College?

How are we supposed to decide where we want to spend the next four years? As the third quarter comes to a close and we only have one quarter left in high school, I am now beginning to worry about where I will go to college. First of all, I would like to say that I am grateful to even have a choice to make because this obviously means that I have been accepted to more than one school. But it is a very stressful decision because there are so many factors in the decision making process. How much does each school cost? Who will give you the most money? Is it a city campus or rural campus? How prestigious is it? Will you fit in with the student body there? Will you be able to have fun and enjoy yourself while you are not studying? Are you comfortable being ____ miles from home? Do they have sports teams that you can cheer for? This past weekend I went on a college visit and I stayed with a current student overnight. It was a great experience and I was able to get an inside look into what life was like at this particular University. But the difficult thing was that I was only there for twenty-three hours. So essentially, I am supposed to decide if I want to go to this school based on what I read on the internet and a twenty-three hour stay on campus. Many of you already know what this process is like and May 1^st is not a day I am looking forward to because at that time I will need to make a final decision and put a deposit down on my tuition. Now hopefully, I will receive a little bit of good news on April 1^st and I will be accepted to a few more colleges. This then means that I will hear from some schools on April 1^st and then I will have one month to evaluate the schools I have been accepted to and then make a final decision. So in that one-month time span I will have to visit a few more schools and spend twenty-three hours on campus to see how I fit into the different colleges. The point is, that there is very little time to decide my future and I do not even know how to make this decision. Should I line up the colleges and make lists of pros and cons? I do not know what will end up happening, but I can assure you that this will be the topic of many late night journal entries. However, like a typical Chagrin kid would, I have wrapped myself up in this issue too much and I have lost sight of the big picture. We all forget that we are extremely lucky to have the ability to make a decision between different four-year colleges and have the ability to pay for it in some way shape or form. So although we all get bent out of shape about this decision (except people like John and Jimmy who have gone Early-Decision…lucky!), we must take a step back and realize what it is we are really complaining about because I am the best example in this case of losing sight of the big picture.

I hope my college classes are like this!

Egyptians Hate America, Yet Some Have Died In An Effort To Be Like Us

With the current events that have transpired in Northern Africa, I feel the need to let out my frustration with the people in Egypt. As many of you probably know, the countries of Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt have all rebelled against their established leaders. In Tunisia, president Ben Ali fled from the country and the prime minister resigned fairly recently as they conceded victory to the protesters. In Libya, many citizens have developed a rebel force to try to force Moammar Gaddafi out of power. Unfortunately, he has killed thousands of people, ordered air force strikes on his own nation, and instructed troops to shoot protesters, all in his own country. Although the excitement of the Tahrir Square uprisings in Egypt have faded from the major news networks, the sentiments from the people still bother me. Mubarek resigned as the leader after days of tumultuous riots in the center of Cairo. During the riots, the Egyptian people and other reporters from the Arab world were very critical of the United States meddling in the affairs of other nations, like Egypt. As someone who is very patriotic, I was very affected by the negative portrayal of the United States in the news. Many Egyptians were mad at the United States because they accused us of supporting Mubarek financially. And they are actually right because we have supported Mubarek financially since 1979. Every year Mubarak has received $1.3 billion in the form of military aid from the United States. And according to lists of arms sales notifications compiled by the Pentagon's Defense Security Assistance Agency, in the last decade alone, the Department of Defense has brokered over 11 billion dollars in US arms offers to Egypt and Mubarek’s regime. We also bribe Mubarek to demonstrate support for Israel in the Middle East. We do this because for the past 30 years, Egypt has not only been a crucial United States partner in the Middle East, but the country has been a linchpin in our government’s strategy for a future Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. This bribe is taken from the 1.3 billion dollars that we paid him annually. So, I cannot defend the United States in the accusations of supporting Mubarek with money. But I can criticize the hypocrisy of the Egyptian people. Anderson Cooper and other western reporters have been attacked in Cairo because the mobs feel anger toward them because they represent America and other western countries. Also, as I mentioned earlier, the Egyptians have conveyed their contempt toward the United States because we funnel money to Mubarek. This is fine if someone wants to hate America, not everyone will agree with us and what we stand for—freedom and the protection of democracy and humanitarian rights. But, I find it extremely ironic that the people of Egypt criticize us, ridicule us, express their hatred for us, while what they did by staging protests against Mubarek was try to become more like us. Their passionate protests and the people’s dedication to the fight against Mubarek were all in an effort to be more like America. The people want to have democratic elections that are not rigged, like we have in America. The people do not want a leader who can stay in power for 40 years and therefore become very corrupt, like we have prevented against in America. So essentially what I am trying to say is, do not try to portray America so negatively if you are literally willing to die in an effort to make your country more like the United States of America. 

Protesters in Tahrir Square

Mob of Protesters in Cairo