This piece is something that I envisioned would have been incorporated within McCarthy’s The Road, if it were not excised before the Final edition’s release.

Creative Piece:

The boy approached the old man. The old man looked in rather excited confusion.

Eh? What is it kid?

Nothing, I just realized how poor off you are.

Whatcha mean?

You can’t see, it must stink, it must really stink.

Well, I see what god wants me to see, and hear what I wanna hear.

That’s the wanion mister because you miss seeing all the beautiful things of this world.

Not anymore.

I wish I could help you, but I can only do what the lord’s given me.

And what’s that?

The ability to sympathize, wist care and love.

My god. You are an angel, better yet, I don’t see your wings, so you’re a prophet! Sent from god, divine appointment, to save our desolate world.

The boy felt empowered.  You’re right about the angel part, cause if I were an angel, I’d already heal your blindness.  

I didn’t really believe you’re father when he said you were a god, but in my head, I knew you were some god-like concoction here to save us all.

I believe so, I wanna help as many people as possible. I don’t think it’s fair for people to be hurt. God loves them and so do I.

Kid, you’re the kindest I ever seen, never had anyone feed me or care for my blindness.

The boy rushed his palm on the man’s eye, with feeble-fingered delicacy. Can you see now?

Suppose I can kid, suppose I can. Thank you for your care.

Rationale:

My creative piece will be placed on page 172 of McCarthy’s The Road, and I am choosing this specific part of the book because this is where there is a heavy amount of discussion on the existence of a god, or something of a god. The boy has a habitual tendency to help other individuals, which is a large part of his persona. This is an explicit trait that the boy holds, especially when he is trying to give the man the ability to see in the scene. The boy is desperate and says his reason for wanting to help people is because he loves them and God loves them. As we see in page 163, after the boy and man encounter the Old man, the boy wants nothing but to aid this helpless and needy man. He is a consummate stranger to him, but the boy disregards this, despite warnings from his father to leave him alone. It is as if it's his divine duty to help the man. His bountiful generosity, so much to extend the man’s trust and advocate for him against his father says he has a divine-like love for his fellow man. His father completely dissents against interacting with the man at first, which is a normal human reaction, but the boy doesn’t really have a reaction to the old man that’s normal. It’s much more compassionate, and less hostile, more on the level of being preternatural.

This relates to the theme of faith, which is a primary allusion when discussing the possibility of the boy being a prophet. I chose this specific theme because on page 172, the man believes the boy to be a god, and the old man believes the boy to be an angel. If they didn’t have faith, if they didn’t believe that because the boy is a child in the midst of all this disparity, there would not be any real faith that the boy may be a prophet sent by god to help others. It brings up the essential question of how is a child living, and thriving so adequately in the world of The Road? The answer to that is simply the boy being there is no normal occurrence, he was sent there to help others, as he does with the Old man.

Online social networks reduces the amount of face-to-face conversations that people use to have back in the twentieth century. A social network is an outlet where people can chat, make new friends, share experiences, bond, and meet together- all at the same time. Common websites like Facebook and Twitter, more intensely Facebook, fit the description perfectly, when describing a niche for social interactions. Although they are an easy gateway to gratification, they diminish the quintessence of real human interaction.

              Back in the old days, typically the mid to late 1900s, people did not have all these fancy virtual websites so often there would be personal conversations. But now, it is becoming a problem for us to be able to approach and speak to people or make a phone call, without seeing it as awkward or a hassle. According to the article Why can't we all just stop texting and have an actual face-to-face conversation for once?, by news editor David Thomas, people are starting to consider things like ‘’What? TALK to someone? Who does anything as old-fashioned as that any more?” Now a days people text, tweet, and make Facebook post. Although these modes of communication are certainly convenient and easy-to-use, they are definitely not as effective as a legitimate phone call. In the article, Social media is Transforming the Way We Communicate, by Sukhraj Beasla, a blogger on viralheat.com, this was her reaction of phone contacting: “I stare longingly at the phone missing out on hearing a dial tone, the butterflies I get when it connects through and the person on the other end picks up and I hear their sweet voice.” Obviously by her reaction, it is reasonable to say that the feeling of a phone call, in comparison to a text message, is much more intimate. It also says that old ways of communicating via phone call, face-to-face conversations are more real and feel a lot more human because they trigger emotions like jitter and nervousness.        

              The biggest problem of social networking sites is anonymous intimacy. This is when people spend countless hours on Facebook and Twitter and start to develop a false sense of actually knowing and befriending people who they communicate with. According to Rachna Jain, a clinical psychologist specializing in couple and marital therapy, this poses problems because considering what really makes an intimate relationship: “shared experiences, shared time together — like doing things together — and it relies on a shared history.” Being on Facebook or Twitter does provide some form of shared experience, since there is involvement in the same spectrum of imparted information; however, there is still a digital divide. There

is a big difference in feelings when you are in the presence of a person as opposed to being accompanied by people online. In person, there are facial expressions, body language, and voices are heard. They are a lot more resilient indicators of someone’s feelings toward a person than online because none of those characteristics are present; feelings are always mislead online and can never always be able to be estimated well, so it can’t really be told when someone really considers a person to be friend or not. That is why communicating online is more effective in making friends.              

               Considering what anonymous intimacy does on social networks, It gives off a fake feeling of engagement and makes it seem a user has thousands of friends, when really the numbers are quite shorter. The infographic: Is social media making us socially awkward?, given by Sam Laird, a Mashable reporter, states that “despite the ease of connecting online, only 50% of Facebook users have 100 or more “friends.” This means that only half of all Facebook users have actual and real relationships with other people, not 1000 or 3,000, which is blown way out of proportion. The friend list is what keeps people tuned in and gives the false idea that someone has all of those friends, but they really don’t. This is because instead of going out and making actual friends, people would rather add or follow random people on Facebook and consider them a friend when they really aren’t. The statistics don’t lie, in the article Is Social Media Destroying Real-World Relationships?, it says that “20% actually prefer communicating online or via text message to face to face conversation, while a third said they're more likely to approach someone new online than off.” This shows that people are endeavoring more to make these “fake” friends/followers on Facebook and twitter rather than developing real relationships and friends through personal communication, in the 21st century.

                The sheer fact that the preference of online chatting is more prevalent than face to face conversations shows that people don’t talk as much personally. As a result of this, there will be less intimate relationships if these trends continue to rise, because people will prefer the more artificial feeling of communicating online (less personal bonding), rather than in person.

Works Cited:

1. Laird, Sam. "Is Social Media Destroying Real-World Relationships? [INFOGRAPHIC]." Mashable. Schools.com, 14 June 2012. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <http://mashable.com/2012/06/14/social-media-real-world-infographic/>.

2. Morgan, Mandy. "Social Media Impacts Real Relationships."DeseretNews.com. DeseretNews, 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2014. <http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865576858/Social-media-impacts-real-relationships.html?pg=all>.

3. Beasla, Sukhraj. "Social Media Is Transforming the Way We Communicate." Viralheat Social Media Is Transforming the Way We Communicate Comments. Viralheat, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <https://www.viralheat.com/blog/2013/01/15/how-social-media-is-changing-the-way-we-communicate/>.

4. Bates, Chelsea. "The Dangers of Social Networking Sites | Commonplace."The Dangers of Social Networking Sites | Commonplace. McGraw Hill, 2009. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace/index.php?q=node/5582>.

5. Goessl, Leigh. "How Does Social Networking Affect Socialization." Sciences 360. Sciences 360, 21 Sept. 2010. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <http://www.sciences360.com/index.php/how-does-social-networking-affect-socialization-2-8428/>.

6. Thomas, David. "Why Can't We All Just Stop Texting and Have an Actual Face-to-face Conversation for Once?" Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 18 July 2012. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2175274/Why-stop-texting-actual-conversation-once.html>.

Online social networks reduces the amount of face-to-face conversations that people use to have back in the twentieth century. A social network is an outlet where people can chat, make new friends, share experiences, bond, and meet together- all at the same time. Common websites like Facebook and Twitter, more intensely Facebook, fit the description perfectly, when describing a niche for social interactions. Although they are an easy gateway to gratification, they diminish the quintessence of real human interaction.

              Back in the old days, typically the mid to late 1900s, people did not have all these fancy virtual websites so often there would be personal conversations. But now, it is becoming a problem for us to be able to approach and speak to people or make a phone call, without seeing it as awkward or a hassle. According to the article Why can't we all just stop texting and have an actual face-to-face conversation for once?, by news editor David Thomas, people are starting to consider things like ‘’What? TALK to someone? Who does anything as old-fashioned as that any more?” Now a days people text, tweet, and make Facebook post. Although these modes of communication are certainly convenient and easy-to-use, they are definitely not as effective as a legitimate phone call. In the article, Social media is Transforming the Way We Communicate, by Sukhraj Beasla, a blogger on viralheat.com, this was her reaction of phone contacting: “I stare longingly at the phone missing out on hearing a dial tone, the butterflies I get when it connects through and the person on the other end picks up and I hear their sweet voice.” Obviously by her reaction, it is reasonable to say that the feeling of a phone call, in comparison to a text message, is much more intimate. It also says that old ways of communicating via phone call, face-to-face conversations are more real and feel a lot more human because they trigger emotions like jitter and nervousness.        

              The biggest problem of social networking sites is anonymous intimacy. This is when people spend countless hours on Facebook and Twitter and start to develop a false sense of actually knowing and befriending people who they communicate with. According to Rachna Jain, a clinical psychologist specializing in couple and marital therapy, this poses problems because considering what really makes an intimate relationship: “shared experiences, shared time together — like doing things together — and it relies on a shared history.” Being on Facebook or Twitter does provide some form of shared experience, since there is involvement in the same spectrum of imparted information; however, there is still a digital divide. There

is a big difference in feelings when you are in the presence of a person as opposed to being accompanied by people online. In person, there are facial expressions, body language, and voices are heard. They are a lot more resilient indicators of someone’s feelings toward a person than online because none of those characteristics are present; feelings are always mislead online and can never always be able to be estimated well, so it can’t really be telled when someone really considers a person to be friend or not. That is why communicating online is more effective in making friends.              

               Considering what anonymous intimacy does on social networks, It gives off a fake feeling of engagement and makes it seem a user has thousands of friends, when really the numbers are quite shorter. The infographic: Is social media making us socially awkward?, given by Sam Laird, a Mashable reporter, states that “despite the ease of connecting online, only 50% of Facebook users have 100 or more “friends.” This means that only half of all Facebook users have actual and real relationships with other people, not 1000 or 3,000, which is blown way out of proportion. The friend list is what keeps people tuned in and gives the false idea that someone has all of those friends, but they really don’t. This is because instead of going out and making actual friends, people would rather add or follow random people on Facebook and consider them a friend when they really aren’t. The statistics don’t lie, in the article Is Social Media Destroying Real-World Relationships?, it says that “20% actually prefer communicating online or via text message to face to face conversation, while a third said they're more likely to approach someone new online than off.” This shows that people are endeavoring more to make these “fake” friends/followers on facebook and twitter rather than developing real relationships and friends through personal communication, in the 21st century.

                The sheer fact that the preference of online chatting is more prevalent than face to face conversations shows that people don’t talk as much personally. As a result of this, there will be less intimate relationships if these trends continue to rise, because people will prefer the more artificial feeling of communicating online (less personal bonding), rather than in person.

Works Cited:

1. Laird, Sam. "Is Social Media Destroying Real-World Relationships? [INFOGRAPHIC]." Mashable. Schools.com, 14 June 2012. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <http://mashable.com/2012/06/14/social-media-real-world-infographic/>.

2. Morgan, Mandy. "Social Media Impacts Real Relationships."DeseretNews.com. DeseretNews, 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2014. <http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865576858/Social-media-impacts-real-relationships.html?pg=all>.

3. Beasla, Sukhraj. "Social Media Is Transforming the Way We Communicate." Viralheat Social Media Is Transforming the Way We Communicate Comments. Viralheat, 15 Jan. 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <https://www.viralheat.com/blog/2013/01/15/how-social-media-is-changing-the-way-we-communicate/>.

4. Bates, Chelsea. "The Dangers of Social Networking Sites | Commonplace."The Dangers of Social Networking Sites | Commonplace. McGraw Hill, 2009. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <http://www.mhlearningsolutions.com/commonplace/index.php?q=node/5582>.

5. Goessl, Leigh. "How Does Social Networking Affect Socialization." Sciences 360. Sciences 360, 21 Sept. 2010. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <http://www.sciences360.com/index.php/how-does-social-networking-affect-socialization-2-8428/>.

6. Thomas, David. "Why Can't We All Just Stop Texting and Have an Actual Face-to-face Conversation for Once?" Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 18 July 2012. Web. 08 Oct. 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2175274/Why-stop-texting-actual-conversation-once.html>.

Chloe, Fodie, Osman

3/6/14

Orange

Cliente: Andrés

Descripción:  

El nombre de mi cliente es Andrés Castro Samayoa. Él tiene veintiseis años. Es muy inteligente y cómico. Te gusta leer y cocinar. También le gusta la natación. No tiene carro o bici. su color favorita es morado.

La Casa Descripción:

La casa está cerca de un supermercado y transporte público y un parque pero lejos de el tranvía. La casa es fresca, moderna, habitaciones amplias, decoradas con arte moderno. La Casa es grande y tiene más espacio. Tiene tres pisos, tres habitaciones, dos baños, un gimnasio, una piscina, un cocina, un sala con más libros. La cocina tiene viking estufa y comedor mesa. La ubicación es tropical y fresca y muy calor. La casa es en Rio cuál es muy guapa. El clima es siempre perfecto. La sala es muy moderna. Tiene dos sofás y un tele. ¡Comprar la casa! ¡Lo es Fantástica!

El cuarto de bañ. Tiene manta y esejo.

La casa con una piscina. La piscina es hermoso.

El gimnasio (El pesos)

El estante (Mucho libros)

La sala (sillas, tabla, escalera)

La cocina (sillas, tabla, horno)

La casa está cerca un parque (El bancos)

La Habitacion con una cama y dos sillas. (La cama, el sofá)

El jardín. Hay muchos flores y ellos son bonita.

El sótano es exquisito con buen pasos.

Este es el ático. Tiene una cama, cajón y gabinete.

Diseñado por Flaco Inc.  

Phone Number: 1800-Flaco-Inc

         Have you ever heard the cliche that success comes with hard work? Or generally the phrase that ‘’improvement requires some serious conviction and will’’?

I know the second one may sound a little strange and vague, but that summarizes what I had to do to get to where I am at today, not only academically but in life. Let me elaborate more on my academic and social jump from what one would consider ‘’the class dummy’’ and a very reserved person to the outgoing and academically exceptional individual that I am today. I can say for one, that it simply was not just run-of-the-mill activities that coincidentally brought me to this standing point.

         The old school I attended from Kindergarten through ninth grade was originally called Renaissance Advantage Charter school but, however due to a shift in the management of the school and the desire to have the name after the recent senator Hardy Williams, It is now called Hardy Williams Academy Mastery Charter School. I felt very comfortable going into my freshman year at Hardy, which seemed like my senior year in the sense that we were in the same building as K-8, so I had a strong feeling of maturity going in and not remembering the fact that I was still just a freshman. I was prideful in fact and I felt as though I was one of the most intelligent and brightest of students among the entire student body, and most of all I was optimistic that due to Mastery principles and implements, I thought that my classmates and the student body would change. No more people disrupting in-class learning or just creating an overall unhealthy school environment for both the teachers and other students.

         Through my experiences at Hardy, I observed that kindergarten was fine, elementary school was okay(though a few bump and grinds); however, when middle school hit, that was when the peer pressure and the distractions came. What worsened it was that the fact that many of my classmates came from unscrupulous, one parent households that was centered around ghetto principles. I needed to realize that it was never any of my classmates’ fault that they came from these types of families and environments because I realized getting older that people were products of their own environment. And as I succeeded into high school, these ghetto principles still surrounded me and the more I was around them, the more I wanted to dress like a ghetto person, talk like a ghetto person, act like a ghetto person, you name it. I was easily goaded into doing stupid things which would certainly prove troubling for my academic career and even life.

         My classmates noticed that I was not fixated on all the wrong things like girls, money, or just acting like a fool in general, so this is what made me stand out in a predominantly black neighborhood school. I am an original first generation African immigrant, and I had not grown around the customs of what my fellow classmates at Hardy conformed too. I was always taught that education was the most valuable thing in life and my love of learning was a reflection of that. I appeared to be one of them, but my behavior shown otherwise, you could say that I did not ‘’fit the stereotypes’’, and this was seen as perverse in the eyes of a student body like this. In effect, I was ousted from group conversations, people did not really desire my company, and I was mocked and often patronized for being a ‘’good student’’.

         These effects did not only exhort me to develop a bad temper, but It increased my desire to be just like everybody else. Let’s not forget that Human beings are social creatures and we have an innate yearning to be apart of the group or be actively engaged in conversations and social interactions, so I did what was necessary to find this sense of social fulfillment. Even if it meant risking my academic record and reputation. It was finally half through the school year after many unpleasant ordeals that I declared I could no longer be apart of such a school system and I had to find a school where my academic energy and drive would be appreciated. Not to mention my school, which was still just a new high school, was devoid of an abundant of extracurricular opportunities and electives that would prove beneficial in preparation for college.

         Ever since I was young I had aspirations to become a doctor, I declared at 13, in 7th grade at Hardy, that I would become a neurosurgeon against my dearest friend who declared he would become a cardiac surgeon. So we vied to get on the path of those aspirations, not being aware or having knowledge of any of the components demanded for that field of education, so later at 16, I narrowed my choices to just becoming a doctor and officially sacrificing myself and my mind for only that goal, because I believe that god wanted me to become a doctor. I am a devout Christian and I was taught that if god called you to do something, you would have to sacrifice your soul, body, and mind to fulfill that request.

         So I realized that if I did not get myself in order or find a way to adjust my circumstances and get on the right path, I would never achieve such an aspiration. So I decided, that the following year I would admit to SLA, seemingly only a dream school to me from the description of my neighborhood friend Jovan Lewis. I was enamored by SLA and my desire to attend it increased. I figured, this was the school that would help me achieve my goals, what more could I want? A science school, I loved science, a school with no uniform(not really a significant factor in my desire to be admitted), and most importantly I did not have to be constricted by the Mastery principles which consisted of complete quietness during classwork or lessons with all fixed times for questions and discussions. Because of that, I went out of my way vigorously to be admitted into SLA, even if that meant constantly asking my friend Jovan, who attended SLA, questions and digging deep to find information about SLA.

         I was so elated after being accepted into SLA that I was yelling in the ear of my acceptance caller (Jeremy Spry). Frankly, when I initially came into SLA, I thought I was going to be okay, the first thought that went through my head was ‘’Ahhh, nothing to worry about, I’ll be ok, I’m going to show these people what I’m all about’’. At my old school, I was top dog, I acquired nearly every award at my eighth grade graduation including the principal award. I’d always be the one to answer questions and give constructive feedback during class discussions and my classmates admired me for it. This increased my confidence profoundly, even when going into SLA.

However, when it actually came down to it, after cycling around many classes within my first week at SLA, I found myself lost on every subject. I barely understood the material that was being taught and I barely raised my hand to answer questions, that normally if a teacher would ask, I would be able to swiftly answer. Consequently, my grades reflected on this and I was failing more than one class with interim reports left and right for my first two quarters. I was confounded by the amount of knowledge my classmates possessed on many levels; I was in disbelief that I, Osman Bangura, was being outperformed tremendously.

          Soon enough I realized I had to adjust and find a way to improve and meet expectations. So after much pondering over a stretched period of time and experimentation, I devised a convenient study plan in which allowed me to study extensively and successively, and also I realized I would need to be reading more because these were crucial skills that I was lacking: reading and studying. Soon enough, after making these adjustments, I began noticing the positive effects that it had in my life, which changed my experience and student life at SLA.

           I began actively engaging in class discussion, and my vocabulary, verbal fluency and grades automatically increased, in addition I became very studious. All the effects of my hard work, I never had to work as hard at Mastery because the work given to me was definitely not as hard and thought provoking. I gotten nearly all As from the third Quarter of my sophomore year at SLA and my classmates began to see me differently and even compliment at times whenever I made sensible arguments or answers.That was then truly began to realize that I was not a failure or stupid, and simply that anything in life that is worthwhile requires conviction, desire, and ardor- all conventions that led to my current position.

           It took stone cold hard work and a willingness to change. If I never wanted to change, I wouldn't put myself in a position to be subjected to such dynamics in the first place. For example, I didn't have to change schools or change the people who I associated with, I could have stayed at my old position and not have experienced a single change; however, it was not long before I realized that it not just on the case of whether or not I wanted to change anymore, it was that I needed to change. I always knew that I was intelligent, but I did not ever get enough encouragement or support needed to unleash this intelligence. From the starting of the school year in 2013, (when I first transferred into SLA) to where I am now I realized that I had culminated greatly.

   Ignoring his theories about success, Malcolm Gladwell's’ books reveal his bias in education and intelligence. He does not believe that intelligence is an inherent value. Instead, he believes that the gravity of education and a child’s intellect level is based upon the environment you live in, the opportunities given to you, and even your time of birth. He argues that these three factors are far more viable to make conclusions as to how success and education correlate, rather than just factors like race, gender, and social class. One of Malcolm Gladwell’s books that more specifically exposes his bias in education & intelligence is called Outliers. In this book, his bias on the outlook on intellect is enumerated. He believes that everyone isn’t given an equal advantage; only people who have been lucky enough to be framed into a system like school sooner than others and or given an abundant of opportunities as opposed to someone else, they are better off in the future.

         Malcolm Gladwell uses many central points that lucidly refutes his argument. One of them by which is called the Matthew Effect. This was a study explained in the book that was done by the sociologist named Robert K. Merton. Reciting the biblical verse Matthew 25:29 in contemporary text, ‘‘For to everyone who has {more} shall be given, and he will have an abundance: but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away’’(New American Standard Version 1995). Metaphorically, in education, this means that once an advantage is obtained, it accumulates until it becomes disproportionate for the opposing candidate. Malcolm Gladwell elaborates that early advantages in life invariably makes the difference between just how intelligent or unintelligent a child turns up being. We can take a further look at this by anatomizing the way the American educational system works.

         In his book ‘’Outliers’’, we will look at how Malcolm Gladwell views the American educational system. We all know that there is a certain stipulated cut-off date that determines when Children are allowed into Pre-K to start that first family-missing year of school. Boohoo, it’s time to go, but what if some children are not eligible for that first year? Because say that their birth date overarches the cut-off and they are denied access. The parents decide on holding the child back and when the time comes, they skip pre-k and put them straight into kindergarten; eventually the parents come to a consensus that they will catch up following the years of early learning and middle school. Indeed, they have minimized the qualm for having to start school without mom and dad and have more time to plan and prepare. However, things stay the same, and unfortunately they do not catch up and fall lower and lower down the chain of school, and accumulate disadvantages as they come in a year late into school.

         This is because the children who have been born before the cut-off and were eligible to start that first year of school had a definite advantage. Extra practice-they did not miss that first crucial year of instruction that children born after the cut-off already have. And they have already gotten into the flow of school, made a couple of friends and are probably already doing homework. Likewise, they receive the social and academic advantages of already being in school, and by the time those born after the cut-off get to the same vantage they’re in, like college-they are premature.  

        This shows Malcolm Gladwell’s bias because it is explaining that he thinks that America’s educational system is a widely equivocal factor in the way Americans turn out to be and that there is no group of geniuses or dummies. The educational system is actually what decides who will be better off or who will not be. There are numerous stereotypes that dumb people are just innately not intelligent, or that intelligent people are just primordially intelligent, this is critically false. And we see this by the way the Matthew effect portrays itself and Malcolm's bias. This is to say because the ‘’dumb people’’ are actually not dumb, but just a step-below the ‘’smart people’’ and missed out on a crucial year of school that would most likely be the deciding factor of how they are in academics and what they will be in the future. So your time of birth truly does have a huge impact on where you subsequently will be in America, because of the Matthew effect. It will strongly affect the American society and how we will develop the workforce of the world if there is no cultivation.

Osman Bangura       10/25/13

Speaking Dilemma

‘’How you de multiple the variables?’’

‘’Hahaha, that’s not how you say it!’’

‘’Na the way how I speak amm.’’

 It was the start of 9th grade and we were having one of our first stream of lessons in math of the school year that involved variables, two-step equations and etc. This was the year I turned 15, but the only difference/new thing here in this year was that I decided to speak in my West African dialect, which is called Krio, for the first half of the entire quarter of the school year. This language is a mixture of a French and African language. I did this to become more fluent in my language in attempts to connect more with the indigenous side of my culture. Although people did not appreciate or like the thought of me speaking in a foreign dialect, I simply did not care.

 I didn’t always sound like this. Originally I always spoke in an english dialect every place I went, even around family members who were full-blood Africans. I was ridiculed by family members and people of my country whom I knew, because of my inability to speak my country’s native dialect fluently. Even when we were asked to share a parcel of our culture in an history project, I didn’t have much to emphasize on about my culture because I knew so little of who I really was. These experience brought me to becoming more critical of myself when it came to language and the way I would communicate with others.

 There were major influences that urged me to begin to speak in Krio; most notably my mother and a devoid feeling of identity brought this urge. I had to eventually find some way to break away from this devoid feeling, so I diverted to speaking my native language to gain a better sense of my culture. One time in the house my mother and I were arguing over me not getting homework done or any of my chores and she decided to speak in Krio so rapidly that I could hardly understand.

 For example, she started off as ‘’Waten yu de do na yah? You de fail because yu fashion fashion this game.’’ I responded in english with a startled expresson, ‘’What do you mean?’’’ She then responded without hesitation and a quick tone, ‘’Na make the reason yu de comot from de school with all these ziro ziro grade!’’ She turned in dismal and marched upstairs while I stared into space, with disbelief. Her accent was heavy and she talked fast, which made it very difficult to comprehend with what she said. However, I found it strange that I had any difficulty with comprehending her dialect whatsoever, because I was born in the same country as her; this was a rude awakening for me.

  This was the event that sparked off my search for an identity as an adolescent. It occurred to me after this event, that how could I possibly be deemed as an African male if I had no capability to even speak in my native language? And I also realized if anyone ever asked me to talk in my African dialect, what would my response be if I had no basic knowledge as to how? I would not only be embarassed but I would be looked at differently socially. It was bad enough as it is not being able to speak in my dialect, but in classes full of ridiculing americans and a few africans I would have any bolster from people of my country in classes at school. They would not accept me if I couldn’t simply communicate with them in my language.

 For example, in American Tongues, people were often criticized for having a different way of speech. If someone speaks in a different foreign dialect they would be laughed at or teased in some form of way. I was going through the same dilemma in my 9th grade classes at my old school, some people saw my language as amusing because of the way I expressed my accent(though I hardly had one, which contributed to the laughter). When I first began generating of the idea of speaking in that dialect for the first half of the entire first quarter, I seen it as ridiculous because I knew it would be socially unacceptable in a predominantly American school. But eventually I cared less and less as time went on, and got into the habit of doing so which produced some stunning results.

 Eventually, I stopped doing this all together in classes as soon as I realized that I was able to now fully comprehend and fluently speak in my native dialect. It was altogether a lot to go through socially because I had a hard time making friends, but people began accepting me for who I was because they respected me for my efforts on wanting to get intimate with my original culture.  Although I dropped this regimen and stopped speaking this way in school, I still continued this habit at home and around family members.  

Overall these experiences helped me to see past the social aspect of it, but the personal aspect as well. With making this plan to speak in my dialect for the first half of the quarter I gradually redeemed myself because I spoke in this dialect always around family members; when we had family occasions or meet ups I wouldn’t face exclusion which boosted my self confidence greatly. This helped me understand my identity and who I really was: Osman Bangura a strong-willed individual from West Africa. Reflecting back, my life is not as confusing as it was nearly a year ago now; therefore, I have no social obstacles because I know who I am and which type of people to associate with. I feel animated about all of this now, and I can even have a laugh now and then about how silly my struggle was to overcome but it was worth all of the effort.