Rwanda Debate

The debate we had in class was somewhat of a learning experience for me. The groups who got to talk explained their role in the Rwandan genocide while still arguing a point, allowing for a more in-depth understanding of the situation as well as each individual group. I was disappointed that many groups did not get to talk or answer questions as much as they probably should have. The people seemed more focused on the groups that didn't do anything, rather than the groups who were actually directly involved with the genocide. It eventually got kind of annoying when someone would raise their hand, but nobody would call on them because they might bring up a good point, or argument. Everyone had something interesting and important to say, and some just didn't get a chance.

I thought a lot more people would make it simple and easily blame my group, the Interahamwe, the group that actually went around and were doing the killing. Turned out, almost everyone went further and thought about who was leading the Interahamwe, supplying and supporting the mass murder, and what/who caused this. the true answer obviously was not, and never will be, known because, to be honest, nobody was single handedly responsible for the one hundred day tragedy that happened. Every person played their part in allowing the genocide to occur.

Nobody likes not getting a final solution, and there are a lot of things left uncovered. One class period was not nearly long enough to have a real in-depth debate about this. There is just way too much that needs to be said about the situation.

Overall, I am glad that we got to do this debate, even though not everyone fully got their point/side across or explained.

"The American Scholar"

Ralph Waldo Emerson's argument from "The American Scholar" about American society is still valid today.

People in American society allow others to think for them, which has caused it to continually degrade. "In the degenerate state, when the victim of society, he tends to become a mere thinker, or still worse, the parrot of other men's thinking." (Emerson). They have failed to let their voice be heard, because one man believes that their single opinion will not have an over-all impact on the outcome of society. This is one of the main problem's with society in America today. Americans no longer speak out against things that they believe are unethical in fear of getting publicly ridiculed.

The civilians in America, men in particular, who are skilled in many fields often get favored and, in turn, achieve a higher position on society's social ladder. Not to say that they don't work for it, but they tend to be perceived as being more intellectually advanced, as opposed to a man who is highly specialized in a single skill. "Him Nature solicits with all her placid, all her monitory picture; him the past instructs; him the future invites." (Emerson). These people, in particular, are favored throughout their whole lives, ever since they were little kids playing on the playground.

First Day Memoir

9/18/09 My expectations for high school when I first started weren’t very much at all. But now that we’ve been back for a couple of weeks, my expectations slowly, but surely, are growing by the day. I feel like this year has potential to be a lot of fun, however, I’m not totally convinced quite yet.
I’ve met some people that seem to be really outgoing and funny and I’m guessing why I’ve gotten along the most with them is because they’re the only ones that are like my friends from home. Not that the other people here are mean or unfriendly, it’s just that they don’t seem to as open to new people and I haven’t gotten a chance to get to know anybody yet. I’m sure once I meet them I’ll have a completely different mindset about everyone.


9/24/09 I just read over what I started to write on the 18th and it made me laugh. School is great now. It’s funny how something can change so much in just under a week. I, in fact, do have some friends here now, and I don’t just eat lunch with them. I actually talk to them. Most of them are from swim team, so we stay after school and walk to the gas station. Already, we’ve had pretty good times, and it has been about four days since I started to do that. Because I’ve met these people, I enjoy going to school in the morning-with the exception of getting on the bus at 6:42 in the morning. I mean, first hour is still boring, but that’s because everyone, including me, still wants to be in bed. Second hour, my teacher is pretty weird, and we laugh a lot; not at her, with her. Third hour is okay, I guess. The classroom smells funny, so my friends and I joke about it. Fourth hour is where I’m at right now. I kind of dread going to this class because I know we’re always going to have to write something. Fifth hour is basically a class full of weird people. I was pretty much forced to take it. Sixth hour is arguably the best classes ever. Enough said.