A short post for today:
This week has been hectic because I have a huge paper for my Liberty & Power Class due on Monday and I can't seem to focus and actually get it done... :-/ I'm writing about Gender inequality in Thucydides', Plato's, and Aristotle's writings so you can imagine why it's taking me so long to actually settle down on one idea and rein it in. I guess I could thank my grandmother, great-grandmother, and many other female family members who have instilled upon me some wonderful genes, including a highly opinionated viewpoint when it comes to gender inequality. =D
So anyways, I'm trying to finish that up while at the same time keeping up with the increasing amount of homework and workload for my other classes, especially Italian. I'm pretty sure the right side of my brain is going to explode by the time mid-terms get here in two weeks. I'm craving some differential equations and algebraic expressions right about now..... :(
Important News:
This Monday- While sitting in Italian class, I went to bite at my cuticle as I do every other single day, yet that day, my tooth (which is already partly fake) decided to chip off at the corner. Many emotions ensued afterwards but the important things to know now are: #1) The devil sure is trying hard to throw all that he can into my path and rattle me and trying to make me think I'm without God's peace, but I can tell you he ain't got a chance anymore! At this point he can throw whatever he wants! I'm ready! Bring it on! #2) The tooth will be fixed... soon. That's just a whole other story in itself considering my location....
This weekend- I'm finally going to Chinque Terre! Friday morning bright and early, actually I don't even think the sun is up at this time, but a bunch of the students in this First-Year group that I'm in are heading out of the Florence train station by 6:30 and taking a day trip to "The Five Lands"!! Although we probably won't be relaxing on a beach as was my original plan before I left the homeland, we will be hiking between the islands which hits my sweet spot just as much as the beach!! I'm super-duper excited and can't wait! Expect a nice lengthy journal entry with many photos once I return (and have completed and turned in my Liberty & Power paper....).
Going to work on my paper now!
Ciao!
P.S. It's October!! Which means............ BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH!!!! WOOT WOOT! I challenge my readers to take 5 minutes out to either read an article online about the current issues pertaining to Breast Cancer Reserch and Treatment and Prevention and whatnot or to donate $5 to a Cancer Research cause... Preferrably Relay for Life 'cause they're the bomb.com =D Anyways, giving my little shout out for now! GO DO IT! Or else you'll feel really guilty for not! ;-)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
The issue of Americans binge drinking
I had to write a journal entry for my Freshman Forum class on the issue of American binge drinking and whatnot and I thought it would be something important that I should also share with y'all as well. So here it is:
The issue of American college students binge drinking in foreign countries seems to be the talk of the time right now. It seems that every single week, somehow, somewhere, this topic is brought up. We spent a class day in my Writing class discussing it, one night at the dinner table my host sister brought it up, and on our first few days of being in Italy I took a tally of how many times "drinking" was said during orientation and I gave up after I reached 32.
Being here in Italy has really opened my eyes to how big of a problem binge drinking actually is both nationally and internationally. I was one of a couple of students who worked on a Federally funded coalition over the past four years where our main purpose was making our community aware of the underage usage of drugs and alcohol in Hall county. Having participated in this coalition I would venture to say that I am pretty educated on this topic, or at least more so than many students my age. Yet, while we focused on our individual community and the specific issues at hand there, I never fully realized how widely this problem stretched until I got here in Italy.
I knew before I got here that American students abroad take advantage of the lack of a legal drinking age and tend to go a little crazy, but I never realized that it was having such an impact on the actual Italian community. I was very surprised to hear in my Writing class last week that the Italian government is actually looking at establishing a drinking age because of all the issues that they have had with American students going crazy and the influence of binge drinking the American students are leaving on the Italian youth. This was very shocking to hear and I won't go into how I feel about that but it just goes to show that American college student have a severe issue with binge drinking and they have now made it a part of the "American" reputation as well as made it an issue for the country that is being so generous to host them for however long they are studying.
In our writing class we discussed a lot about why we thought American students do this and why it is such an issue, and the main point that I think we generally all agreed on was that culturally, drinking for Americans is completely different than drinking for Italians. Italians grow up accustomed to having a glass of wine at dinner, and because there aren't as many laws and restrictions about alcohol consumption, they grow up learning to appreciate alcohol for what it is, and not necessarily as just a means to get drunk and "have a good time". I would dare to say that you would not find a sixteen-year-old American who could tell you about the differences between certain wines and that knows how they are made and everything that goes into that process. The youth here in Italy know to respect and appreciate alcohol consumption and it has never been just a way to get drunk for them.
Now, I come from a very rare personal experience growing up, where I was probably one of maybe a dozen students in my graduating class of 280 that had never consumed alcohol. I don't really remember when I knew that I didn't have any desire to drink, but I think what really made me want to stay away from it was seeing my fourteen-year-old friends change drastically the summer before we entered high school because they got involved with alcohol and drugs, and I knew I didn't want to lead that kind of life. Over the next four years I continued to have events and experiences where I was reaffirmed in my lack of desire to have alcohol a part of my life. I saw the bad things it was doing in my friends' lives but I also knew that I could have just as much "fun" being sober and I preferred to actually remember my fun times rather than not having a clue what happened the night before, as was the case for many of my friends. I also didn't agree with breaking the law and how nonchalant many adults in my community were being about this binge drinking problem and I felt that I needed to stand up for my beliefs and how I felt about this issue.
Because I chose not to spend my time going to parties and drinking until I passed out, I was able to fill my free time not only doing things I love, but activities that I can now say put me at an advantage to win the $94,000+ in scholarships that I won this year, with at least $10,000 of that guaranteed renewable each year wherever I attend. Also, just look at where I am writing this right now, and I can gladly say that I have no regrets missing out on a party on the night when I found, researched, and applied for this program. Those kids were too busy spending their time getting wasted on the weekends to even realize that they had opportunities like this out there available to them. Not only do the scholarship money I won and the opportunity I have right now give quite legitimate alternatives to drinking, I also got to spend my free time during the summers (when all the teenagers in my town gather on their boats with their beer coolers and cozies) hiking and exploring some amazing places right in my own backyard in my home state. I got to see some of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen, and I got to participate in activities that allowed me to do things that I never thought I would or could actually do. I spent this past summer learning how to rock climb and not only did I learn more about the use of my body and its abilities, I made some of the best friends I could ask for, and never would have encountered them if I hadn't chosen to make the lifestyle choice that I did.
I could go on for ages about why I think American college students have a problem with binge drinking and I could also give countless personal stories and justifications to alternatives to drinking and having just as much, if not a better time than if alcohol were involved. However, I've given most of my personal opinion and the rest can be saved for a personal discussion with someone. This is always such an interesting topic and I definitely have my particular viewpoints. :)
The issue of American college students binge drinking in foreign countries seems to be the talk of the time right now. It seems that every single week, somehow, somewhere, this topic is brought up. We spent a class day in my Writing class discussing it, one night at the dinner table my host sister brought it up, and on our first few days of being in Italy I took a tally of how many times "drinking" was said during orientation and I gave up after I reached 32.
Being here in Italy has really opened my eyes to how big of a problem binge drinking actually is both nationally and internationally. I was one of a couple of students who worked on a Federally funded coalition over the past four years where our main purpose was making our community aware of the underage usage of drugs and alcohol in Hall county. Having participated in this coalition I would venture to say that I am pretty educated on this topic, or at least more so than many students my age. Yet, while we focused on our individual community and the specific issues at hand there, I never fully realized how widely this problem stretched until I got here in Italy.
I knew before I got here that American students abroad take advantage of the lack of a legal drinking age and tend to go a little crazy, but I never realized that it was having such an impact on the actual Italian community. I was very surprised to hear in my Writing class last week that the Italian government is actually looking at establishing a drinking age because of all the issues that they have had with American students going crazy and the influence of binge drinking the American students are leaving on the Italian youth. This was very shocking to hear and I won't go into how I feel about that but it just goes to show that American college student have a severe issue with binge drinking and they have now made it a part of the "American" reputation as well as made it an issue for the country that is being so generous to host them for however long they are studying.
In our writing class we discussed a lot about why we thought American students do this and why it is such an issue, and the main point that I think we generally all agreed on was that culturally, drinking for Americans is completely different than drinking for Italians. Italians grow up accustomed to having a glass of wine at dinner, and because there aren't as many laws and restrictions about alcohol consumption, they grow up learning to appreciate alcohol for what it is, and not necessarily as just a means to get drunk and "have a good time". I would dare to say that you would not find a sixteen-year-old American who could tell you about the differences between certain wines and that knows how they are made and everything that goes into that process. The youth here in Italy know to respect and appreciate alcohol consumption and it has never been just a way to get drunk for them.
Now, I come from a very rare personal experience growing up, where I was probably one of maybe a dozen students in my graduating class of 280 that had never consumed alcohol. I don't really remember when I knew that I didn't have any desire to drink, but I think what really made me want to stay away from it was seeing my fourteen-year-old friends change drastically the summer before we entered high school because they got involved with alcohol and drugs, and I knew I didn't want to lead that kind of life. Over the next four years I continued to have events and experiences where I was reaffirmed in my lack of desire to have alcohol a part of my life. I saw the bad things it was doing in my friends' lives but I also knew that I could have just as much "fun" being sober and I preferred to actually remember my fun times rather than not having a clue what happened the night before, as was the case for many of my friends. I also didn't agree with breaking the law and how nonchalant many adults in my community were being about this binge drinking problem and I felt that I needed to stand up for my beliefs and how I felt about this issue.
Because I chose not to spend my time going to parties and drinking until I passed out, I was able to fill my free time not only doing things I love, but activities that I can now say put me at an advantage to win the $94,000+ in scholarships that I won this year, with at least $10,000 of that guaranteed renewable each year wherever I attend. Also, just look at where I am writing this right now, and I can gladly say that I have no regrets missing out on a party on the night when I found, researched, and applied for this program. Those kids were too busy spending their time getting wasted on the weekends to even realize that they had opportunities like this out there available to them. Not only do the scholarship money I won and the opportunity I have right now give quite legitimate alternatives to drinking, I also got to spend my free time during the summers (when all the teenagers in my town gather on their boats with their beer coolers and cozies) hiking and exploring some amazing places right in my own backyard in my home state. I got to see some of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen, and I got to participate in activities that allowed me to do things that I never thought I would or could actually do. I spent this past summer learning how to rock climb and not only did I learn more about the use of my body and its abilities, I made some of the best friends I could ask for, and never would have encountered them if I hadn't chosen to make the lifestyle choice that I did.
I could go on for ages about why I think American college students have a problem with binge drinking and I could also give countless personal stories and justifications to alternatives to drinking and having just as much, if not a better time than if alcohol were involved. However, I've given most of my personal opinion and the rest can be saved for a personal discussion with someone. This is always such an interesting topic and I definitely have my particular viewpoints. :)
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