Upbringings

I have been fortunate enough to grow up in the greatest state on God’s green Earth: New Jersey. Now many people would disagree with this statement but that is ok; you are allowed to have your own opinion even if said opinion is wrong. New Jersey has some of the best beaches, pizza, musicians, and bestows on its residents the gift of being a great driver by the time they are 18. Now I could sit here and talk about how New Jersey is great but that is not the actual point I am trying to make. Growing up in New Jersey gave me a unique upbringing that I could not have received if I had been born anywhere else. The experiences I had and the people I met could not be recreated anywhere else. I had a childhood specific to where I lived and who raised these things and me affected whom I grew up and ultimately how I am as a person today. Every person has specific experiences they had during the time they were growing up due to where they were living or how their family life was. The identity I have chosen is where I am from, specifically how that affected me as a young adult.

I would say I had a very normal upbringing. I come from a nuclear, middle class family. At first I lived in a city and then moved to a more suburban area along the shore in New Jersey. I saw how city life was like but I also saw how it was like to live in a more relaxed environment. Summers on the Jersey Shore are hell for locals; people from all over come and vacation and really have no respect for anything. There are countless times where I have gotten into verbal confrontation with these people whether while I was working or while just out doing whatever. I have gained an animosity towards these Bennys. I have been working since I turned 14 due to my parents not wanting to deal with me at home but this was beneficial to me. I learned responsibility in the workplace at a young age and I am now the supervisor at my job. I was also pressed by my parents to attain the rank of Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts. This on its own may be the largest impact on my life, I have learned leadership, responsibility, compassion, and many other traits that have been nothing but beneficial to me. If I did not live where I did or if my parents had not pushed me to get it, I would not have had this in my life. It would have drastically changed who I am as a person, which I would think would be more for the worst than the better.

No matter where you are from or where you grow up, barriers can be broken and friendships can be made. I can first hand attest to this. I met Mahmoud Hallak my first week here at Drexel. He was a small Syrian boy who would always smoke his e-cigarette and talk in fast, surprisingly good English. Six months later, he is one of my best friends here at Drexel. Mahmoud came to the US as a refugee in 2013 and recently received his asylum. He lived in Aleppo, one of the largest cities in Syria, with his mother, father, and older sister. He spent much of his childhood time as I did; whether it be playing outside with friends or spending time on school or homework. His family had family dinner almost every night just as I had with mine. He talked about how on weekends his extended family would always come over which is similar to what my large Italian family did. Mahmoud was heavily involved with the Syrian Revolution. His father was killed by the government solely for the reason that he was a doctor. He planned with other revolutionaries in secret on protest or raids against the government. Mahmoud had to leave for his own protection and now gives presentations about the revolution raising awareness about it. (Hallak) Even though we grew up on opposite sides of the globe and had totally different life experiences, Mahmoud and I are great friends. In some situations, an upbringing does not always affect whom you want to be friends with. Many people gravitate towards others who have a history similar to their own but I could not be happier that this was not the case.

Similar to my friendship with Mahmoud, I met Justin McCarthy the first week of school, as he lives on my floor. Justin has lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for the past three years but before that he lived in Papua New Guinea for his whole life. Shortly after Justin was born, his parents, who are Christian missionaries, moved to Papua New Guinea. He lived there his whole life up to the age of fifteen. Justin lived in the city of New Ireland, which is its own island. It was a fairly large city but also had very dense jungle surrounding it. Justin recalls exploring these jungles and going to the local beaches as a kid with his four younger siblings. Again, I had found someone who lived halfway across the world in a completely different environment then I did but we ended up being great friends. One of the things that stuck out from Justin’s interview was his reaction to his parents being super religious. Justin said in his interview that “My parents are super religious because missionaries. Religion was a big part of my upbringing and they were very strict with me growing up. We always said grace and went to church a lot and did most of the normal religious stuff. It had a fairly negative effect on me later in life, it was not like bad but I am not religious anymore really. I have a big family too, 5 siblings including myself.” (McCarthy) A study done by Lauren Anne Van Schaick surveyed this exact situation, whether or not religion had a positive or negative affect of people as they were growing up. Van Schaick says, “There was no mediation between religiousness, resilience, and well-being.” (Van Schaick) in a statement about her findings, which ultimately disproves that there is a correlation. This is not always the case though as seen in Justin’s life. Justin does not let this bother him all that much; he has grown up with his own set of beliefs and ideas and although they are different from his parents, they do respect his decisions. There have been stories of religion having both positive and negative affects on individuals. Religion is sometimes a limiting factor in some lives, holding people back from doing what they want to do because of the negativity they would receive from the community.

Location is not the only thing that can affect your upbringing; pop-culture and family and friends can also play a huge role. Pop-culture including music, television, and celebrities largely effect how kids act. Music taste can be directly associated with the location to which you grew up. In a study done by John Ginocchio, it was found that “Preference for dance music, pop rock, and country music was significantly affected by subjects’ environment of upbringing.”(Ginocchio). Many people who live in more rural areas are into country music while people who live in cities listen to newer alternative or rap music. This is apparent to since coming to college. Everyone has his or her own different taste in music. These differences can bring people together or bring them apart. I have showed Mahmoud a lot of different types of music that he did not have in Syria.

Jason Deroche wrote about an idea that Aristotle had which was that if you had a good upbringing; you grew up to like more refined things. He writes “I assert a good upbringing yields good emotional responses by training a youth’s ability to perceive situations accurately.” (Deroche) I believe that this is true because if you have a good upbringing, it is normal for that person to be able to see and assess situations better then those who did not. I think that no matter how or where you grow up, every situation is different and will give you a different out look on life.

Works Cited

1. Van Schaick, Laura Anne. "Predicting Resilience and Psychological Well-being in Early Adulthood: The Role of Religion in Childhood and Adolescence." Order No. 3415678 St. John's University (New York), 2010. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

2. Ginocchio, John. "Music Style Preference: A Ranking of Musical Styles and Comparison by Age; Gender; Ethnicity; Music Training; and Rural, Suburban, Or Urban Upbringing." Order No. 3209429 Ball State University, 2006. Ann Arbor:ProQuest. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

3. DeRoche, Jason. "Shaping the Youth: Aristotle on the Education of Desire and Emotion." Order No. MR83164 Carleton University (Canada), 2011. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

4. Interview with Justin McCarthy conducted on May 28^th, 2015

5. Interview with Mahmoud Hallak conducted on May 2^nd, 2015

Responses to Peers

Week 1:

To Eric:

I think instead of trying to focus on two separate identities and trying to chose to only expand on one of them, just combine the two together and have your identity be family. I can see how your older siblings effected your decision to come to Drexel. My younger sister is a junior in high school and although she wants nothing to do with Drexel, I am trying to steer her in the right direction of good colleges. You might want to come in more depth on not only the co-op system but how your siblings may have personally effected your decision to come to Drexel. I like the aspect of being an employee to your dad. I did not work with my dad officially but whenever I did help out, I always felt that I needed to get everything done as soon as possible. Another way you can combine the two is talk more about how your siblings also worked for your dad and see what they think of the experience and if they share similar view with you. I think that you know what you are talking about and I really liked both identities and there is totally a way to put them together and make it one.

To Madison:

I think that choosing your identity as being a twin was an interesting choice; being a twin is a somewhat uncommon thing and this lets you have a very unique identity. I have always wondered how the relationship with a twin went. I have either met twins that are very close with each other or twins that want nothing to do with each other. I think its kind of weird that people ask you a ton of questions but I see where they are coming from. I really like how you describe being a twin not as just sharing the womb with someone and it is like more of a bond between you and your sibling. I think you should expand on what exactly that bond is especially because you said you have other siblings so it would be interesting to see the difference in the relationships. I really like where you are going with your identity and I see why you chose it.

Week 2:

To Nicolas:

I understand exactly where you are coming from. The description is great and I feel like I was at that party by just reading the description. I have had my fair share of being at weird parties that your friends drag you to and you sit there and try to have a good time but you really can't get into it. This can be a normal occurrence in people but you presented it in more detail and just better than others. I brought this up in my prompt and it is trash compared to the amount of details and time you put into yours. I really relate to your point about not wanting to go out to random parties and I completely agree with you. I would take a night in just hanging out and drinking with my friends then going to some hot sweaty party and get kicked out at 11pm. Overall, I really liked how it was written with the details and use of metaphors and everything and it really caught my attention when I was looking through prompts and made me want to keep reading it.

To Andrew:

This was a really interesting prompt to read because it showed how different two sections of the same group could be. Everyone who was doing cross fit did not normally see someone like you coming in and doing the sort of exercises that you were doing. It does make you wonder about how other people can overall affect a person's performance. The lifting seems extremely hard just on its own but I see why it got harder for you because of everyone judging you to an extent just because you wanted to be around other people when you were lifting. You did go against the normal of what was going on in the gym, which since it is all a gym, had a very odd outcome. Everyone one who goes is there to better themselves physically so it should not matter what specific exercise or lift you are doing, everyone should be supportive. I liked how descriptive everything was, I understand exactly what you were feeling while you were there.

Week 3:

To Brianna:

I really like that you interviewed two different people instead of just one. This can broaden the answers you can get since both people come from different lives and have different reasons behind their answers. I love your topic; I really think that people judge other people who have body modifications for no apparent reason. I also like that you did not use the same set questions for each person but I would have also liked to see how two different people reply to the same question. Since each person you interviewed were differently aged their responses could have been different and that could have helped you compile a better answer. Overall I really like your topic and cannot wait to read the finished product.

To Nicolas:

I really like the way this interview was conducted and the choices of questions were great. You did not focus on one point of the person's introversion (not sure if that’s a word) but throughout their entire life and how it affected them. The follow up questions helped explain the initial questions in more detail. The person's life has been ultimately covered because of the detail in each of your questions. I like that you recorded it and then wrote everything down afterwards, it feels like you did not leave anything out. As Megan said, my only complaint is that I would like to see how other people answer the same questions but that wasn't asked for this interview. Maybe for your final paper you could interview two people who are introverted and see how their answers differ from one another.

Week 4:

To Brianna:

For starters, you wrote a great annotated bibliography; it looks like you basically already have your paper done with all the info that you have collected. It is a great start to the paper and it seems that you have taken it really seriously. I like that you have backgrounds on all of the authors of your sources. I could not find much on any of the authors nor do I really see a purpose to writing about them but I like the detail that you gave it. I like that you added quotes that might be of use to you later, it is better to take the time now while reading the sources and writing them done then having to go back and search through the paper later. It is also clear to see what exactly your paper is about just from reading the sources, which is a good sign.

To Eric:

It is really easy to see what your paper is going to be about just from reading the article that you are using as research. I like that you were very specific in describing what the articles were about and they are all a pretty good length. Adding quotes was a really good idea because if you are going through a source first read it is good to pick out the quotes that jump out to you. Your annotations are a good length and it would be easy to go back and see where exact a quote or an idea was by just reading through them. I also did not look up any information on the authors of my sources because I could not find anything about them. Another little detail is that you put all of your sources in alphabetical order, which a lot of people forgot to do.

Midterm:

To Nick

Your paper is gives great details on the daily life and how introversion affects an individual as they grow up. The way you described your childhood does help explain how and why you became more introverted then extroverted. I would like to see how your introversion affects your daily life. Do you stray away from daily things that include other people like eating in the dining hall or going to the gym just because there are other people there? It would be interesting to see. I do have a complaint on how your paper just seemed to end. I am assuming you will add to it because it is only the rough draft but you just took a short paragraph that included a brand new source and just rolled with it. A short conclusion to wrap things up would be nice. Other then that the paper was good aside from one or two comma and grammatical errors here or there. It is a really interesting topic to read about and I enjoyed reading it and can not wait to see what you do with it for the final.

To Matthew

Firstly I would like to say how interesting it was to read your first draft, as Roswitha said it is very informative to learn about being a veteran from personal experiences. I cannot begin to imagine anything about war. I would have liked to see some background on some of the places that you toured, it is not really a required detail to have but it does help with the clarity of the paper. Also if you have done anything else with other veterans through different organizations outside of Drexel, I would have liked to read about those if there are any. Or maybe why you wanted to join the armed forces initially. Was it your own decision? And how did family and friends react to it. One other minor thing was maybe splitting your first paragraph in half when you begin to talk about the veteran rehab with the horses; it is a paragraph that can stand on its own but again just a minor detail. Overall I thought it was a great paper and I loved reading it. It was informative and you explained your identity well.

To Brianna

I really love what you have written so far; not only does it talk about how body modification is perceived in modern times but also the full history of it. I was interesting to read about the origins of tattoos. I am in fully support of any sort of tattoos or piercings or anything like that. It is your body you should be able to do what you want with it without getting judged by the general public. I also like how you went through different people and how having body modifications effect their lives. It was a really good way to implement your interviews into the paper. The only complaints that I have about the paper are that the first few paragraphs could be put together and condensed a bit. Not really a complaint really, just a personal comment, I do not think that anything is wrong with the writing. The second is that you just ended it like that, total cliffhanger! But in all, it is a really well written paper and I cannot wait to read the rest of it.

To Eric                                                                                                                                                First off I like how well written and detailed your paper is, I can tell that you put a lot of time into it from only reading it once over. It is a really interesting topic that I do not think many people experience in their lives. It is one thing to maybe work with a close friend but it is a completely different animal working with your own direct family. The only complaint I really have is that I would have liked to see maybe some specific event that times were really good or really bad due to how the store was going. You mention that sometimes if things were not going well in the store, your dad or other family members would be upset in the home life. Besides that I really liked how informative everything was and how interestingly written it is.

Week 7:

To Eric

First off your rough draft was great! I really liked reading about how being in a family business can affect home life and personal relationships. As you said in your paragraph above, I think adding a bit more detail to your experiences would be beneficial. I really do think that you took everyone's comments and suggestions into account when writing this. I think that you have really good ideas on what to write the new paragraphs about. I think the only problem you might have is structuring the paper so it flows and makes sense. But after reading it once or twice, I think you are going to be able to see how everything works together.

To Megan

Top of Form

I think that you have a really good outline to your paper; the rough draft you wrote was very informative and it showed a lot of insight into the lives of someone who lives with anxiety. In my opinion, I think it would be a good idea to go into the science behind anxiety. Maybe like explain the physiological aspect of anxiety or if there is anything that will specifically cause it. Overall I thought your essay was really good. Like you mentioned, there were some transitions that were awkward. A closing paragraph would be a good idea to wrap everything up and bring it all together.

Week 9:                                                                                                                                                   To Nick                                                                                                                                               First off these paragraphs were extremely well written and has a lot of detail in them that help paint a picture of the scene. It was a good personal story that would make a good addition to your essay. I am somewhat confused to where this will be placed into your essay since the topic is on introversion. If you want to get in depth on personal experiences, you should also go into a possible bad day of introversion where you would not have invited your friend to lunch and talk about the reasoning behind that decision. That is just an idea though and I believe someone else in the comments mentioned it too. Besides that I really do not have any complaints about this piece; it is well written and descriptive and tells a great story.

To Eric                                                                                                                                                      I like the changes you made to this paragraph; it does really add a more personal side to the paper. It gives a good representation on how the life within the store affected your home life outside of it. I think that adding the story about the employee who was stealing the drugs was a really good idea because it turned a very general thing into a personal story all your own. The only complaint I have is about the somewhat random quote from your brother in the middle. I know you said that there was a possibility of you splitting this into two paragraphs, which I do not think is a good idea. If you maybe expand more onto what your brother said instead of just the one quote, it could help maybe describe the point better. You could also get a quote from your brother on the topic of the guy stealing the drugs. These are just ideas though; I really think that this was a strong addition to your paper.

All Prompts

Prompts

Week 1:

The inquiry that I chose to look at was the statement: I am a brother. By definition a brother is ‘a male offspring having both parents in common with another offspring; a male sibling’. Many people have brothers or are a brother to someone. My dad and my uncle are brothers and I am my younger sister’s brother. Depending on your view on the subject, you can either always be a brother or stop being a brother due to a sibling dying, disowned by family, etc. I personally think that you cannot stop being a brother because no matter what you will always have your siblings in your heart and mind.

An interesting aspect of being a brother has evolved with time, different upbringings, and pop culture. Throughout most early history, the word was only used to describe a male that was related to you by blood or through marriage. But in more recent times the word has begun to be used a slang term for a close friend not related by blood to you. Originating in the early 1900’s, the word was used by men to address other men that were not related to them by blood, but very close to them. The word was then used by many African American men from the 1970’s on. In the 2000’s, brother has been shortened to bro and has joined a large group of slang terms for a male friend, which includes dude, man, and buddy. A slate.com article states that: “Bro’s ascendance into the pop cultural pantheon was mostly due to lots of white kids trying to seem cool by emulating black slang.” (Malady). Brother has been used by many service men and athletes to describe others who are serving or on the team with them. In the Armed Forces, there are many times where the people in your squad or platoon become so close to you that you consider them your brothers. These people would put down their lives to protect their fellow servicemen. I see this as the closest bond you can form with someone who is not your actual brother. Many sports teams also consider fellow teammates their brothers. Professional football players frequently have referred to teammates as their brothers in different interviews or in conversation.

Brother has also seen its rise in many forms of pop culture. Famous pairs of brothers include Nintendo’s Mario and Luigi, Hank and Dean Venture from Adult Swim’s The Venture Bros., and John and Jim Harbaugh, who are both head football coaches for Baltimore Ravens and the University of Michigan respectively. The term bro has also been used to describe many different groups of people such as lacrosse bros or frat bros.

Bibliography

Malady, Matthew J.X. "The Ubiquity of Bro Tells Us That the Word May Not Be Popular for Long." N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2015.

Week 2:

There is not really a specific time where I have felt like an outsider but more like specific events. As cliche as it sounds, I feel like an outsider many times in the middle of a group of people. It started when I moved in the 3rd grade from Bayonne to Monmouth Beach, which are both in New Jersey but about an hour away from each other. I got there not knowing anyone which was intimidating even at that young of an age. School was terrible at first; everyone already had their group of friends since they had all been together since kindergarten. It took about 2 months of being by myself in lunch and recess and not making an conversation at all in class before I made friends of any sort which was not the worse thing in world. The intial shock of being an outsider really left a mark on me; I had never really experienced something like it.

I made friends during middle school and then graduated and went to a catholic high school in a different town. A few kids from my school also went but it was another situation where I felt very outside of everything. Walking down the bustling halls and seeing kids of all grades up against their lockers chatting with each other about how their weekend was or if there was a history test today. I made friends with a lot of different kids; there were the football players, the runners, the stoners, the nerds, and the weird kids, which was the group I felt most at home in. But even if I was in a group of my close friends hanging out on the weekend or sitting at lunch, there were times where I just felt like I did not fit in. The worst would be if someone would have a party or we all went to a party and I just did not feel like an insider. They would always drink and smoke and dance around like idiots to shitty dubstep. I did partake in these events and tried to have a good time but I felt like I should not be there with them.

It is a weird feeling that I cannot really describe. Like I feel like an outsider sitting with a table of friends at the Hans writing this right now. Everyone is laughing and talking and having a good time but I do not feel like I am complete with them. I think this is due to the fact that I have not really found where I fully belong yet. I love the friends I have now and I am not saying anything against them but I just do not feel like I am inside of any of the groups I associate myself with right now.

Week 3:

For my identity, I chose to talk about where I am from and how where you are from and grew up effects how you grow as a person. I chose to interview my friend Mahmoud, who is also a freshman at Drexel. He came to the United States two years ago from Syria. I thought that it would be the best idea to interview him because of the vastly different lifestyle he had.

Week 4:

Interview questions:

Where did you grow up?

I was born and grew up in the city of Aleppo. It is located in northern Syria and is one of the biggest cities in the country.

How was your early life?

During my early life, I went to school all the time. I tried to go as much as possible since the educational system was pretty good. I spent a lot of my free time playing soccer in the streets with my friends. There wasn’t much else to do but we kept ourselves entertained.

What was your home life like?

My dad worked, as a doctor, almost all the time so I did not really see him too often. My mom worked during the day so we would see her at night. My sister and I would wake up and go to school in the morning and then come home and get started on dinner. We would all eat as a family and then I would go and hang out with friends or study and then go to sleep.

What are some of the cultural differences?

Syria is a lot more family oriented. You lived with your family until you got married regardless of gender. Family would also come over for big dinners on the weekends and a lot of the time during the week when it was summer time. You would have dinner and then hang out and smoke hookah and relax.

What was the first impression of the US?

My first impression of the US was snow. I already knew a lot about the US but I got here in around February and it started to snow. It was just amazing to see something like that for the first time. It was cool to see all the different cultures that were here. My uncle brought me around Philly and showed me all the different restaurants and people. I also really liked the Wawa’s.

What do in us then couldn’t do in Syria?

Well for starters, I was able to freely talk to girls here. (laughs) There is more freedom here; you can go out and do basically what ever you would like within reason and not be worried about the consequences.

Did you know English before you came to the US?

I was already fluent in the language before I came here. I taught it to my self while I was still in Syria using a large deck of flash cards with the Arabic word one side and the English word on the other.

What did you think about the revolution?

That was actually one of the main reasons I came to America was to escape it. I was highly involved with the Syrian rebels. My father was killed because he was a doctor and the government did not like that. I actually have a scar from when a grenade exploded near me and I got hit by shrapnel. Even though I am not there now, I have been making speeches and giving presentations raising awareness about the cause.

Week 4:

Works Cited

1. Van Schaick, Laura Anne. "Predicting Resilience and Psychological Well-being in Early Adulthood: The Role of Religion in Childhood and Adolescence." Order No. 3415678 St. John's University (New York), 2010. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

I could not find anything on the author other than that she is a doctor and lives in Long Island.

This article talks about the significance and effects of children growing up in a religious household and how it affects them in their young adult and adult lives. It surveys a group of people from different religions and how they associated themselves with said religions later in their lives.

2. Ginocchio, John. "Music Style Preference: A Ranking of Musical Styles and Comparison by Age; Gender; Ethnicity; Music Training; and Rural, Suburban, Or Urban Upbringing." Order No. 3209429 Ball State University, 2006. Ann Arbor:ProQuest. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

This article talked about how different music styles in addition to your gender, and race differed based on where you lived. The article goes in-depth on how music can affect a person and how where you lived affected which styles of music you listened to. A study was done with 5^th grade students and students in college to see which genre of music they preferred based on where they lived, age, ethnicity, and gender.

3. DeRoche, Jason. "Shaping the Youth: Aristotle on the Education of Desire and Emotion." Order No. MR83164 Carleton University (Canada), 2011. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.

This article talked about Aristotle had the idea that if a youth was well brought up that they had refined tastes and pleasures. DeRoche talks about how a good upbringing results in refined pleasures, which includes cognitive and appetitive pleasures.

Week 6:

You ride down the empty streets on a beat up skateboard. The watch on your wrist reads 2:35 A.M. Work starts in less then 6 hours but it did not really matter to you. It was a good way to go out and clear your head. It was a warm night and you feel the cool ocean breeze on your face. Swerving into the right lane and then to the left and back again almost effortlessly. A car will pass every so often and give you a weird look but you shake it off; they are out driving around in the middle of the night on a Tuesday too. I do not know how many nights that this happened because the ride would feel like it went on forever.

/

You and your friends pull up to a house. Music is blaring from the backyard that could be heard from the street. You get out and start walking up the driveway and open the gate into the back. As you are doing the familiar rounds of “hellos and how have you been” you pick up a beer or two. People are talking, playing beer pong, trying to make attempts to flirt; the usual at these parties. Time flies and before you know it, it is 1 AM. Many have left either by cab or through the forever-reliable DD. As you work your way inside for the night, you try and find the most comfortable couch you can try and grab then proceed to pass out on.

/

It is only 9 AM and you already have customers yelling at you for no reason. You work at the beach taking parking tickets and selling daily badges. There are long 8-hour days, 5-day work weeks, but hey its good money despite the insanity that is faced. The customer does not want to pay the $7 to get into the beach because “everywhere else the beaches are free!” Well tough shit, welcome to New Jersey. As the fighting continues, they want to talk to your manager and you say profanity-riddled comments and continue on with other customers. Your manager tells you to go home early that day.

/

The beach was always a great place to be. No matter whom you are there with or when you are there, it will be fun. You always try to get there with friends on days off to hangout and play catch or go surf for a bit. Or you can go with you parents and just take a day and relax and crack open a good book. It is someplace you know you can go to relax; just the sound of the waves crashing against the sand and the cool breeze in your face. It is a place to think, for ideas to thrive and to find an inner peace.

/

You are sitting in a Sonic parking lot enjoying a milkshake with two of your friends just talking about nothing.

“What do you think is going to happen when we go to college?” one asks.

“Well I am going to drink a lot and join a frat.” The other adds.

But that is when you chime in. “Things are going to be different. No matter what you are going to change at college. But it is up to you how much you want to. Just be who you are and if that means changing then so be it. I just hope we don’t lose the you we have come to grow and love.”

You all laugh and then head off.

But in the end, we lost him.

Week 7:

Intro

Talked about how where you are from can affect how you grow up

Experiences you have are specific to where you live and grow up

Home life and location impact adult behavior

Paragraph 1

Explained my personal upbringing and how I thought it impacted how I grew up

Where I lived, how home life was like, different activities I did (Boy Scouts, work, etc.)

Talked about how my parents made me do things that ended up having good impacts on my life

Paragraph 2

Talked about the interview with Mahmoud

Explained his upbringing in Syria and how it differed from mine

Also how although, we lived on opposite sides of the world, we became best friends while ar Drexel

Paragraph 3

Explored other things that play a role in upbringing

Pop culture, including music and celebrities, can affect how kids act

Religion can largely affect how a person is brought up depending on whether it is good or bad

Conclusion

A good upbringing will create good adults

Every situation is different and will give you a different outlook on life

I believe that I have a solid start to my paper. In comments that I have received, everyone said that they thought it was a good idea. But many agreed that when I reached my 3rd paragraph, it seemed out of place and did not make much sense with the rest of the paper. So I decided to fix this by conducting another interview with my friend Justin. Justin lived in Papua New Guinea for much of his younger life because his parents are religious missionaries. He comes from an extremely religious household with 5 other siblings. This would fit well with my idea of talking about how religion affects upbringing and because he lived on the opposite side of the world, just like Mahmoud. I am probably going to do more research on religion in the household after I conduct the interview to then develop a new paragraph.

Week 9:

Due to a lot of comments on how my paper seemed to go on a complete opposite tangent towards the end, I decided to conduct another interview. This time I chose Justin McCarthy, who grew up in Papua New Guinea. His parents are both Christian missionaries so they lived there for about 10 years preaching and worker for the church.

Interview questions:

Where did you grow up?

I lived primarily in Papua New Guinea, specifically the Eastern Highlands Province. I lived on an island called New Ireland. We also moved to Australia for some amount of time and lived in the US for about 6 months when I was around 8.

How was your early life?

I always spent time outside; ever since I was a kid I have been a fan of the outdoors and living in New Guinea there was a lot to do. We would either go exploring in the local jungle or head to the beaches and go swimming and snorkeling. I would also go to school and everything so my friends and I would also play sports but we moved around a lot so there were times where I would not see them for a few months to a year which was hard.

What was your home life like?

Parents are super religious because missionaries. Religion was a big part of my upbringing and they were very strict with me growing up. We always said grace and went to church a lot and did most of the normal religious stuff. It had a fairly negative effect on me later in life, it was not like bad but I am not religious anymore really. I have a big family too, 5 siblings including myself.

What are some of the cultural differences?

One big difference that always stuck out with me was that in New Guinea, women always wore skirts in public and that was really it. You did not really see any of them in pants or anything. There were also people who still lived off the land in villages that were outside of the villages in the jungle. I would go with my parents sometimes when they visited to do missionary things. Coconuts are also one of the biggest things that drive the economy there.

What was the first impression of the US?

The first time I came here besides when I was born was when I was in the 2nd grade. I stayed here for about a year. It was a different experience all together but I do not remember really not liking it or anything. When I came back later in life at 15, I really did not like it here. I am not the biggest fan of how things are run and I just miss some of the things from New Guinea.