Awkward Turtle...

One of the reasons I decided to take sociology as a class this year was because my older friends spoke so highly of it. They said it changes the way we think of the little things in life. Like the things we take for granted, or the things we don't pay attention to.

I'd definitely say that walking into class and sitting there in complete silence was so incredibly awkward. Every year on the first day of school, especially since high school began, you sit in class, the teacher talks, we listen and stay quiet until asked any questions. I guess that's how we've been trained sociologically. Like we as students have been brainwashed since the beginning of school to be quiet until spoken to. That's how classes always begin. So when I was in an environment where we didn't yet know the teacher, or what we were supposed to be doing, or even if we were supposed to be talking, the room was filled with awkwardness.

 Even if the class wasn't silent and we were talking, I still think we'd be talking just to fill the room with noise. Small talk. That's what people do on the first day of school: "How was your summer?" or "Are you excited for this year?" Students talk just to pass time and fill the silence in the air, so I think silence is something we take for granted. I like silence...even though on the first day of school it was such a weird situation at first!

Silence alone isn't awkward if you don't feel pressured to talk. I think that people make situations awkward. I don't even like the word awkward. I think that people make situations feel strange and uncomfortable so we feel pressured to talk. I never really thought about how we we were stuck in this routine for the first day of each class, but this silence taught me that we've already been trained to follow routine and we didn't even know it.

Who am I?

Who am I?

It's hard to answer who I am right now, but I know who, or at least what I want to be when I'm older. I know that I want to be a teacher (and always hoped to be one since I was little). I know that I'm graduating High School early. And I know that I want to go to college next fall in the south. I guess that it's these certain goals that I have in mind that in some way, shape or form, create who I am right now. I don't know exactly how all of these goals are going to play out, but I guess I'll find that out soon enough.

As for what I know about myself right now: My name is Dylan. I'm seventeen. I'm the youngest sister in my family, so I have an older brother and an older sister. I love my parents so much. I like to think that I'm independent and level-headed. I think respect is a big factor in influencing someone like me. I respect my family. I respect my older sister, and hope to be successful like my brother.

My family always taught me values like work hard for what you get, or don't take advantage of what you have. It's values like these that shape who I am right now, and how hard I've been working to get to where I want to be.