Glee

I pressed play and the show began to roll, and I knew that it was going to be just another boring TV show about some teens in high school and the drama that those teens go through in their everyday lives. About half way into the show, I began to get interested as it grabbed my attention, and I also began to think that they have made a TV show that does more than just revolve around a person or group of persons during their high school life. In a way, it is similar to the same old boring, stereotypical TV show like others before it, but in a few ways, it is also a ground breaking TV show which breaks the rules of the social scale, and it also delves into the teacher’s lives. Glee is similar to the ordinarily boring high school TV show that most are used to, like 10 Things I Hate About You, The Secret Life of A Teenager, or, to take it back a some years, Dawson’s Creek. These shows, although different in their own way, has the same overall background, which is a group of kids in high school, and the drama that they must go through on an everyday basis. On the other hand, Glee is also breaking new ground in reference to the social cliques within the high school realm, as well as the teachers of the students. Glee is quite innovative in the way they decided to intertwine the different cliques of the high school. They took the football team hotshot jock, and had him also be the key member to the school’s glee club, where the not so popular kids hang out. This, in the few shows that I have watched, has never been done before. In the past, the show has always kept the cliques within their own spectrum. Until now, they have also yet to make a show which was a comedy drama, as well as a musical. Another key ground breaking point to me is that this show actually involves the teacher’s lives, exploring their everyday drama, and examining their different personalities and how they either work together, or fight amongst themselves. In the past, I can’t recall any shows which had this same idea with the teachers. The show’s innovativeness to combine the dramatic struggles of the high school students in the singing class, the mixing of social levels, which is like an unwritten rule, and the stirring in of the teacher’s dramatic lives make for a seemingly new and improved kind of TV comedy drama about kids in high school.

To Believe or Not To Believe

To Believe:
In regards to the article by William McGurn, I agree that college is not for everyone, and that people can still make equal or more than the national average without a college degree. For this, I will use evidence from my own experience. My wife, who works for an engineering firm that lays pipelines for natural gas, works in a position that’s paying 25$/hour, equating to approximately 52k/year, totaling slightly more than the national average. Like Mr. McGurn said, to obtain these higher paying jobs without a college degree, one must go through some form of technical or apprenticeship training, which is exactly what we did. We decided to pay 700$ a class, totaling to roughly 3,000$ (4 classes) so that my wife could receive the technical certifications to become a draftsperson. With that 3,000$ investment, she can now live comfortably without worrying about the thousands of dollars of debt that college goers usually face once they graduate, not to mention the compiled bills and living expenses to get by on a day to day or month by month means. Another very good example in my opinion, again of a personal nature, is similar to the story told by Mr. McGurn in his article. My uncle, once out of the Marines decided he wanted to move to Texas, and open a landscaping business. He started with 2 lawnmowers, the pushing kind, a few rakes, a few shovels, and one weed eater. Seven years later, Danny McQue is the proud owner of a multi-million dollar landscaping company called Grass Masters Landscaping based out of New Caney, Texas. When he started his company he didn’t have any type of training in the art of landscaping, but he still managed to accomplish his “American dream”. He has since then acquired classes in his trade, which has only helped him further. My main point here is that you can find prime examples of people who did not need to sit in a closed off box, secluded from the outside world for hours upon hours, year after year, to grasp the “American dream”.

Not To Believe:
In response to Mr. McGurn, and his claim that college isn’t for everyone, and that you can live just as good without a college degree as you can with, I cannot agree. If one were to use evidence of successful business persons who are very well off, or successful individuals who managed to work hard over time to attain a position at a workplace that pays equal or above the national average, I will tell you that is a case by case basis only. Those lucky individuals who actually make it, are exactly that, lcuky! Approximately 80% of businesses fail within the first 5 years, and most businesses never really turn into those that people often dream about owning, turning over profits in the hundreds of thousands to the multi-millions. Usually it is enough money to get by, living month to month, similar to pay check to pay check. All the jobs out there that pay exceptionally well all require, at a minimum, a four year degree. Some of those well paying jobs go on to require masters and PhDs. I myself am going to school for my masters degree in accounting, after which I will attain my CPA and live a very nice life, or at least that is my “American dream”. To accomplish all that I desire, I could not do by working a minimum wage job. To just pick up and learn a few skills and hope you find a good position working somewhere in hopes that you’ll eventually get lucky and make a nice living at some point down the road, is to waste valuable time that you should have been spending obtaining an education towards your passions in life so that you can have and support a family one day. The “American dream” has changed over time, but the idea is still the same, and to accomplish this task, and make a dream come true, you should get an education.

I honestly had more trouble than i thought i was going to writing this, but hopefully this is something close to what you were expecting. Hope you enjoi! Oh, I wasn't trying to sound conspiracy theorist or anything.

Begin Response

In reading the short story by Daniel Orozco, I have come to conclude that he is trying to convey an idea in that America and its’ government is not the “Land of Dreams” as most believe it to be. Don’t get me wrong by that, as I am not trying to say that America is a horrible place by any means. You see, for the developed nations, with stable, structured government bodies, and a strong democratic leading, of all the places people could go to, usually its America they wish to flee to. Why you ask? Well it is because it is the land of freedom and opportunity. Well, in my opinion, I feel as if Orozco is saying the complete opposite, that it is not that at all, and one could not possibly see that if they were an outsider looking in, but once you get in, you realize its true colors. Let us start from the beginning, so like in Orozco’s story, the new employee is getting the show, learning the rules, and there are a lot of them, learning about the plethora of documentation he must read to be able to “remain” there, I correlated this to possibly an immigrant, coming over to America, learning about the way of life here, filling out the ridiculous amounts of paperwork for the simplest of things, and then the laws, rules, and regulations that must be followed or you would be “let go.” Then Daniel began to describe everyone, and how they, at work, are one person, but when they are home, or alone, they are another person. It is as if they are not who they say they are, and only put on the “happy face” when they are at work for the matters of business only, similar to that of government officials who say they will do this and that, claim things will change and get better so that you get on their side of the table, and then when the day ends, they are just like everyone else in this country, trying to better themselves. Then let’s not leave out the continuous reminder that you are not to know more than “they” would like you to know, and if you let on that you know too much, then you will of course be “let go”. The government is beyond secretive, only letting on what it feels we, the people, should know, and if someone was to find out more than they are “allowed” to know, then they will be dealt with. Later in the story, Daniel introduces us to the Boss that is never seen, but surely around at all times, and the wonderful coffee fund that has to be paid into, regardless of the different extras you would like with it. I see the coffee fund as our Social Security, or even our health care, and that you are forced to pay into it, but since you can’t bother Mr. Coffee, then you really don’t know where the money is going, someone else is taking care of that for you. Oh, that’s right, it’s Uncle Sam, the boss that you never see, but he is always around you. We as Americans never see Uncle Sam, but he sure sees himself into our pockets for fees that most of us don’t even realize. That’s your sugar, or coffee creamer extras, that although you might not be using, they are getting you on anyways. From beginning to end, Daniel kept the reader, me, interested through the comical tales of the different people who work there already and their crazy lives, the ridiculous rules and forms and handbooks needed to do the job right or be “let go”, but in all of that I think Daniel was also trying to get us to read between the lines to see his hidden viewpoints about America and its’ governing body.