Lenses

It is an important key of life to understand that there exist countless view points to any topic ever imaginable. The minds of humans are very complex and unique, it is foolish to assume something based off of one lens. When it is time to understand something or to solve a problem, you must become advanced by expanding your mind and consider multiple view points. When you are having an argument you must try to put yourself in the other persons shoes to see how they are viewing things and ask them to do the same. It is insane that many problems arise in politics, religion, and so many other areas because people have adapted to see only through their own lens. I have always tried to be as open minded as possible, but the truth is that there will always be something new to learn and to be exposed to that will always shift your lens just a bit. Entering college, I had no idea what to expect from my classes or professors, but I am so glad that I was able to experience my first semester exactly the way it was and I would not change a single professor. Each teacher allowed me to explore my thoughts and to see things differently, I have gained many new lenses from all my brilliant proffers. 

Distance

I see my brother about once a year, but sometimes it's once every other year or every two years. I miss him so much but I know he is off doing great things and exploring the world. I am happy for him, he followed his dream and joined the Navy. But sometimes the distance is too much for too long, and I cannot help but feel so alone without him, he was the closest person to me and we did everything together. He is so random and crazy, he just cracks me up all the time. I am thankful that we live in the era of technology, as we get to email each other and even video chat when he is at port. I cannot wait to see him and tell him all about college, there are so many amazing things I have learned and so many beautiful people I have met. I cannot wait for him to tell me everything he has seen and learned as well. The distance is sad, but it will not break us apart, as soon enough he will be back and we will reunite. I cannot wait for the distance to be gone.

Help and Understanding

Throughout my life I have always felt like I was on my own when facing challenging problems. I grew up with this idea that your responsibilities are your own and asking for help is looked down upon. And though I do not recommend asking people to do everything for you, I have come to value the help of others when they are willing to offer it. But receiving help from others can be difficult especially if you are the type of person who has a hard time talking about the things going on in your life. But there is no shame in opening up to people, and there is no shame in asking for help every once in a while. There are multiple steps to take and the first is listening to yourself, actually laying out your problems and consider if you are just overwhelmed and need some time to sort it all out. Or is this something that is impacting your life and pushing you back on your progress, is the problem too heavy? Now you have to become comfortable with sharing, be willing to explain things so others can fully understand your situation. Because when people understand, they act. This does not only pertain to asking for help in basic tasks, this is important when it comes to forming relationships with others. Marriages, friendships, jobs, and much more are always at stake of being destroyed because of arguments or lack of involvement. People get angry and point fingers when really they should try to understand the others situation and change their actions and feeling based on this new information.

Time Management

I struggle with time management. When I cannot manage my time efficiently I fall behind in classes and become overwhelmed. I often feel there is not enough time in the day. Time management is a typical problem people might come across in their lives more than once. What are some of the causes of struggling with time management?

One of the causes of struggling with time management can be social media. The whole world is right in your hands on a screen and it can be much more interesting than homework. Spending time looking through the newsfeed on facebook can easily migrate to looking on instagram, then watching your favorite youtubers: before you know it 10 minutes has turned into an hour of time taken away from the day.

Another cause of struggling with time management might be having a flooded to do list. People often become overwhelmed when there are multiple tasks at hand. Even if there is not a physical to do list, being aware of all the tasks that need to be accomplished can be draining. When people become overwhelmed they might give up in a sense, deciding to just relax their minds. Others might spend more time on dwelling about all the things needed to be done instead of actually doing them.

If we began to consider allowing our minds to relax, maybe we could eventually take on our tasks with more ease. Then time management might not be as stressful.

Brilliant People

My mother and father would always warn me to be alert for the world is full of fools. They say be careful, humans have bad intentions. As I grew up and began to make friends they often looked at their appearance and questioned why I would be friends with someone like that. My brain became wired to look at people on the surface and nothing more. 

As we grow older our minds begin to form new thoughts and curiosity new ways of thinking and seeing. As I grew I allowed my mind to expand and eliminate these judging  thoughts. When my mind expanded I began to pay attention to people more closely -- and sure we can all be fools sometimes -- seeing beyond their surface. I realized people can be extraordinarily brilliant. 

I have payed more attention to my friends and started to see how each one of them is brilliant in their own way. In fact every time I think about them and what they are capable of I become shocked and stay in awe. 

Fredy, he loves music, he can make any beat and adjust it to make people feel different moods. He can transfer chords and notes from pianos to ukuleles and play any tune he wants even if he does not know how to play the instrument. He has unique ideas that he expresses in the music he creates and make it a full on experience. He is brilliant.

Osvaldo, he values three things more than anything: reading, meditation, and exercise. He reads all types of books that give you motivation, books that talk about the mind, books about philosophy. He reads and he retains this information, his vocabulary is so wide, his thoughts are so strong and passionate. He can balance his thoughts even when they are too overwhelming. He has trained his body to lift extraordinary amounts of weight and puts so much meaning into it. He is brilliant.

Anissa, she is the master of anything and everything. Anything you teach her that captures her interest for just a second, she will learn it. She will learn it so well and she will become the best at it. Her mind is quick, she understands concepts in a snap. She became a master in gymnastics becoming super flexible in just a few weeks. She took on the gaming world and defeated all her opponents. She does masters tasks with no prior experience making it look like a breeze. She is brilliant. 

These are just a few of my friends that have brilliant aspects to them but I see brilliance in all my friends, they are all just completely amazing.   

Winter is Upon Us

I love the concept of winter -- cold days can become cozy days. Time for hot chocolate and watching movies while sharing the warmth of the fuzziest blanket you own. The snow looks beautiful untouched and pure. The world becomes colorful through lights and decorations as flowers and trees sleep for weeks. But sometimes winter can be gloomy. Sometimes it is too cold and the frustration of walking 15 feet from the house to the car can make the next few hours of the day dreadful. Sometimes staying inside becomes such a habit that the mind begins to get too comfortable. The snow becomes black and grey, a moldy slushy, no longer untouched. No longer pure. The lights begin to flicker and go out as the circuit burns. The decorations fall and shatter. The trees and flowers will not wake up: it is too cold, too dark, and the sun is no where to be found. Every year we look forward to winter but before we know it, it cradles us with its coldness. I love the concept of winter. 

Find Your Form

When I hear "let's work out" I let out a sigh and feel like letting my body collapse to the floor, but this year things took a turn for me. about a month ago I met a new friend who practically lives to build muscle mass and is extremely proud of his personal transformation. I asked him if maybe I could go to the gym with him and learn his powerful ways of lifting weights -- as I am only a small synthesis of five spaghetti strands. He was more than willing to bring me along. I try to go to the gym with him everyday and though they are tiny, I see improvements in my body. 

Going to the gym has benefited me in many ways other than just being healthy and strong, in fact I have realized many philosophy's. One of them is finding your form. My friend trained me beginning with light weights and at first I thought maybe he just did not want to push my limits, but the true reason was that he believed it was important for me to find my form first. Having good form in weight lifting is very important in order to avoid injury of pulling something in your body. I have found a good form for most of the workouts so far bu there are others that I am still working on: it takes time to find and perfect your form.

I began to apply this to a different scenario, education. So far throughout my college experience I came to the conclusion that getting by elementary school through high school should have been fairly easy to accomplish given that most of the resources are provided to be successful. I wondered, why was it so hard for me? I did not have good form. In education it is important to build good study habits, time management skills, ability to focus, and much more. Elementary school through high school is the perfect time for students to find good form in education and for teachers to show students what good form looks like. Once students have found their form they will be prepared to take on the "big boy weights" meaning college and achieving higher education. So always make sure to focus on your form in order to get muscle gains and brain gains c: . 

Revision

I have tried to adjust my writing to fit in the microtheme style. I am not sure if this has improved or maybe I should switch gears and consider a different topic? All feedback is much appreciated c: also does this title fit the content?

Vanessa Arenas

Dr. Kyburz

College Writing (9:00 am)

23 October 2017

A Dog and Their Human

I began to think about how my dog has a short attention span -- this lured me to deep thought about how a dog’s memory works. In my thought process it became clear that dogs are not capable of storing memories -- meaning my dog does not remember anything we have been through! If my dog cannot remember our past then I need to understand how to make our bond stronger in an alternative way. Dogs base most of their learning on rhythmic memory, what are the causes if humans spent more time with their dogs?

One cause of spending time with your dog could create a rhythm as they begin to build more trust and love for their humans. Playing with your dog every day at a specific time might make them count on the special time they spend one on one with their owners. Another cause of spending more time with your dog can help both the human and dog  feel a strong spiritual bond. Eventually pet owners might feel a special spark with their dog that is irreplaceable. If humans spend little time with their dogs then maybe the dog does not feel such a strong connection.

A dog’s memory cannot be tampered with so humans are stuck with dogs who cannot remember their past. Humans should not feel sad or stress about their dog is consciousness. If dogs can love their humans regardless of their memories: maybe love is stronger than just an event. If humans spent more time with their dogs, then maybe the spiritual bond will become much stronger than a bond based on memories.  

No Long Term. No Short Term.

Vanessa Arenas

Dr. Kyburz

College Writing (9:00 am)

23 October 2017

No Long Term. No Short Term.

One day I noticed while talking to my dog that he is easily distracted -- this fact brought me to deep thought about how a dog’s memory works. In my thought process it became clear to me that dogs are not capable of storing memories -- meaning my dog does not remember anything we have been through! This is incredibly sad as I questioned, Is there a true connection between owners and their dogs?

Dogs have the ability to imprint on humans and other dogs. This really only works as a mechanism to remember who someone is, not exactly remembering their past in the relationship.  If dogs could remember everything between them and their owner maybe they would not have the same love for their owners. For example if a person were to accidentally hurt their dog maybe the dog would never feel safe again. A true connection cannot be based on memories for dogs, but perhaps they see the world in a way us humans can not even imagine. It is obvious to see that dogs do love their humans whether it be because it is the hand that feeds them or the one that cuddles them.

A dog’s memory cannot be tampered with so humans are stuck with dogs who cannot remember their past. Humans should not feel sad about this or stress about if their dog is conscious of them. If dogs can love their humans regardless of their memories: maybe love is stronger than just an event. Maybe dogs have a stronger connection with their humans spiritually.

Just a Throw Back

Rhetoric narratives are very fun in my opinion because there is no limits to adding in your own style to the writing in order to give the full experience of the event being displayed. I wrote a very personal narrative in my junior year of high school and I used to be afraid to show it to people -- I am now proud to share this story. I do not see it as strange anymore, I see it as me finding my strength. Because we are working on a narrative in class I thought I could share my narrative for everyone to read and see a side of myself that not many people are aware of. To add additional context this assignment was to be written in a way where the problem that is being overcome is revealed only in the end. Enjoy :) .

A Friend

           I typically hear that the toughest battle in a person’s life will be with themselves, I never really understood when anyone said this, I would just nod my head in agreement because of how wise it sounded. Even now I still believe this phrase can be understood in many different ways as it does for me. The experience that allowed me to first understand this phrase definitely had a strong meaningful impact on my life, more importantly it allowed me to understand and find myself.
Mid-December of 2014 I stumbled upon who became to be my only friend for eight months; during this time I was going through a harsh break up. My friend, she was interesting, I had never met anyone like her before. Her words, often comforting in the beginning -- at least I believed so – but she was a deceiving and a dogmatic girl, there was never an end to her virulent thoughts. She acted sweet as if she was being supportive but her intentions were to debilitate me with her constant arguing and stubborn points of view. Every day our arguments became more one sided to where only she had a say on how I felt; she dictated my life and broke me down to tears every night with no regret or sympathy, yet I still told her everything.
           “I think I’m getting better, I think I might be fine without him” feeling at peace with myself after recovering for several months while resting on my bed who always had open arms for me             
“Are you kidding me? You obviously need him, you are obsessed with him!” here she goes again for the thousandth time, at this point not even caring for sugar coating and just attacking me with her opinions.
           “What… no I am not! I know it’s been hard but I know if I try I can get over him. Why do you always do this to me?” I usually never stood up for myself but I finally realized she was dragging me down. I had to make a change and stay strong.
           “You are a stupid child. You are capable of nothing, not love nor happiness, just stop trying. There is no point” Each time she spoke it was as if I was snow white eating a poison apple – my throat drying up, my eyes start to water, I get smaller and smaller, now only she speaks: my opinion is silenced. “That’s all you are good for, crying. You are worthless.”
           “NO! Stop it! Get out of my life and get out of my head you irritating piece of crap! I do not need you I have had enough! I am capable of anything I set my mind to, but you, because of you I cannot grow and I am sick and tired of all you have to say. You lying bastard!” I stood up and looked straight into her eyes my voice cracking each time I dared to yell louder.
           “You don’t know what you are saying, you can’t stand alone, haha you are pathetic. Don’t you know Vanessa? I am here to stay. I will never leave you whether you like –” her voice simmers down but it is mocking.
           “Shut up just shut up already! You are done here, you are not needed, get away, get away, just get away! Just stop talking and get away and never come back because I will not allow it ever!”  I cut her off, my fists clenched, eyes shut, heart pumping as fast as a cheetah runs, my words spill with passion every last one right before I stop to catch a breath. Pure silence – my heart slows down and I unclench my fists and I wipe away my tears and I look into the mirror, “You did it Vanessa, she is gone. You are a beautiful person and you will be so much better without her” I cannot help but smile and release a chuckle as I realize I have gained control of my mind, that I have found peace. I look again to the girl in the mirror: she looks tired worn out for she has won the battle. Her name is no longer anxiety; her name is Vanessa.

Rhetoricity

In my writing class we began to talk about rhetoricity. To try and put it in my own blunt words -- rhetoricity is adding style to writing which will help get the ultimate point of the writing understood by the reader. But in class I began to learn that rhetoricity is used not only in writing but when we communicate to others (e.g. facial expressions, body language, and words).
I began to think about how often there are triangles of love in friend groups and of course a choice has to be made in a sense of "who gets the girl". More than often it all comes down to personality but people can give off a certain vibe depending on their rhetoricity. There might be a shy guy that feels he gets no where with love but could it be that he does not have the right tone when approaching someone he likes. While a "chick magnet" has the smoothest time picking up girls because they will use a tone in their voice and body language to attract others.
Rhetoricity is very interesting because it is something that has to be thought about when going into any type of situation that involves communicating with others. People cannot use the same tone when trying to get a girl versus going to say a speech about politics because they need different tones to be addressed properly. People can talk without thinking about style but they will not get the results they look for if they do not prepare their tone.

Reflection

For my documentary project I watched the film Cartel Land directed by Matthew Heineman.
1) A scene that really stuck out to me was near the end of the film when Dr. Morales had given up on his movement and was arrested. My mother knew more about the story behind this part, she said that the officials claimed they would not even feed him so he can die a slow death. My mother said the government is corrupt over there and they are even for the cartels as they help them in many ways. This angers me so much because this means that nobody is going to be able to stop this except for the people of the towns themselves. But people are scared, and those that do stand up are taken away -- by the cartels, by the police, by the government.

2) Something that surprised me is really just the whole idea of the film and how it was even possible to get so up close to all the action and especially the drug makers. The filmmakers were determined to get the best shoots to show the world what is going on and how corrupt things are. I was also very shocked when the police showed up saying that the auto defenses were scaring the people and they would be disarmed. The people began to show up and yell at the police to show them that they are proud supporters of the auto defenses and they want them to stay. The people were able to get the police to go away.

3) After viewing this film I felt sad and angry. I do not understand how the government can betray their people. Why and how did it happen where the cartels began to be in charge. I do not have any experience with this type of situation but my uncle and his family have been in danger. My uncle has his own fruit shop in Mexico and his business has grown so much over the years but that means he is becoming wealthier so now he is a target. My uncle has received many threats and for about a year he had to take his family into hiding to protect them from danger.

Some problematic concepts I saw in the film was how the people said that the police do nothing to help them and how there are all these different branches of police but they all do nothing when it comes to cartels. Another is people, innocent people are being killed and kidnapped because they are related to the person the cartels are targeting. I felt a bit disturbed when I saw that the vigilantes by the border are hunting down the cartels but when they run into coyotes they turn them in. I know it is wrong to cross the border but I just had an odd feeling seeing this. I did not like that the drug makers said that if they did not have to do what they do they would have clean jobs but it is not possible and there will always be drug trafficking. This is just another part of the film that I do not agree with and I believe that they do not have to do these things, as if maybe they took the easy way out.

Understanding the Spectrum of Social classes

This week I have been putting my last blog into more thought as I shared it with many of my friends and family members. What I noticed was quite extraordinary to me and it was simply that some readers completely understood and related to what I was talking about -- others did not seem to pick up on the point of what was said. I believe because I am a psychology major that this difference intrigued me quite a bit especially because I felt as if this was a major discovery for myself in my own life. This topic became very important to me as I began to bring it up in more conversations to see the different reactions that I might get. Finally, with my unwritten data, I came to the same friends I originally had this conversation with and further discussed the situation.
I began to tell my friends how odd some of these reactions were that I was receiving: not bad reactions just not understanding. I said how could this be, one of my friends said he had hung out with this large more privileged group of kids a few times and explained to me that they see the world completely different than we do. I had no idea what he was talking about but I wanted to understand so I asked him for an example and he told me he could not explain it that I just had to be there to see. He continued to say that the people that did not understand my blog could be the people from the other side of the spectrum: they do not understand it because they have never experienced anything like it.
I felt desperate to understand what was so different in the way a privileged person might see the world versus someone that is not but my friend could not put it into words. I thought of something that I had experienced that might be similar. I have been buying my college text books online to find them for a lower price and save money because I am well aware that they can be found at a reduced price. I have met three people in a specific class where the text book is about 200 dollars, these people had their text books so I asked where they got it from for I had not bought mine yet. They all said, "at the bookstore" and I asked how much they paid for it thinking there may have been a discount but they paid full price. One of the girls continued to complain about how expensive the books are and I began to inform her she can find them cheaper online, she told me she knew. These people know they can buy these books for less and are complaining about the price but they went and bought the book at full price. Why is this, I began to wonder, could it just be they were to lazy and did not want to wait. My friend said yes that is how some of these people see the world, they have the money for these things and get away with so much and it does not even cause a dent in them. He told me one of his friends parked in an invalid parking spot and his car got towed, when he went to pick up his car he began to yell at the worker. The angry boy said, "How could you do this to me, I am only a teenager, how do you think I will have 200 dollars to pay for this!" my friend was very thrown off by all of this. Once everything was situated he asked his more privileged friend if you knew there was a consequence to parking there so why did you do it and now that you did how are you going to get angry at the man behind the desk for your own error.
This is so interesting to me because I start to realize how different the way and situations people grew up in make them see the world from completely different points of view. Not only this but in some cases these points of view are not understanding to the other sides and this causes ignorance and problems in the world that are so impossible to believe. For example, President Trump has been making some serious decisions that are impacting the lives of certain types of people majorly in a negative way. People say he is crazy to say and do these things, but could it be that he simply does not understand the other side of the spectrum? Could it be that because he was raised as a privileged man with money that he grew up on what could be considered "the better side" of the spectrum and because of this he just does not understand the view of someone less privileged not only in money but race, color, all of these things that create a different point of view.
I am left with many questions about this topic that I am eager to find answers to. I have a drive to go spend time with not only people of the privileged group but also a complete other side of the spectrum, homeless people; to better understand their views and with this I will better understand the differences between groups. I will continue to tell this story to people and gain new thoughts and views for my ultimate goal with this topic is to find a balance and help all sides understand each other.
Thank you for reading my thoughts from outer space. Consider blasting off to space your self, to open your mind as you see the world from far away.

economic status

Last week I had some time to catch up with a few friends that I met back in high school. We began to talk about prom and how there was a friend group who rented out cabins for the prom weekend. Not that it mattered anymore, but I expressed my thoughts on how I had never seen such a large friend group and how it seemed like I never qualified to be in that specific group. I had even had a conversation with a girl that was in that friend group once saying how I felt as if maybe I was just not "cool" enough. As I brought this up one of my friends looked me in the eye with a bit of sorrow and sadly said, "money". At that moment it hit me, how I am always so aware of the economic and social spectrum that I naively never thought to view my own place in it. Yes me along with most of my friends fall in the middle or lower class. But how could this be that because of a piece of paper the world believes so much in, I cannot fit in with a group of people?
The thing is that these people they have nothing against me, they do not hate less wealthy people -- it just happens to be that we do not even get the chance to connect because of this barrier. This realization made me feel a bit sad and upset at the world for being the way it is, but then my friend later said, "Well, sure they get everything handed to them but be grateful because you are much more responsible and you have friends that care". I know this is not always the case but I understood what she meant. The girl I had conversed with months ago about how I was not cool enough, she told me that she enjoys being in the large friend group but that there is a major downside. She said she never gets to talk things out like she had with me that day, that she feels lonely because those friends are not there for her and they talk about the dumbest things that have no meaning.
I applied all this to what is going on in my life today and where I stand among my peers. Last week was my first week at college and I have to say I love it here. Everyone is so focused and in their own bubble to make sure they can be successful in class. I have met a lot of new people so far: people looking for study groups or homework help as well as classmates who just want to be friends. What I have come to see in my first week of college is that here people are not really looking for social or economic class. People here are looking for connections, help, and support-- a place where the mind is far more valuable than a piece of paper.
Thank you for reading my thoughts from outer space and remember you are a star!