Final Blog Post

Throughout the entire Genius Hour project I have learned a lot about the benefit of sports and how lucky I am because I have been able to play whatever sport I wanted to play throughout my life so far.  I learned that for many kids in this country it is not a guarantee that they get to play sports because many kids can't afford to play sports or their schools can't afford the sports. I learned that sports aren't just a fun way to spend your time but are instead great opportunities to better yourself in your life. They assist in keeping you out of trouble with the law and help to keep you on top of your school work so you get better grades. It was also very interesting to see how much a high school sports team cost, for example the football teams can cost a school up to $130,000 a year. Which is crazy to me. Also while doing this project I learned a lot about myself through the entire process. By going outside of my comfort zone by researching about poverty, something that I have never really had to discuss before at catholic grammar school, I learned that it exposing myself to the struggles of a different socioeconomic class was quite interesting. I never really knew how fortunate I am to live with the family I do. I have never dealt with not being able to pay bills like Arthur Agee's family. So it was very shocking to me when in hoop dreams for many kids just graduating from high school is an achievement that is not a given. So through out the whole project I really enjoyed the fact that I was able to expose myself to topics and cultures that I have never seen before.

Taking sociology has dramatically changed my sociological imagination I have now learned how fortunate I am that I am a upper class white male. For example while doing the snap and life happens activities I didn't realize how expensive it is to feed a family of 2. My fake family barely made it by on 89$ a week while still being moderately hungry. Or in the life happens activity, one of my group mates said we don't need cable my family doesn't even have cable, which i thought was crazy, because all of my friends have cable so i thought everyone has it. But I am also very lucky to be a white male, because in one of the readings we did in class it said that if you have a black name you are already less likely to get the job even if you are more qualified. So I am fortunate in that I am not oppressed in trying to get jobs and since I am a male I don't have to try to break through the glass ceiling that many women face when trying to reach high paying jobs. So I guess I can say the most important thing I have learned during this semester is to be grateful for the opportunities that I have and to be more open to experiencing new cultures, because it is actually quite interesting and add a lot more to my character because I will be more excepting of all cultures and people.