Week 6: Coffee vs. Tea

8 weeks into this semester. Week 6 of this blog. Many, if not all college students (including myself), are tired. And I think most people, even outside the university sphere, are very ready for the holidays. A break. Whatever.

So I figured, why not do a fun topic--Coffee vs. Tea. It's very applicable because who doesn't need/want a caffeine boost when they reach the level of fatigue college and careers bring?

I know this topic isn't exactly "controversial." I suppose it's more along the preference side, but some people do get pretty defensive about their choice of caffeinated beverage.

For the most part, Americans made their choice back 1773. I mean, they kind of had to find an alternative beverage after they decided to brew all their tea in the Boston Harbor. So today, we associate tea with the sophisticated British or Europeans in general, and coffee with the rough and tough, hardworking American spirit.

Now I realize those are broad (probably inaccurate) generalizations, and I should probably clarify my statement about the whole Boston Tea thing as a joke and not factual history, but I personally tend to fall on the whole tea side of things. I grew up drinking tea. I absolutely love it. My dad is the coffee connoisseur considering he actually buys the beans green and roasts his own coffee. Apparently, the gene didn't rub off on me though. I can count the number of cups of coffee I drank my freshman year (year, not semester) on one hand.

So this week, I'll take the position of coffee.

And just for the fun of it, here are a couple quotes about coffee...

"A morning without coffee is like sleep." ~Anonymous

or

"Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation." ~Anonymous

and

"To me, the smell of fresh-made coffee is one of the greatest inventions." ~Hugh Jackman

Feel free to add other quotes!

What's your Trick or Treat experience?

Obviously since I've only been Trick or Treating once in my life (and I was too young when I went to recollect anything), I need the stories and experiences of others to show what a great time Halloween can be.

This week I'm not using the opinion of one interviewee, but of several! All of these people grew up Trick or Treating, loved it, and say that someday they would definitely let their kids go Trick or Treating on Halloween.

Gwyn- She grew up in a neighborhood with a lot of elderly people so her parents never really worried about safety issues. And I think it's safe to guess that her neighbors gave out some of the best treats. Her favorite thing about going Trick or Treating was just spending time with her little siblings. One time she remembers dressing up with her little brother as a pair of matching bears.

Angela- "You get to dress up and look adorable!" And when she mentioned that her favorite costume was dressing up like Raggedy Anne, I can imagine that she looked adorable every year. Angela loved going every year with her brother and parents. She also stated that now as a business major, she looks at it as an opportunity for "free" goods. "It's free candy!" she said, then added that if your kids are sitting at home watching all the other kids having a good time, you'd better have a pretty good reason for not letting them join in the fun. 

No, Really! It's Not All About the Candy...

Trick or Treat? I mentioned in my last post that Halloween has grown significantly in popularity as a holiday. As this article states, many adults in America celebrate Halloween (almost 66 percent), and Americans spend nearly $7 billion—$2 billion of that on candy alone—for this one night of Trick or Treating. So what's the draw? Surely it's not just to blow a hundred or have your kids stock up on candy for the next year and a half.

So here are some other benefits of going Trick or Treating, besides the obvious, sugar overdose.

• It's fun! Outside of Hollywood, when else can you dress up like someone or something totally different from your norm? You get to knock on random people's doors and are given free candy for it! Halloween is a great excuse to be just a little bit crazy and have some good clean fun.

• It's a perfect time for bonding with family and friends. First you and your kids can work on costumes together. Creating a homemade costume gives your children a greater appreciation for the costumes they are wearing. It also teaches your children how to work together, save money, become more creative and imaginative (like this dad). I asked several of my friends, who went Trick or Treating when they were younger, what their favorite was about it, and the most common answer surprised me.

Week 5: "Trick or Treat" or not...

It's almost that time of year again. No, I'm not talking about Christmas. I'm referring to Halloween which will be here in just over a week. This holiday has grown in popularity over the years, and many people decorate for it almost as much as for Christmas. A drive through my hometown neighborhood proves that.

Some people hold that it's a wicked holiday that shouldn't be observed. (i.e. Don't even give out candy that day in case people mistaken your actions as condoning Halloween.) Others say it's just a day of fun for kids and even adults, and a deeper meaning shouldn't be read into it. And then there are those who go just a tad over-the-top...

I'm not really taking sides about that in this week's topic, but instead I want to take the opposite side of my opinion about the question, "Should you let your kids go trick or treating?"

People say that most do as their parents did, and I guess that's probably the main reason for my opinion over this issue. Except for when I was 4, I've never been trick or treating. My parents had a number of reasons, all of them very good, and quite frankly, we always had a blast in my family doing other things that night (like watching movies or going out to eat or something else fun.)

But this week I'm going to defend why you should let your children go trick or treating.

Catherine McCrary: Teaching a Second Language to the Young

Voicing the opposite of my opinion this week is Catherine McCrary, one of my fellow journalism and mass communication majors.

I first discovered Catherine's opinion on this week's topic (English only vs. Bilingualism) when she and I were preparing for a radio interview for a class project. I had actually wanted to try this topic several weeks ago (before I knew Catherine's stance on the issue), so naturally, I was really excited when she brought the topic up. This nice little coincidence meant that I didn't have to go around asking people if they had the opinion "op-me" about adding a "second" language here in the U.S.

I put second in quotations, because as I talked about in my last post, the U.S. doesn't even have an official "first" language, even though most people speak English.

Anyway, so during my interview with Catherine, she really emphasized that it's important for children to learn other languages from a young age. Why? "Because children have an amazing aptitude for learning language at a young age," she said. And right now in America, the logical choice of a second language for children to learn would be Spanish (in case you haven't noticed). When I asked her whether children in America should be required to study Spanish all through school, she quickly and adamantly replied, "Absolutely!"

She stated that children in other parts of the world are required to learn English in school, not just because English is a global commerce language, but also because immersing a child in another language at an early age has been proven to increase IQ or standardized test scores. Catherine gave an example from Canada, where children were immersed in French for the first 3 years of school. When they entered the 4th grade, the Canadian children were finally taught in English, and by that time they were fluent in both languages, had an appreciation for French-Canadian culture, and had higher IQs.

This fascinating article expounds on the example that Catherine gave.

So how does language make a person "smarter" per se?

It's in the Constitution! Or is it?

"America is an English-speaking country." "Immigrants should learn our language when they come to live in America."

These are some of the dogmatic statements made by people who are against bilingualism in the United States. But although English is the most commonly spoken language in America now, constitutionally, it is not our official language. In fact, America actually has no official language. So people have no right to say otherwise, or call immigrants un-American for not speaking only or mainly English.

Perhaps it's even time for Americans to consider becoming bilingual, either individually or as a whole nation.

One article in the Huffington Post suggests that for political and economic purposes, America would be wise to become a bilingual nation. The author of that article, Steve Leveen, made one statement in the article that I found especially thought-provoking. "When you think about it, isn't it our rightful place as the nation of immigrants to be the most bilingual of nations?"

Week 4: America—English only vs. Bilingualism

In a nation that is the "melting-pot" of every other nation, the standard has always been to stick with one language. And since the United States' primary roots are from England, that language has always been English. However, in recent years, the mass influx of Hispanic-speaking people to the U.S. has caused some to rethink the whole "monolingual" policy and wonder if making Spanish our "second-language" would perhaps be very beneficial to American society as a whole.

My stance is that we didn't make any exceptions in the past, so why now? Come to America. Learn our language.

Now I am definitely not a culture-hater. I love the Spanish language, and I'm studying it now! But this week's topic isn't about my opinion, obviously. If you want to know more about where I stand, the article, "English Spoken Here," by Kathleen Parker sums it up well.

This week I will focus on the benefits of making the United States a bilingual nation—specifically by adding Spanish as our second language.

Choosing the perfect hair color

Big breakup. New career or chapter of your life. Boredom or want of change (in my roommates' case). These are some main reasons people color their hair.

According to a 2012 statistic, 75% of women dye their hair in some way. That could mean going to a stylists, which a good job will cost anywhere from $60-100 dollars. Or you could do it yourself, which would probably cost around $4-20 (assuming something doesn't go horribly wrong like it did for Anne.)

So without taking your hair through the trial and error ordeal, how can you find your perfect hair color?

Roomie hair coloring advice—Give it a try!

I was racking my brain trying to come up with someone I could interview for this week’s topic. It seemed a little rude to just walk up to someone and say, “Hey do you color your hair a lot? Want to be interviewed for my blog about why people should color their hair?” For some reason, I don’t think they’d take it the right way…

And I’d probably be forced to backtrack. “Not that it looks like you color your hair—I mean, it looks really natural! I just thought… Nevermind…”

Then it hit me. My roommates! If this week’s topic was inspired by them, why shouldn’t I interview them about their experience and their opinions?

So meet Angela and Victoria. (I have a third roommate, Hope, who also colored her hair, but she wasn’t in the room when I interviewed the other two.)

Angela first started coloring her hair this past summer. (I think she tried a shade of red.) This time, she and Hope colored a blondish streak into the bottom layer of their hair. I say “they colored,” but actually it was Victoria who did the honors. The streak is really only visible when they have an up-do.

Victoria didn’t do the streak this time because she already likes the way she colored her hair a couple months ago, which is a blond, highlighted look.  

Both Angela and Victoria agreed that one reason each colors her hair is for a new look—just something different. “I get bored,” Angela said, and Victoria agreed, “Yeah, sometimes you just get sick and tired of your old look.”

Week 3: Coloring your hair vs. Keeping it natural

My roommates have inspired me. Or at least my topic for this week...

Right now they're all heading to the store down the street to buy some hair dye. They asked if I wanted to join. I do not because I like my hair color, and I have no desire to change it.

Then I thought, "Hey! There's a debatable topic!" And thus my topic for this week.

On my side, I realize the main argument for not dying your hair is that it stays healthier. But honestly, that's not really why I don't color it. I guess I just really like the hair color God gave me.

 ~~~~~

Well the roomies are back now. And they've just finished dying a strip of their hair. (See picture.) It looks pretty good, and I know they had a great time doing it. 

Right now, hair coloring is fairly popular. It's also fun, and (in the case of my roommates) a great way to bond! I guess those are 3 good reasons for coloring your hair. 

So cue week 3: Coloring your hair vs. Keeping it natural.

Words from Juliet

While sitting up in the lobby for journalism students with some fellow journalism majors, I brought up my blog topic for this week. One of the girls, Juliet Eby quickly stated "I definitely want to be a career mom." So of course, I immediately asked her if she would be willing to be interviewed about her opinion for this blog.

Juliet said she wants to be a career mom, mainly because she wants to have a career. This statement might sound obvious, almost redundant, but when she expounded on it, it really made a lot of sense. She said she wants to continue developing her talents by actually using them. Basically what our hypothetical "Rene" (in my last post) wanted. She didn't want to waste the time and money it took her to learn how to be a journalist. Or more specifically, a copy writer for an advertising agency (which is her desire after graduation.)

Her next reason made me laugh a little. "I don't necessarily want my kids to be stuck with me all day." She quickly clarified that that didn't mean she didn't want to be with her kids. The advice "everything in moderation" would probably be a good comparison.

Instead, Juliet would prefer that her children would be able to go to a daycare where they could play with other children besides their siblings. "I think they'd have more opportunities to explore, use their imaginations, and learn team work with other kids at an early age," Juliet said. She added that they would also learn to respect an authority outside the home from a young age.

Of course there are other reasons that women want to continue their careers after becoming moms.

Be a Career Mom—Guilt-Free

Let me present a scenario.

A young lady (I'll call her Rene) graduates from high school and chooses her major—let's say pre-med. After 4 years of undergrad, Rene completes her degree which she has now fallen in love with. At the same time, she falls in love with a guy (Craig) she met at school. The two get married right after Rene graduates and move back to Craig's hometown near Durham, North Carolina. While Craig works at a local business, Rene decides to continue her education and applies to Duke University to become a physician assistant.

Within 3 years, Rene finishes her schooling and begins working in the area. But in the meantime, Craig and Rene discover they are about to start a family. Rene now has to make a choice. Does she waste her years of education (and money obtaining it)? Does she forfeit her job to remain home? Craig has a good paying job, so it isn't as if they would suffer without her added income. But Rene loves being a physician assistant.

This little "story" is completely hypothetical, but it represents the situation thousands, perhaps millions of moms find themselves in each year. What if I tell you that Rene loves her job and career path, and wants to work full-time (like 32% of mothers in the U.S.) She also feels that she would be able to balance her home and work life. You might ask, "Why does she hesitate in her decision?"