Blog post 4

In last week’s class we started with an activity  that Julian provided us with questions that really made us use our critical thinking skills. The questions we received were questions that i  have never really thought about and really made me think “what if” any of these really did happen how would i come about to solve them? The question me and my group received was what would you do if you worked hard but did not succeed at the end of a goal, everyone had a different idea about how to react. But Julian gave us a really good example of the weight brothers i believe they were called something like that and how even though they were not college or high school graduates they managed to become successful , this was very inspirational especially because i never knew about them. The point was in the end that no matter what happens in life get back up and finish what you started no matter the situation that gets in your way or what others say. The next part of the class was the debate on affirmative action i feel i am still undecided on what side i am in, when we were divided into groups i was feeling nervous. Eventually my group lost because we lacked evidence to back us up, but the other group did a really good job Scott had a really good opening statement. In the long run i was more confused because each side had pros and cons.

This weeks readings were focused mainly on Latino and Asian students and the difficult situations both face in higher education. My favorite was probably the article by Vasti Torres called mi casa is not exactly like your house the title itself got my attention because i can relate to what he is referring too . I was very surprised as i read and found out that Latinos have the lowest completion rate of all college students only 32 percent finish. But most importantly how acculturation can really affect Latinos in achieving higher education especially because Anglo is very different from the Latino culture.For example, for me the parental expectations in my family and the desire to please my parents really connected to me because i strive because they have sacrificed their lives in order for me to have it easier. But as the article also mentions they want you to succeed but at the same time don’t understand why we need to study so much because it is just a different culture from what they grew up from. This article really connected with the one called creating a climate of inclusion this article i have to say  more teachers should get their hands on it it really explained how simple measures can change a students life like institutions striving to create diverse programs.The last article made me realize discrimination still happens and it is real and not just to Latinos and African Americans .