Outliers

This week in class, we read an excerpt from the book Outliers, which was about a group of Italian immigrants coming to America and all went to the same town of  Roseto,PA. There, they set up schools, churches, and a near-Utopian society. Then, someone from outside of the town realized that this particular town had absolutely no sign of heart disease, which was then raging through the US at a rapid pace. They also discovered that this town had no alcoholism, no divorces, no suicide etc. and that everyone was pretty close to perfect happiness. This story was very interesting because it related to sociological imagination, which is the idea that the outside world has a dramatic impact on how you live and that the world ultimately shapes how you are, whether you realize it or not  This related to the Outliers due to the idea that because of their extreme isolation from the outside world, their level of sociological imagination was different from other situations and they were not heavily impacted by the outside world  However, they were affected by the when and where of their existence and had they gone somewhere else at a different time, their interaction with the outside world would vary. I do believe that this sociological imagination theory is true in relation to my life. When I hear stories about the wars in the Middle East, for example, I try to imagine myself growing up there and I know that I would be a completely different person, would have different opinions and would have had many different experiences compared to those I've had growing up here. This is almost crazy to think about and shows how sometimes we truly do take things for granted, for our sociological imagination could have been completely different from what we have now and how we are living now.

But really... who am I?

Who am I?
Who am i? I don't know. All I can tell you is that my name is Cassie, or Cassandra. I don't think anyone ever really does know who they are. They may know what they are like, their personality, their hobbies and passions, but I don't think anyone is always 100% sure of who they are, because you can always surprise yourself. But I can definitely tell you what I am like and why I am that way. My parents have always been my role models. They both have very successful jobs; my mom is a speech-pathologist at my school and my dad an architectural engineer and the vice-president of the Midwest region of his company. They had easy lives, always lived comfortably and had good education their whole lives. There are six people in my family: my parents, my 3 brothers, and I, and we get along pretty well. So one would think it's a good family setting. And it is most of the time. My parents trust me a lot, maybe a little too much, especially with them having two teenagers, a 20 year old and a tween. I guess they've had a lot of practice. They have always taught us right from wrong, taught us to give, and taught us to live. And I guess my mindset is the same. I don't give into peer pressure, I always try to do the best I can and be the best I can be, and I am an individual. I have never really liked all of that cliquey, superficial thing, so I think that's what set me apart from people in middle school and ultimately high school. Although I was constantly surrounded by my friends begging their parents for everything: new clothes, a cell phone, new everything, I always stayed true to myself and what my parents taught me. I am very outgoing, and always make each day important. I have a very positive outlook on life and my future. What I want to do in my future is still a big question, but I will figure it out on the way. Some days I think Pediatrician, or joining the Peace Corps, and other days I think history teacher or theatre major, but most of the time I just don't know. My all- time dream school is Northwestern, and I would basically do anything to get into there. I have big dreams, and I am a firm believer that you must work hard to achieve what you want, so that would explain why I sit at my desk for hours upon hours doing my homework, reading papers over and over again, working ahead and doing everything I possibly can to ultimately be the best that I can be. Most of the time, I'd rather chose my homework than my social life, but it's not because I am a huge geek that doesn't see the light of day ever, I just don't necessarily favor the current friends I have. Maybe I'm just determined. I absolutely love history, and I could easily talk for hours about why, but I won't bore you. I have a huge obsession with Abraham Lincoln, shrine dedicated to him in my room and everything, but it's not like creepy I-want-to-marry-him kind of thing; He is just really interesting. So maybe I am a geek, but I really don't care because labels are annoying. So I choose not to label myself. I'll describe, but never label. I'm really just a human being trying to live my life, figuring it out as I go.