Reflective Essay #11

Tori Beaty

INTG 323

Reflection #11

27 April 2012

Reflective Essay #11

1.      I came into the class having heard Green Lantern’s name quite often, but never actually knowing anything about him.  We didn’t cover him extensively in class, but our class discussions got me interested in him so I did a lot of out of class research on him.  I honestly think he may have become one of my favorite superheroes.  I found his origin story fascinating and the fact that there are multiple Green Lanterns throughout the universe puts an interesting spin on the entire concept of superheroes.  I also like that a Green Lantern’s power comes from his mental strength since he or she can create anything he or she can imagine.  I think Green Lantern’s story can show readers that everyone has their own inner strength and must find/use their own strengths in order to be successful.

2.      I think my preconceived ideas about Batman have definitely changed. Before the class, I saw him as a pompous, selfish, and cruel character.  He definitely isn’t anywhere near my favorite hero, but after studying his origin story and seeing how devoted himself to justice, I have a greater appreciation for him as a hero.  I still don’t completely agree with some of his tactics and I don’t especially care for his personality, but I can at least understand why he is the way he is.

3.      The readings have really taught me that there is a place for every type of person.  I have always known that I am quiet, shy and hesitant to state my opinion.  I’m not the best at certain subject and often overanalyze things, but I’m also a hard worker and pay great attention to detail.  After learning about different heroes, I’ve come to understand that every person is going to have flaws, but those flaws make them who they are and often enhance his or her strengths.  In my situation, my being quiet allows me to be more of a listener and take in more information.  Once I have the information I tend to think about it and have the ability to analyze it in a way to eventually make the most logical decisions.  Overall, I’ve really learned that a person does not need to change, but rather, learn to how properly utilize his or her specific traits.

4.      I wish we would have spent a little more time discussing superheroes/mutants as compared to people with disabilities.  I think it was interesting to see how the heroes we were learning about could directly relate to a group of people in our society.  I also thought it was interesting to look at heroism as a negative and something that some people might not necessarily desire.  It really showed me that everything in life is going to have its negatives and that we should not judge someone based on the life we assume he or she lives.  I don’t really know much about superheroes, but I wish we would have talked about Jack Bauer (from 24) because based on every definition of a superhero; he would have fit the description.  I thought he would have been especially important to discuss during the morality section because he tends to use torture and often goes outside the law in order to yield results.

5.      This class has helped me learn about good citizenship because it has shown me that there actually isn’t a strict definition of right and wrong.  One person might think one action is the best while another might think differently.  I have come to understand that I will not be able to always make decisions that will be correct in the eyes of every person, but I will need to make decisions that seem correct based on my own personal moral code.  If a person can find a moral code to believe in and stick to it, at least he or she has some sort of guidelines to live by.  I think that Major Might is the best model for good citizenship. During his time as a hero he did everything he could in order to create a better society, but once society shunned him, he knew when it was time to step back and let other heroes take over.  However, he was still willing to work hard to support his son, but also stand up for his beliefs (especially when he rejected a better paying job because he did not agree with his boss).  In the end he was also willing to make the ultimate sacrifice so his son could eventually save the world.  I’m not as amazed by his actions as I am by the fact that he did them without expecting any kind of recognition of benefit from them.  He knew what had to be done, he did it, and then moved on with his life.

Reflective Essay #10

Tori Beaty

INTG 323

Reflection #10

22 April 2012

Reflective Essay #10

1.      The coach basically tells Thom that he can’t be on the team because he’s different, as in gay. If I was in the situation I would like to think that I would stand up for myself, but I think it would completely depend on my current relationship with the coach.  I am the type of person that is either extremely vocal about my opinion or extremely shy/quiet about my opinion.  In this particular situation I think that if I did stand up for myself I would probably say things in haste and out of anger, so they would not necessarily be productive. My parents would definitely be upset about the situation, but I don’t think they would get themselves involved. They have always raised me to be extremely independent and to handle situations on my own.  My mom would be angry and give me someone to rant my feelings with while my dad would be much more logical and give me helpful advice to deal with the situation appropriately.  He would definitely think the coach was in the wrong, but would point out that reacting impulsively would not solve anything.

2.      Ruth was telling Thom to start being himself and to stop expecting some major event to come along and change his entire life. He needed to start living his life in the moment and to do what made him happy.  I feel like I was very much like Thom during my senior year of high school and the beginning of freshman year at Monmouth.  I broke up with a boyfriend during my senior year, which led to a bad end to my cross country season and eventually a bad track season.  I was constantly upset and seemed to blame everything that went wrong on that one situation.  I came to Monmouth looking for a new start but basically expected a whole new life to fall into my lap.  I fell into the same type of running problems which again, left me dissatisfied with my results.  After a lot of phone calls home to my dad I finally got myself on the right track.  I realized that coming to a new school was not going to change my life; the way I handled myself was going to change it.  Starting with my track season I started working much harder and really believing in my coach’s training methods, I put much more effort into the school work, and I started talking to more people and being more social, eventually led me to my current boyfriend.  I went through a point in my life where I blamed the world for putting me in bad situations, but eventually I realized that I had put myself in those situations and my bad attitude had kept me there. I learned to be in charge of my own happiness by understanding that I have control of my life and that every decision I make will either benefit me for the better or for the worse.

3.      I think that every person has one thing in life that they feel especially connected to and once they truly succeed in that one thing, they feel as though the whole world is cheering for them.  I don’t think everyone will have the entire school throw them on their shoulders and cheer their name, but everyone will as some point feel as though they’ve done something truly great, which will eventually lead to similar feelings.  As I’ve said a million times, my passion is running. I came into my first college visit telling my coach that I wanted to focus on the 10K (which hardly anyone ever says due to the nature of the race).  I was just mediocre my freshman year, I was seated to win the conference last year but ran a very poorly strategized race as came out with a third place finish, but so far this has been my year to shine.  I ran my first 10K of the season a week ago simply hoping to run a decent time and not get last (we were racing against a bunch of pretty good division 1 schools).  I ended up running over a 2 minute PR.  On my cool-down my coach pulled me aside and told me that I’d beaten the school by over a full minute.  That was my moment to feel exceptional and that I had finally truly succeeded.  I only had about 10 people there to watch me so I didn’t have an “entire crowd to cheer me on,” but those 10 people were ones that honestly cared and had a direct influence on my success.  Through that experience I think I gained a sense of relief and confirmation that all the work I’ve put in has been worth it.  Since this is my last year I’ll be able to run track, I feel as though I’ll have a lot more closure knowing that I achieved something tangible and memorable out of the entire experience.

4.      The perfect kiss is hard to describe because it’s different for each person, but I think the perfect kiss is reserved for the person it’s meant to be with.  I’m not overly religious, but I do think that in the universe there’s a designed path for every person and that each event in a person’s life leads them down the path to their eventual destination.  At that destination I really do think that there’s someone that everyone is supposed to find.  Once that person is found and they develop a real/true love they can have that perfect kiss. (Obviously it would never be that first kiss, because those are always incredibly awkward despite what the movies show.)  Overall I think the perfect kiss would be the result of a true loving relationship with the person you know you’re going to be with the rest of your life.  As for the celebrity crush, I don’t think I’ve ever had one like Thom.  I think certain celebrities are attractive, but I would assume I never had a real crush on one because it isn’t very realistic. (I tend to think about everything very logically).  I think people tend to have crushes on celebrities because the media bombards us with their images and we’re taught that they are the type of people we are supposed to envy.  Psychology has proven that people tend to be attracted to things we see more often, so the more often we see a celebrity in the media, the more attraction we feel for them.

Reflective Essay #9

Tori Beaty

INTG 323

Reflection #9

17 April 2012

X-Men: First Class

            This past weekend I watched X-Men: First Class which focuses on a younger generation of mutants and the creating of Professor Xavier’s school.  I’m not sure that I necessarily liked it better than the last X-Men movie we watched, but I definitely appreciate the different story line they used while making it.  I thought it was interesting that they focused on brand new heroes/mutants and their struggles trying to control their powers and decide whether they would take the path of “good” or “evil.”  I think the grey area that we’ve been talking about in class was very prominent when Magneto decided to break away from Professor Xavier on his own path.  Throughout the entire movie we saw Erik struggling with his power and trying to decide what to do with it.  It appeared as though he was going to use his power for good, but the temptation to use it for revenge was too great when he had the opportunity to take on his mother’s killer.  I don’t think anyone could necessarily blame Magneto for wanting to avenge his mother’s death, even though we would probably all agree that it was morally incorrect.  At the end of the final fight scene when Erik decided to go off on his own, I thought it was very interesting that Professor X encouraged Mystique to go with him because he knew that’s where she wanted to be.  It showed that Professor X did not agree with Erik’s decision to form a group of mutants to be used against humans, but he could understand why he was doing it.  After seeing Magneto’s origin story, I better understand why he turned into a villain rather than a hero.  I can see the struggles he went through and can see why he would distrust humans.  In the end, the movie made me realize that we should not simply label people as good or bad because each one has a specific origin story. Until we completely understand that origin story, it is unfair to make judgments about a person.

Reflective Essay #8

Tori Beaty

INTG 323

Reflection #8

11 April 2012

Real Life Superheroes

            If I were to work as a real life superhero, I don’t think I would create an extravagant costume.  I think I could do all of the good things those people did without attracting the attention with the costume.  I would probably wear light-weight, non-restricting clothes so I could move around comfortable with a good pair of running shoes so I could be on my feet for long periods of time.  As far as equipment goes, I might carry a small bag of items such as bottled water, packaged food, money, and a cell phone.  I could give the water and food to people in need and I could use the cell phone to contact the authorities in case I did run into serious crime.  I definitely would not wear a mask because the people in the movie who were wearing masks came off as scary/threatening rather than helpful.  I would want people to feel comfortable approaching me for help if they needed it.

            I do not have any major crime issues in my neighborhood, but I think I my main priority would be to get kids out of the streets at night.  Some groups of kids in my neighborhood like to wander around and night and loiter in certain areas.  This often leads to them getting into some kind of trouble so I think that if I could encourage them to get indoors after curfew and help them find more productive activities; they would be less tempted to get into trouble due to boredom/lack of activity.

            I don’t remember his specific name, but I most relate with the thin one from the group in the city that did not wear a mask.  I really liked that he was more realistic about being a superhero than the rest of them.  When he found trouble, he called the police who actually had the authority to do something about it.  He was getting trained as a medic so he could perform first aid since there was a high chance of one of them getting hurt.  I think I related the most to him the most because he seemed the most like a normal person who was out doing good deeds, rather than someone who wanted to go out, dress up, and get recognition for doing somewhat unnecessary tasks.

Reflective Essay #7

Tori Beaty

INTG 323

Reflection #7

11 April 2012

Mutations

            I would assume that the two forms of mutations would be extremely different.  Having a helpful mutation, but also being able to pass as a normal person would allow a person to use that mutation when it benefits them.  If it was an external/visible mutation, it would be easy for the rest of society to recognize.  I think a visible mutation would cause the person to be classified based on their mutation and people would see them differently.  However, if the mutation was not visible, it would simply be another part of their personality rather than the only part people look at.  I would compare these two type of people to people with different forms of disabilities.  In my Adapted Physical Education class we have learned a lot about “hidden handicaps,” which are disabilities that one would not know about by simply looking at a person.  For example, students with disabilities can easily pass as completely normal in society and are not immediately judged by their disabilities.  On the other side, students with very identifiable disabilities such as Down Syndrome are often immediately judged and treated differently since people can easily recognize that they are different than the rest of society.  The X-Men stories could definitely help people with disabilities see that they are simply different than the rest of society, not necessarily worse off.  They could learn that they sometimes need to complete tasks differently than others, but they can still complete them just as effectively. 

            I think I identify the most with Storm because she has a very similar personality to mine.  She understands that there is a problem that needs to be solved and even though she does not necessarily like the situation, she takes control to get it taken care of.  She did not exactly ask for a leadership role, but once it fell upon her she understood that she had no choice but to accept it.  I feel like I am the type of person who would not seek out a leadership role, but when I see problems that need to be fixed I feel as though it’s my responsibility to take care of them.  When younger athletes on my team need help, I’m usually there to guide them in the right direction or when a group project needs to get done quickly I will usually be the first to throw out an idea even though it might not necessarily be a good one.

            I think my getting the cure would depend on what type of mutation I had.  If I had a mutation like Storm I probably would not get it, but if I had one like Rogue or Beast I honestly think that I might.  I am very shy when I first meet people or get into new situations and I do not enjoy being the center of attention.  Since I have not grown up with a mutation and have not had to deal with that kind of attention, I would probably seek out a cure so I could feel more comfortable in my everyday life.