A-Z 1-3

Rarely do I feel inhibited by my bounded culture but in some cases I do. I feel like there are many stereotypes about people who live in Minnesota and I fit very few of them. I hate the snow, I detest the cold, and I don't enjoy "Going up North" as many people who live in Minnesota adore with every facet of their being. I never have been much of a cold type of person and often when I travel to other states or places I find people feeling as though I should love the cold and the ice when in reality I would take sunny and 75 over cloudy and -10. I also feel as though so many things in Minnesota are marketed and veered toward hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling that we often exclude many other important genres and activities that are also important but not as widely accepted as those that "Minnesotans" hold near and dear to their hearts.

-Nick Anderson 7th Hour

_______________________________________________________________
I feel that prior to the events of 9/11 the United States was a very accepting and welcoming country. There wasn't much fear of others and we were all living happy and peaceful lives, for the most part. Obviously when there is a majority there is also a minority. The people that during the time were being repressed and hated against weren't heard about as much because for the most part there was a lot more love than hate. After the attacks this all changed. We, as the American public, felt as though all Muslims had attacked us on that day in 2001 and not that it was just the radical Muslims that had crashed those planes into the towers. All the love and acceptance we had before now was washed away as if a typhoon of hate and misunderstanding had swept the nation. There was so much hate and anger and people who yearned for revenge and payback for what they did to us. Still we haven't fully regained that understanding and acceptance back yet. Only time will tell if we will ever be able to forgive all Muslim people for what a small group of radicals did.

-Nick Anderson 7th Hour

_______________________________________________________________
As a child I absolutely adored and idolized Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Gang. I have watched every episode of the original season, as well as all of the seasons and spin offs after that. The episodes put me in a trance and kept me full of wonderment and curiosity as to who was the villain and who was the good guy. As dumb as it sounds that show taught me for the first time that not everyone is the good guy and that even people who look like good guys can turn out to be the villain. I could never figure out who was the villain and when they unmasked the monster and Fred said, "Now let's see who's really behind the mask!", I would be on the edge of my seat with my face about 2 inches from the screen to see who it was. I would always be surprised and I would always be extremely upset if my older brother ruined the episode for me by telling me who the man in the mask was before I got to see it myself. Scooby-Doo was the greatest show of all time and taught children and adults alike that evil and badness is on the inside and rarely translates to outer appearances. 

-Nick Anderson 7th Hour