In this video A.J Jacobs explains how being so healthy almost made him die. This topic really got my attention because of how he titled his speech. This title could mean different things. Who ever knew that you were to healthy you almost die? He explains his religious and how it brought him to do different things. For example, he did not shave the whole time, so his beard was big and bushy. He had to do a shotgun glass of sunscreen and apply it to him every two to four hours a day. He dressed up as either Moses or Jesus with a dog in hot weather. He had to wash his hands very thoroughly and much more. By doing this he did not realize that his health was going down. In today’s society people do so many things just to fit in with everyone. People have a specific image for people looking a certain way. For girls especially think they have to look like a skinny girl with curves. These girls go and try to look the way people want them to look but it is ruining their health, their self-esteem and their quality of them. They should not have to go through what they are getting themselves in it. Yes, some are doing it to themselves, but it is how other girls tell them how they are. The girls who are technically bullying the girls who do show up to their expectation say things such as, “You need to lose weight”, “Why do you look like that”, “No guy is ever going to like you because of how you look like”. These words have such an impact on the other girls. They then try to harm themselves or try to take their lives because they think they could never look the way they are supposed to. This also happens to guys especially if they are young. Boys are just as mean as girls can be especially if it is looking a certain type of way. They boys say things such as, “She is never going to like you”, “You see how fat you are; she is not into guys like you”. this is happening way more than it should. People even kids should not have to look a certain way or be told to have a certain type of body. Real people just care about your personality and health. Health is one of the main things people should be helping with.

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Adoption can mean a lot for many people. Especially for this man named Christopher Ategeka. He was one of the very few people who had the chance of getting adopted. He started off his story in Uganda. He slept with his passport because he was scared someone would talk it or steal it from him. He explains how he first arrived in the United States and not knowing anything. The people who he lived with showed him what a microwave was, or an oven was or how to use many different things. They showed him loved, how they care for him, how they made him feel welcome. He then explains that it gets more difficult when the family has kids of their own and sometimes, they get jealous because they were trying to teach Christopher new things and to learn English. However, they got over themselves and started to help him learn more. In the United States people hear everything about orphanage and kids getting moved around because they were not being loved or they could not get the love/help they needed. It is a tough outcome and some kids are not as lucky as others. Kids do have their ways however; they do act a certain type of way. They do things that they were not supposed to do. Sometimes it can be the opposite way for them such as, the kid could have bad people that adopted them. For example, they could not treat you right, they could hit the kid or not feed them or even not notice them at all. Family does not have to be blood related to be yours. In the book they explained that family is, “A family is a group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another” (Social Problems, 2016). This quotation I do not agree with because it states that a family is two or more people who are related by blood which it should not matter because if you love someone and care for someone no matter what age, then they are family. Family should not depend on one thing. There are multiple ways for someone to be included into the family. Family is family no matter what.  

Social problems: Continuity and change. (2016). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. Retrieved from https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/. CC BY NC SA 4.0 license.

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The movie “21 Jump Street” there are two guys that went to high school together. One, who plays Channing Tatum, was the popular guy in the school. The other guy who plays, Jonah Hill, was not as popular and was sort of the nerdy kid that had braces. A couple years have passed, and they end up becoming cops. The at first dislike each other but they have to get over it because they end up being partners. They are not very good cops at first, one cop does not read the rights to the person, so the criminal gets to go free. They soon get yelled at by their boss. They were then transferred to 21 Jump Street; this is where the bad cops go to get better in their field. However, during that day, they get into an assignment from their sergeant. They were to go under cover in a high school to try to end a drug bus. They end up messing a lot of steps wrong and one guy even gets into a relationship which he is not supposed to do. They were instructed to stop a huge drug that was becoming famous. In order for the guys to get a hold of the drugs they planned a party and invited everyone to it so they could get a range of who was taking it and who was selling it. During this whole time the guy they tried to stop before but ended up getting free, has been chasing them trying to kill both of them for snitching on them about smoking marijuana. The cops found out that one of the kids knew who was selling the illegal drugs. The popular kids in high school ended up selling the drugs. This connects to the chapter we are talking about this week because it has to do with drugs and alcohol. This film is mainly based on drugs however, the film does have some alcohol scenes during the movie while they are planning their party. In the book is explains what a drug is, “A drug may be defined as any substance other than food that, when taken into the body, affects the structure and/or functioning of the body” (Social Problems, 2016). In the movie it shows how each of the body is taking the drug differently. They can either suck on the drug or chew it to get the best results. It reminds me of this concept because you can see in the movie that their body is affected.

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Social problems: Continuity and change. (2016). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. Retrieved from https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/. CC BY NC SA 4.0 license.

In this video of Brittany Barron, she connects the future and the past together. What she is explaining is she talks about Beyonce and slavery together along with racism. How slavery is still in our lives today however, it is not as bad as it used to be. It is not as bad as it was used to be, but we still see it. Whether it was in songs or right across the street or even on television. She used Beyonce and her song “Formation” and connected it to slavery. She than explains what Beyonce’s song is about. Which is police brutality and racism. Slavery is a topic which some people do not want to talk about. It has made a huge impact in people’s lives today. Barron then talks about slavery and when it started and how people should see color and not try to avoid it. Which most people do now days because people are so quickly to judge. This also has to do with racism because of the police brutality. Racism as the book explains is, “…a category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature.” (Social problems: Continuity and Change, 2016). This ties into police brutality because today we only see African Americans and Latinos get the harsh punishment when they are doing nothing wrong. They are not fighting back, they are not using aggressive force, but some end up getting killed and the cop who is responsible for it does not get any time for it. They get put on leave, but it is paid for. While on the other hand if it was a Caucasian person there, they would not get any force against them. This shows how racism is defined in the world and everyone think of each person differently than they should. This can relate to people in their own life if they have been through these situations or similar situations. Beyonce can relate to many different people because of her background. Many people look up to her because of her ethnicity and where she is at in her life now. People can be inspired by her and look how far she has accomplished in her life with by the age of forty.

Social problems: Continuity and change. (2016). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. Retrieved from https://open.lib.umn.edu/socialproblems/. CC BY NC SA 4.0 license.

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This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.