Looking Back
Second
semester has really flown by with the blink of an eye. All throughout my schooling, I have only had
two fun English classes this is one of them.
There were many components to this class that I enjoyed and that was
actually quite helpful. The workshops helped us students communicate with our
peers. It helped us interact first off with our class members. Secondly it
helped us with our essays by bouncing our essay ideas around and seeing which one
was stupid or not. Before writing an essay, I will now start bouncing around
ideas with my brother or someone in general. It really helps you look at
different perspectives.
The movies
and documentaries we watched in class were helpful by having a physical visual
to watch and see the emotions across many faces that we were introduced to. If I
can find a movie or something to watch that’s related to the topic that I am
going to write or talk about it would be extremely helpful because you would
feel like you are there. It would be easier to add pathos in whatever that’s
needs to be discussed. Like the
documentary we watch about Iran. To be honest I did not know anything about
Iran, only that America and them did not get along, but did not know the exact
reason why. Being a visual learner
myself, it really opened my eyes to the history being the conflicting countries
and the emotional toll that got casted upon its citizens.
In the
beginning of the year, everything was so nice and shiny. I was pretty much a
lost puppy. Not only did I not know how to navigate around school, but also I
did not know anyone. It was terrifying having come from a school that you knew
the majority of the people to somewhere where you do not know one persons name.
It was definitely a challenge to overcome. Putting aside the social aspect, the
academics side was a much more difficult challenge to overcome. College was
without question is more difficult than elementary, middle school and high
school combined. The expectations are
much higher, and the knowledge is vaster.
Overall something that changed in me was not caring not much about the
social aspect of college. In high school, especially the early years, being
“cool” and “popular” was the thing that most teens cared about. Of course I
would be lying if I said I did not care at all about it but overall it was not
something I put high than anything else.
College especially now grounded me into not caring about the social
aspect at all. In the broader sense of identity, I still feel like I have not
truly “found” myself. Mainly, because I
find myself making decisions that contradict what I believe in. Everyone says college is where people find
themselves, which I want to happen already. I feel like when you do then you
can truly make the right decisions for yourself, long-term wise.
MySpace VS Facebook
MySpace and Facebook have become addictions in our everyday
life. Similar to people who are dependent on drugs or alcohol, social
networking junkies count the minutes to their next profile fix, checking their
computers multiple times per day to see how many shout-outs, or new friends
they have acquired. Personally sometimes I guess I am one of those junkies,
especially when I am bored. The Facebook APP will one day become the death of
me. Sometimes even in class I start refreshing my Newsfeed. Even though I know
half the “posts” I see on there will be worthless. Despite it all I still feel
as if I am connected to the people in my friends list.
Personally, I only had MySpace for about a month. Starting
it up was slightly confusing as I remember. One thing I liked was that the
layout really was customized to your liking. You picked any background you
wanted. My favorite part was you could choose a song, so when someone visited
your site it would start playing. One thing that always frustrated me was
trying to find friends or navigating from one place to the next. Unfortunately, I deactivated it because my
parents did not like me having one.
Shortly after my friends introduced me to Facebook, which I
made just like everyone else to keep up with the newest and “coolest” social
network. Almost everyone I knew was already on there. I felt like the new student in class. I did,
however, get used to Facebook in a shorter time than I did Facebook. Why? The
Facebook layout is very simple and easy to navigate around. Everything is
literally in front of you clearly wrote out. All you have to do is click. Which,
of course, was a plus.
Facebook got started with a group of students
from Harvard. It seems logical that the owners of multi millionaire and
billionaire companies are from Harvard: Microsoft and Facebook. This is why
most mention that Facebook users are more in the higher social class. Which is
ironic because half the things posted up there are definitely not “high class”.
According to the article by Boyd, “MySpace is being associated with the term
“Ghetto”. Defined, it means a section of a city, especially a thickly populated
slum area, inhabited predominantly by members of an ethnic or other minority
group, often as a result of social or economic restrictions, pressures, or
hardships. Teens use the term probably because mostly minorities take up more
of the demographic and also it is used as a music outlet. Mostly hip/hop and
rap.” Until this article, I had never
associated the term ghetto with MySpace before. The only distinction I have
seen is that MySpace is more for people that are into their music, and somehow
want it to get promoted.
I have to say I like Facebook more both the reason that I got a
MySpace and Facebook was because a guy asked me if I had one and I didn't want
to be an idiot and say no lol I have never referred to MySpace as ghetto though
I think that's really funny... I think Facebook had more features than MySpace
but the one thing I loved about MySpace was the personalized profile
-Anonymous
According to Danah Boyd, “Social media is
faddish. MySpace came first and many teens chose to embrace it. When Facebook
came along, plenty of teens adopted it as the “new thing.” In doing so, some
chose to leave MySpace, while others simply maintained two profiles. Yet
Facebook did not simply usurp MySpace. In May 2009—two and a half years after
teens began splitting—comScore reported that MySpace and Facebook had roughly
equal numbers of unique visitors. In other words, while a shift did occur, not
all MySpace users left for Facebook, and not all who joined after both were
available opted for the newer site.” I
agree with the notion that teens embrace whatever fad comes along. Attending high
school you see this first hand with all the trends that teens are exposed to
every so often. We see this with, for example skinny jeans. Everywhere you look
now skinny jeans, skinny jeans. Can they be any tighter? I’m not even talking
about the girls, the boys equally if not more. The article also brings up a good point about
the speed that these websites come about. To me it is like a domino effect, when one
falls they all one by one fall at a good speed. Like Boyd said, “ At the
beginning of the school year, teens were asking “Are you on MySpace? Yes or
No?” At the end of the school year, the question had changed to “MySpace or
Facebook?”
“I
actually didn't switch over at first. I was using both websites simultaneously.
My cousins were using Facebook more, and my friends were using MySpace more. I
didn't like how everything seemed like a competition on MySpace. For example,
if you were or weren't on someone's top friends list, or if your profile
background was considered "cool" or not... I don't like that Facebook
has turned into some sort of stocking website. In other words, people know your
every move, and for some people, they want the people on their friends list to
know. However, what I don't like about both websites is that they make you
waste so much of your time. I never thought about MySpace being ghetto.”
-Anonymous
From my
findings, not one person had ever associated Ghetto with MySpace. There were
others that like me had thought about the music promotions that MySpace has
whereas it a little more difficult showcasing it on Facebook. Either they did not know what ghetto meant or
they thought the idea was “funny”. I believe this is more a matter of opinion.
Although yes, it’s true MySpace and Facebook have different users which
statistics shows but I wouldn’t go as far and say its Ghetto.
Boyd,
Danah. “Implications of User Choice: The Cultural Logic of “MySpace or
Facebook?” Interactions. 2009. Web. 16
May 2012.
Kim, Jenny. Personal Interview. 29 Feburary 2012
Dagstanyan, Marie. Personal Interview. 29 Feburary 2012
The Big Move
I was born 1993 in Armenia.
According to my parents, that year was hell in Armenia. Food was scarce
especially things that were essential to a baby like milk and bread for
example. Along with my parents, my aunts
and uncles always say how lucky I was to survive. I cannot imagine what my parents went through
to trying to feed their baby, but I heard all about the difficulties they went
through. When I was about 10 months old,
my parents decided to go to Russia to have a better life for their child (me).
Russia was doing okay at that time and Armenia was not in good shape, consequences
of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. As the Armenia State Fund USA states, “The
years 1993-1994 were most definitive for Armenia Fund. The need for prompt
action dictated its mission, and a broad responsibility emerged to overcome
hardships plaguing Armenia and Karabakh at one of the most critical periods for
the nation. Established with a strategic vision, Armenia Fund focused on
projects that addressed immediate humanitarian needs.” The quote pretty much sums it all with the
“hardships”. We were in Russia for about 5 years, for which when my brother was
born. My parents were prosperous there for the first time since Russia. After 5
years my parents decided to go back to Armenia for a few months. They still say
that coming to America was an accident, which is pretty funny if you ask me.
They applied for an interview and they unexpectedly passed. Coming to America,
they did not realize it was going to permanent. What was ironic is that my dad
was never a “fan” of the United States of America. Besides my dad leaving his
business in Russia, my parents also lost the value of their college degrees. My
parent’s were/are highly educated people. My mom graduated from medical school
in Armenia and my dad graduated from two universities in physics/ mathematics. Unfortunately
when we came to America we were immigrants, so they could not transfer their
degrees to the equivalent of a U.S degree. The most difficult part was the
language barrier. They barely knew one word in English, so it really
constricted their job seeking. They
ended up working for Armenian businesses. Of course it was miles far from what
their degrees were for. Having no choice, and having children to take care of,
they did all they could.
We ended up in Glendale, California,
which is known for a big Armenian population. That was not surprising. Being in
Glendale, was a little easy on my parents in the language department because
wherever they turned an Armenian would pop up. However overall they felt
helpless in the job field because they were highly limited. Imagine not being
able to properly convey your emotions to the person in front of you. The stress
and frustration that will come along with it. My brother and I pretty much learned
English through cartoons with the captions on, reading along. Obviously for
children it is easier for them to pick upon languages, which is why my parents
were not that much worried about us. They say I because I am the oldest
starting talking basic English in about 2 months and then greatly progressed as
I was put into school, and started interacting with children. In and out of the
classroom. What I greatly regret about the big transition is forgetting
Russian. I see old videotapes of me speaking in Russian, or reciting poems at
school events and I feel like I am speaking Gibberish. My parents always say my
classmates’ parents back in Russia first thought I was Russian, which is ironic
because I was slightly dark compared to their stark white. Despite being
Armenian, I could still say that Armenian was not the first language I spoke. I
was about nine months when we moved to Russia; therefore I was exposed to
mainly Russian. I was put into Day Care and later preschool, where all I spoke
was Russian. Imagine going from country to country having to learn the
language, and the pressures that come along with it. After being able to speak perfect Russian we
moved to the United States of America, where I obviously had to learn English
as soon as possible because I was already 6, the age for first grade.
When you hear about people coming
from third world countries, it is almost always about religion freedom, women’s
rights, economic/social reasons, etc. Neither of those really pertained to us,
besides maybe economic reasons. Yes, coming here was an accident; however, the
economic reasons were the reason for staying. Compared to Armenia, America has greater
career opportunities for even a “commoner”. The education system really helps
out people, whether it is Financial Aid, Loans, or other government programs that
are out there. When asked, “What was one
of the main reasons for staying in America?” My amazing mother replied by
saying, “For you and your brother, our time has passed. It is your and your
brothers time to do something with your life. You both has many opportunities in
America. We will do everything to
provide you guys with anything you need so you guys can go on with you guysies
studies.” It was extremely touching, however I had a hard time not laughing at
her grammar. When I asked her “Why did
we move to Glendale first?” Her reply was, “That is a stupid question. You have
not seen how much Armenians there are there. Its like a small Armenia.” According
to Armeniapedia, “Glendale, California hosts the second largest Armenian
population of any city in the USA (Los Angeles is first). It has the highest
percentage of residents of Armenian descent, most of whom arrived in the city
in the last two decades.” Apparently, my mother is right.
Besides the language barriers, other
things came into play with coming to a different country completely different
from our own. The main ones were traditions, customs, and in general the way the
two cultures think. We as Armenians, especially my parents and the elders, have
a strict sense of tradition. Yes I do
believe keeping our heritage and traditions close to our hearts, because deep
down we are who we were. On the other hand, there are areas where being open-minded
is a good thing. Being in this country
for almost 13 years, I am extremely open-minded to new ideas, customs, and
lifestyles. Lets take for example the
debate on gay marriage. I am all for it. If that’s what makes someone happy,
and they choose that life for themselves, then so be it. However, my parents
and most of the older generations of Armenians completely disagree with me.
Like the republicans, they feel that marriage is between a man and a woman and
it is not right. I respect this statement, along with anyone’s opinion on the
issue. My parents frequently say that I am Americanized and that I should have
been an “American”. It does irk me, but if being tolerant and open-minded is
called American then I am fine with it. I do not really blame them that is just
an outcome of where and when they were born. I have a feeling if they were
brought up here, they feelings would be a tad different. A quote from
Persepolis was fitting for my parents. “What do you expect, I came from a
traditionalist country.”
A small transition we made after 3 years was moving
from Glendale to Burbank. It definitely
was an easier one, because we knew the language very well, were familiar with
the school system, and most importantly it was not overseas. It was only 5
streets over, because we lived on the edge of Glendale. This move according to
my parents was purely social. I was 2 weeks into 4 grade when we moved. In a couple more years I would have gone to
middle school and then of course high school.
My parents say they did not want us to go to the middle school and high
school in Glendale. They had heard stories from other parents that there were
always dangerous fights happening inside the school walls, as well as other
things. An online magazine called Ararat
says in one of the articles, “The most significant one occurred in 2000, when senior
Raul Aguirre, who had no gang affiliation, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death
while intervening in a fight between rival Armenian and Hispanic gang members.
Aguirre’s death and that of Avetis “Avo” Demirchyan, who was shot in 1998 in an
inter-Armenian-related dispute, tainted the Glendale school’s image for years,
even though none of the events occurred on campus.” It goes on to say. “Hoover High School is located in a city
containing the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia and Russia, but
ethnic friction between Hispanics and Armenians has been problematic in nearby
communities as well.” This really was
the case. I had cousins going to Hoover and Glendale, they were always talking
about some fight that happened that week, or if they were lucky, month. Yes, of
course, there were fights in my high school, but not as often as the Glendale
ones.
Despite all the struggles my parents faced when first
coming to America they have finally slightly found their place. My brother and I are immersed in the American
lifestyle, mainly, because of the schools. My parents make us talk Armenian at
home, which is a good thing because as they say my Armenian could use some
work. My dad still is not that much of a fan of America. As he says, “America
brainwashes you kids.”
Armeniapedia,
The Armenian Encyclopedia. 27 October
2011. 15 May 2012.
Armenian
Fund USA. Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. 20 July 2007. 16 May 2012
Aghajanian,
Liana. “Culture Clash: Armenian and Hispanic Relations in the Past, Present and
Future.” Ararat (a magazine from AGBU). 6 July 2010. Web. 16 May 2012
Satrapi,
Marjane. Persepolis. France:
Pantheon, 2002. Print.
Hakobyan,
Knarik. Personal Interview. 14 May 2012.
