Genocide/Racism/Anti-Semitism

Ms. Geller's presentation was quite interesting. I was afraid I might fall asleep, and I had every intention of simply reading through the class (I know, I'm terrible, I'm sorry!), but when the introducer asked us all to "please give her your full attention," I reluctantly set aside my book and waited, dreading the boredom factor. However, her story was riveting. I wanted to ask her at the end if, with all the Christian training she'd had as a young child, if she had become a Christian or decided to cling tightly to her Jewish heritage. Apparently, she's still Jewish (what a shame). But didn't she say that she was not a practicing Jew? Either way, she is a fascinating person, and her communication skills are excellent.

Addictions, Part II: Men's and Women's Issues

Erm, I've never personally dealt with any of the problems discussed in class, although my last two boyfriends have both had issues with pornography. One was actively trying to put an end to his addiction, last time I checked, which I admired him for. The other one justified his actions by saying that he had originally stumbled upon it while using his dad's computer. He said it was normal for boys to be addicted to the stuff, and it was his dad's fault anyway. I guess he thought that if his dad did it, it was ok for him to do as well. But yeah. I'm addicted to the internet, according to my health book! They should have done something on that, I bet that's far more common among college students nowadays.

Diversity and Racial Reconciliation

In high school, my friends were a "rainbow," as my mom put it one day. My best friends were Indian, the artist in our group was Mexican, the druggie (though I didn't know he was into that stuff at the time) was half Japanese, the unique Alison was Asian, the guy who asked me out every day for three months in a row was Native American.... You get the idea. I'm slightly depressed now, not only are all those friends gone, but all my friends now are white. There's a girl I know who is black (I never quite know how to classify them, my neighbor couldn't be called African-American as he was neither, being from England), Cody looks to be at least half-Asian, Juan is Latino, I think. They're all pretty cool, but I'm not close to any of them. It kind of sucks. How many people at APU are white, anyway??! I miss the "rainbow" I had back home, where everyone's differences were acknowledged and even celebrated. Here, I get the impression that it would be rude even to mention it...?

Global Vision

Honestly, I'm not sure exactly how all this global vision talk really relates to me. You see, the way I see it, I'm just one person. I'm just one person in one state of one country of the entire world. How am I supposed to affect the life of someone who lives halfway across the world when I've always lived in southern Orange County? I've never been on a plane and I've never gone outside of the country- not even to Mexico, just a few hours south from here. But I was talking to my boyfriend about it and he said that maybe global vision starts right here. He continued that understanding global vision can help us to see the world around us here a little differently. I guess I can see that because if I think of each individual as a single person in the world that God still finds to be special, it must mean that they are. And if they view us in the same way, then perhaps God cares about us too and thinks that we're special. Hmm... I'll leave you with that interesting thought. ;)

Alcohol

Reasons why people drink:
To forget
To hide the pain
To relax
To be more outgoing
To have fun
To be braver
To fit in
To lose control
To get away
To not have to be responsible

Reasons why people don't:
It's illegal for people under the age of 21
To set a good example
To follow a good example
Because it tastes weird
To stay in control
To keep their friends safe (Designated Drivers)
Because it's unhealthy
To make wise choices
To not take advantage of others
To avoid date rape

Alcohol's impact on my life:
My mom's father used to drink, and it had a negative impact on her life as a child, therefore she does not allow alcohol in our current household. She has maybe one or two drinks a year- a strawberry margarita when we vacation in Laughlin, Nevada in the summer. My dad drinks a beer or two during the Superbowl over at our neighbor's house, but he's allergic to alcohol, so he never has enough to cause any damage. No one in our house drinks, smokes, or does drugs, so basically, I've been pretty sheltered from that aspect of life while growing up. Thank you, Jesus.

Strengths and Weaknesses

My strengths are Adaptability, Input, Developer, Harmony, and Empathy. These could all easily become weaknesses, so this semester, I must try hard to build on these strengths.

Adaptability means that I am easily distracted, and not as organized as I could be. To make better use of this strength, I should try partnering with someone with strong Discipline, Consistency, or Arranger talents to pick up some time management/efficiency skills to keep me on track when I'm under pressure.

Having the strength of Input suggests that I should partner with people with Focus or Discipline talents to organize what I've learned and to be more productive with this skill. I also should set time limits on researching, so I don't get carried away.

Developer means that while I may be able to notice the "baby steps" of progress, I need to be able to articulate these intermediate steps to others who expect bigger steps. This strength is very focused on encouraging others, so I should be careful to take time to encourage them.

Since I have Harmony as a strength, I need to remember that conflict is inevitable and sometimes necessary. I should partner with people with powerful Command or Activator talents to promote more positive group interactions during the conflict. I also need to be more open with my feelings, even though it may lead to a disagreement.

I need to take time at the end of the day to let go of all the stress my Empathy talents can cause, and establish clear boundaries between myself and those with whom I connect, otherwise I can become emotionally drained.

My Strengths

Okay, after that long and arduous struggle... Fine, it was just an easy quiz, but when you're half-asleep, everything that takes any brain power is transformed into a desperate fight against... yeah. Ahem. Anyways. My top five strengths are adaptability, input, developer, harmony, and empathy.

Adaptability

People strong in the Adaptability theme prefer to "go with the flow." They tend to be "now" people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.

Input People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Developer People strong in the Developer theme recognize and cultivate the potential in others. They spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.

Harmony People strong in the Harmony theme look for consensus. They don't enjoy conflict; rather, they seek areas of agreement.

Empathy

People strong in the Empathy theme can sense the feelings of other people by imagining themselves in others' lives or others' situations.

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(A) Mom: "Your "go with the flow" attitude may seem like irresponsibility to those who prefer structure and predictability. They may get irritated with what they perceive to be sloppiness or carelessness."
(A) "Because you live in the moment, you might find yourself easily distracted by new things that come along. You might be particularly likely to drop everything when your friends want you to go out with them." I almost did that when all of Adams Hall went for a donut run at 9:30 at night the night before my health test... But I did stay and study!
(I) Reading over this description makes me wish I were a science major so that I could learn even more!! This describes me perfectly, I think... It would explain why I always was obsessed with learning everything about Pokemon. Haha...
(D) This would explain why I'm drawn to young children... and vice versa. Yay.
(H) Um, I don't know. I do like to avoid conflicts, usually. Unless I really think I'm right.
(E) Ooh, I like this one. It's almost like I'm special and helpful and stuff. No, I really do think it fits...

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Please comment on what you think of these strengths!

Who Am I?

I am Allison Pearl Bloom. I am a big sister and a "second mommy." I am a great cook and I'm really good at math and science. I like reading and logic puzzles. I love my brothers more than anything else in the world. I want to be like my mom when I grow up. I'm still scared of the dark and I love walking at night. I know God loves me when I look up at the stars and when I see the morning dew. I like walking in the rain and coming back home to have a cup of hot apple cider. I think emo guys are hot, but Hershey's cookies&cream bars are even hotter. ♥ I have the Macarena on my iPod, which is the second iPod Mini I've owned and has broken in the same way as the last one, but this time without me having dropped it twice down stairs (and bouncing) on concrete. I had 4 guys who liked me last year and I managed to avoid high school drama completely until my senior year. I was homeschooled from first through fourth grade, and for my first semester as a high school freshman. My name means "little truthful one" and so doesn't describe me at all. The horoscope for me is almost always right, strangely enough, and both my mother and I are very surprised by it, since we don't take stock in such things. I much prefer Slytherin to Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw would be my second choice. All of my significant crushes have been on guys with dark hair, and I think long hair on guys is really creepy. I'm a terrible procrastinator- I put this off until the last minute even! And, oh shoot. My accounting homework. Right. Um, lol. Bye!