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.

Plessy v. Ferguson Debate

So, today, November 2, 2016, was the first time I debated in class today, and even though I forgot about the slaughterhouse cases, it went alright considering. The whole idea of litigation teams works wonderfully, as long as the team works as a team, which my team doesn't. My team needs to work on communication, and start working together to get everything done. Having to do this project by myself, I learned a lot about not only the Plessy v. Ferguson case, but myself as a person. I learned that team projects don't always work out, but that's okay because if it can be accomplished with a team, it can be accomplished alone. I learned that I can only control so much, and that when something isn't going right it's okay because there's always other options.

Regarding the Plessy v. Ferguson case, its an interesting, but morally difficult case. You have to battle with yourself about what you think is morally right, and what the law is. We all know that segregation is wrong, but at this time period, there is nothing that we can do about it, because its the law. When it comes to court cases, precedent always supersedes morals.

Should John Mann Be Responsible for What He Had Done?

On September 28, 2016 we had our first in class debate on State v Mann on the issue of slavery. This case was based on a slave named Lydia who was brutally beaten by her owner John Mann. Mr. Mann is saying that he has the right to do what he did because Lydia should obey her master since she is owned by Mr. Mann. The state is saying that this isn't the case, that even though slavery is legal, slaves are still property. It is wrong to damage property, and what Mr. Mann did was simple battery and assault which is against the law. Throughout the course of the class we debated many different aspects of each side, and in the end slavery ended up winning which in my opinion isn't right. Although I had to accept this outcome, it still makes me mad because I feel the state had a stronger argument. Mr. Mann assaulted Lydia and should pay for what he had done.

The First Presidential Debate

For my American Politics class I had to do a Film Assignment on the First Presidential Debate. In this debate there were a lot of topics that were covered, some that I felt were more relevant than others, but nonetheless were all interesting to hear about. I thought it was funny how each of the candidates were low-key attacking each other at first, but then attacking each other harder as the debate went on. Hillary was purposely trying to get Trump mad and off topic and she succeeded. Both of the candidates have very different views and opinions about how they want to achieve everything for the future. Hillary wants to make things better for the middle class and work her way up from there, whereas Trump wants to start with the wealthy and have everything trickle down. I think the reason why Hillary won the debate is because Trump very rarely answered the questions. He was too worried about defending the accusations Hillary used as a fish hook to throw Trump off course, which he took each time. I'm looking forward to watching the next political debate to see how each candidate acts, and what topics they discuss.

Trump Comes to Campus

Last Tuesday, September 20, was a very interesting day on campus. Presidential Candidate Donald Trump came to campus and held one of his campaign rallies here. The reason that this is significant is because most of us are 18 or above and are able to vote in the upcoming Presidential election. Another reason this is significant is because it raised some tension here on campus. Some people thought that by Donald Trump coming to campus it violated what the school was about, and who we are. Personally I really don't have an opinion about this. The way that I look at situations like this is you get out of a situation what you make of it. You may not always agree with what you are given, but each item you are given holds something for you to learn from it. By campus hosting Donald Trump it does not mean that the school necessarily supports Trump, it just shows how campus is open to everyone and everything. Some of you may not know this, but campus extended its invitation to host a rally to all the presidential candidates. The only one who accepted the invitation was Donald Trump. So the campus wasn't trying to go against their values, all they were trying to do was be nice and help out. I mean yeah it was also a publicity thing I'm sure, but hey its all what you interpret, and what side of the story you choose to look at.

I personally was not able to attend the rally. I did receive a ticket, and was planning on going to the rally, but due to personal reasons I was not even on campus when Trump was here. Now some of you may ask, how can you form an opinion on this if you weren't there? Well the simple answer is I didn't have to be here. Politics is politics. Anywhere you go you are always experiencing politics in one form or another. Trump was here, but he was also on televisions and radio stations all over the nation. Trump coming to campus was an interesting event, but in the end it was very peaceful and ran smoothly. No matter who you choose to vote for, or whether or not you choose to vote, don't get mad at situations so easily. Take a step back and try to analyze the situation from all perspectives.

Team Savannah.. The Members

A little over a month ago I had moved down to North Carolina from New Jersey. Always being the awkward and shy girl, when I heard that it was time to work in a group project in my First Year Seminar class I was a bit worried as to how it was going to go. I wasn't sure if my group was going to like me, or if they would look at me like I was crazy. Upon sitting down with my group though, I realized that my view of the whole process was super skewed. Everyone in my group was super nice and welcoming. They were open to getting to know me, and I was open to getting to know them, which gave us all the opportunity to learn new and interesting facts about each other. One common thing that almost all of us shared was the fact that we all have dogs, which is actually how we came up with our team name. My dog's name is Savannah, and it just so happened that Austin's girlfriends name is Savannah and she had actually traveled to Savannah. Sam was so fascinated and excited by the fact that we had three different forms of Savannah that he wanted that to be our team name and it just kind of stuck; so now we are Team Savannah.

On team Savannah there are five members; Sam, Austin, Matt, Patrick, and myself. Most of us reside up north, both Sam and I being from New Jersey, Patrick from Maryland, and Matt from Long Island. Our last team member Austin is the member who lives the farthest away; traveling all the way from High Point North Carolina. Don't worry Austin we know it's a long trip. Sam, Patrick, and myself all play some form of an instrument, guitar being the most common. I personally don't know how to play the guitar even though I do own one. My main instrument is the flute, but I also play the piccolo. Austiin and Matt are the sports people of the group playing one or more of the following; football, lacrosse, wrestling, or track. All of us are involved in campus in one form or another. Whether it be the Teddy Roosevelt Club of Excellence (hiking), Society of Physics, Entrepreneurship Club, Greek Life, the Rowing Team, or just focusing on academics. We also represent a wide range of majors; Mathematics, Business, Biology on the Pre-Med tract, Finance, or Criminal Justice on the Pre-Law tract.

All together the process of getting to meet new people was nerve racking at first, but ended up not being that bad. Everyone here is super nice and welcoming. It's a lot different then back home. The process of meeting new people has taught me to keep my eyes open because you never know who is among you. You may find that the person sitting across the room is actually just like you, and may end up becoming your best friend.