Adoption Not "Colorblind" Anymore

On CNN.com, there was an article that caught my eye- apperently it is now legally neccessary for white parents to undergo special training, more than a "normal" adoptive parent, when adopting a black child. Adam Pertman, the Donaldson Institute's executive director, said "The view that we can be colorblind is a wonderful, idealistic perspective, but we don't live there." In some ways that is true, but I don't believe that race should be subjugated into these affars. Doing so would emphasize that these parents might not be doing the "normal" thing by adopting a child of a different race, but what they are really doing is taking a child into their hearts, which is a very honorable thing. I believe this is the wrong way to go about this issue- who's to say they wont make a law that makes parents go through training to adopt a girl vs. a boy, or have to have training when adopting a child from a certain religion. I can understand that prospective parents would have to go through training if adopting a child with disablilties, but having training for race (and religion/ sex) seems to cross the line.

Around the World

I was just scrolling down Bolos and O'Connor's blog, and right around the bottom, was something long forgotten; the "where in the world" application. It shows, in clusters of red dots, where people are from that have viewed the blog. I tried to put it on my blog way back when, but it never really worked out for me (Mr. Bolos's technological prowess astounds me).

So, back to my story- I saw it and there were red dots covering almost all I could see of North America and Europe, most of Australia, and a good part of South America. It is amazing that a simple blog for a high school class in Winnetka, Illinois could have grabbed the attention of people all over the world. People have seen it all over America- including in Alaska and Hawaii, in Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Costa Rica, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iran, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Philippians, Vietnam, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and almost every European country. Crazy, right?



It astounds me how these things can travel so quickly- the internet has been such an important tool in modern day life, and I can't imagine how people got around without it. It is astonishing to me, for example, in the Kentucky Cycle, the Rowens didn't know there was a new president until a stranger, JT, came and told them. I can't imagine living in a world like that after what I have experienced.

The End of the Dreaded "Junior Year"

The myth of the dreaded Junior Year at New Trier High School is a tale made to scare sophomore students silly; they will not have any free time because they will be drowning in work, their grades will be extremely important because it is the only thing colleges look at, and so on and so forth. Well, for the better part of this year, I have come to realize that all the hype was not true for all Juniors (maybe just the ones taking AP English and History).

Now finals are right around the corner, and people think "what a waste of time," but I don't really think so anymore. In AiS, from the beginning, we were taught to think deeper about the bigger issues that we will be facing, and I have come to realize this: cumbersome as they might be, it is truly a time in which we are able to really reflect on how much we have learned and how much extra information will be able to help us as we graduate to college and to "the real world."

My junior year experience has taught me how to deal with pressure, manage time better, and most importantly, understanding that a little time away from studies is not a terrible thing. And as we wrap up the last remnants and move forward toward senior year, I hope the messages and lessons I have learned will channel toward my success.