so i applaud this man for turning a situation that would cause a lot of us to spiral down into depression into something to better himself as a human being. hopefully everyone that has read this letter is inspired to set aside differences and give people another chance to prove themselves. we just might be surprised by what kind of people we are and who we are surrounded by. I love the phrase, “where there is a will, there is a way.” This man has found the will to be compassionate and understanding of not only himself, but also of others. His will has allowed himself the way to self discovery and compassion for others. Many people who are not in prison never find this for themselves. Perhaps we all need a time in our lives of darkness so we can come out with our true selves and the compassion to see others the way we ourselves want to be seen: as a human being.

obviously it can happen and this letter proves that, i just wish that more people would see it that way as well. sometimes when something crappy happens to us we want revenge or someone to pay for what happened to a loved one. I know it's hard and i do not even know if i could do it, but we need to learn to forgive without wanting blood to feel at peace with what has happened. i think if i knew that the person that hurt someone i loved was in prison for an extended period of time i would feel more at ease than if they were sentenced to death. in prison, at least they can think about what they did and change for the better. on death row, i feel like they would just be thinking about their future...or lack there of. i would not wish that sort of torment on any human being. Hell, it is painful for me to think about my future after graduation so i cannot even imagine thinking about my death and all the things in the world i did not have a chance to try or do

This letter was really touching. It gave a different kind of perspective on life in prison. He mentions the misery that many might feel, but it is interesting to know that even in that sort of environment, people can and are changing for the better even though they may never be able to show the rest of the world what they have become. I am against the death penalty for that reason. Sending a person to death is not a punishment, it is another form of murder. Sending them to prison for an extended period of time or even their whole life isn't really punishment either, it is rehabilitaion. the individual is able to reflect on what happened and why it happened and really discover themselves and what kind of person they actually want to be.

I thought it was interesting in this video that the British woman, when asked if she was offended by the game, said , "not at all". Being a woman myself, I have to say I am offended and actually kind of scared. Kids learn a lot when they do hands on activities when growing up. If they are playing a game where the object is to grope and rape women, what are we teaching the future? I don't want to hear about some court saga with a kid who raped a woman because he learned that was okay from a video game. Similarly, other video games with violence are also not my forte. I have a distinct memory of when i was 14 years old and I was at a friends house and her older brother challenged us to a video game: James Bond. I had seen most of the movies so I thought it would be like stealing jewels from a house or trying to save some damsel in distress. But instead what i got was my friends older brother blowing my characters head off every five minutes. The worse part was how giddy with joy he was at how easy of kill my friend and I were with this game. So what is that? we are teaching at early ages that killing people and violence is okay if it helps with our own personal goals? Personally, I think that's a load of crap and I have not played a video game like that since then. From this it might be assumed that i hate video games with a fiery passion. On the contrary, i have no problem with games that help to teach children. Like those math/reading/spelling games they have out now. those I like and maybe those are boring but at least i'm learning grammar and not what a grenade can do. I realize that there's different opinions all around the world about what is appropriate and what is not. So I don't want to attack Japan but I think they may need to add some extra filters to what kind of video games they are putting out onto the market. I think all video game producers should take a cue and improve video games so it's about more than just violence against other players or characters. I realize that video games about ponies trying to learn the alphabet would not sell as much as other violent video games, but maybe it is time that kids get away from the tv as well. Obesity is a growing problem, not only within the United States but also within other developed countries. Maybe if we ease out video games and make kids play outside again, we can reduce this new epidemic get back to what we should be doing...also known as living.

So, do not forget who you are. Identify with what feels right to you. It doesn't matter what other people think you should be, it only matters what you think you should be. If you have lived your life thus far as identifying being Hispanic than you should keep going with that unless you find a different side to yourself through self-discovery. This class is meant to help us think critically about race and the world around us. Maybe this class is the beginnning to finding out who you really are on the inside and what it means to be a certain race and/or ethnicity.

After my freshmen year in college, i started to realize this and while i am far from figuring myself out, I realized that while it's fine that identify with being Asian more than being something else, to keep that other half of me in mind. The worse thing you could do is to forget who you are and where you come from. your roots or background is what makes you, you. without that, what would have? one of the first questions people usually ask each other is, "so where are you from?" or "Whats your family like?" I can not imagine what its like for people to say i don't know to both those questions.

This video question was interesting to me. I would have to say he should identify with what ever he feels the most comfortable with. In the video it sounds like he identifies more with the Hispanic community, which is awesome. Don't lose what you have, having that makes you unique. I am half Italian and half Chinese, but I like to identify with other Asians. Growing up my family and I would always go to visit my Grandma who lives in Chinatown in Manhattan. We'd visit with lots of relatives, celebrate Chinese New Year, etc. My Italian side, we went there for the major holidays but we never did anything 'Italian'.

After my freshmen year in college, i started to realize this and while i am far from figuring myself out, I realized that while it's fine that identify with being Asian more than being something else, to keep that other half of me in mind. The worse thing you could do is to forget who you are and where you come from. your roots or background is what makes you, you. without that, what would have? one of the first questions people usually ask each other is, "so where are you from?" or "Whats your family like?" I can not imagine what its like for people to say i don't know to both those questions.

Sure we would cook and eat a lot of pastas and other traditionally Italian foods, but that was about the extent of it. This is probably why my sisters and I distinguish them by saying: Chinese Grandma and Grandma. So while none of us can speak any dialect of Chinese, we still identify ourselves as Chinese and love to point our Asian glows when we drink (turning red). For this guy, I honestly think the best thing you can do for yourself is figure this one out on your own. No one likes being told what to do or who they are. The most gratifying experience is finding yourself and finally figuring out what it is in life you want to do and how far you can go. Once you figure that out, trying to identify with one group or another won't be as important to you anymore.

This video question was interesting to me. I would have to say he should identify with what ever he feels the most comfortable with. In the video it sounds like he identifies more with the Hispanic community, which is awesome. Don't lose what you have, having that makes you unique. I am half Italian and half Chinese, but I like to identify with other Asians. Growing up my family and I would always go to visit my Grandma who lives in Chinatown in Manhattan. We'd visit with lots of relatives, celebrate Chinese New Year, etc. My Italian side, we went there for the major holidays but we never did anything 'Italian'.