Voting and Anti-Bullying

We had a few presentations in the classroom and outside the classroom throughout this semester. One of the classroom presentations we had really interested me. Now, I’ve never been one that kept up with politics around our country or even in my home state but after hearing what they said I looked up a lot of political things.  We had several students come in to our composition class and talk about the importance of voting. The presentation was called “We the People.” They explained to us that when we get to a certain age where we have the right to vote we should because “every vote counts.” They also showed us how much money each candidate that ran for president last year spent on their campaign. All together the campaigners spent 5.3 billion dollars to push their name on people. I think this is a ridiculous amount of money to spend on commercials and other advertisements. At the present time the legal voting age across the country is eighteen. I think this age is reasonable because I think that if you are able to fight for your country at the age of eighteen you should have the right to vote for different laws of your country or even the county you live in throughout the states. The students told us to try to be more informed instead of being more opinionated. I believe that everyone has a say and when you are allowed to voice it you shouldn’t pass up that opportunity.

Another presentation we had inside the classroom had to do with bullying. We had two girls come in and talk to us about how we can prevent bullying if we see it and how to deal with it if it is happening to ourselves. Bullying is everywhere. It has become a huge issue and I agree when people say it’s time to do something to stop it. The girls explained to us that there a three main types of bullying- emotional, physical, and verbal bullying. They had us do an exercise where we split the room and half with a line of tape. They asked us questions that were things that we could relate to and if we could we stepped up to the tapped line. Once we did that, we looked around to see who else had the same thing in common with us. It really opened my eyes and showed me that there are a lot of people that do get bullied and who are even sometimes bullies themselves and not aware of it. At the end of the exercise we all got into a circle and wrote down one nice thing about each other. Reminding someone of their great qualities can really make a person feel great about them. Even just a smile to a person and a simple gesture can help out a person’s day.  They also informed us that there is an Anti-Bullying club on campus. If everyone stopped a person from getting bullied or even stopped being a bully themselves, a lot more people would get along. 

The year 1981

In the year 1981 school would be completely different than it is today in 2011. I would wake up and put on the trendiest thing in my closet- a cute cut off tee with my jean jacket, splatter painted tights and bright blue leg warmers with my bomb converse. My hair would be pulled up to the side with a bright blue scrunchy. While getting ready I would listen to the music on MTV, it was the mark of MTV’s ten year anniversary. I would the hurry and eat some cereal and run out the door to school to catch the bus. The classroom setting would be different all together. Each time I would come to class I would see all blackboards with chalk and overhead projectors. All my classes were a lot smaller and all the students knew each other. My first class of the day is Composition 1101 which is my English class. Around this time our president Ronald Reagan had gotten shot so that was the talk for everyone. Taking notes on everything in class was a huge pain to me because it was all hand written. After school was done I would go back to the bus stop to get a ride home to watch my favorite TV show- The Smurfs and eat my favorite snack with Coca Cola. Later in the night I would work on my homework and get ready for bed so I could get up and do it all over again. 

Fruit Loops & Corn Pops

I think the most effective advertising strategy is anything that is catchy. Anything that appeals to someone’s interests or is catchy to the eye could most definitely sell. Like for example anything that gets children’s attention like Trix- bright colors with a silly rabbit on the box. But I also believe that not everyone is America is gullible enough to believe that catchy advertisements for certain foods are healthy for you. So with that being said what makes me buy or not buy a product is what appeals to me. I usually like name brands over generic brands but being a college student I’ve had to change that. ;) Jingles to any advertisement to get stuck in everyone’s head, that doesn’t always mean you need to buy the product though.

Like I said, anything with bright colors or a cartoon character on it will get children’s attention. Also anything that has to do with someone winning money or getting a free toy at the bottom of the box will surely get kids to want it more. These two cereal boxes are trying to get the audience to buy this product by saying that it is a good source of fiber in a diet. I know moms want their kids to eat things that they like while staying healthy so I think these cereal boxes not only appeal to children but also parents. But how much fiber can a sugary box on cereal really have? No one can tell how healthy a product is for them unless they read the nutrition facts; no one should go by what the front of the box says. Most of the time it is false advertising.

My FOOTPRINT on the world.

Reduce, Reuse, Recyle. To support my super cool lifestyle it would take six earths to provide resources and global acres. It would take 26.5 global acres which accumulates to 29.4 tons of carbon dioxide. An ecological footprint is a measure of how much resources are demanded for survival in the earth’s ecosystem compared to how much the earth can really provide for us. We use this measure of the environmental footprint to interpret how much of each section in the global breakdown humanity uses in everyday life. To reduce my own footprint it would be the general food area. A lot of what I but if produced and packaged, it’s not all fresh. I think by buying more freshly produced products can reduce the waste I accumulate, the packaging that the food comes in will be reduced and the things I eat would clearly be healthier for me so therefore I would have a healthier diet. At home my family and I recycle all of our paper, carboard, and plastic bottles. If everyone started to make small changes in the way they live, our earth would be a better place.

My Life as Taylor

Hey guys! I'm Taylor Clark; most of my friends call me Tay. I'm from Ohio; I live in a small town called North Canton. I've also lived in Florida when I was younger and in Atlanta, Georgia. I grew up with three brothers and just recently added a fourth brother to my family, so I am the only girl sibling. I have divorced parents who are both remarried to my loving step parents. I am a diehard Buckeye fan, back home we always throw big Buckeye parties during football season. I attended Hoover High School all four years of my high school career and graduate! My two older brothers and both of my parents also graduated from Hoover. I wasn’t much of an athlete in school but I was a cheerleader for football, basketball, and also for competition. I also love being around horses, I think they are beautiful animals and I enjoy getting the chance to ride them when I can. I also really like being outdoors, I may not seem like that kind of girl but I do like to go camping and canoeing. I’m a big beach person! I think that is one of the big reasons why I choose to come to Florida for school.  I love being on the beach and going swimming in the ocean. Being a person living in Ohio I never really got to have the chance to come to the beach whenever I wanted to but now I can go when I want. Back in Ohio since there is no beaches, usually during the summer my friends and I would go to different lakes like Lake Cumberland and go boating.  My friends to me are the next best thing to having family in your life. I had to leave a lot of my friends back home along with my loving boyfriend Scott but I know that if a friendship means enough to someone you can definitely keep in touch. As for the boyfriend situation, we are doing our best to try to make things work out. I know it will be difficult but as the saying goes “if it’s meant to be, it will happen.”  I believe in being a very honest, trustworthy person and to this day I am both.  I hope to make the better of my first year of college and meet a lot of new friends.