Responses to Peers

Week 1

Parth Bharwad

I completely agree with you on your definition of ambition. I also believe success and ambition are closely tied as if you don't have the ambition or drive to do something, there's a great chance you won't succeed. You have to be determined and focused, which I think also go hand in hand with ambition, in order to achieve success. Ambition is an extremely envious trait as people usually want to slack off and get by with the minimum amount of work.

Ryan Morgan

While I'm not a sister, I do have three older brothers, which is pretty much the same thing. I agree that being a brother/sister is more than just blood relation as I have a few close friends that I do consider my brothers. The amount of time I've spent with my friends over the years is comparable to the amount of time I've spent with my actual brothers, so why should they be treated as anything less?

Parth Patel

Adaptability is extremely important in modern times. The world is constantly changing, and if you don't change with it, you'll be left in the dust. Being versatile will greatly help you out in the workforce as employers aren't looking for people stuck back in the past, but they are looking for people moving towards the future. You'll also most likely work with a large number of people in various teams and groups in the future, so being flexible enough to everyone's schedules will be extremely beneficial. Being adaptable is an asset, especially when used to its fullest extent.

Neha Shah

When I think of monster, I think of the classic movie monsters like Dracula, werewolves, the Swamp Thing, etc. People such as Hitler and bin Laden can definitely be described as monsters because of the evils they've committed. Do you consider yourself a monster? Would people that know you describe you as one? I sincerely doubt you've committed any evils heinous enough to be considered a monster, so I don't know why it would even pop in your mind.

Meru Patel

I agree that occasionally lying is necessary, but it should never become a habit. Small white lies here and there are fine by me for the most part, when they become too excessive, that's when it becomes a problem. Honesty is the best policy, but sometimes the truth hurts, so people are usually compelled to twist that truth or just straight up lie. If you're going to just tell the truth eventually after telling a lie, wouldn't it be better off just to tell the truth the first time, or do you believe it depends on the context of the situation?

Week 2

Parth Bharwad

You said your parents didn't force their religion on you, but did your relationship with them or anyone in your family change in anyway after you said that you didn't believe in god? I could see this potentially causing strain in a family, but it's a good thing if it doesn't in your case. Did you still go to the temple and pray even without believing, just to keep the tradition alive, or did you just stay home and let everyone else go? Even if you don't follow religion like your family, is it still a somewhat small part of your life, or have you pretty much taken it out completely? Personally, religion has never been that big of a part in my life, but we still went to church and whatnot, but there eventually came a time when I just stopped going. Not because I didn't stop believing in god or anything, but because I didn't see a point in going, when I could pretty much do the same thing from home.

Ryan Morgan

Do you think your mom's mind would have eventually changed, or at least softened to the idea, had you waited until you were older to get it pierced? She couldn't have been too mad after you got it pierced in the first place seeing as she let you keep it in, while she could have forced you to remove it and let the piercing hole heal up completely. You said your familiy isn't strongly religious, but is there any reason why that particular rule about no piercings, other than the normal ones, was such a big deal to your mom?

Zacharia Thottakara

Basically, you’re stuck in that awkward middle ground between all the people around you. The oldest kid is too young and the youngest adult is too old. I’m usually in the same situation when we have big family gatherings, there’s no one that’s really my age to hang out with, so I usually just keep to myself, and if I don’t do that, I’ll be tagging along with my older brothers, who are still 6 and 10 years older than me. As I get older, I feel like I’m able to do more things on the adult side of things regardless of the age gap, though.

John Forkin

I know exactly how you feel. When there's a big family gathering, especially during the holidays, I usually like to just hang out in my room, play some games, and surf the internet. Every once in a while, someone will pop in and tell me to "come join the family" to which I'll usually oblige, only to be asked the same question as you by everyone, "How's school?" They don't really care about how school is, it's just a formality. I say good and they say good and back to my room I go. That's not to say I don't love my family, I do, but there's only so much of the same small talk I can take.

Samuel Greenberg

Did you friend ever make it back and get to meet the band? I’ve had a similar experience at a concert in that everyone around me seemed to like and know all of the songs of one of the opening bands, but I had no idea who they were. So while everyone was singing all the words and dancing to the music, I was sort of just awkwardly in the middle of it all. I’m surprised you actually waited in line all the way up to the front in the sun while your friend was nowhere to be found. Honestly, I probably would’ve just jumped out of line by then.

Week 3

Parth Bharwad

I think your interview will be an interesting read because being born in America, I personally don't know the struggles of someone coming from another country and to try and adapt to living here. I'm especially intrigued by question 10, asking if they have any regrets moving here. Your friend who moved from India to America most likely had a sort of clash of cultures when first arriving, maybe for even a few months, until she got everything settled, assuming she ever did. I look forward to reading the interview and your paper.

Ryan Morgan

I think this is a good topic as having spending my entire school life in a private school, I'm always somewhat surprised when I hear about how different things can be in public schools. Your questions are pretty straightforward and you could probably combine some together while adding some more specified ones that tailor closer to your roommate's experiences in public school. It'll be interesting to see how public and private schools compare and contrast to one another, the same with your roommate's and your experiences while attending them.

Ian Barrett

Your topic is especially relevant in the world today, so I'm interested to read the full interview to see if your friend or father did encounter discrimination and stereotypes. I think you should actually interview both your friend and your father because their experiences may differ. Also, the time your father went to college and the time your friend went to college can play a factor in discrimination. Times have changed and this may have to. You can even add your own experiences with this topic into the paper which I feel will help it tremensely.

Jason Narine

The fact that you are doing multiple interviews in order to compare and contrast two different lifestyles is a great idea. Your also able to bring in your own experiences since you hold the same identity as one of your interviewees. You have a good batch of questions, and I like that you're not just focusing on the fact that they are a son, but they could also be a brother, and how that changed their relationships and experiences as a son.

Dilan Kalaria

I like the idea of not just interviewing a business student, but a business student who has influences from their native culture. I think that brings in another dimension to the interview itself. Your questions are solid and allow for the interviewee to elaborate and expand on their thoughts by having them not be 'yes' or 'no' types of questions. I especially like question number 7 as it's bringing in that culture aspect and comparing it to the US, and it will be interesting to see if the definition does differ and how.

Week 4

Parth Bharwad

You have a solid introduction here. I like how you introduced who you interviewed and what you interviewed them for within the opening paragraph. Laying the base work for the interview here is very well done and I think this will be a good start to your paper.

Ryan Morgan

This is a good start for your essay. Using your own experience as a private school student will definitely help you in developing your topic within your paper. Your interviewee is from a public school, so it should be interesting to see how public and private schools compare and contrast in your essay.

Ian Barrett

This intro paragraph is very straight forward and to the point, and it works in your favor. Your first sentence grabbed my attention straight away, which is what you should aim to do with all your opening statements. There's a sense of urgency in your writing and you can easily see your attitude towards racial profiling in education.

Daniel Mosley

I like how you cover how hard it is to even become a film maker in the opening paragraph. You highlight their struggle and how it's a cutthroat job that you have to be willing to do pretty much anything in order to succeed. The intro grabs my attention and gives me an idea of what I'm in store for with the rest of your paper.

Samuel Greenberg

Using your own experience of how the image of a perfect world was shattered at a young age for you is a great hook to grab the attention of the reader. You can see exactly what your essay is going to be about just by reading the intro paragraph, which is exactly what it's supposed to do. This is a great start to your paper.