Blog Post #4

Last week was fun, I enjoyed being able to be part of the debate. I have to say this is the most I have spoken in a class, which is great I really love it. We all seem to be getting more comfortable with each other, so we don’t have the fear of speaking up. Afterwards, we all broke up into groups to break apart pieces of the reading. I thought this was great because it made some points in the reading a little more clear for me. I’m sure it was helpful for everyone. Being in this class overall has been a really an eye opener for me. I find myself discussing topics that I feel very strongly about. I even talk about this stuff at home and with my friends. I usually get the “what the heck” look from people that I normally speak to because this is new to them. My usual conversations didn’t consist of what I read, learned, or did at school before. It’s great!

I enjoyed the article by Hurtado. I could relate when it spoke about latino/a student not applying after high school for college. It discusses about how the students were possibly not prepped for it. Honestly, I can say that I had no preparation in high school for college. My mother had gone to community college so I at least knew about that, but as far as the process of applying for a university and financial aid, I was completely clueless so I never applied. If I would have had more information I probably would have. I got all the information I needed finally when I was in community college. My counselor motivated me and showed me what I needed to get done in order to transfer and how to apply.

Reading the Torres article, was nice. I’m sure everyone could relate. It almost felt like reading a blog post because It was very personal and I enjoyed reading the struggles. I do agree that it it hard to understand a persons culture and it should be taken into account when it comes to providing their needs. Even though my parents fully support me being in school I’ve had my share of times where my father has said I just need work not school because I need insurance. He has been hardworking all his life and has the typical outlook of machismo. Women need to be at home to take care of their man.

The Chang reading I found interesting because honestly, I have been guilty of thinking that Asians have always been the most successful and I never really thought about their struggles. I would jokingly say “it’s cause he/she is asian”. I even do that in terms of dancing too. Makes me feel stupid for saying that. I take all of that back!