Shira

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• Posted Farewell, Cape Town! to EDHD 3100 - South Africa: Tracing the Footsteps of Social Change 2011/12
  It's very hard for me to sit here and write this blog post. I want to be in denial as long as possible that this trip is really over. Luckily, our incredibly busy final week here was completely jam packed with more amazing things to do. There's so much to talk about so I'll just highlight some of my favorite moments from the week. On Monday morning we returned to Afrika Tikkun after our weekend break. That morning we went to a day care center in Delft where one woman was taking care of many children. I had a blast...
• Posted A Wonderful Weekend! to EDHD 3100 - South Africa: Tracing the Footsteps of Social Change 2011/12
  1/8/12What a weekend full of excitement! I feel like I've done so much since I last wrote a blog. I also feel like the things I've done since my last post have made such a different type of impression on my experience here than that of the Delft Health Center visit. I continue to be in love with Cape Town. Despite my debit card getting stolen at an ATM Friday evening, I have no complaints about anything--except that I don't want to leave! On Friday morning we continued our work in the gardens at Afrika Tikkun. It was much hotter...
• Posted This Is Delft to EDHD 3100 - South Africa: Tracing the Footsteps of Social Change 2011/12
  1/5/12 As we exited our tour of the Delft Health Center this afternoon and stood as a clustered group in near silence, the Sister who showed us around said 3 simple words that I will never forget: This is Delft. The mood was stiringly somber, but her tone of voice someone managed to sound hopeful, rejuvenated almost. She asked for our prayers and if for now that is all I can give the members of this community, I will certainly pray for them. We headed out early this morning to head into the township of Delft to begin out first...
• Posted Reflecting and Refreshing to EDHD 3100 - South Africa: Tracing the Footsteps of Social Change 2011/12
  We've been in Cape Town for close to a week now. The trip is already going by way too fast and although I anticipated the tie flying by, I am making such a conscientious effort to enjoy where I am here and now. It's worth the tiredness to stay up late to have good conversation with new friends, it feels good to sweat and get dirty hiking through the mountains, the pain of my sunburn doesn't matter when I am reminded of the place where I am standing under a massive sun, and it is so fun to ride in...
• Posted Anticipation to EDHD 3100 - South Africa: Tracing the Footsteps of Social Change 2011/12
  I have just three short weeks to make the most out of an experience I will have only once. Three days from now I will be on my way to South Africa. I still can't believe I'm actually going. The second I learned about this program I knew I had to be a part of it. I remember at the end of the summer before school even started I nervously told a few friends about my plans to go to Africa over my break. I hadn't even applied, but my heart was set on getting to Africa. It's so difficult...
• Posted Conformity is Forever to Fall 2011 Introductory Psychology Section 22
  Maybe it's because this concept is most fresh in my mind, but one idea I have learned in this course that I think I will definitely remember 5 years from now is the idea of conformity and social psychology....
• Posted The Mating Game to Fall 2011 Introductory Psychology Section 22
  During Professor McGue's lecture about sex, gender, and behavior, he discussed the idea of sexual selection. Sexual selection is a form of Darwin's natural selection in which the male or female is attracted to other by certain characteristics, such as...
• Posted Parenting Styles: Tiger Moms to Fall 2011 Introductory Psychology Section 22
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlTIfG0sQHo The textbook mentions the work of Diana Baumrind who defined 3 major parenting styles: permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative. Permissive parenting is associated with giving children a great amount of freedom, authoritarian is associated with strict and quick disciplinary action,...
• Posted Ramen Noodle Soup No More to Fall 2011 Introductory Psychology Section 22
  I am a poor college student, but I haven't eaten ramen noodles since my junior year of high school. And why shouldn't I be eating ramen? It's cheap, fills me up easily, super easy and fast to make, and...
• Posted You Are Getting Very Sleepy...Or Are You? to Fall 2011 Introductory Psychology Section 22
  When I was 13 years old I went to a birthday party that had a hypnotist at it. I was very excited and anxious to see whether or not hypnotism could actually work for me so I readily volunteered...
• Posted Subliminal Perception to Fall 2011 Introductory Psychology Section 22
  My first understanding of subliminal perception came to me as a 9 year old while watching the film Josie and the Pussycats. In the movie a famous music producer uses subliminal messaging to change popular trends among teens every week....
• Posted Cranston High School West: Interviews With A Teacher and Two Current Seniors to High Anxieties
  Policy.pdf Interview with a teacher: Me: What is the drug policy at West? Him: CHSW is a drug-free zone; any student caught under the influence or in possession of banned substances will be prosecuted to the full extent of the...
• Posted OBE 6-How To Stop Time Book Review to High Anxieties
  "If I had to offer up a once sentence definition of addiction, I'd call it a form of mourning for the irrecoverable glories of the first time. This means that addiction is essentially nostalgic, which ought to tarnish the luster...
• Posted OBE 5-Marijuana:Assassin of Youth to High Anxieties
  In Anslinger's 1930's article about the nature of marijuana, he very bluntly (no pun intended) describes the extreme effects it has on youth. The title of the article, Marijuana: Assassin of Youth, indicates Anslinger's strong views about the drug. He...
• Posted Daily Article to High Anxieties
  I don't know if anyone else read the Daily today but there was an interesting article about the misconceptions of smoking hookah. The article pointed out the average college student's wrong ideas about hookah not having any health risks/addictive qualities....
• Posted OBE 4-Interview Analysis to High Anxieties
  In analyzing the interviews we conducted, I looked at half of the interviews to find patterns in the responses to the questions of the user's best and worst experience(s). A few weeks ago when we were working to come up...
• Posted OBE 5-Free-market society undermines psychosocial integration to High Anxieties
  Alexander's chapter 5 expands on one of the 3 principles of the dislocation theory of addiction, the globalization of free-market society. The chapter heading and his main claim is that "Free-market society undermines psychosocial integration". Throughout the chapter, Alexander explores...
• Posted My Interview! to High Anxieties
  Me: What was your family's attitude towards drugs when you were young? Him: Umm I'd probably have to say they were always against it but they never really you know, mentioned it a whole lot. Me: Okay, so did...
• Posted Interviewing Experience to High Anxieties
  I interviewed one of my roommate's good friends who I knew had past experiences with drugs. When I first asked if he would be willing to do the interview, he was a little apprehensive especially when I told him it...
• Posted Interviewing Experience to High Anxieties
  I interviewed one of my roommate's good friends who I knew had past experiences with drugs. When I first asked if he would be willing to do the interview, he was a little apprehensive especially when I told him it...
• Posted OBE 2-Solidarity and Drug Use in the EDM Scene to High Anxieties
  One definition of solidarity is: union or fellowship arising from common responsibilities and interests, as between members of a group or between classes, peoples, etc. In "Solidarity and Drug Use in the Electronic Dance Music Scene", Kavanaugh and Anderson explore...
• Posted even slightly dead... to High Anxieties
  I don't know why the computer won't show the whole photo. Also, sorry for the horrible quality. I'll keep the hard copy with my in my folder for the class in case anyone's dying to see what it actually...
• Posted Lenson on Baudelaire to High Anxieties
  In looking at Charles Baudelaire's Artificial Paradises from Lenson's perspective, I think there is much they two would agree upon. Baudelaire defines and explains the concept on the natural dream as a dream of everyday life, thoughts, wants, and wishes....
• Posted How Lenson Characterizes the Approach and Workings of Addiction Treatment to High Anxieties
  Lenson acknowledges that an addict is never going to fully overcome their addiction. It has occupied so much of their mind and physical being that despite sobriety and/or finally getting clean, the addict that was still remains within them. This...
• Posted OBE 1-Artificial Paradises to High Anxieties
  As someone who is not familiar with the first hand experimental effects of Hashish, all of the opening questions Baudelaire presents are ones I would ask myself. They are questions that spark such curiosity yet personally, I feel the answers...