Community Service: Operation Snowball

Last week, I went on a school trip called Operation: Snowball. This is a stress free weekend for students. I started going my freshman year because my sister used to go every year, and she talked me into it. Although, this year, I was a teen staff member. Being a staff member meant a lot to me because it gave me a new perspective of Snowball. Also, it gave me a ton of community service hours, but since it was through school, it only counted as four of my community service hours.
This weekend involved a lot of group work and team building activities. As a staff member leading a small group, we had to bring a group of students through five stages of group dynamics. At first they weren't all that comfortable with one another, but as the weekend progressed, they became closer. Now, they are all friends. This made me think of how people interact in society. When a person first meets another person, they do not fully trust that person immediately. As people get to know each other more, they become more comfortable and trustworthy with one another.
In the first picture, we were outside doing some group activities. The small group had to work together in order to keep the platform balanced. The second picture shows all of the people that went on the trip eating lunch together.

     This week in class, we got assigned a project. We have to keep track of the amount of money we spend everyday. Today so far, I personally have not spent any money. Although, Ms. Brownstone told us to be aware of the things we use because everything costs money. I am being mindful of this. For example, when I straightened my hair this morning, I realized that I actually spent my own money on my hair straightener. Also, using water even costs money, such as showering or even going to the bathroom. I didn't even realize this until it was actually said out loud.
     A couple of people in my class and I were talking about how everyone in the world bases their life off of how much money one has. How much money you have determines what class you are in and how you spend your life. We talked about how sociology is th emost relevant class to life that you can take. In another project that we are doing, we have to make a situation of a middle class family. We learned how to manage money and to most of the world, that is the most important factor in life. These projects made me more mindful of how people spend money and how much they spend based on how much they have and how they live.

Family socialization project

     Family socialization in my family, for the most part, is pretty traditional. I interviewed my mom. She always expected the best for me. She did not expect me to be perfect, however. She said that as long as I try my best in whatever I do, then she will be proud. She believes in the value that nobody is perfect. Being happy was a big thing that she wanted for me. Also, me being healthy was a very important factor in my life. My older sister, Meagan, had a lot of health issues when she was a baby. Cancer was the main problem. She found out that my sister had eye cancer right about the time that she found out she was pregnant with my older brother, Eric. She was even more so worried about Eric having health problems. This didn't really surprise me because I feel like every parent would be concerned about their child's health. I asked a lot about comparing me to my brother and sister, and her response rather surprised me. She said that she was shocked that us three kids all turned out so different, although we do have some similarities that connect us.
     Some values she expected me to have is to be kind, fair, and to be self-confident. She really cared about me being a good human being in general. There were also some traditions that my mom expected me to carry on. She wants the tradition of family to follow through. The whole family being there for each other was a very important tradition for us to follow, and, of course, celebrating holidays and milestones the way that our family celebrates them is to be carried on.
     My parents recognized some personality traits of mine. They really like my sense of humor, my need to be independent, and my willingness to help others. I agree with them because I love to be independent and I really love helping others out with whatever they need. I asked my mom about what she was surprised with and not surprised with about me. She was surprised how athletic I am because my parents weren't quite into sports as I am now. They were not surprised, however, with my musical talent because my dad and my two older siblings are also very musical. Although my parents expected me to do well in life, they did not expect me to be perfect. My mom told me that "I really couldn't care less if you get straight C's in school, as long as I see you trying your hardest. I will always be proud of you."

This week in sociology

This past weekend, we were assigned to do nothing for ten minutes. At first, I thought this was a tad strange. On Sunday, my family and I went to a flee market. It was a huge area and was relatively crowded. I stood towards the edge of the place, and I just did nothing. Some people looked at me, and some people gave me some confusing looks. No one approached me or asked me what I was doing, and I previously told my family about the assignment. Most people ignored me. They could have been thinking in their heads that maybe I was waiting for someone or that I was just standing there for no apparent reason. This ten minute period seemed like it was about an hour. It was a very long ten minutes. I didn't realize that being unoccupied makes time feel longer, especially if I wasn't allowed to do anything. Usually, if I am told not to do something, it makes me want to do that even more. If I were to be doing something productive during those ten minutes, it would have gone by quicker. I kept wanting to check my phone or go on twitter or something, but I couldn't during this experiment. Usually, if I feel somewhat awkward during a situation, like I did during this ten minutes, I would take out my phone to avoid the uncomfortable situations surrounding me. This experiment was a lot harder than I had expected it to be.