#10 Travel

Growing up all my friends would dream about having kids, their weddings, and being a mom. Me on the other hand I was different. I dreamt of traveling and seeing the world. The travel bug bit me at an early age. I would study maps and had a globe in my room. The top three places I would like to visit are Venice, India, and Fiji.

Venice has always been on my bucket list to go. A beautiful city that is partially underwater and slowly sinking every year. I would love to get on a speed boat and ride the water through the city and view all the amazing architecture that has stood the test of time.

                                                            Image Source

The second place I would like to see is India. I love the culture, the fashion, and even the religion. I know there is a particular time I want to go. I want to participate in their festival called Holi. Holi (Hindi pronunciation: ['hoːli:]) is a popular and significant Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colors, Love, and Spring. Wikipedia I can remember seeing photographs of this holiday inside coffee shops and magazines. The smiles on peoples faces while they were covered in so many vibrant colors. I wanted to jump through the page and be a part of their celebration. 

Image Source

The last place is Fiji and it is a beautiful island with its white sandy beach and crystal clear blue water. Every time I look at a screen saver those sandy beaches of Fiji. The clearest water I have ever seen. This beach looks so relaxing. I can imagine feeling the warm sun hitting my face as I am relaxing in a hammock under some palm trees. One day I will visit these places and travel all over the world. I plan to start within the next year and start my journey of seeing the world.

Image Source 

Entry #9 Media Synthesize

 

Image Source

Media is a constant flow of information, like a river it never stops or sleeps. Since we have begun this final essay, I have noticed subtle changes with the media. I have become more curious about what is going on in our daily lives. I have always been skeptical about misinformation through other avenues. These days I have been questioning the information we get from the news. I know you cannot trust what you see on the internet, especially social media. I have noticed that this newer generation gets a lot of their information from platforms like tik tok or X(Twitter).  However, I am still old school and get most of my information from the news.

These days I have noticed that the news has sensationalized every story, a single news report is about someone being killed or someone getting injured. I understand that bad things happen everyday. The media seems to have shifted its focus to these stories rather than reporting on anything else. It has become nothing but negativity. Ever wonder why there’s so much bad news out there? Maybe it’s because people find bad news more interesting than good news.

 

Image Source

According, to a new study involving more than 1,000 people across 17 countries spanning every continent but Antarctica concludes that, on average, people pay more attention to negative news than to positive news. LA Times I understand that life is hard and we will always have trials and tribulations. However, I believe if we continue to focus on the bad it does nothing but perpetuate the cycle. I am not saying to look through the world with rose colored glasses, just be mindful of what energy we put out into the world. Also what we are willing to give our attention to. If we continue to fill a room with hot air the room the room will stay hot. Our universe is based on balance and if we continue to be one sided we will never be able to move forward. We will always be stuck in the past, and continue to dwell on negative thoughts and which will be replaced with fear.

Entry #8 Healthcare Terminology

                            

            image source image source

I work as customer service representative for Marketplace and Medicare. I took the job with the idea of learning about health insurance as much as possible. I thought I would share some of my knowledge and help break down some of the terminology. Health insurance can be very confusing and hard to understand. The terminology and the way healthcare is processed can be a daunting.

You have your deductible which has to be met by the consumer before the plan itself pays its portion. Some preventive services are paid out by the plan before the deductible is met. Think of it almost like car insurance. When you get into an accident you have to meet the deductible before the plan covers the expenses of the accident, and the deductible will be applied to certain medical services. Usually the plan will dictate what medical services are a part of your deductible.  A copay is a set rate you pay for prescriptions, doctor visits, and other types of care. Coinsurance is the percentage of costs you pay after you've met your deductible. Investopedia Out of pocket costs is what you pay during the annual coverage year that is not covered by the insurance policy.

In-network has to do with what providers take the insurance policy and out of network are the providers that are out of the service area. Some companies will cover you out of network expenses but it may be a portion of the cost. Every company is different and covers different services at a certain cost. There is a lot of information and a lot of different components when it comes to health insurance. Also, remember there are sometimes other things that are covered that do not pertain to health care. Some companies may help pay for utilities bills or provide a card to purchase groceries. Usually you have to apply for these types of services. 

     image source  

                                                                    

Along with some of the cost sharing and out of pocket expenses there are different types of plans. HMOs and PPO are the most common. HMO stands for health maintenance organization and PPO stands for preferred provider organization. The main difference between these plans are: HMO plans typically have lower monthly premiums. You can also expect to pay less out of pocket. PPOs tend to have higher monthly premiums in exchange for the flexibility to use providers both in and out of the network without a referral. Out-of-pocket medical costs can also run higher with a PPO plan.Women's Health.

In conclusion, I just wanted to spread a little bit of knowledge about this subject. I know it's a lot of information and can be really confusing. Just remember never be afraid to ask questions and all the information is literally in the palm of our hands. Additionally, if you ever need some help feel free to reach out!

Entry #7 Hashtag

    Growing up, I always referred to this symbol as a pound sound. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the reinvention of this sign. I am unfamiliar with this particular symbol. I know it was used during the early years of Twitter, but I did not have an account. I still don't. LOL. 

Image Source

    In 2007, when the pound sign was first used by Chris Messina as a metadata tag to find topics of interest with ease, no one could have predicted hashtags would have become extremely popular among social media users around the globe. Hashtag Activism Reading about the article gave me a little more insight into this mysterious ever so popular hashtag. The verbiage that was popular in my early years was hashtag. 

Hashtags first achieved widespread attention as a means of organizing and disseminating information. The #Hashtag Revolution Somewhere in 2008 when social media was in its infancy I remember hearing the words hashtag. People would make jokes about hashtag this or hashtag that. I think even Jimmy Fallon did a bit with Justin Timberlake about hashtags on the Tonight Show. 

    I will admit that I did not fully understand the meaning of the word. Reading further into these articles enlightened me and helped me get a better understanding of the phase. I knew it was associated with Twitter, but I did not know the functionality of it. The hashtag was a way of grouping numerous pieces of media photos, videos, comments etc. into easily accessible information. When you type in a certain phrase that is followed by a hashtag you are able to visually see all the information that you are most interested in. The revolution of the hashtag has made its mark on social media. 

Before I read these articles I had no idea what the significance of a hashtag was and how powerful a simple symbol has the ability to group multiple pieces of data in a single search field. Moving forward, I will be sure to use a hashtag on my Tiktoks when making my next post.

 

Entry #6 Cowboy Bebop

Image Source

 

    Anime has always been one of my favorite genres of animation. I have always had a deep admiration and respect for this art form. I grew up watching anime as a preteen and instantly became a fan. Maybe it is because I am part Japanese. It is possible, I felt like this was a piece of my heritage. A very small piece. Watching this type of media I have some favorite anime series. One in particular is called Cowboy Bebop.

    Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 Japanese neo-noir space Western anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. wikipedia This series was only 26 episodes long and set in the year 2071. Earth is no longer inhabitable and many people have pioneered out into space and live on different planets and galaxies. The main form of transportation during this era are spaceships. The series' protagonists are bounty hunters working from the spaceship Bebop. The original crew is Spike Spiegel, an exiled former hitman of the criminal Red Dragon Syndicate, and Jet Black, a former ISSP officer. They are later joined by Faye Valentine, an amnesiac con artist; Edward, an eccentric child, skilled in hacking; and Ein, a genetically engineered Pembroke Welsh Corgi with human-like intelligence. wikipedia

  

Image Source 

     This rag tag group of misfits seems to create a family dynamic and misadventures with some of the basis of the series just collecting bounties to survive. They are still a humanistic, flawed group of people who still deal with everyday hedonistic desires. Some of my favorite episodes of the series are the more romantic ones where they discuss the protagonist's love interest from years ago. All of a sudden, they reappear and reminisce about the days they were together and why they were apart. The old saying rings true during these episodes. "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. If not, it was never meant to be.” As a kid, I didn't quite understand the concept of a lost love finally returning. I understand the episodes now. Looking through this show through adult lenses you will begin to see why it was so popularized, and enjoyed by audiences. Most recently, Netflix bought the rights and created a live action series. I have not gotten to watch this series just yet, for now I am just enjoying the classics.

Extra Credit: Capitalism

     

Image Source

        I watched this movie back in 2010 after it premiered in theaters. Me and my then boyfriend (Josh) actually went to Glendale Public Library to rent the movie.  At that point and time, Blockbuster was going out of business, RedBox was becoming popular. However, the economy was still in bad shape so Josh and I were trying to find the cheapest form of entertainment. I have always been a fan of his movies, Sicko and Bowling for Columbine. I feel rewatching during this time in our modern life Michael Moore was ahead of his time. People are going to have their opinion on his political stances and yes, he tends to lean more to the left. However, he does his best to stay objective throughout his films. He believes right is right and wrong is wrong. When he makes a point in his film he tends to use some kind of humor to soften the blow of his rhetoric.  

           When he does deliver his stance on an issue he comes prepared with the facts and lays it on the table for his audience to decide if it is right or wrong. Capitalism has created corporate greed and has put a lot of hard working class citizens under the poverty line. We are told to work hard and we will achieve our dreams. I do believe that if you work hard you can make things happen for yourself in this country. We tend to forget that we are not the only modern country. There are several throughout this world who have a better condition than Americans. However, people around the world still believe in the “American Dream.”

    Capitalism has created the modern world we live in today, but have we lost sight of our own dreams that due to our shortsighted achievements we have managed to also destroy other people's lives in order to line our pockets. Competition is necessary for a business to thrive. We like options, but is it necessary to decimate an entire business to monopolize that one niche?  Capitalism has worked for our economy. We would not be the country that we are today, however I think the oversight and the ability to allow corporations to dictate what is allowed in our food, water, and clothing has gotten out of hand. Lobbyists are funded by corporations to argue or persuade the legislature to allow certain things into our resources. When did the line get crossed and more and more people are being sick from our resources. This film is ever more applicable than it was back in 2009 during the housing crash. We are seeing our economy flirting with the line of possible recession.

    We as a people need to pay closer attention to who we appoint as our voices in the legislative branch. I do not care what your political views are, I just believe we all need to pay a little more attention to how our government is ran. The government should be afraid of its people, not the people be afraid of the government. We have a voice we use everyday on all these social media platforms. Let's use the tools we have and educate ourselves. Rewatching this film has let me know that history does repeat itself. We are at a vulnerable stage in our society and we have more power as a people than we ever had before. 

Entry #5 Local Story Response

 

Image Source

    My parents ingrained into me that education is of the utmost importance. Educating myself is one of my goals. There is a gap in my achievement due to some unfortunate events, but even during my circumstances I still attempted to get my degree. I have worked tirelessly to get to where I am today. My journey is just the beginning. I have a long way to go and I am not about to squander my second chance. I have always encouraged others to achieve this goal, as well. Even at GCC their educational system has changed. This time around when I was registering they wanted a specific goal in my degree instead of general education. However, tuition is extremely more expensive than when I first admitted myself into college. 

The article states that former Gov. Doug Ducey wanted a more educated state, with his goal of making Arizona have at least 60% of its residents with higher education. How he did this is funding more for in this year’s budget, we added $142 million to K-12 education – above and beyond the voter-approved Proposition 123. For universities, we approved an additional $38 million.Gov. Doug Ducey His stance is wanting us as a community to help achieve this goal of education ourselves. The other article states how much of a pay gap it is when you have educated yourself compared to when you have not completed a high school diploma. The second article discussed how much someone would make if they did achieve that degree. Arizona is on the scale against the national average; it is about $2,000 less. Bachelor's degree: $61,392, Graduate or professional degree: $78,782, High school graduate or equivalency: $36,792, and less than a high school degree: $30,398. Parrish, Madeline

I am all for a higher education, but there is a caveat to this goal. Former Gov. Doug Ducey fails to state how he is going to motivate students to go to college. The total cost for four years of ASU tuition, room and board, and books and supplies for in-state students is $114,944, based on the 2022-23 school year. This is higher than the national average of $102,828. Sofi Both articles give the facts about what it looks like when you have that degree. Unfortunately, these articles are slightly misleading and did not give more information on how this is even achievable. Both articles failed to discuss the actual cost of a college tuition. 

    I believe in higher education , but the problem also is it is expensive, considerably more than when I first went to college in 2009. The tuition almost doubled for two classes rather than four. Yes, achieving higher education is a must to have the “American Dream” but how is it going to happen when student loan debt is at an all time high and people with these degrees cannot even find a job. We spend all this time and effort pushing ourselves to achieve this goal but we still have a lot more work to do then just pushing our students for higher education.