As a teenager, I get asked a lot about where I want to attend college, though I have many options, I do not know for sure. Each school I am thinking of has it's ups and downs. One school I will definitely apply at is UGA, not only is it a good school, and moving toward being better, I think I would get the full college experience by going there. I have rooted for the Bulldogs for years, this is why being a student and fan of the football team could be incredibly fun! Of course there are some downsides, such as its not as impressive to go there as an ivy league or a private school, but my main issue with it is; it's where everyone goes. So many people from my school go there, and I'd like to think I want to branch out in college, go somewhere different, not necessarily on my own, but enough so that I can have a new start if that is what I choose to do.
Another option for me is totally different than a state school like UGA. Elon, or Duke University are other options I have been thinking of. They do not have very popular football teams, so I lose that factor of "College Life" but I gain independence and freedom from my past. I could have a completely blank slate and start over making friends and memories, while not being far enough away that I lose everyone. After high school I will want to keep the friends dear to me, but I will not need to see everyone from my high school in college. Of course it is scary to think of a change that large, but many people make it and I think I could be successful. There are many reasons comments would be frowned upon and even taken down, after reading an article on City Room blogs: NY Times, I learned what most causes them to turn away a comment. This came in handy when I could not help but comment on the Students Opinions page on a New York Times article about same-sex couples having to deal with the scrutiny of business owners that are religious or think poorly of same-sex couples, I had to leave a comment expressing my opinion stating that I completely disagree with the idea that that is acceptable.
Many of my classmates have websites and do similar work to me, I read a couple and had to tell them how I felt about what they wrote, Randi's satire was really funny to me because of the relevance in our lives and people around us. Ryan's satire was extremely different than anyone else I've seen, and can be though of as incredibly offensive, but that was probably expected as she (sarcastically) wrote about murdering babies. Another satire I looked at was by my friend, Elena, though she took a pretty predictable route in what she decided to write about, she really used good fake examples and made it very funny! To continue my endeavors on the internet I decided to go back to the student opinion pages, this time I read an article about health and nutrients and labels and how it is smart to look and them and take it into consideration, I msotly spoke about how I do but I would like to more. After looking up myself on Google, I see that much of what comes up is linked to my twitter and or things I have done for this class or previous classes. Though I am not particularly proud of my twitter, there is nothing on there I am ashamed of, though I do not want it to be what colleges and employers use to learn about me, therefore I think taking my full name off of it could be a good idea. That is how my Facebook is, I have a fake last name, making it not able to be traced back to me, though it can be annoying that people have to ask what my last name really is, It makes one less social network come up when I Google myself, making it easier to focus on my work in classes, such as Goodreads than the social networks I am on or using.
When people, especially teenagers or people looking for work need to keep in mind that they can be checked up on through social networks. In an article from the ajc, the author Michael Carvell is addressing the fact that recruits are being watched on social networks to make sure they are acting the correct way and are showing respect for themselves and others. Though people may say this is an invasion of privacy, I do not see it that way, when you make a social networking account you should expect that employers, family, or acquaintances can see it. Now that so many people are using social networks, it is not uncommon that background checks by employers are using not only criminal records, but your social networks as well. A recent statistic states that 37% of employers check up on applicants before offering a job according to The Huffington Post. Some even are taking it a step further, asking for passwords to social networks, though I understand checking up on applicants I do not agree employers have the right to go into people's accounts and look through messages or "secret" groups they may be in, such as on Facebook. People should be allowed to have a private life, but when you cross the threshold of posting something to a feed to your friends or followers, you are giving away the privacy you may have had before. One lady realized this harsh truth after posting a tweet that was highly offensive. The woman did not have many followers, but little did that matter, bad news travels fast. Now, there was nothing she could do, not use in deleting it, it had been saved, screenshot and posted other places, such as Buzzfeed too many times, now Sacco has to live with her reputation and her guilt. |