Social Change

Taking this class has been the first Sociology class I have taken in college and wow has it been an experience. I would have never known there was so much to society and how complex it is. I always believed everything happens because it happens but I have learned that there is an explanation for what occurs in our lives. There is a reason for why we choose to do things, which is interesting to learn about. The reading that we read by Michael Schwalbe has influenced me very much because of his thoughts. To be “sociological mindful” is to see and appreciate it’s unique qualities as a thinking and feeling being. I went day by day being ignorant of my surroundings because I really didn’t care. However now I am more mindful of what is going around me and paying attention to anything that stands out to me in society. My mind is always wondering about things and asking myself questions for anything in society that is unclear to me. I acknowledge the qualities of everything because that is what makes unique happen. If one does not recognize values and qualities, one will never understand and acknowledge. By doing so, I have always found out that everything is related and connects to one another. In some way everything ties in together to make society effective, which one can understand if one is mindful.

Besides making this small everyday change to stop, see, and appreciate qualities; on the bigger part, something I have learned is to be part of bigger changes in my community or the world. After learning the struggles people had to go through in our past due to their race and gender made me wonder of what they had to go thought to make a change. I learned all the struggles and obstacles people in our past had to go through to make change, which gives me the ambition to go out and change the world myself. There is injustice in our society still going on which needs to change because after all these years it is not right for it to still be going on. Such things like racism, sexism, and not allowing gays to marry. I am now paying attention to any opportunities that come my way to help make change in society and world. I want to be a part of any movements in our society that will make our world a better place to live and strive to give our future generations a better life. I will make social change!

Social Change

Taking this class has been the first Sociology class I have taken in college and wow has it been an experience. I would have never known there was so much to society and how complex it is. I always believed everything happens because it happens but I have learned that there is an explanation for what occurs in our lives. There is a reason for why we choose to do things, which is interesting to learn about. The reading that we read by Michael Schwalbe has influenced me very much because of his thoughts. To be “sociological mindful” is to see and appreciate it’s unique qualities as a thinking and feeling being. I went day by day being ignorant of my surroundings because I really didn’t care. However now I am more mindful of what is going around me and paying attention to anything that stands out to me in society. My mind is always wondering about things and asking myself questions for anything in society that is unclear to me. I acknowledge the qualities of everything because that is what makes unique happen. If one does not recognize values and qualities, one will never understand and acknowledge. By doing so, I have always found out that everything is related and connects to one another. In some way everything ties in together to make society effective, which one can understand if one is mindful. Besides making this small everyday change to stop, see, and appreciate qualities. One the bigger part, something I have learned is to be part of bigger changes in my community or the world. After learning the struggles people had to go through in our past due to their race and gender made me wonder of what they had to go thought to make a change. I learned all the struggles and obstacles people in our past had to go through to make change, which gives me the ambition to go out and change the world myself. There is injustice in our society still going on which needs to change because after all these years it is not right for it to still be going on. Such things like racism, sexism, and not allowing gays to marry. I am now paying attention to any opportunities that come my way to help make change in society and world. I want to be a part of any movements in our society that will make our world a better place to live and strive to give our future generations a better life. I will make social change!

T.O.U.C.Ch Volunteer Service

I am so glad I had the opportunity to volunteer for the T.O.U.C.Ch program because it definitely opened my mind bigger then it already is and made me mindful of things that I was not aware of in the past. I mostly helped out with the night classes where we went to Watsonville and tutored adults with English. Aside from me helping them with their English, they taught me how to be more appreciate of what I have. I learned their lifestyle and what they had to go through to be where they are at today. Some of them got really personal with me because they were comfortable with me and told me how their lives were at that point, which I appreciate. I was amazed with all the hard work they showed to learn English and the hard work they used to tell me out in the fields. What really stood out to me was the fact that they can only live there for the season and have to move 50 miles away from the site in order to be considered a migrant worker. I can only imagine how it is to be constantly moving from place to place, very uncomfortable and not the ideal lifestyle one would like to live. However I look up to them for the commitment to live a better life. I also think about the children and the hardships they have to go through to stay educated, if they are moving from place to place then they do not have a stable education environment since they have to be moving school. Therefore I was more than happy to help out these families with whatever was needed because I look up to them for never giving up, no matter what the obstacles are. I seen they all had ambition to learn English so they can have better opportunities in the future and strive to something better. This program has definitely made an impact in my life and I will stay connected with the program for future projects because this project was awesome!

Social Class

Social class depends in the area in which you are located. For example malls is a place where one can see what social class is in the area. I was in Los Angeles to visit family and friends about a month ago and stopped by the Beverly Center which is located in Beverly Hills. Stores such as: A|X Armani Exchange, Bloomingdale's, Burberry, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc is what the mall consists of. I decided to choose that shopping center because I feel like the Beverly Center is a representation of the majority of Southern California. Lets not ignore the various working class neighborhoods in LA such like Compton, Inglewood, and East Los Angeles where malls in those areas tend to be influenced by the working class population. The Beverly Center is beautiful and glamorous all around over all. The reason why is because of the area where it is located in, Beverly Hills is a highly wealthy area to live in. Many famous people live in that neighborhood and around that area as well which makes it a wealthy expensive area since famous people are extremely rich. So therefore the malls around there are expected to represent what kind of people live around there. The inside of the mall is very sheik and modern; it is extremely well taken care of and clean. The kinds of people who are mostly seen at the Beverly Center are high class and wealthy people, which the stores are designed to target. The stores are pretty pricey with limited chances of there being sales. The stores try to portray the glamorous look by having their stores with a plethora of lighting and space. All the stores are bigger than usual to fulfill the lifestyle of many wealthy people.

The first individual who stood out to me who had “status markers” that indicated she was rich was a lady in her mid 30s that was carry a Louis Vuitton bag on her forearm and was very well dressed. Louis Vuitton bags are not cheap, they are highly expensive so one can conclude if you can afford a $1,000-$5,000 bag then you must have money. Her posture and appearance also showed she was part of the high class, especially because she was wearing some really high high-heels. However what really demonstrated to me that she was wealthy was that she was walking into the Louis Vuitton Store, which demonstrated she had potential, and probably the spending power to purchase another expensive bag.

The second individual who also stood out to me who had “status markers” that indicated she was rich was an older lady who was wearing big black Prada sunglasses. This showed she was glamorous and showed a sign of trying to show they are too good and better than others. It showed she was not paying attention to anyone else but herself. Many wealthy people let their wealth get to them because they believe money is everything. Not only was she wearing expensive sunglasses in the mall, she was also walking around with her car keys dangling from her fingers. The car keys happen to be for a Mercedes Benz, which concluded she was rich.

The last individual who lastly stood out to me who had “status markers” that indicated he was part of the upper class was a white older male who was sitting with his legs crossed and talking on his iPhone. I was curious to know what his conversation was about so I sat next to him to hear what he was talking about; He was talking to a client about calling his office to schedule a consultation appointment. Since it was a consultation appointment probably meant he was a plastic surgeon. He face was almost perfect which showed he had probably had some plastic surgery done he. Surgeons obviously are rich and he demonstrated that by crossing his legs. Crossing his legs indicated that he has class and is very elegant. His posture as well helped me come to this conclusion. Body language can tell a lot about the class of an individual and his body language showed he was part of the upper class due to his occupation of being a plastic surgeon.

These three individual definitely represented what LA is mainly thought of, rich and glamorous but what can be misleading assuming about their indexes and what must be considered for them having those expensive items is they are probably in debit or the items are fake.

The Beverly Center is definitely an upper class shopping center where many rich people go to shop and show off their expensive things. The similarity I seen in all three individuals I observed was they were skinny and seem well-taken care. All three of the individuals also had great, excellent posture. However I also seen that those who are not as wealthy as the majority of people at the mall, try to live up to their lifestyle by having expensive things not matter what the factors are. Many people try to live up to the glamorous and extravagant lifestyle that many famous and rich individuals portray to society of what rich and glamorous is.

Gender

I am a male and that is my gender. Society puts a gender label on everyone based on how they act, masculine or feminine. There are certain things that males do that are considered masculine, and there are certain things that females do that are considered feminine. Being a member of a gender group brings both advantages and disadvantages.

Some advantages that I have found being a male is many people in society tend to have more trust in you. I feel like people would rather have the male get the job done than women. I believe people feel more confident when a male is doing something because I think the reason behind that is males are seen as leaders and powerful. Due to the masculinity role that males have to fulfill, males are seen as strong leaders, which therefore people feel a sense of protection from anything. Since males are the ones in power, people think that nothing will go wrong since people also think that males are smarter than females. For example, in the past history of the presidents of the United States of America, all of our presidents have been males. There has been no female president yet because Americans would rather have a male run our country than a woman due to the different valuable aspects that men carry in our society. The reason behind that is because Americans trust males over females. Therefore I believe being a male is an advantage because of how society values the male gender.

Some disadvantages that I have found being a male is many people tend to rely on males too much. Since males have priority and do not have to prove themselves to society, society expects a lot from males. Sure every male loves all the advantages there is being a male in this society, but society over well us with the power given being a male. People sometimes give us too many responsibilities because they believe since we are males we can do anything and everything since we are so strong and powerful. Its over welling to males when we get the exaggeration of expectation from the public because we are not perfect and can not handle EVERYTHING just because we are male. I understand society tend to think that way about males since we are expected to be so masculine, however many males are less masculine then what society expects us to be.

I think my life would be significant different if i was born in another gender because there would be different expectations for me to fulfill by society. If I was born as a women I feel I would try to make a difference among femininity . The reason is, due to how females have been seen in past and present history, I would try to do the opposite of what society expects women to be. I would be a strong leader in anything where I can have a higher position than males to prove males wrong. I would put the statement, "Whatever males can do, females can do better" into action!

Race

Through out our past history, racism has existed and I believe it still exists. Not as severe as before but there still are racist acts committed everyday or acts that make people conscious of their race. I am a young Latino man, half Mexican and half Honduran. I do not face constant acts that makes me conscious of my race everyday but there are times where I do not feel confident of myself due to my race. I attended Evergreen Valley High School my senior year where I took a Calculus class. My math classes have always been diverse since middle school, however the higher my math classes were, the less peers I would see that were my same race. I was the only Latino in my Calculus class senior year. Everyone else in my class was either White or Asian. My teacher was even Asian so I was really the only Latino in class. I definitely stood out in class but not in the right way.

Everyone seemed to have some connection with each other except me, however I was not looking for making friends in that class, I was there to learn and pass the class. I had a lot of ambition and determination to pass my class no matter what obstacles I was going to face. An obstacle I had to overcome in that class was racial issues. I am a very active student that seeks for help when needed. Whenever I was struggling with something in class I would always ask for help, however my teacher would always tend to focus more on other students and take his time on helping them then me. I used to have to wait almost full class periods to get his attention to help me and when I did get his attention it would be rushed and not explained right. Even though I would go to his office hours or after school, there would still be other students there asking for his help and the same routine would play again. I was a struggle to get my teacher to understand I was serious about my grade in my class and that I was different. I believe the reason why he wouldn’t take me serious was primarily because of the stereotypes my race holds. My race is not known for the qualities that I was trying to portray in class.

Therefore the teacher probably assumed I was like everyone else in my race. I still do not understand why he didn’t see me different since I was always looking and asking for help. A lot had to do with my race. This obviously made me conscious of my race because I was seeing my race was the dominant impression of me and not for the qualities I had. I started to think that my grade in class was going to be based on assumptions about my race. That was the obstacle I faced in class, being conscious of my race. However I turned that into motivation to strive as hard as I can to pass the class. I looked and found help outside of class because I gave up on the teacher and passed the class with a B+ 86%. I hope I left an impression on the teacher and made him think differently of my race. Since the experienced I had in that class has made me stronger and proud of my race because I feel like I should be part of making a difference in my race.

Deviant behavior out of hand

"Charlottesville Police have charged 22-year-old University of Virginia student George Huguely with first-degree murder in the death of another UVA lacrosse student, 22-year-old Yeardley Love." -CBS News

Last monday a young lady was found dead and whose body showed signs of physical trauma. The young college lacrosse student was physically abused and later killed by her ex-boyfriend, George Huguely. I am not sure what lead to her death but I know that the murderer was her ex-boyfriend. Her murderer was her ex-boyfriend so that demonstrates what happened was due to a fault that the ex-couple had in the past. The young man probably did not know how to resolve the problem but to use violence and kill his ex-girlfriend. This is obviously a kind of risky and deviant behavior because now the young man is going to prison and serve a lot of time for killing a human being.

This is obviously not the first murder case society has heard or seen about because situations like these have been occurring our whole lives. There are many ways that people deal with their problems. Some release their problems by doing things to avoid thinking about their problems, others like to face and deal with the problem and solve it, and others just get too frustrated and like to completely eliminate the problem. An example of that is using violence. Due to the media and news, we can see that many in society use violence as a problem solver.

My interpretation of why people use violence is because they feel and believe that there is no other solution but to kill those who are causing the problem. There are many reasons for why those individuals murder others. It can be due to jealously, envy, etc. Murderers think they earn respect from killing, however it does completely the opposite. Those who kill other human beings are the cowards in society because they were not strong and brave enough to face the problem with the other individual to resolve the problem. A murderer's perspective is completely different from the average human being. Those who kill do not get the point that destiny is what takes the life away from others, not them. Violent crimes can also come from the past that individuals live. Some live miserable loveless lives and have been suffering through-out their whole life that leads them to kill. The frustration and confusion of their past is what makes them feel like they have nothing to lose.

Society does not accept deviant behavior like these because there are major consequences if one commits a crime, it can even cost their own life.

Group Settings

After reading Schwalbe, I started to recognize how "Group Think" influences many people to make decisions based on the type of group they are surrounded with or trying to be a part of. I interviewed three people who chose to remain anonymous about a time when they regretted a decision or behavior that they engaged in as part of a certain group.

The first individual I interviewed was my mom. My mother got pregnant with my brother at the age of 18, the summer after her graduation. She had the ambition to attend college and receive a degree to have a career and have better opportunities for her future. However she did not have the best kind of friends to influence her. The "road" to go after high school for her friends was not to go to college, instead to get pregnant. All her friends will tell her to get pregnant after high school to have the easy way out in life. They used to tell her that if she gets pregnant, she will have a baby's father that will be forced to support her and the child, basically just be a housewife. Many of her friends already had children so they used to tell her about all the benefits of being a mom and they would rather be a mother then having to still be a student after high school. My mother says she always wanted kids but wished she could of waited until after college to be able to raise a child with a career. It was a risky decision for her to make to have a child at a young age because she was not aware of the hardships of raising a child and having to support the child without the father's support. She later realized that those "friends" she had in high school suddenly disappeared and just wanted to make her life complicated since their life's were complicated and hard already. My brother became my mom's focus in life and I learned from her that "friends" do not always give the best advice. One must be very careful with how "friends" are trying to influence you, it is not always for the good.

The second individual I interviewed was my cousin. She also used to hang out with the wrong kind of group in high school that influenced her to make risky and dangerous decisions. Her friends used to ditch school in the mornings to go smoke at a house. One day she as well decided to follow her friends to do what they were doing. Her friends will tell her how fun it is and how it is better than being bored at school. My cousin was risking a lot but was convinced since a lot of her friends were doing the same and they never got in trouble by anyone. She was risking getting caught by the school and/or her mother. Not only risking of getting caught but putting her health at risk too. It was her first time smoking weed so she was not aware of all the health consequences that go along with smoking. That was not going through her mind though at the time since she was well convinced by her friends.

The third individual I interviewed was my friend. He comes from a rough family background. His family are all gang members and influence him to do decisions that most of the time he does not want to do. He did not really have the choice if he wanted to be a gang member or not since his family influenced him at such a young age. He grew up thinking it was right but as he started to mature and grow up, he started to realize what his family had made him do. He realized the negative influence his family was to him and how it was affecting his life. Being a gang member runs a risky life. All day, everyday day they are being faced with a threat from the opposite gang so therefore the are at risk of a dangerous,deadly consequence. My friend has been trying to get out of the gang but has been really hard for him since his whole family is involved and it will be seen as betraying his entire family.

Everyone gets influenced by a certain group everyday, however it is up to the individual to decide what type of group he/she want to get influenced by. I strongly believe that one should not try to fit into a certain group to get advice and be influenced, instead one should stand OUT!

The Automobile

Cultural objects surround us every day that tell us a lot about our society and have a significant meaning behind it. An automobile is a metal based object that comes in different colors and styles. It has windows to roll up and down and lights to see in the dark. Inside there are seats for the driver and passengers, air conditioning, and the radio. We often see these objects going down the street to a destination. There are many uses for the automobile but for me; it is a form of transportation. However for many individuals the usage of the automobile is used as a form of luxury because those who are wealthy own several of cars, more than they need. This illustrates that people in today's U.S. society use the automobile as a label. Those people use the automobile to show society the status in which they are in society, "Who has the best and most expensive car in the block." Henry Ford was the first who produced an automobile that was affordable for the American, Model T. He transformed the automobile from a luxury toy to a mainstay of American society. Even in the past, an automobile was a form of luxury but changed into a form of transportation since it was affordable for almost all Americans. I believe that the automobile in the future will advance severely and sooner than later I strongly feel automobiles will be able to fly like airplanes, not as high but be lifted off the ground. I come to this analysis based on how far technology is advancing in our society. The automobile is not only a source of transportation and luxury but an aspect of social life. When people ride with others in a car, it brings a type of communication because besides the radio playing, the people in the car are obviously going to talk to each other and bond closer than with who they are not riding in the car with. The people in the same car are all going to the same location so it connects them closer. There are values behind the automobile. Owning and driving an automobile represents responsibility in the U.S. culture because it demonstrates the person owning and driving a car is mature enough to be careful and hold the responsibility of putting other people’s lives at risk by driving. The car does exist in other countries but mainly as a form of transportation, not like the U.S. However in many countries people cannot afford the automobile so it is very looked-up to in other countries if someone owns a car. The urge and necessity of the automobile is essential in any society on the planet. However we should consider the consequences of usage of the automobile, global warming.

Indexes

Micheal Schwalbe, chapter 3 of TSEL, discusses the term index. An index is a social symbol for social conditions. Society often tends to observe individuals and interpret what their status, taste, class, etc can be. To be "sociological mindful" one needs to see that an index brings social meaning behind everyday situations in society. For example in my community a lot of Mexican ice cream men on foot pass around my neighborhood selling ice cream, chips, and fruit pushing a cart around. The men often seem tired and exhausted from being under the sun and on foot all day. I have not seen one of these ice cream men passing around more high income areas. The reason why I believe they are seen most in low income areas is because people in that community can afford the items sold by the ice cream man since it might be difficult to purchase, for example ice cream, elsewhere like at a grocery store or a ice cream shop. There are also more people living in those communities so it is more beneficiary to sell there than in areas where it is more decent and quiet (high income areas). Another example of an index in my community is graffiti on walls and fences. There is a variety of graffiti writing through out my community that are mainly gang related. This indicates it is an area where young individuals do not have anything better to do so they have the time to make a mess in the community. A lot of these kids maybe do not have the opportunity to be successful in school due to the lack of education given in school in low income areas so they turn to gangs to feel useful. Graffiti is also a sign of disrespect and a sign that those who are responsible of the graffiti in the area are careless of where they live. It brings a view that the area is dysfunctional since the community has failed to educated to those in need of getting educated better to know that graffiti is not right.

My Introduction

Hello everyone,

I am Jose Mejia and I am 19 years old. My major is Psychology and minoring in Communications. I just transferred from UC Riverside to De Anza this Spring quarter. I plan on transferring back to UCR or to Long Beach State when i finish my general aid. I am outgoing and love to stay active. My hobbies is going to the gym, swimming, and dancing. I like to try new things because I am very open minded to anything. I enjoy learning new things to expand my knowledge. What I hope to get out of this Honors course is to learn and be aware of social challenges since I have not taken a Sociology class before. I have always wanted to be part of an organization to help the community but have never had the chance so I believe this is a great opportunity to get involved with TOUCH. We will both benefit greatly. I am very easy to talk to so please do not be afraid because I love meeting new people. I am really excited to take this course!