I lift my lamp beside the golden door...

We donʼt realize how lucky we are to be living in America. A lot of adults I know have family who have struggled to get their members to America - or they themselves have struggled to get here. My mom, who is from the Philippines, probably wouldn't have been able to get into this country if she had not met my dad (an American man). EVERYONE, and I mean everyone in the Philippines is craving to live in the land of freedom. And they love us too! My friend, whom I drive to school everyday is100% Bosnian as well as the rest of her family. Her parents have gone over hurdles and more to come to America to give their children more opportunity they can ever dream of. And as far as I know, theyʼre doing the best they can with what they have while the father works 2 jobs.

I have a cousin who lives in the Philippines; sheʼs 16 years old and was in a pageant not too long ago. A lot of girls get money for being in a pageant that they put towards their career plans. And 12 out of the 16 competing girls wanted to go into Nursing. But only for one reason: because that is the only career for girls who live in the Philippines that give them the opportunity to go to America. (because of Americaʼs shortage of nurses) Thatʼs how desperate people can be.

Okay, my point is here, that I heard a couple people in the past 2 or 3 weeks who come from a different country complain about being here in America - and I mean outright complaining and whining. They were saying things about how Americans are so greedy and stuck up and other things in that sense. And I admit, America is greedy in many ways, but not every single person in America is. My Bosnian friend heard about the stuff that people were complaining about and she became so furious because living in the U.S. is so dear to her heart. We never know what we have until we see someone get it and see how it affects them. Anyone? Huh? Huh?

- Ashley Dragan

Guess who...

A student asked me to send this anonymously - this will be the one and only time I'll comply. My hope is that this will get the ball rolling on blogging and comments.

I consider myself a member of the majority. I am a Christian, I’m white, and I believe in helping myself before helping others. One thing that frustrates me is the fact that the majority has to give up certain beliefs in order to protect the minority. The topic of religious censorship really annoys me. One issue is taking the words “In God We Trust” off all our currency. I think that is a little extreme. If I saw Allah or some other religious figure printed on foreign currency, I wouldn’t care, much less be offended by it. Our currency has had that phrase written on it since 1864 and that doesn’t need to be changed now. Another would be the legal actions that have been taken to remove “Under God” from our Pledge of Allegiance. The pledge was written over 100 years ago by a man who BELIEVED in God. And why is Christmas break called “Holiday break?” It’s pretty obvious that the break is centered on Christmas. Hanukkah doesn’t even start or end on Christmas break.
There’s also the topic of abortion. It is the mother’s choice. If she wants to have her baby aborted, then so be it. If abortion was illegal, what would happen to a rape victim who became pregnant? I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want a constant reminder of what happened to her walking around, but I could be wrong. I think it is ironic how it’s considered offensive to call a person “black,” instead of African. Why isn’t it offensive to call a Caucasian person white? Then there’s all the stuff that’s written in Spanish. It’s EVERYWHERE. It has its own section in restaurant menus, stores, amusement parks, bathroom signs, and even when you call a 1-800 number, the computer says “For English, press 1. For Spanish, press 2.” We live in America. If you want to live in another country, at least learn the native language. If I were to move to another country, I would learn theirs. My mom tells me that about once a week she has someone come up to her with a question, and she can’t answer it because she doesn’t know whatever they’re speaking. And they get mad at her for it.
I’m not trying to offend anyone by my opinions. Minority rights need to be protected, but only for things like equal education and job opportunities. We shouldn’t be wasting time in courts over whether or not it’s okay to pray in school. We live in a democracy and in a democracy, majority rules. Don’t forget that.

Are we all wet?

"Rise from the pool of ignorance and dry yourself with the towel of knowledge". This is just one of many silly things I say to my classes from time to time and the source for this blog's name. Strange, yes, but my intent is sincere. As a social studies teacher, I'm hyper-connected to the issues of the world and it's frustrating to see so many people walk around seemingly oblivious to things I deem important.
Hmmm, maybe I should lighten up and not worry so much about the rise of China, rampant consumerism built on credit, peak oil or my cat's recent bout of sneezing. Alas, this blog is not for me but for my students. Please take some time to read their views, comment if you wish and join us as we "warm ourselves under the sun of enlightenment".