A Relevant Example - Part 2

Slightly discouraged, I began to wonder why I cared so much about the budget cuts and others didn’t. The answer requires some background, however, so I’ll start there. I was born and raised in Seattle and its suburbs, and chose to try something completely different by coming to school in northeastern Pennsylvania. I came from an upper class, urbanized society to a middle (to lower-middle) class, rural society. The difference between the cultures in these areas has helped me to discover not only a great deal about myself, but also why people in this area function in the way that they do. And believe me, it took a while to figure that out.

My boyfriend (who is from this area) once mentioned to me the propensity of pregnant girls in his high school – he couldn’t even recall how many there were. My high school had one, in the four years that I was there, and we called her Juno. She was our one and only Juno. I remember discussing this with my mom, and she reminded me, “Well, honey, think about where you are versus where you grew up.”

Trying to understand this as best I could, I thought back to missions trips that my family were involved in when I was younger. It never failed to amaze me that the people we were serving were living in filth and unaware of that fact. And that, while not as extreme of a situation, is what is happening here. The middle and lower-middle class peers of mine who don’t care don’t see a problem with the way that they are being treated, because this is how they are always treated. Well guess what, middle class, you deserve better, and you should stand up and shout it.

At the rally, the student who had organized it told us that he graduated from Reading High School, which has a 68% drop out rate. 68% of its students drop out before graduation! What will happen at that school if half of their budget is cut? How many more of their students will drop out before graduating? If the school has less funding, they will have even less to offer to their students than they do now.

A huge part of embracing your individuality is confidence, and a huge part of finding confidence is expressing things you are passionate about. So get passionate, fellow students! Everyone should have something to be passionate about, even if that passion isn’t anger – as mine is on this topic. Passion stirs motivation, and motivation stirs change. In this situation especially, change is definitely needed.

So here are some words to my peers who are not actively in protest: Everyone has accepted that this is the way that a society should function, but it isn’t. I have been privileged enough in my upbringing to experience true democracy, a true bootstrap-mentality, and truly egalitarian society. The fact that students could walk by the protest ignoring those fighting to keep their tuition at its already outrageous cost is disgusting. The middle class does not have to accept being treated as if they are worth less than the upper and upper middle class. They are as much a part of this nation as the upper and lower class, and they need to recognize that their value as individuals is not determined by the value of their income.

A Relevant Example - Part 1

I apologize for the delay in my second post, but the Pennsylvania public school system has been in a rather tumultuous situation lately, so I have been somewhat distracted. Obviously, I feel the need to blog about it. I have so much to say about the subject, in fact, that I have decided to split it into 2 different posts, so this will be part 1. I will preface by summarizing the situation (for those of you who aren’t aware of what’s going on) as best I can, before tying it in with the main point of this blog in part 2. And yes, I even surprised myself in finding a link between the two. But here it goes.

PA Governor Tom Corbett has proposed up to a 56% budget cut to funding for public schools kindergarten-college. Awful, I know. Read up on it, educate yourselves, and get as passionate on the subject as I am. Anger is a wonderful mode of motivation, as I have discovered: http://wearecentralpa.com/wtaj-news-fulltext?nxd_id=256216&watch=1. After reading up on the details and realizing how greatly this could affect me, I attended a budget meeting hosted by my university’s President last Tuesday, during which he announced that this proposed budget would mean a 32% increase in tuition here. Feel free to check out the details of this budget breakdown at my school: www.kutztown.edu/budget. As an out-of-state student, I’d be paying $28,000 a year. That’s $56,000 for me to finish my last 2 years of school. I wouldn’t be able to afford this increase, even with financial assistance from my father and federal student loans. I already applied to 2 different universities in case I need to transfer, but I don’t have enough words to describe how badly I want to stay at this school, and in the state of Pennsylvania.

Naturally, I’ve been in active protest of this budget, with the hope that it will not be passed. The relevance to the idea of individuality came to me at a student-led rally that I attended last Thursday. I was quite impressed with the turnout of students (especially given the nature of that particular holiday), staff, faculty and community members in protest of the proposed budget, and, honestly, it was a thrill to be a part of such a crowd and feel our combined adrenaline. I couldn’t help glancing around, however, and observing those who weren’t participating. It was upsetting to see how many students passed us by, some smiled or threw a fist in the air but most walked by, barely acknowledging our presence. While this budget effects a vast number of people, it effects no on more than students, and therefore no voice should be louder or stronger on the subject than ours. While reflecting on this later, I did some math. According to the Allentown 69 WFMZ News (who was present at the rally), over 100 people were present. Even if all of those present were students, that would be 1% of my student body that was actively participating in the protest. Less than 1% of my fellow students cared enough to stand in a crowd and cheer for our futures.

Expect Part 2 tomorrow, friends and followers!

An attempt at a definition

Individuality is a difficult word to define, as it can only be defined by the word that makes up most of it: individual. The specific details of the word can only be defined by the expression of an individual’s individuality. But for the sake of a first blog post, I’ll go over some important basics of the word. First of all, individuality is not synonymous with any of the following: originality, peculiarity, proclivity, or actuality (or many similarly ridiculous words that claim synonymy), despite what thesaurus.com may tell you. Sure, these could all be a part of a certain individual’s individuality, but not every individual would use the words original or peculiar to describe themselves, and proclivity and actuality are mere components of an individual’s existence, not necessarily of their individuality.

While searching for a definition that does the word justice, I came upon an interesting part of dictionary.com that I had never noticed before: origins of words. Under the origin for “individuality” it said “individual + ity”. Nothing too exciting. Upon following the link to “individual”, however, I found a more thought-provoking origin. Our word for “individual” is derived from the Latin word “indīvidu”, which means “indivisible”. Not divisible. How inspirational, I think, to know that our word that defines character means that we cannot be separated from ourselves. And how appropriate for a blog where I am encouraging people to embrace who they are! It’s a fact of definition, folks; you can’t be divided from who you really are as an individual.

As far as a concrete definition of the word individuality goes, the most accurate that I found is “the aggregate of one’s idiosyncrasies” (dictionary.com). While it sounds somewhat more complicated than the simpler definitions like “existence as a distinct individual”, I believe that it pins down something important. While it’s hard to define individuality for every individual, we know what it is made up of: our idiosyncrasies. And the aggregate, or combination, of these, is a unique formula for each individual, making a unique personality for every person.

Now in terms of my personal interpretation of the word (as we’ve established that the true definition is different for each individual), I believe that individuality establishes, develops and defines a person. While I believe that individuality is made up of a person’s traits, I do not think that the two are the same. In my personal experiences, I have discovered that certain personality traits can be altered. Practice, for example, can make a dishonest person honest. Individuality, on the other hand, is not something that can be consciously altered like a trait. The result of any changes (or lack thereof) can develop a person, and therefore is a part of their individuality, but I don’t believe that individuality itself can be altered. I, for example, had a number of traits as a child that I am glad to be rid of. I have changed as necessary as I have grown up, but I have always been the same individual that I was 19 years ago. Had I not changed or grown up, I would still be that same individual, for you can’t change yourself. In essence, then, I suppose that I believe that individuality is almost synonymous with soul. Soul is a part of us, and encapsulates what I think are the most important components of individuality to be aware of: it is effecting us and effected by us, and it is unchanging, ever present.