A world without television

"If we could unplug all the TV sets in America, our children would grow up to be healthier, better educated, and more independent human beings."


     I can agree with this statement to a certain extent. The reason why I agree with this statement is because so many of our youth look to celebrities on television as role models. Instead of looking to our history books to learn about our culture and the world, children and teenagers spend time trying to follow after rappers, pop singers, and athletes for guidance. Being that many of our entertainers don't lead respectful lives outside of their careers; having our youth look to them for guidance can be a very bad thing. Our country's emphasis on maintaining morals and values along with self respect has diminished over the years. Once upon a time, we used to respect ourselves and others, passing these values down through the generations to come. We had dignity, morals, ambition, wisdom, etc. Our behavior wasn't influenced by a singer, dancer, or rapper. We remained entertained by them, but still had our own mind.

     It seems like nowadays when you ask our youth what do they want to be when they grow up, they only say "A rapper, a singer, a dancer, a groupie, an athlete, etc." What ever happened to wanting to become an astronaut, or a firefighter, or maybe a lawyer? When I was a child and that question was asked, everyone in my class had big dreams. Many of the children I grew up with went on become lawyers, doctors, international businessmen, public relation reps., etc. They worked hard in school, and fulfilled their dreams. I feel that our youth nowadays has become lazy. They want the glamorous life, but have no clue what it takes to get there. Some choose to slang crack just to have the "dope boy" status added to their reputations; not even realizing that selling crack was initially a method of survival for very poor people lacking education. Many didn't choose that lifestyle, they were born into it, and it was all they knew. If they knew it was a chance to do something better, they would. But because of the glorified advertisement of making big, fast money through selling drugs; people not knowing the real history behind this choose this lifestyle for the fast money and popularity. In the process, permanently damaging their record and possibly having their lives taken from them before ever really living.
    
     As for me disagreeing with statement made, I have only one supportive reason for doing so. The last thing we want is to produce offspring that grew up in an extremely sheltered environment. It is important for everyone to have exposure to the outside world whether it be through television or newspaper. We all need to be aware of what is going on in the world around us, outside of our city and country. While we may want to protect our youth from the impurities of the world, they still need to know about reality, and that the world isn't as friendly or safe as we pretend it is. There is a lot of corruption in the world, so the youth should be aware.
    
     I believe that somewhere there can be an equal balance. Spend more time with your children, keep them busy in extracurricular activities, and watch television with them. Let you children know not only what's inappropriate, but why it's not acceptable. Explain to your children, younger siblings and cousins that it's okay to dream big and to reach for the stars. Try setting a good example yourself. Talk to your children about famous role models in our history, politics, the military even. Doing so will show them that real life heroes exist and it will give them someone positive to admire.

 

My Opinion on Advertisement

     Advertising is everywhere. Even if you don't have a television of your own or listen to the radio, advertising can be spread by word of mouth, mail, radio, television, movie theaters, highway billboards, magazines, flyers. There really isn't any escaping it. However, advertising is very useful. I not only give us, the consumers, a description of the product, but it also gives us a choice. With so many companies competing over our money, you are bound to find a great product from an ideal company.

    

     Advertising of products can be informative, opinionated, exaggerated, humorous and sad. Each and every consumer that sees these advertisements can be tempted by the product, or turned off by the topic. For example, the ASPCA has multiple commercials showing starved, abused, and homeless animals. Animals like cats, dogs, horses, etc. The commercial depicts such sad view of these caged, diseased, mistreated animals that you can't help but hate whoever did this to them and then want to love your animals more than before. At the end of this heart wrenching commercial, it asks you to donate some money to help fund protection and medical treatment of these animals in need. What a way to convince you to support abused and neglected animals huh? After probably crying or being extremely disturbed by the images depicted, something usually sparks in our head to see what we can do to make things better. That is how this commercial convinces you to send money to their organization.

     Some commercials don't involve you purchasing anything at all. They may be meant to influence you to do something different like vote or make healthier life choices. The Ohio Dept. of Health encourages all residents of Ohio to go and get their flu shots, H1N1 shots, child vaccines and various other preventative health precautions. Most of their services listed above are provided free. The ODH encourages the public to get the vaccines to protect the health of all of us by preventing the spread of harmful germs and disease. They have advertised online, through television, and also through popular radio stations. In doing so they have managed to vaccinate tens of thousands of our Ohio residents. Thus making our state a bit healthier than others who have not put forth such an effort. There is nothing flashy or scary about their form of advertisement, just informative and straight to the point. This in my opinion is the most effective method.

     Straight to the point and informative commercials tend to tell you everything you would need to know to interest you in buying a product, or just doing what the commercial said. This method doesn't falsely glamorize the topic, leaving out important details that the consumer may be concerned about. Informative, straight to the point commercials don't leave you in the dark about their topic. This style of commercial isn't meant to be malicious, or misleading. However, many advertisements are. Certain advertisements may say that their product can make you look ten years younger; lose 30 lbs in 2 weeks with no exercise or diet. They sell you a dream that cannot be fulfilled with their product, but after glorifying the product and adding some enthusiastic paid customer testimonials, we are misled to think those products work wonders. But we are left at home with wasted money on a product that doesn't do half of what it said on the commercial.

     To me, advertisement does its part. Convincing me to buy, educate myself, or just live healthier. I just don't appreciate a misleading advertisement. If companies were more honest with the consumers, it could possibly earn them more money. Selling false dreams to the public can cause word of mouth to spread negative reviews of that product to whoever will listen. Consumers appreciate honesty and a more realistic approach to advertising.

Why I chose WSU

I chose to attend Wright State University for many reasons. It wasn't my first pick though.Up until May of 2010, Bowling Green State University had been my first choice for an Ohio college. I was enrolled to start summer classes, had toured the campus a few times, spoken with an academic advisor, and made arrangements for housing. I also had many of my high school classmates graduate from BGSU. But before I made my final decision, I figured I should at least tour the other colleges that accepted me and also talk with an advisor. Kent State University was a complete fail, much too rowdy for my liking. Ohio State University had way too many students,and the surrounding area of the school reminded me too much of Cleveland State University. I am from a suburb about 25 minutes outside of Cleveland, and obviously am trying to get away from there. So why choose a school that reminded me of Cleveland? So OSU was out of the question. I visited Youngstown State University and was not impressed, however they offered a very good biology-pre-med program. Next on the list was Hiram, I loved everything except the cost of tuition. I am planning on being a doctor; therefore the less in student loans acquired by my undergraduate studies, the better the chances of me getting the loans needed for medical school. So Hiram was out of the question.

Last on the list was Wright State University. I had plenty of friends and family members who were graduates of WSU, and had nothing but great things to say about it. I also worked with several doctors and residents who completed their post graduate studies here. So I did much more research on WSU through the internet and the WSU website, then I compared the university to the others that I had already visited. The price was great, the school is located in a lower crime rate area, plenty of hospitals within a 30 minute radius (this is important because I work in nursing, and steady employment is important to me), I won't have to reside in a dorm or
even (the main campus offers apartments, bot single double, and quad), the retention and graduation rates are high, WSU also offers many degrees that spark my interest and can't help me reach my goal. So I finally set up my appointment with my advisor in Oleman Hall. I had already been familiar with where the campus was located because of my friends whom I had visited down here a few years ago. So after driving for 3 hours in 90 degree weather, I arrived to a freshly manicured campus and a clean, quiet neighborhood. Already I was happy just looking for a parking space. After parking my car, I needed to ask for directions to Oleman Hall. A female student very politely walked led me from the parking lot to my destination. How nice of her. During our walk I asked her what was it like attending WSU. She had told me that she transferred here from the University of Cincinnati and absolutely loved it. She explained that she was struggling with her classes after she arrived and her advisor and the student success center had a lot to do with her improving. She explained that first year students get free tutoring, and that if you just ask for the help, the school will do its best to see you through. After our brief conversation and what seemed to be like a very long walk from my car, I was filled with excitement about WSU before ever sitting in my adviser's office.

Some of my concerns academically were being able to meet the necessary academic
requirements for medical school, how long it would take me to get there, and being more than just prepared for the MCAT. I also wanted to make sure that the university offered degrees that would give me a plan b, c, and d option should I fail to gain acceptance to medical school. My advisor explained all of the necessary requirements would be met through the degree that I chose to pursue during my undergrad studies. She then printed out a student degree audit report for me. This report contained all of the classes I needed to take to fulfill my degree requirements; she also highlighted everything that was pre-med related. We even worked out and imaginary 4 year college schedule broken down by each quarter. None of the other academic advisors at the other universities took the time out to do this for me. They simply expressed how glad they were that I was considering their college, congratulated me on my acceptance, and then told me to schedule for my placement exams. How boring, they could have simply done that through email. My WSU advisor took her time when speaking to me and answered all of my questions, she even wrote down important numbers for me regarding housing and possible campus employment. She also assured me that I wouldn't feel out of place being that I am a 24 year old transfer student that has been out of college for 5 years, and out of high school for 7 years. My age and class had been a major concern for me returning back to college. I didn't like
the thought of some 18 or 19 year old being an upperclassman while I am still a freshman. I had been so used to being ahead of everyone my whole life, I graduated high school a year early and attended college while still in high school. I had always kept a very comfortable income since I was 16 years old. So all of this being behind or "normal" stuff is very odd for me. A definite confidence killer, but my advisor assured me that I would be absolutely fine, and that there would be plenty more students at WSU just like or similar to myself. With that I was sold.

I drove home smiling and excited to let my family know that I changed my mind from BGSU, to Wright State University. As soon as I got home, I set up my appointments for placement testing, and then I applied for campus housing. Afterwards I told my family the news and started all of my necessary planning to make my move to Fairborn for the fall quarter possible. So when I said I had many reasons for choosing WSU, I literally meant many. The academics, the cost, location of the school, activities offered, apartment housing options, the dedicated
faculty members all played a big role in me changing my mind about my first pick college. Since I been here, I have no regrets and am very satisfied with my decision. I recommend WSU to anyone who is serious about their education and their future. Wright State University was the best thing that has happened to me, and I know it will be for many more students to come.

A piece of my memory

Everyone has a song or multiple songs that seem as if they were pulled right out of your life. I happen to have a few. One of the songs that really hits home for me is RnB artist Luther Vandross's 'Dance With My Father" song. I have always been a huge Luther Vandross fan. What would you expect? I am an eighties baby and my parents played all the good music through my early years and still today. What Luther Vandross is singing about in this song is his deceased father. In the song he says that his father used to dance with him when he was a little child. He says, "If I could get another breath, another walk, another dance with him; I'd play a song that would never ever end. How I'd love, love, love, to dance with my father again". He is holding on to such a beautiful memory of his father in one of his purest moments. While I have no clue what is is like to lose a father, I am a huge daddy's girl! From as far back as I could remember, my father has always been a hardworking man. In my very early years, back in the 80's, my father worked two jobs. The only time I would see him was when he first came home in the morning and went to bed. I would ride my tricycle up the sidewalk to meet him, and then he would pick me up and give me a big hug and kiss. Then we would go in the house and he would play either some old school music or The Deal's "Bang Bang Shoot em Up" song, then he would stand me on his feet and dance around the house with me. Even before I could walk, he always danced with me, and my mother also. Those moments are precious to me because despite how tired my father was from working, and despite the fact that we were struggling with finances, I knew that my father loved me dearly and that his family was the light of his life.
As I got older, I understood everything my family was going through back then in the 80's, but as a family we always found joy through prayer, music, singing, and dancing. The memory of me and my father dancing around the house will always be special to me, I think about those memories almost every day. Then years ago when "Dance With My Father" hit the radio and television, I just knew that song was about my life. Luther Vandross wasn't only talking to people who have a deceased father, but he was also talking to people who have that memory of their father spinning them around in the air and dancing with them on his feet or in his arms. Such a precious moment. Luther Vandross cherished those times just as myself and many other people in the world do. This song does more than just entertain me, it reminds me of how great of a father I have. It reminds me of the love that flows throughout my family, and those moments helped us cope with all if the disastrous things that were occurring around our family at that time. So I will always love this song. It will continue to be my favorite and I don't think anything can top it.