Figure Me Out by The Summer Set

This song means the absolute world to me because it basically describes my life. For a really long time I struggled with a lot of personal problems. I never quite fit in anywhere. I was always that person who was different. As the song says, "Im too pop for the punk kids, but im too punk for the pop kids, I don't know just where I fit in cause when I open my mouth I know nobody's listening." I was so caught up in everything that I wasn't and everything that I didn't have that I lost sight of what I did have.

I'm a very determined individual who has big dreams for the future, and my parents are always there encouraging me to keep going when I want to stop. My dad always tells me, "Pursue your dreams, and keep fighting for what you want. You're a determined and stubborn individual Mikaela. You never quit. Don't quit now. Get you're head out of the clouds, pick up the pieces and keep going. Everything is what you make of it." Over time I learned to believe that, and I realized that my struggles don't define me.

Coming to college I had nine hundred stones thrown at my window. I could've said, "You know what, college isn't for me. I can't do this." I was in the hospital four times, I'm on roommate number 3, I can no longer join the military until I figure out what's wrong with me, and I don't have many friends here, but am I going to let that stop me? No, because there's more to life then all my problems. Theres more to college then what has been presented to me thus far.

Everything in life is about how you perceive it. If you want to have a negative experience then you are going to make it negative, but if you want a positive experience, then make it positive. If you fall down a million times, then you have to find that strength to keep standing up. Every week I literally fall down. Not a week goes by, where I don't pass out, but I keep standing up and pushing forward. Keep a positive attitude, and good things will come. Everything takes time.

"But I believe there's more to life than all my problems. Maybe there's still hope for me to start again. Get my feet back on the ground. Pull my head out of the clouds. I think it's time for me to figure me out."

Klansville USA

This documentary was very eyeopening to the impact that the Brown v. Board case had on North Carolina. The KKK had laid dormant for years, but once this case had been ruled on, it struck a whole new nerve in this state. Members of the Klan were not happy that their children would be attending schools with children of the opposite race. They wanted their discontent to be known, not only at night, but during the day. They had attracted thousands of members, striking terror for everyone they crossed. They had such a strong presence that they got a whole town named after them. Being a part of the Klan was a badge of honor for these members. This whole era was a struggle between the NAACP, and the Klan. It was a fight to see who would win in the end.

Class Parallels and How it Relates to American Attitudes

Coming to college I was very used to the high school educational structure where none of my classes related to one another. I thought that was how it was always going to be, but this semester I realized that isn't the case. There's more to college then the history, mathematics, and science. There's a correlation between the courses we take. In America, and life in general, theres always a bigger picture. People don't always see that bigger picture though. Everyone thinks that everything is unrelated, and that if we pass one bill it won't effect us, or pertain to the 900 other bills that are already in effect. We're ignorant to the causes and effects that our actions have on one another. It's like college. If I hadn't come to college I would have always thought that none of my classes would ever relate. There's more to life then what we see. Let's open our eyes and look at the bigger picture, and think outside of the box.

Swann v. The Board

Last Friday, my litigation team debated our last court case, Swann v. the Board. My team was on the side of the board, and upon first glance of the case, we noticed that it wasn't going to be an easy case to debate. This case was going to challenge us not only intellectually, but mentally. We were going to have to think outside of the box to try and come up with ways as to why the Finger Plan was not going to be an effective method to achieve integration. From reading about the outcomes of the case, we knew that Swann won, but we didn't understand exactly what he won. We also realized that there were several expansions on this case, which included the Finger Plan, and several later court cases that came about years after the Swann case.

All confused, we went back to our sources of busing, and redistricting, and asked ourselves why? Why is this a bad idea to achieve integration? Well, there's time, money, distances, district zones, traffic flows, etc. Students would be on the bus for up to two hours sometimes, depending on traffic, and how far their house was from the school. Not only that, buses require gas, and gas requires money. Money that we don't have. Due to this, we decided that there has to be better options to acheive integration. All that was left was for the courts to agree with us.

What is America Coming To?

In a world where freedom of speech is allowed, and people have the right to vote, and the right to protest, why is there so much anger and hate? I log onto Facebook and all I see is one angry post after another. I get that some are mad about Trump being President, and I get that some rather have Hillary, or someone else, but there's nothing that we can do about it now. The election has passed. All that we can do is give Trump a shot and hope that it all turns out okay, just like we did with all the other President's that we have had. No President will ever be perfect, and of course some president's are absolutely horrible. Either way, Trump was voted in, and if he's really that horrible then in 4 years we can vote in someone else. Either way, if we want to make a difference then we have to make an active difference. We have to work together, instead of sitting behind a computer screen caught up in the fake realities of social media. 

An Interesting Day in the Court on the Case of Brown v. The Board of Education

For many years, America has operated under a segregated system. Blacks would go to one school, and whites would go to another. Unfortunately, for many blacks this was denying them the priveleges that many whites had. Black schools were no where near equal to the white schools. Teachers weren't as educated, supplies were lacking, and schools weren't as prepared. 

Today thats all changing. Today, we are making history. With the decision of the Supreme Court, schools will no longer be segregated. Blacks will be allowed to go to white schools, and vice versa. No more discrimination. How will America respond to this? Well, it all depends. America could respond very poorly to this happening, but at the same time, everything requires a change. America is being held back by the past. People are embarrassed to be in our country, and that is not okay. America is a wonderful place to be, and we should not have people be embarrassed because of our decisions. Lets all work together to make a positive change. 

Plessy v. Ferguson... Justice Harlan and His Dissenting Opinion

As I was sitting on the floor of my dorm reading Justice Harlan's dissenting opinion I couldn't help but think to myself, "Wow not only does this apply back then, but this applies today." Think about it; how many times are we told one thing, but presented another? Now relate that to the 14th amendment. The 14th Amendment granted blacks citizenship, and gave them equal protection under the law, meaning that the states can't treat them any differently. With that in mind, why did the states separate them? The blacks were told one thing, but presented another.

Justice Harlan was a smart man to write what he wrote. Not only was it powerful, but it was motivating and eyeopening. It brought to light issues that people turned a blind eye to. Justice Harlan refused to go with the norm of everyone else, and instead did his own thing. Now, I'm sure that people in 1896 didn't take too kindly to Harlan's opinion, and I'm sure that he got a whole lot of backlash for writing what he wrote, but hey look where we are now. Current day, 2016, is a whole lot different then back then. We are a generation full of a lot more acceptance and understanding. We're constantly moving towards new reforms and changes. I mean look how far we've come. We had the first black president, slavery is abolished, no more segregation, and we live in a free country protected by the Constitution.

Without people like Justice Harlan writing down their opinions, and saying that the current way of doing things isn't acceptable, then nothing was going to change. We can't be afraid to state our opinions because when we're afraid to state our opinions, than all were doing is saying that we accept every little thing that happens. We have the freedom of speech. Lets use that freedom of speech on issues that we feel are unjustified just like Justice Harlan did. You never know how powerful your words can be. Maybe years from now you could develop new laws and students like us will be reading you're dissenting opinions. Anything is possible. Use your voice, and lets move towards new reforms, Stick up for what's right just like Justice Harlan did in the Plessy v. Ferguson case.