Week Nine Journal Entry

The weeks seem to be getting more challenging as we near the completion of our semester. I spent most of my efforts working on my rough drafts for both the digital story and my thesis. I dreaded working on the abstract for my thesis, as this is something that can easily be overlooked, but yet it is a very important part of the paper. I have already completed most of the rough draft so I was able to review much of what I had written to help with the abstract, but I still anticipated that it would take me quite some time to complete it, but once I began the ideas kept flowing in.

The readings for the week and the corresponding assignments (the primary post and the responses to other classmates) seemed to draw out our true personalities regarding some very hot topic issues. It can be all too easy to take a hard-line stance on some of these issues, but we have to remember to think through each of these as they would apply if we were experiencing them. For instance Crittenden’s essay about working mothers vs. stay-at-home moms propels me to react in gross favor of stay-at-home moms. I was raised that way, and that is how I envision raising my kids. However, I have to imagine the struggles or challenges a family now faces when the American dollar does not compare to the value it once had when it was easier to raise a family on only one member’s income. I cannot predict if I will be in such a situation, and therefore, I cannot look down on a family who is doing the best they can to provide for their children.

The lesson that was predominant throughout most of this week’s readings was to be more open-minded and accepting of other people’s means of living and expressing themselves freely in our culture. We have to protect this freedom; it is a fundamental right for all Americans.