Journal 6 from Omar

1. One of the biggest takeaways I had from my profile essay was realizing the shear amount of work that Journalism takes. The amount of time I had to put into this essay and the transcript alone felt as if I was at work. I really had to manage my time extremely well while I had four other midterms within the two weeks that the essay was due so I was juggling between studying and writing the transcript and eventually the paper every single day. 2. Another take away I got from the interview itself was that some people genuinely care about the well being of others and others are simply self centered. Laurie was always ready to help someone regardless of what she had heard and did not build pre-conceived notations of her students. She was ready to welcome anyone into her life and help guide them to a better life if they were willing to let her in as well. This is truly a trait I admire from her and wish to emulate. 3. The final thing I took away from my profile essay was the impact that communities can have on shaping peoples perception of others. Laurie said she grew up in a very tight knit community and I believe this was the biggest factor in why she cares so much about other human beings. Maybe some people have never had this sense of community, so they simply do not care to cultivate one within their local community. I believe that my strong family ties and the way my family raised me and always cared so much about me is why I care so much about others and their well-being as well. Its very interesting to me and kind of sad at the same time that not everyone is given this love and care and this is possibly why they are so cold and heartless.


2.Tommie Bass's story of his self education and saving lives really touched me. It opened my eyes to the perspective that someone can still save lives and positively impact their community and the people within it without ever having a college or post graduate education. This man simply had a passion for nature and cultivated plants in an effort to better peoples lives and I find those traits to be admirable. I value this because saving lives and impacting people positively is something I have wanted to do since I was a child. My father constantly giving me everything he can and My mother always caring for me instilled these values in me as a child and its something that I want to pass onto others. The Stone wall riots profile also stuck out to me. These people were unafraid to stand for what they believe and now a days I think people would rather stay quiet and conform than be seen as the odd-ball out. If people do not voice their opinions then nothing will change and sometimes that minority opinion is the exact change that we need. I think this is especially important at a time when people are so easily blinded by the media and the ideas they portray.






3. How many people like Tommie Bass actually exist still in the United States? I came up with this question because when we read this profile it was the first time I had ever heard about someone like Tommie inside the United States. I had read before about witch doctors and herbalists but never about how they were genuinely saving lives when doctors had condemned them to die and traditional medicine to be unable to do anything. I think this is an in-valuable skill that could change many peoples lives if it was nurtured more in our society.
Another question I would be interested in comes from the Z.L.Hill story. The man who remained positive in his situation even though he was constantly, put down and oppressed and even imprisoned. The question I have is how does prision life effect most people. For a man like Hill it was nota determinant to his morals or his mentality for life, but is this the case for everyone? Being locked up like a animal could break many peoples minds and I would be interested in seeing the positive and negative outcomes of imprisonment.