A Change We Can Believe In...has actually happenned

Well, well, well. The Election day has finally come to an end and Americans all across the United States are celebrating. Barack Obama is officially the President of the United States of America. What an epic election—first black male candidate versus oldest white male candidate whose running mate was a white female…things couldn’t have gotten any more interesting. Everyone has been desperate for change—“a change we can believe in”—since before I can remember. Now that Bush and his team are ousted from the White House it is about time for that change to take place with the election of a new political party and a new face in politics—Obama.

I’m going to be honest and admit that I voted for McCain. I figured since I am not the one out of my family that is going to be affected by taxes I should vote in favor of whatever will enhance my parents’ budget; thus, the obvious decision for me was to vote for McCain who wasn’t planning on raising taxes.

Despite my opposing desire for the outcome of this election, I know that in my heart Obama will make for a great president. A young, fresh and innovative black male who will bring new ideas to the table is just what we need. Obama will provide our country with an economic, cultural and societal jumpstart to get things running smoothly again.

Congratulations Barack Obama. I am eager to see what the future holds for you and our nation.

*Once Upon A Time*: Self-Analysis Post

Once upon a time I dreaded politics—the mere sight of CNN or MSNBC news on T.V. made me want to hurl. The endless, false commercials that consume every bit of commercial time at this time of the election year was so repulsive, and the fakeness of politicians was absurd to me. Well, fellow bloggers, that was once upon a time.

Now, it is impossible for me to turn the T.V. on without immediately turning the channel to a news station to get the latest update of our economy and presidential candidates. Whether it’s hearing about Sarah Palin’s latest family issues or being updated on the financial statistics of our economy, I’ve found that nine times out of ten my eyes have been glued to the news channels and websites that capture my brain and body and absorb me into the T.V. or computer. Who knew…I just had to give it a chance.

Over the past month, since I have been involved with this English project, the most important thing I have realized is how important it is to stay updated on current events and politics. If I failed a quiz because I was up late at night watching a presidential debate I would be okay with it now. Okay, I lied, I would never let myself fall into that trap as a student; but, I honestly think that it is of upmost importance to stay updated on what’s going on in our country in regards to an election, politics, our economy and more. This is by far the most important lesson I will take away from this project.

When observing how my political ideology has transformed through this project I would have to admit that it definitely opened my eyes. Both of my parents are Republicans, so, like every other teenager I believed I should be a Republican. Wrong. Through this project I learned that you have to research about the presidential candidates before voting and that it is absurd to simply vote in correlation with your parents. This lesson also goes along with the idea that you must stay updated on the prominent issues of an election. The economy is obviously the most important issue in this election, and to ignore the candidates’ plans to revamp our economy would make for an extremely ignorant citizen. Make your vote count.

I thoroughly enjoyed the freedom this blog project granted me as a student in terms of being able to control and emphasize topics I found most interesting or pressing. Having the ability to set my own boundaries allowed me to explore and learn more about my issue absolutely.

However, having the capacity to completely delve into my issue was also a nightmare. Try having to be completely informed on the state of our current economy and the Rescue bill…every single day. This involved knowing the candidates' stances, knowing the causes of the crisis, understanding the concerns of the bill, understanding the possible outcomes of the bill, being familiar with the average American’s view and so on. Honestly, it was a ton of information to try to thoroughly blog about. Too much information isn’t always a good thing.

One aspect of the blog project that I found surprisingly difficult to keep up with was responding to posts made by fellow bloggers in regards to a post I had previously made. The time constraint that comes along with posting before each class made it difficult to keep my mind on two separate blog posts. I felt like after I posted on my blog and then people responded that it was nearly impossible to continue a conversation with that particular post now that I had made a completely new post.

Then there is the problem of the Internet. While blogging and staying updated on the news is actually really entertaining, Facebook is always a distraction. I found that occasionally when I would intend to sign onto blogger.com I would accidently type in Facebook.com. How embarrassing.

What an awesome project…not only did I go through this past month aspiring to receive a good grade while keeping my classmates informed on the Rescue bill and the economic crisis, but I also learned an important life lesson. In order to even be considered a well-educated human being, you must initially educate yourself on the current pressing issues the United States is facing every day. So, I leave you with this bloggers—stay informed bloggers, stay informed.