruled” because they were “egregiously wrong,” the arguments were “exceptionally weak,” and they were so “damaging” that they amounted to “an abuse of judicial authority.” In other words, states now have the power to ban or regulate abortion. This ruling comes with much danger. If a woman wishes to get an abortion, they must travel out of state if they reside in a state where abortion is illegal. In addition, most states that illegalize abortion are neighbored by other states that do as well. This means that a woman might have to perform an abortion illegally, making it extremely unsafe for their health. Doctors are at risk of losing their medical licenses if involving themselves in abortion practices, creating another danger for them. Adherence to conventional morality, even outside of Christian conviction, encourages opposition to abortion on these consequentialist grounds. We propose a model (a four-factor model) in which attitudes toward religion, anti-feminism, sexual permissiveness, and abortion are separate ideas rather than just components of a single conservative factor.

My second potential topic for the history of a public controversy project would be gun control. While gun control is very apparent in present debates, it comes with historical controversy as well. Gun control refers to laws and rules that limit access to particular types of guns, restrict the ownership of certain firearms, or specify where certain firearms may be carried. Gun regulation is a hotly debated issue in the United States that sparks discussion about individual rights, state and federal oversight, and public safety. In order to reduce the high rate of gun-related violence and fatalities in the United States, proponents of gun control call for more regulations on the sale and transfer of weapons, while opponents contend that people have a constitutional right to bear arms. Currently, the controversy of gun control is such a heated debate due to mass shootings. Mass shootings have been the reason to so many deaths in the last decades. School shootings, concert shootings, mall shootings, and stray bullets that have struck innocent people as catastrophe. The reason why so many people have been unjustly killed is due to the legislation of gun control. Is owning a gun a constitutional right? Should people who wish to purchase a firearm receive thorough background checks? Should there be legislations placed against owning a gun? Would it be federal or by states? A project discussing this controversy would lead to very intriguing research and debate.

Abortion ruling: US Supreme Court says leak is real as investigation launched - BBC News

Mass Shootings, Gun Control, Pop Culture, and Student Lives Are More Closely Related Than You May Think | NHS Maroon and Gray