Alyssa's Blog

Makeup Assignment: Discussion on Bullying  After reading the article, “The Potential Benefits of Being Bullied,” there were several new ideas I considered as well as several existing ideas that I solidified in reflecting upon what I read. The first thing that stood out to me was that the author described the topic as weird. I just thought that this was funny and goes to show the way that this topic is typically viewed by the public. Because of this connotation, I thought for sure that the author would be more hesitant to consider the benefits to bullying but they actually made very insightful commentary. The main point of the article places emphasis on how schools have a zero tolerance policy for bullying while some argue that bullying can actually present many benefits for young students. The author then goes on to give examples of how some of the most successful artists, comedians, authors, actors, and athletes have had some kind of struggle with public perception, hate, and/or b...

My Reflection of  “Cherishing Each Other: A Conversation with Tara and Father Gregory Boyle” I am not going to lie, when the video started with a namaste I was a little concerned. I am not someone who enjoys religion or spirituality. However, I am someone who has a great deal of respect for those who do have faith and practice various different religions and spiritualities. Another thing that scared me going into this video was the fact that it started with a man with the title of Father. As someone who grew up in a religion and did not have the best experience with Chrisitanity, it makes me resistant to conversations surrounding the religion. However, I did not want to judge the video at face value and move on and continue watching. I quickly realized after watching the first few minutes that it wasn’t a discussion based on religion. This made me reflect on the importance of not judging things by their cover, which we all at points find ourselves doing. The experience that Father ...

Music Criticism: "Are Music Critics Too Nice?" For my third blog on assignment choice, I decided to listen to the podcast called Cannonball with Wesley Morris. The episode was titled “When Did Music Critics Get So Nice” and featured Wesley’s friend and critic Kelefa Sanneh. Throughout this podcast episode, both Wesley and Morris took time to reflect on the state of the music industry, specifically the way that music is criticized in this day and age. Both speakers note that there has been a change in the way that listeners and critics evaluate the music that they are listening to, even arguing that critics have become almost too nice over the years. This discussion goes on throughout the duration of the podcast as they reference specific pieces of media, music, film, and television to demonstrate their points. After listening to this podcast, I have many thoughts and feelings about what was said. The topics of discussion even sparked other rabbit holes of thought, but I will ...

  World We Imagine Part 1 Reading this quote from The Blue Sweater reminded me of the power of the individual. We as individuals in society have so much more power than we give ourselves credit for when it comes to the impact our choices can have. I struggle with this idea often contemplating how my actions could have any kind of impact on the greater good of society. However, once I found a passion that made a difference in the world, everything started to click for me. My first step in making the world a better place is recognizing the power that I have to do so. You do not have to be a part of a large company or organization to create a positive change in this world. My experience working with animals has shown me just that as I have been able to change the life trajectory of multiple living things. For the last two years, I have been rescuing animals off the streets and fostering them in my free time, and it has become the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. By making the ...

  “Trees of Life” - Choice 1 Throughout my life thus far, a tree that I have connected with are evergreens. While my current place of living does not allow for this interaction. Every time I go home, I am greeted by beautiful evergreens in my home town and even in my back yard. I have interacted with these kinds of trees since I was a small child because my father also loved them. He made a point to plant them in our backyard because he loved their appearance and for additional privacy; however, we already had some in our yard when we moved in because our home is located in a wooded area. I like to spend time outside admiring them when I am back at my home in Chicago, Illinois.  Evergreens are beautiful in that they almost represent stability. They maintain their color year-round no matter the change of season. They are also symbolic for their appearance and use as Christmas decorations in the winter time. While they are pretty spikey to the touch they smell amazing. While the...

My Experience Fostering Dogs Over the last two years, I have found something that I am really passionate about and it happened almost completely on accident. One day during the summer time a friend and I were just chatting about our dogs at home and how much we miss them. She then mentioned that she wanted to foster so she could hang out with puppies and joked about it almost. After laughing it off, I did the research for her. She bailed on the idea and then it became my own.  Two summers ago, I was living along far from home and was still new to California when I decided to start fostering dogs. This quickly became one of the biggest things I am passionate about in life and it makes so much sense I honestly don’t know why I didn’t think about doing it sooner. Once I started fostering, I was hooked and I knew that this was where I was meant to make a difference in our world.  I personally work with Mutt Scouts, an organization that is based out of Los Angeles and San Diego. Th...