This blog is about the changing definition of being a man. Each generation has a different way a defining manhood. The article written by the McKay’s talked about how characteristics of generations rotate throughout history. This makes sense to me. When a person is born they are influenced by the social happenings of that time in history. The adults they are raised with are also influenced by these events. This is turn, plays a large part in how the children are treated and raised. One of the examples given in the writing is how “Artisits (born 1843-1859) were born during a crisis. The caregivers of these children were overprotective because of the situation in the country.

 

Nick Woodman is the definition of a man for this generation. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego in 1997. He attempted two companies, unsuccessful at getting either off the ground. He was determined not to quit but needed some time to re-think his next move. He went on a surf trip and used his 35mm camera to try to get action shots. He noticed others having difficulty getting good action shots. The available equipment was either too expensive or it was impossible to get close enough to the event. This experience led his to create the GoPro. This is an affordable camcorder attached to a belt placed around your body. Nick and his wife sold shell necklaces from their car along the California coast to finance the project They borrowed his mothers sewing machine to attach the belts to the cameras. Today the cameras are digital, waterproof, have wifi capabilities and are affordable at $200-$400. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Woodman)

 

Nick has donated $500 million to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation this year. The money will be used “to start a donor-advised fund they are calling the Jill + Nicholas Woodman Foundation.” This is a new foundation and they are still in the process of devising the giving strategies. (https://philanthropy.com/article/No-6Nicholas.Jill/151809)

 

Nick was born in 1975 making him a Nomad, according to the article written by the McKays. It states “Nomad children grow up fast and often engage in risky behavior.” This trait describes Nick Woodman. He likes to play hard, isn’t afraid to take business risks, and gives back big.

 

 

“The Cyclical Nature of History | The Art of Manliness.” The Art of Manliness. 12 July 2012. Web. 8 Aug. 2015.

“No. 6: Nicholas and Jill Woodman.” The Chronicle of Philanthropy. 8 Feb. 2015. Web. 8 Aug. 2015.

Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 8 Aug. 2015.`

Tea Party Movement

I believe that a “revolution, or movement” is generally started by a group of people who think alike and have similar beliefs. Usually, they are individuals from the same generation. The movement may then attract like-minded people from multiple generations. For example, people who had been in the work force for at least a few years started the tea party movement. They took their message across the county and were able to gain the interest of multiple generations. Younger generations were influenced because they were about to enter the work force or were very early in their careers. They were concerned about how government run health care and the stimulus debt would effect them long term. Older generations were concerned how this would affect the course of our county and their children and grandchildren.

A person doesn’t have to be directly effected to want to become part of a revolution. Sometimes, the “cause” is attempting to make changes that will indirectly affect them. For example, in the tea party movement, people felt their community health care would be affected. They may like the fact that their community supports a small hospital. The tea party movement was against government run health care. Tea Party followers feared that small hospitals would no longer be able to keep their doors open. The tea party movement did not succeed in getting the government run health care law stuck from the books. However, they were successful at opening the eyes of the people of our country. Before the movement, many citizens went about their daily lives without giving Washington DC any thought. Now, I think people are holding government officials more accountable for the things they promise and vote for when they are in office. This movement lined up with values of my family. We believe that the role of government is to be in the shadows. Not to be at the forefront running every aspect of our county. It is our belief that the government is best at dealing with foreign nations, making laws to benefit the county, and keeping us safe. The people are best at running the businesses of our country.

 

Are we being treated fairly

This week twitter has blown up with posts about a woman by the name of Sandra Bland from Texas, who was pulled over for failure to use a turn signal. After she was pulled over, she seemed to be irritated. The officer asked her to put out her cigarette. Her reply was “I’m in my car why do I have to put out my cigarette.” After that, the officer orders her to get out of the car and tells her she is under arrest. Refusing to get out of the car, the officer demands, “Step out, or I will remove you.”

Still not getting out of the car, Sandra reply’s “OK, let’s do this.” Reaching into the car, the officer begins trying to pull her out of the car. As the officer fails to drag her out of the car, he draws his Taser and screams “Get out of the car! I will light you up!” After being treated very unfairly, Sandra was taken to jail. Waiting for bail, an officer later found her hanging in her cell, dead.

USA Today showed a twitter post of a guy named Deray Mckesson who commented, “I watched the dashcam video and realized that I may have said and done exactly what she did, many of us would have. We are ‪#SandraBland.” Followed by a comment, “Literally just text all of my friends those exact same words. We are all #SandraBland.” With these comments going viral on the Internet, there are many questions that need to be asked. These comments show concern. People are questioning if we are safe from the police or not. As more of these incidents happen, it is drawing a lot of hate toward the police force. Personally, I do not think that the police treated Sandra fairly. There was no reason that she needed to put out her cigarette in her own car. I also believe that the officer had no right to pull out a Taser on her. She was not being a threat to anyone in any way. But, we also need to remember that not all cops are bad. Some want to do there job as best as possible, but as these incidents continue, it’s making it harder to believe.

Millennial

After reading the article discussing the qualities of millennial, I started thinking. I feel like I fit into this category as I read the qualities described of our generation. I was born in 1996 so my chronological age puts me into this generation. I also agree with the drive for making a difference in the world verses being purely financial driven. Claire Thompson and The Pew Report, describes some of the challenges we face entering into adulthood. They describe how many young adults are struggling financially. Those who are lucky enough to have a job are being paid below average salaries. Those employed in similar positions prior to the recession were paid significantly higher wages. This puts us behind the eight ball right off the bat. Ms. Thompson states that our generation will never be able to “catch up” financially when we start off so far behind. This concept makes sense to me. How can a generation make up such delayed salaries? She mentioned even if the economy picks up, the salaries will not catch up. The Pew Report stated that our generation is more upbeat than previous generations. Despite the financial difficulties our age group is facing, we are able to stay confident and continue to look ahead. I think many of us watched our parents dedicate their lives to making payments and being tied to their jobs. Maybe, our generation took it all in and subconsciously decided we wanted something different for ourselves. When the jobs disappeared and the salaries declined our generation looked for something different. The article talked about the inability for the majority of my generation to be able to afford the material things our parents have. I agree with Ms. Thompson’s interpretation of millennial generation’s response. Maybe there is something better out there than buying material possessions. If our generation won’t have the financial resources to purchase what we grew up with, we need to change our way of thinking.

 

To sum this up, “If we are anything…. we are a generation of strong and confident survivors. We have witnessed recession and war. We have also experienced material items that make life easy. We now have to decide what path we want to take.

 

Transitioning into college

 

Walking into my dorm room for the first day, I had some butterflies in my stomach. Nervous but excited to be part of such a great community, the transition happened fast. At first I was overwhelmed with all of these new changes. I couldn’t even remember half of the people’s names that I met. I wasn’t used to the big campus yet or to having a set schedule in the summer. After the first busy week flew by, I started to get used to my schedule and I learned a lot about what it means to be part of this community. Choosing to be a student-athlete at Michigan was one of my most prized achievements yet. I will always wear my maize and blue with pride, and give the University everything I have in my athletics and academics. I understand that it is very important to succeed in the classroom if I want to become the man I dream of being. When I first was told I had to come to summer Bridge, I really didn’t want to. Now I am starting to realize that the Bridge program is giving me a good head start for the fall. By the time this program is finished I believe I’ll be ready to crush my first semester of classes at Michigan and be a very successful student athlete.

 

With all that is going on in my life, it’s nothing compared to what is going on around the country. In the past month, the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states, which is a huge historical ruling in U.S history. After this was passed, more than 10,000 people have signed a petition to change the American flag to a rainbow flag (According to notallowedto.com). This is a very small portion of the population, but its something is very interesting. As all of these changes are going on in the world, I am excited to see how the University of Michigan will change my life. The only thing I can do is keep working though obstacles that get in my way, and hope someday I can make a difference. Being at the University of Michigan I firmly believe, I am in the best place possible to make this difference.