Colbert Report

I watched the video about Migrant Workers. In his videos he talks about problems but makes jokes about them. He approaches them in a funny way and they are really funny to watch too. In the migrant worker video he goes on a farm and works with the farmers. He does funny things and it also shows that what they are doing isn't very exciting and isn't something that many people love to do.

Fallback Position - Migrant Worker Pt. 2

Media making people think that being extremely thin is "beautiful"

Many teenage girls are very concerned about their appearance. They want to have the best clothes, nicest hair, prettiest faces, and they want to have nice skinny bodies. Its okay to not want to be overweight, and want to exercise and eat healthy. But many girls go way to far with the dieting and everything that they just end up starving themselves. What is making these girls think that to be pretty they need to be unnaturally skinny? And the answer to that is, models. Teen girls love to look at magazines. In these magazines there are tons of girls modeling clothes, swimwear and under garments, and it just so happens to be that all of these girls are super skinny. So when girls are reading these magazines and they are seeing all of these photos of what these magazine editors consider "beautiful women", the young girls want to look like that too. The other sad thing though is that some of these models actually don't have the perfect bodies that you are seeing in the pictures. A lot of it is just editing. Many of the girls dont have the perfect smooth skin, the tight tummies, the golden bronze skin, or the stick thin legs. The editors use a thing called airbrushing, and they could make anybodys body look that perfect. But they are sending out the message that this is what beautiful is, so it is causing the young girls who dont look that way, to hurt themselves to become a beautiful that isn't really all that beautiful.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-09-25-thin-models_x.htm

Events that have changed me

1. One night when I was over at my aunts house my aunt asked if I would watch my 3 year old cousin while her and my mom went out to dinner. It was only for a couple hours but they wanted to see if I would be able to handle it. I had so much fun playing with him and my aunt thought I did a really good job and she had me babysit every now and then. Then after about a year of just babysitting for a couple hours every now and then she asked me if I would want to watch him and two of his friends every day for the summer. I did and it was so much fun and I realized how much I enjoyed being around kids! I did that for two summers and then I had to move. Once we moved my mom got a teaching job at the Catholic elementary school and mentioned to some of the parents that I babysat. A couple families called me and had me babysit every now and then and then one family asked me to be a nanny for their daughter over the summer, and I did it for two years. I have enjoyed becoming close to all of the kids that I have babysat and from all of the experiences I have had it has really made me want to become a teacher.


2. When you're a teenage girl at one point in time you will experience a mean girl situation. I was the "victim" of one when I was in seventh grade. There were two girls and then a few followers who just tried to tear me apart, and sadly one of them was a girl who had been my best friend since we were really little and she just completely, all of a sudden, turned against me. These girls would try do anything to make me upset. They would make up rumors about me and then would try turn people against me. It was really hard because the girl that I was friends with was pretty much the only person I hung out with so when all of this was happening I was alone and had no one to talk to. Eventually it got to the point where it was so bad that the assistant principal asked if I wanted to press charges but I didn't want to because I thought it would just make it worse for me. So instead I thought about switching middle schools. After a while I started becoming friends with other girls, and even though the mean girls were still going after me it didn't seem to bother me anymore and I decided not to switch schools because I didn't want them to think that they won. Ever since then I feel that I am a lot stronger and to not let stupid girls and rumors get to me.

3.  When I was a freshman in high school my parents broke the news to me that our family was moving. When they told me I was extremely sad and I did not want to leave. I was loving high school because I had a bad middle school experience and I was finally away from those girls and all of it, so I wasn't very happy that I was going to have to start all over again! The first couple weeks at my new school were extremely tough. I cried a lot, faked sick all the time, my grades were the worst they have ever been, and I was just really homesick. But then I decided if I wanted to make friends and make the best of it the easiest thing to do was to go out for a sport. I ended up going out for soccer and that was the best thing for me. I met a lot of girls that I really liked and after about a month I felt really comfortable. From the move I learned to be more outgoing and try to be involved with things because then you will meet more people. Now I love Sioux City and I am very happy that I moved. I still keep in touch with a few people back home but not many.

What defines me?

  The things that I like to do, and the people who I surround myself with is what defines me. I love working with kids and I have always wanted to be a teacher. I interned at an elementary school this past year and I have been a nanny for the past 5 summers and I enjoy it very much. I am also very into art. I love to draw and do artistic things, but unfortunately I cannot take any art classes at USD because its too time consuming and I am not going to be majoring in it.
  I love to have fun and hang out with friends. I spend most of time with my boyfriend and I have a lot of fun spending time with him. He's going to Morningside in Sioux City so I still get to spend time with him even though we are both away at college. My family is another thing that defines me. We aren't the kind of family that spends a lot of time together or that gets along all the time, but we still love each other very much and would be there for one another no matter what happens.