Since I was two years old I have been dubbed “the oldest.” My reign of only child lasted only two short years when my younger brother came along, then later my sister and finally another brother. I took on the role of older sister with open arms along with it’s many perks and downfalls. In a sense I was the “tester” for my parents, they tested out everything on me and learned from their mistakes. Sometimes it even feels like my younger siblings get away with things I got in insane amounts of trouble for, but I guess that’s what comes with being the oldest. In a family of six there are so many different personalities and attitudes in one household. We are all different individuals growing up in one family. This makes me wonder, does birth order affect our personality?

Some researchers believe birth order is as important as gender and almost as important as genetics. Parents nurture each child a little bit differently and no child plays the same role. Huffington Post puts each child in a category ranging from “the achiever” to “the life of the party.” These roles may differ from family to family but if you look hard enough you may find  each of your siblings playing one of these roles. Birth order is a powerful variable in the unfolding of your personality. There is the obvious stereotypes of a family like the oldest being independent, the youngest being babied and well the middle child just being in the middle, however, these stereotypes aren’t too far off. The center of this whole theory is the size of our family and how we are raised.

The first is highly monitored because they enter a family of adults who are proud of their every progress and frightened by every potential injury. The first born are used to insane amounts of attention from their parents causing them to be control seeking, over-responsible, reliable, well-behaved, careful and basically smaller versions of their own parents. Parent’s except their first borns to be good role models and this tends to cause a lot of pressure. Due to their birth order the oldest child is usually a perfectionist and ultimately the boss.

Some may say the middle child really gets the short end of the stick, receiving the least amount of attention. Since their personalities emerge in response to how they perceive the next-oldest sibling in the family. If the older sibling is a parent-pleaser, the middle child might rebel to get attention. The oldest child bosses them around and the baby always gets what they want so how is the middle child supposed to act?  The personality trait that defines you as a middle child will be opposite of that of your eldest and youngest sibling says a study in Huffington Post. Due to their birth order the middle child is usually laid back, fair and cooperative.

Finally we come down to the baby of the family. As the youngest child, you have more freedom than the other siblings and, in a sense, are more independent. As the youngest child, you also have a lot in common with your oldest sibling, as both of you have been made to feel special and entitled. The youngest child gets away with murder because at this point the parents are too tired and have given up. The youngest child is used to learning from their older siblings so they may seem advanced. The baby of the family is usually the token “wild child.” Due to their birth order the youngest child’s if far different from his/her siblings’.

While we may not notice it, our siblings shape us and make us the person we are today. Our behavior and attitude is due to the role we play in our family. Overall I have found that birth order truly does affect our personality.

Links:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-gail-gross/how-birth-order-affects-personality_b_4494385.html

http://www.parents.com/baby/development/sibling-issues/how-birth-order-shapes-personality/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ruled-by-birth-order/

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The role of siblings in children’s mental health

The first semester of the year can be a stressful time, new classes, new friends and new activities. As the semester progresses we may notice our hair feeling fine and beginning to thin out. You may believe this is due to all this new found stress and activity, however, this is not the case. The water we use to shower everyday is the source that is essentially killing our hair. I uncovered this the hard way, my hair began to fall out and literally turn green, yes you heard me right green. Penn State water is unlike anything we are used to, Penn State uses a type of “well water.” Well water is made up on minerals such as magnesium and calcium and can be extremely tough on your already vulnerable hair. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it is estimated that more than 85% of the water used by consumers in the US can be classified at some level of “hard” water. Due to the lightness of my hair the chemicals in the well water tinted parts of my hair green, the type of hair you would find with chlorine damage. I noticed my hair breaking as well, so I called up my hair dresser who explained this water theory to me. These chemicals can even damage your skin and your scalp. Hard water makes it difficult to even wash your hair, leaving your hair feeling greasy and dirty. Hard water tends to make the scales stand up, which makes your hair feel rough and tangly. Since your hair is tangled and rough, it is more difficult to rinse out all of the soap. Soap is less effective in very hard water because its reacts with the excess minerals to form calcium or magnesium salts. Over the past few weeks I have been extremely cautious when it comes to treating my hair and here are some tips I have discovered:

Treatments

• there are treatments you can buy in stores or make at home that strip your hair of the chemicals from the hard water
• Filtering your water, there are filters you can buy and place on your shower head

Well water is all around us and we need to be educated on the subject in order to ensure healthy hair. Please monitor your showers and if your hair is starting to feel damaged, take action to save it!

http://www.chagrinvalleysoapandsalve.com/idascorner/shampoo-hair/how-does-your-water-affect-your-hair

http://thepioneerwoman.com/life-and-style/help-well-water-is-ruining-my-hair/

Ever since I was born football has been a major part of life. I feel like I could throw a perfect spiral before I could even walk, complete exaggeration but still. My father is a die hard Philadelphia Eagles fan along with the rest of my extended family so I am not shy to watching a good game on a Sunday afternoon. I have even spent years watching my two brother’s play football so I feel like at this point I am basically an expert. However, despite my extended knowledge regarding all things football one thing that always trips me up is the injuries due to football, especially concussions. A concussion is a type of brain trauma due a blow to the head that causes the brain to move quickly back and forth. This movement causes the brain to “stretch and twist” creating extensive damage. Football players are way more susceptible to this injury due to the manner of the sport. When a 200 some linebacker tackles you and your head slams to the ground there has got to be some damage.  This damage is some serious business that could affect a player for the rest of their life. Web MD states that athletes who have repeated concussions are more likely to get long-term brain damage including a condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disease that resembles dementia. This leads me to wonder, when is enough enough? How many concussions are too many? A study from a Boston University neurosurgery professor states that it is not about the amount of concussions but the “total brain trauma.” Research suggests that if someone has already received one concussion, they are 1-2 times more likely to receive a second one. If they’ve had two concussions, then a third is 2-4 times more likely, and if they’ve had three concussions, then they are 3-9 times more likely to receive their fourth concussion and so on. These constant traumas have led to depression and death, with some cases not even being reported. The most common symptoms for concussions are headaches, dizziness, memory problems, cognitive problems, and somatic complaints. Due to it’s aggressive nature football is one of today’s leading reason’s for concussions and permeant brain damage. I concluded that while it is detrimental the amount of times you are concussed it is the amount amount of head trauma that really makes the difference.

Links:

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/football-player-concussions#1

http://www.concussiontreatment.com/concussionfacts.html#sfaq2

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/553967_3

Picture Link:

http://www.nj.com/times-sports/index.ssf/2011/12/the_philadelphia_eagles_are_st.html

Beyonce, Leonardo DiCaprio, Lebron James, Kim Kardashian, just a few names among the many of today’s highly prestigious list of celebrities. A celebrity is a man or a woman that has gained attention in the media through entertainment or athletics.  In today’s society we put celebrities on a pedestal and view them as superior to the everyday person. It has become a normal occurrence to adore these celebrities and keep track of their every move. This raises some important questions, what makes someone a celebrity? And why are we so obsessed with them and celebrity culture? Forbes Magazine uses a complicated formula that takes earnings, press clippings, magazine covers, TV /radio appearances, and internet web  hits all into consideration. However the way we react to these celebrities and their rising fame is ultimately what constitutes their star power. Instead of engaging in personal interactions where we discuss our own lives, we discuss the lives of famous people documented in the tabloids as if we actually know them. Our celebrity obsession has become so intense and all-consuming that we live vicariously through celebrities, sometimes at the expense of sacrificing our own lives and well-being. The reason for this obsession could possibly be a method of escaping. We rather pretend to live in a world of glitz and glamour than face the reality of our everyday lives. We begin to see this figure has “role models” and “icons” and blindly follow their every move. We buy the products they promote and watch the show’s they star in just because we believe they are superior. Along with this admiration comes a sense of envy and hate. Celebrities serve as both an object of worship and of disgust, simultaneously representing what we strive to be and yet what we dislike most about ourselves and society.  This worship of those who are famous make it hard for people to find their identity and truly be themselves.  In the media today celebrities are glorified for their looks, leaving the average person feeling insecure and ashamed. Celebrities give girls unrealistic notions about beauty and how to look. Girls want to look just like the stars they see on the screen so much that they end up harming themself and their body.    To sum it up we are obsessed with celebrities because they have what we don’t. They have a glorified life that we are not used to, they have all the fame and money in the world and even if it may be unnatural the looks and perks we strive for. Pop culture is never going away. The entertainment world is growing everyday and becoming a bigger part of our everyday lives. While it is all not completely bad, some aspects are detrimental to society. Our obsession with celebrities and their lives is a fad that is doing more bad than good. Maybe we obsess over celebrities because we want to feel just as important? Or maybe because of pure jealousy? What do you think? 

Links:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jo-piazza/americans-unhealthy-obsession-with-celebrities_b_1385405.html

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-big-questions/200912/why-we-are-obsessed-celebrities

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nora-turriago/the-dangerous-american-ob_b_8721632.html

Picture Links

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/07/30/beyonce-wiz

http://www.marieclaire.com/fashion/g2513/best-celebrity-red-carpet-2014/

The holidays are the time to get together with friends and family to celebrate old and new traditions. Most families have a ritual cookie bake or secret Santa or a favorite movie that brings everyone together. The past few holidays my cousins and I have developed quite the strange tradition. Rather than watch an uplifting holiday film or a family flick we all huddle in the basement and watch a horror movie. Yes, you heard me right a horror film. So what makes us on one of the best days of the year want to sit down for 2 hours and torture ourselves? Why does the idea of being scared and ready to jump at any moment sound appealing? Well I may have the answer.

Scary movies have been around since the beginning of time. Slasher films have been breaking boundaries and revolutionizing the movie world for years. However horror films do a little more than entertain you, they have the power to affect you psychologically. When watching a scary movie you know what you are getting yourself into, you want to be frightened. Your palms being to sweat, heart rate rises, blood pressure drops and muscles tense. Horror movies keep your attention and elicit various emotions. Psychology Today explains that we enjoy the tension horror movies bring such as suspense, terror, gore, sadness and shock. Like most movies we enjoy the unrealism and the ability to enter another world for the two hours of the film. There are four reasons for watching horror movies: gore watching, thrill watching, independent watching and problem watching according to Dr. Deirdre Johnston. The four viewing motivations are found to be related to viewers’ cognitive and affective responses to horror films, as well as viewers’ tendency to identify with the characters in the film. Lastly just the simple adrenaline rush. When we watch scary movies we are able to face our fears without doing it in reality.

Scary movies put us in a different world and make us feel a multitude of emotions. Whether it be with your cousins on a holiday or by yourself we all watch horror movies for different reasons.

Links:

http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/why-we-love-scary-movies?page=3

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-excess/201510/why-do-we-watching-scary-films

http://zeenews.india.com/news/science/psychology-of-fear-why-we-love-watching-horror-movies_1801208.html

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The Final Girl: Feminism in Horror Films

The first semester of the year can be a stressful time, new classes, new friends and new activities. As the semester progresses we may notice our hair feeling fine and beginning to thin out. You may believe this is due to all this new found stress and activity, however, this is not the case. The water we use to shower everyday is the source that is essentially killing our hair. I uncovered this the hard way, my hair began to fall out and literally turn green, yes you heard me right green. Penn State water is unlike anything we are used to, Penn State uses a type of “well water.” Well water is made up on minerals such as magnesium and calcium and can be extremely tough on your already vulnerable hair. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it is estimated that more than 85% of the water used by consumers in the US can be classified at some level of “hard” water. Due to the lightness of my hair the chemicals in the well water tinted parts of my hair green, the type of hair you would find with chlorine damage. I noticed my hair breaking as well, so I called up my hair dresser who explained this water theory to me. These chemicals can even damage your skin and your scalp. Hard water makes it difficult to even wash your hair, leaving your hair feeling greasy and dirty. Hard water tends to make the scales stand up, which makes your hair feel rough and tangly. Since your hair is tangled and rough, it is more difficult to rinse out all of the soap. Soap is less effective in very hard water because its reacts with the excess minerals to form calcium or magnesium salts. Over the past few weeks I have been extremely cautious when it comes to treating my hair and here are some tips I have discovered:

Treatments

• there are treatments you can buy in stores or make at home that strip your hair of the chemicals from the hard water
• Filtering your water, there are filters you can buy and place on your shower head

Well water is all around us and we need to be educated on the subject in order to ensure healthy hair. Please monitor your showers and if your hair is starting to feel damaged, take action to save it!

http://www.chagrinvalleysoapandsalve.com/idascorner/shampoo-hair/how-does-your-water-affect-your-hair

http://thepioneerwoman.com/life-and-style/help-well-water-is-ruining-my-hair/

Ever since I was little I loved to dance. I danced to anything and everything, I still do. My favorite past time was when my parents would play music and I could dance around the house. I have been exposed to so many different types of music since a very young age. As I have grown up my love for music never wavered, and this really got me thinking: has my subjection to music since the womb affected me as a person?

During my research I discovered just what I thought, music is very beneficial in child development. Music is what brings our world together and I believe children at every age should experience the joy of music. Music is apparent in every aspect of life and there is a definite reason for that. Music has many benefits for people of all ages but specifically children. Bright Horizons states, “Exposing children to music during early development helps them learn the sounds and meanings of words. Dancing to music helps children build motor skills while allowing them to practice self-expression. For children and adults, music helps strengthen memory skills.” Music can bring joy to a child’s life and could possibly help pose as memories for when they are older. When we are younger most of our preschool classes revolve around music and that is due to it’s ability to help as learn and develop. I truly believe that music is our language before we even learn how to speak. Music can even enhance children’s motor skills and coordination. It could even lower stress levels, which even children have too. Studies show that playing music while pregnant can benefit your even before they are born. It may seem ineffective but it really does pay off in the long run. I can attest from personal experience that there is a song I have always randomly loved and I later found out my mom used to always play it when she was pregnant with me, crazy how the brain works huh? Music is all around us and while it majorly serves as a form of entertainment it could alter a human’s lifestyle and the way they live. Children exposed to music could possibly end up more happy and healthy than the rest of us.

Link to photo

As I was researching I started to have trouble thinking of topics to write my three blog posts on. I felt I was at a standstill and decided to take a break before I became extremely discouraged. Whenever I am sad I know one thing that can instantly cheer me up: my favorite T.V. show. It is kind of peculiar that a fictional T.V. show with made up characters and plots can instantly change my mood and keep me captivated time and time again. Some shows have the ability to make you feel like you are there and the characters are your friends, which happens to me on a daily basis. So then I got thinking what is it that makes us so attached to these fictional characters and plot lines? I then knew what I wanted to do a post on: the science behind our attachment to T.V. shows.

In a world full of Netflix binge watching it is easy to bond with people over their favorite shows and episodes. It is also easy to become slightly obsessed. This however is not uncommon it is actually very normal due to the “social surrogacy hypothesis.” Events on T.V. shows allow a part of our brain to access memories and emotions. If you are struggling during a sad time it is easy to find comfort in the characters who are also feeling blue. Fictional characters can affect people in very real ways even changing them drastically. Live Science did a study on this exact subject and I found some really interesting findings. They stated that, “Subjects in one study who felt down from remembering unhappy moments of social rejection soon perked up upon writing about their favorite TV shows and characters.” Spending time with fictional characters could even pose as a break from spending time with actual people. When our favorite characters dies, we feel it, when our favorite couple breaks up it feels we are experiencing heart break too. “In a study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Jonathan Cohen, of the Department of Communication at the University of Haifa in Israel, examined the responses of television viewers to the potential loss of their favorite television characters. Cohen found that viewers anticipated experiencing the same negative reactions to parasocial breakups as they experience when their real social relationships dissolve. Even though parasocial relationships may offer a quick and easy fix for unmet belonging needs, individuals within these relationships may not be spared the pain and anguish of relationship dissolution.” T.V. shows and the feelings they cause can have major psychological effects.

The next time you find yourself crying when a character is killed off or smiling when a character has a major triumph know that what your feeling is normal and you are not alone.

Link to picture

Summer has come to an end and so has our days of basking in the sun. With our hectic schedules we can no longer find time to catch some rays or even worry about our appearance. Due to this lack of time some girls find it imperative to keep their tan with the help of a tanning bed. However what some people do not understand is the severity of the dangers these beds impose, or they shut a blind eye in order to keep up this risky habit. Just like it is important to wear sunscreen it is important to protect our skin from the dangers of these ultraviolet rays. The American Academy of Dermatology states that “Thirty-five percent of American adults, 59 percent of college students, and 17 percent of teens have reported using a tanning bed in their lifetime.” That is an extremely large percentage making us wonder just how many people at Penn State use a tanning bed daily. The equipment used in a tanning bed are what pose the most dangers. The ultraviolet rays can be potentially life threatening. The Academy then later states that “Using indoor tanning beds before age 35 can increase your risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, by 59 percent; the risk increases with each use. And that women younger than 30 are six times more likely to develop melanoma if they tan indoors.”  Melanoma is a skin disease that usually first results in moles but has severe consequences. The UV rays damaging your skin is what leads to this disease and has other effects such as: eye damage, burns, loss of consciousness, early skin aging among others. I used to go tanning but as I have done more research I now realize the harm I am putting my body through. It is crazy to think that light bulbs can cause so much damage to the body and the mind. Which just further proves how surprising science is all around us. When you feel the urge to hit the tanning bed think about the life changing altercations it may pose. There are other methods to suppress your needs that are both healthy and effective, such as self tanner and spray tans. Tanning beds are threatening the lives of those around us and we need to take a stand before it effects one more person especially at Happy Valley.

Link to picture

Hi my name is Maura Maguire and I am from West Chester PA, about 30 minutes outside of Philly. I am a freshman here at Penn State, in the College of COMM hoping to major in AD/PR. If you are unsure what AD/PR is all you need to know is it has absolutely nothing to do with science, lucky me. I basically chose the major because it required little science/math and heavy writing/reading. Ever since I was little I had no interest in science, I hated labs and absolutely despised anything that included some math. The memorization bored me and I constantly found myself wondering “what” ,”how” and “why” but only ever getting the designated answers provided in a textbook. Then as a grew up science became more math based and extremely more difficult so I basically found myself dreading every science class. It’s not that I did not apply myself or receive bad marks I just found my studying to be pointless and not rewarding. Basically if I never see a periodic table again it will be too soon. So when it came time to pick my classes with my College of COMM advisors I was nervous what boring science I would be forced to study. However, my advisor realizing my detest for all things science and math claimed she had the perfect class for me. A GenED that was for people who do not like science, perfect!  So here I am in SC 200 hoping to learn some science beyond the math equations and the textbook facts. I’m not really sure what to expect from this class but I hope it will maybe change my completely biased view on the subject of science. It interests me that this class is more opinion based and pushes the boundaries on what we know about the world, rather than what scientists tell us. No one was more excited than me to find out we do not have a science textbook. While the thought of any kind of science still makes me cringe I am eager to see what this semester has in store. To wrap up this blog post here are some fun facts about me: my favorite place in the world is Paris, I love any kind of music especially Kanye West, I am obsessed with One Tree Hill and my favorite movie is 10 Things I Hate About You.