Kayla's Blog

Rituals - Essay

2009-12-09T09:20:00.001-08:00

Every family around the world has rituals. We often call them traditions and it is something that is passed down from generation to generation. Each family may have a big or little tradition. When it comes to rituals the first thing that comes to my mind is an Indian dancing around a fire and chanting. Often times the word ritual pertains to ceremonies or dance. But rituals can mean something done over time that stays within a family.

In my family we have a ritual/tradition of when we go to Toronto, Canada we have to order from the Big Slice Pizza place. Toronto is the only place we know where we can get this pizza. It is a huge slice of pizza that is enough for a meal. Since the city is the only place we can find it, we always make it a tradition to order that pizza when we get there. Families across America have traditions when it comes to Christmas and Thanksgiving. Most families for thanksgiving eat turkey with mash potatoes and gravy, don’t forget the green bean casserole and of course pumpkin pie. Christmas is often celebrated with waking up early and opening presents and then having a big feast afterwards. These traditions are followed by hundreds of American families every year. But each one may do a little thing differently than the other. It is just how we were raised to carry on the traditions.

Sometimes we have a ritual when it comes to which route we take to work, home, or school. I know for myself I can get home over 12 different ways. Sometimes I choose different roads just for a change in scenery. But if I follow a certain road each time, that will turn into a ritual of mine. When it comes to shopping each person probably has their own ritual. Some shoppers may write down a list and then go to the store. In this way they will know what items they need, so they can get them and leave. Others have a ritual of just leisurely shopping; they may browse the store and see what appeals to them. I never would have thought that we have rituals when we shop, but now that I analyzed it we all do have rituals.

In class we studied about a new concept called neuromarketing. Neuromarketing is when they study the brain to see what attracts us to products and what turns us away. After understanding this concept it is frightening to see that we have rituals and marketers have discovered most of our rituals when it comes to shopping and they target us with them. It makes you conscious next time you go to buy a product if this is just a ritual or if you were targeted to buy it.

Attitude to Service - Essay

2009-12-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

The concept of service strikes many different reactions in a lot of people. Some people may react to service with an open mind and be willing to serve; others might see service as something they are obliged to do. But in life we all are involved in a part of service whether it is helping serve food or just opening a door for a stranger. Service, I believe, should make people happy. It should not be something that a person is forced to do, but does without asking.

I love to serve people. At the age of 16 I started working in my church. I helped the teacher in the primary Sabbath school class. I taught the children their memory verse and helped out with the crafts. But after about six months the teacher had a stroke and was out for abut four months. I took over the class without prompting and began teaching it by myself for two years. During that time I juggled teaching that class with my own school and also work. I had a full plate, but I handled it professionally and loved every minute of teaching the children. I served my church and also the children I taught.

This experience opened my eyes to see that service is more than working. It is about caring and taking the time to serve or help someone. My attitude to serving was an open one. I did not take the job with a sour attitude thinking “ugh, now I have to teach the kids.” Most people I believe see service as work. In America we all have busy lives, we run from one thing to another and we do not have time to set aside an hour or two out of our day to help someone else. If Americans did they would probably complain. I know I’m being harsh but I’ll give Americans the benefit of the doubt. Maybe, Americans are open to service, but if they were why are not there more people helping the homeless or starving kids in Africa.

Often times when people refer to service they think of helping out a foreign country. And even then, people only come together when a national disaster happens. The tsunami, for instance, that happened in 2004 wiped out thousands of homes and killed hundreds of people. People all across America pulled together to raise money to help out the survivors of that tragedy. They were helping people they did not know in a foreign country. Not every day will you see people helping strangers, unless they feel the need to serve others. Their attitude towards the survivors of the tsunami was probably of sympathy for their loss. Would the same people who raised money to help out the survivors, also help out homeless people in our own country? It is hard to say what they would do; maybe they felt good helping people they didn’t know and would help out a stranger again.

When you see people raising money on the sidewalk for a cancer patient, isn’t that part of service? If you were to donate some money to the fund would that be considered service? I would say yes it is service, even though you do not know the person you are helping them out by donating some money to their cause. When we do donate some money do you feel good or do you think that “Oh, I could have used that money for something better.” Our whole attitude to service is matters, if we feel good about helping others we are more apt to help again. But if we have a cheap attitude towards service we will not want to serve again.

Rituals

2009-11-06T16:57:00.000-08:00

Everybody has rituals in thier life. Whether it goes back to certain things on Thanksgiving or maybe things you do each time you go to the mall. Everybody has them. The thing is with so many rituals in peoples lives can we overcome the influence of the world with them? With marketers and producers constantly throwing things at us and trying to figure out our ways to get us to buy their products, it doesn't suprise me that they would go so far as to study our rituals to better understand our ways. It alsmost makes us seem like lab rats. But with our rituals that get passed down from generation to generation, maybe we can not be influenced by their advertisements.

Acumen Fund

2009-10-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

The Acumen fund is a non-profit organization that helps the poor. They use new entrepeneurs to help build buildings or come up with other ideas that will help the poor. They have a really good program and try to solve poverty and present good services. They have a lot of people to help them and alot of good stories about the people they have helped.

WWGD - What Would Google Do?

2009-10-30T12:34:00.000-07:00

Everyone has heard of Google and probably used it hundreds of times. But we don't know Google's business model or their affect on consumers. Google's business model is advertising. Everytime you type something into the search engine, what you are looking for will pop up along with ads that are similar to what you're searching for. Some people think that Google would be more biased to advertisers than consumers. They do have a good point, Google is being paid by advertisers.

But Google claims they have a great philosophy on how they run their website. Google claims that they put the consumer first, if you "focus on the user, all else will follow". Of course they put the consumer first, thats what they all say. But what they say and what they do are two different things. They strive to be the best and fastest search engine. They also provide different ways you can get on their website by phone, etc... I think that Google does use advertising to get more money but in the end they did a good job in giving the consumer what they want.

One question is will Google's philosophy change consumers habits in the next 10 years? Well if Google sticks with their philosophy then yes it probably would change in the next 10 years. If thousands of Americans log onto Google they are also exposed to the ads that Google has on there and if they are there, Americans will be more prone to look at the ads. I know that I am tempted at times. But if they do, then Google is helping the advertisers and possibly canging the consumer's habits.

"Why aren't they doing that?"

2009-10-11T13:56:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I talked about our carbon footprint and what we can do to lessen it. But if using mugs instead of styrafoam cups really helps our planet, how come nobody is doing that? Everyone wants to help our planet out and "go green" but we haven't done much except wearing a t-shirt that says it. If people are serious, why aren't they bringing their own coffee mugs to starbucks and having them put their lattes in it, instead of a cup they will throw away. Imagine the money they would save too. The company wouldn't have to buy thousands upon thousands of styrafoam, plastic, or "recycled paper" cups. And the cups would not be taking up space in our landfills and taking years to decompose.
But even though it is a great idea, and would tremendously help out our planet. Americans are stubborn, and they don't like to change their ways. They go for convenience than anything. With this fast paced world, you run into a store get what you need and run out. They wouldn't want to remember to bring their mug in order to get coffee. That is the reason I think Americans aren't doin that.

Attitude to Service

2009-10-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

We all have a tendency to help people, some of us have it more than others. But that doesn't mean that its not in us. I personally love to serve others, I will help others whenever I can. There's a joy that I feel when I help someone who is in need. I know out in the world there are alot of services to help the poor or disadvantage and I can't join all of them but I do help in my spare time. The question is, is there a need to provide direct service to the poor or disadvantage? I would say yes. From a biblical standpoint, Jesus said Go and do unto others as I have done unto you. And Jesus helped the poor and disadvantaged. Likewise, we should do the same.
I also think that without our help to the poor or disadvantage, who would help them? They cannot survive on their own and most rely on the salvation army to provide food for them. None of us know what its like to be poor because we live in such a wealthy country. We would never fully understand until we were in their shoes for a day. And then we would realize that a service to these people is a wonderful idea. And they would probably be more willing to help those services. So I fully stand behind services to the poor and disadvantaged.

When food really meant something more to me

2009-09-23T09:30:00.000-07:00

When I look back at a time in my life when food was something more to me, I don't think of food I think of water. I came up here to Andrews Univeristy and discovered that Michigan water is nasty! The first time I went to fill my water bottle in the sink, the water came out opaque. I couldn't even see through it. I thought "gross!" and poured it out quickly. I grew up on well water back home in South Carolina. It was fresh water, straight form the ground. To me it was sweet tasting and unlike any other water I've had. Ever since I was little I couldn't drink city water or bottled water, because it tasted flat and fake to me. Now here in Michigan I have to drink bottled water because their water is disgusting. Fortunately after I poured out that water, I had an extra bottle of water from back home. And I enjoyed my water one last time, every drop of it. Its weird how we take for granted the simplel things in everyday life. But it's when we have to go without it for a while that we realize what we had. Then we learn to enjoy it more next time. So don't take for granted the little things like water.

Carbon Footprint

2009-09-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

In today's world everyone is going "green" they want to help the world become a better place. Everybody has finally realized that we are not helping this planet out, and we need to do something about it. Recently you've been hearing terms like "carbon footprint" and the biggest one "recycle". Everyone knows what recycling is, but carbon footprint is the amount of carbon dioxide or gases you give off in your everyday schedule. For instance, you spray hairspray in your hair and release inhalants into the air without realizing it. Recycling is a big thing now; everyone wants to recycle plastic bottles and quit using other plastic products. When you go to the grocery store, do you get paper or plastic? I get plastic because its the easiest and I reuse them as trashbags for my trash can. But if you think about how long it takes for a plastic bag to decompose, about 10-20 years then you might reconsider asking for the plastic. And producers are realizing that consumers want to help the earth; so they come out with these eco-friendly recycled bags that you can bring to the store with you to bag your groceries. So you can choose next time you are in a store whether to get the plastic and throw it in another land fill to decompose for up to 20 years or bring your own recycled bags. I know that the recycled bags are better.
Here's another thing in America, coffee. So many Americans drink coffee daily and often more than once a day. With stores like Starbucks that sell really good coffee all over the nation Americans find it easy to swing in, grab a cup of coffee, and head off to work. But they don't realize they are hurting our earth. Think about all the styrafoam cups that Americans have their coffee in. And when they are done with it, they will just toss it into the nearest trash can. From there it will go to a land fill where it will never decompose. Yes, I said never. From a study by Penn State University, styrafoam never decomposes. Now if Americans smarted up and brought their own coffee mugs to Starbucks then we could cut down the styrafoam problem. And be helping our planet even more. I'm sure every American has more than one mug sitting at home in a cubbord just collecting dust. And they don't even think about how it affects our earth. The styrafoam cup is just convenience for them.

Common Wealth by Jeffrey Sachs

2009-09-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey Sachs really lets you know about the economic situation in Common Wealth. He educates us in the first two chapters about our country and its needs. He has excellent ideas, but its very hard to try and convince millions of people to trust in you to follow through with them. In chapter 2 he talks about six trends that will shape the century. And I think he is right about those issues. He has great insight in where this country is headed.

Social Media and Educatioin

2009-09-07T14:52:00.000-07:00

Social Media is taking off now a days. We have everything from Facebook to You Tube to Twitter, Wikipedia, and Blogs, etc.... People don't know how to react to it except to learn more about it. I read in an article that students who learned about the social media were better off later on in a workplace situation because they would know how to use certain things. And with this media progressing as it is, we can't do anything except just go with it. Education is so involved in social media. Teachers will tell their students to go to Wikipedia to look up things to better understand them. And they even will have them as friends on Facebook. The social media is not going away any time soon, so we just have to introduce it in our education and learn.