Web Paper or Special Event

When I first started reading, I was confused as to why Clare was talking about the environment of his hometown, the mountain as a metaphor, and his experience climbing the real mountain. Then, as I read further, I realized that he connects all aspects of his life to his definition of home and then exile. He eloquenty connects his sexuality, class, physical ability, education, and location to his home and exile from home. I didn't think it was possible to combine all of these different characteristics into one idenity, but he does. 

Alisha Clark

Farida Ilboudo

Esem: Changing Our Story

Jody Cohen

The Proposal

Journey of the Laptops: hp 15 TouchSmart & Macbook Air

• Introduction

Before you say hello to someone, hug them or have that first encounter with them, the initial stepping stone to developing the contact zone is by the way the person looks. First impressions are the gateway to the contact zone. Using their looks as the primary source before actually having an interaction with someone, you can sometimes judge which party within this relationship is going to be the superior party and which one would be the inferior. Someone may be wearing beat up clothes while the other person is dressed in the latest trend, and in that instance a contact zone as well as the rankings of each person involved in the contact zone has been set before anyone has uttered a word.

As Emily and I were discussing our plans for this project, our main struggle was with our apparent lack of empathy. We both know in theory that when we buy a product at a low price, another person is losing out. We know that many items we own are made in sweatshops, bad for the environment, or tested on animals. It isn’t something that enters into our consciousness on a daily basis, and if it does, it doesn’t change our buying decision. When we get an item for a low price, we feel a rush of excitement. Where the item comes from or who makes it doesn’t even enter into the picture. We know that our consumption habits at this point are extremely selfish.

Weiyu Yuan and Grace Chung

Esem 029

Encountering others

Project Proposal

Step Up

For the project, we plan to track students’ habits in terms of academic purchases. We plan to collect data to find a correlation between the amount students are willing to spend on textbooks and/or PDF files versus how much they will print out e-book versions.

I agree with most that empathy is a fundemental human emotion and connects people of all races in today's society. However, I do not agree that empathy and contact zones are synonymous. I think that empathy can be found in contact zones, but it is not always the case. Contact zones occur when people or groups of two or more backgrounds share experiences and ideas. Empathy is when people understand and relate to the experiences and ideas of other's. Contact zones are always beneficial. Empathy is not present in every contact zone. Many times people are unable to understand other people and their past experiences, that is why we have wars, bigotry, ignorance, and persecution. 

There is no greater joy than looking at a baby. When I encounter babies, their smile can easily melt my heart. I always want to touch them, tickle them, and cuddle with them. The reason that makes “my maternal love arise” is because babies never hide their feelings, and display their true selves in front of people, even the ones they don’t know. Their purity makes them “the cutest things in the world.”  However, as the time ticks away, gradually, those children become more introverted; they begin to care less about the society and they become more likely to camouflage sensibility in the bottom of their heart. What happens to those candid cute babies? What makes them lose the sense of purity?

Elite, that was her name. She looked exactly the same of all the other ones I had had before. However, when we first met, at that specific Sunday morning in 2008 I thought she would be my saving grace. She would be the one to help me accomplish all my dreams. She would be the one.

Our relationship lasted exactly 4 years, between breaks and comebacks. It did not take me a long time to realize that Elite was not as easy to keep up with as I initially thought she would be. She was too demanding, too rigid, and too orthodox. She asked me to do things I have never thought I would have to do in order to achieve my goal.