Michael Ohers Journey

Hard Work

            Hard work without a support system can seem endless during the high school years.  It is inevitable that high school will challenge your work ethic and make you prove to it that you want to finish. Michael Oher was up against strong odds and had no one behind him to help him through. When I was in high school we had just one black family and his story was very similar. Taking the time to help someone in the right direction and seeing them flourish when they get to their feet, is a feeling of worth that cannot be bought.

            In the movie the Blind side, Michael Oher was depicted as a person whom was in the ghetto and not moving out at a quick pace.  He had a mother whom knew nothing but drugs and a father whom was non-existent.  Michael had dreams of getting out and doing something with his life, which seemed like too big of a mountain to climb alone.  He went to classes and didn’t utilize what was being presented because he didn’t know how. That was until he met Leanne Touhy and her family.  She found him one night walking in the cold and decided to give him a place to lay his head, not knowing how it would change the life of the both of them.  Michael came to live with the Touhy’s and flourished as a student and as an athlete, he just needed some support. With pulling up his grades and his fascinating abilities on the football field he was accepted into college and pursued a career in the NFL.

            The stories depicted in movies, even those that claim to be true stories, sometimes may be “glorified” to make them entertaining.  This movie was not one of them, it was the actual story, and which ironically is what made the movie that much more entertaining. One difference that what stated on the ABC news story was that Michael was staying at other people’s houses and Leanne allowed him to stay as he would stay periodically and leave, he didn’t come there and stay right away. The relationship between Leanne and Michael didn’t flourish right away, but did become a mother/son relationship and was valued highly by Leanne.

The Real "Blind Side "

            What makes this story so successful is the “rags to riches” scheme that all Americans strive for and embrace when we can talk of a person being able to do that here.  In my personal life my family has a similar story to Michaels. His name was Chris; his mom was also on that crack pipe and had never taken care of him. He was supporting himself and his family at the age of 14 working at burger king.  I had gone to school with Chris, the only black male in our small town, since grade school. It was until high school that we talked and became friends. When I moved in with my dad I learned of the travesties his mother had been creating and learned that he needed a place to stay.  He came and stayed with us and didn’t want to leave.  All he needed was a place to lay his head that was safe and a warm meal at the end of his day.  He contributed to the house and was a companion to me.  We lived together for two years until I went away to school and still lives with my father.  He works full- time training German Sheppard’s for police task forces and has made huge leaps for himself that he accredits to our family helping him in his time of need.

            At a time where life is beginning to take flight and questions about which path to take are inevitable, a support system needs to be in place. When dreams are trying to be achieved and confusion about life is normal, people behind you make all the difference. Michael Oher in no way would be where he is today if it weren’t for the Touhy’s. Leanne made the leap to help someone who was clearly in need to her support. Chris was in need of simplistic things that most take for granted every day, and once they got that little piece of support, the freedom to flourish was the next step.  Being able to give that to someone who is in need and seeing them be successful is a gift that cannot be replicated with money. It is a warm feeling in your chest of accomplishment. When you see someone whom needs support, and its not to your detriment; give, just a little, and see where it takes you.

Paul’s Case: A study in temperament

 The way you view your experience can determine if the glass is half full, or half empty. This process the can determine your outlook and create a positive occasion or a negative scene, depending on your evaluation. This was the main problem in the story; Paul is a very confused child and, in the rhetoric of the story, it is apparent in the form of vague explanations. When he describes the school life and/or his neighborhood, it is apparent that he does not enjoy any aspect of them, but is not at all specific about why. It is Willa Cather whom finally reveals the details that are so troubling and explains what he is so bothered by.  The yellow wallpaper he hates, or the work ethic and class of the neighbors, the comparison and hope that Paul will grow up like the young clerk that Paul’s father emulates and hopes he will follow. The negativity and confused outlook at his situation adds into the worry that suicide is eminent in this story.   

            Paul’s case is an egocentric view into the life of a boy struggling with his identity.  He has a hard time finding himself and accepting where his life is, and where it is going. He lives with his father in Pittsburgh, and his two sisters, whom are rarely spoken of. In the opening of the story, he is being kicked out of school and could care less.  He works as an usher at Carnegie Hall and that was where Paul felt most at ease as stated here; “It was at the theater that Paul really lived; the rest was but a sleep and a forgetting.  This was Paul’s fairytale and it had for him, all the allurement of a secret love” (Cather 273). He loses himself in the music, and we get the first clue that he has identity confusion. He does not like where his father lives, nor the bedroom he is given. He feels as if the class he has been born into is not for him and that he is destined for bigger and better things.  Paul ends up getting banned from the school, Carnegie Hall, and the local theater he frequented by his father for what has happened at school. Paul then goes on a journey to New York and goes on a spending spree. Later learning that his spree was funded by a job he had gotten in which he was to take the nightly deposit and put it in the bank, Paul did not do that. After learning that his father had paid for his wrong-doings and was headed to New York to find him, he jumps in front of an oncoming train, feeling that there was just no way for him to go on, no avenues to venture down.

                        Throughout the story the tone seems to be sympathetic to Paul and his negativity. There is a taste that is left, that makes you feel as if Paul has no way out or that he will resolve his issues. However, when the story gets to the descriptions of the neighborhood, Paul stops with his descriptions and Cather points out what he fails to, insinuating that he is overreacting to situations that are not that bad. The story allows the mind to wonder what the deep down conflict of this boy really is and if it will ever be resolved. The question about Paul being homosexual occurs at the end of every paragraph.  Cather elaborates, “Until now he could not remember the time when he had not been dreading something even when he was a little boy it was always there- behind him, or before, or on either side.  There had always been the shadowed corner, the dark place into which he dared not look but from which something seemed always to be watching him- and Paul had not done things that were not pretty to watch, he knew” (p. 276). The dark side of Paul was the confusion about his sexuality and not being able to expose it to his peers and family, created such a negative outlook on everything for himself.

            It is apparent to me that I see the glass as half full and always acknowledge that there is always another way to look at things.  Throughout my life I have always had the shorter end of the stick and had to make the best of it.  Through this process, I learned to make a half empty glass look, and feel, half full.  It is not about what you have or do not have; it is how you feel about your experience and where you place the emphasis. If the outlook becomes negative, so does your experience. When I read about Paul, I answer his questions out loud and exclaim that he is seeing things the wrong way and he goes about his description completely negatively. This is because of who I am, or perhaps that I do not understand big-city life, but regardless it is how life it seen through his eyes and not mine.

            Paul being clinically depressed plays a vital role in his personal analysis.  He brings his attitude to school and disregards the instructors; he takes it into the neighborhood and criticizes what he does not have, if he were just out and proud the cloud of bad outlook would dissipate.  He never speaks of his family or talks about the loss of his mother early on, which should be a support system for him, but he has closeted his entire family. The true facts are that his father truly supports and loves Paul, he did not even look at the fact that his father was on his way to New York to help him out, instead he saw that his father was on his way and was hunting him down. It is his depression of how he feels inside that set the tone of confusion is his day to day interactions and actions.

            The deeper and deeper the reader gets into the story the action of suicide becomes more and more imminent.  By the time Paul hits the front of the train, the reader has a basket of reason for him to do so, and it is shown that there is no other way out.  He had lost his mother at an early age, he is pushed away by his environment, he longs to be upper-class and not lower class where his father is, he is struggling with his sexuality, his hunger for money that he does not have, and his love for theater.  Throughout the story it is apparent that the list of reasoning is being formulated to validate a suicide, when there never is validation, there is always a different avenue to go down. But this was his avenue he saw fit and chose, with a confused mind or not, it is what he chose.

            Paul did not think he had a choice, his life was one disappointment after another and it did not make him happy. He saw his everyday life as not what he wanted and could not see a ladder out. He had dreams and hopes to get out and achieve what he wanted, but life was too much for him. Much of his view on the situation could have been changed drastically. He had such a negative look upon every view he had, who could live like that? If he would have tried to see the positive in his life, he would not have had to look that far. He had a family that did care for him, he lived in a house where the feng shui was not up to his standards, but he had a roof over his head and a warm meal. All Paul needed was someone to change his operation of thought and see things for things for what they were worth. The abundance of reasoning behind his choice was created throughout the story in an attempt to validate his suicide, but my bias towards there always being another way would not allow me to accept that.

Politics

                      It had been made apparent that the way political moments that are being conducted, is what worked in the past, and is irrelevant for the here and now. The only way politics will work, is if there are no "parties" , and instead of wasteful spending on mudslinging ads, they invest it into letting the people know what they actually stand for.  The last few major elections have been terrible! Instead of knowing what the candidates stood for, we knew what his/her opponent didn't stand for. Positive negativism does not work any longer to get you in. We need people to stand up and fight to straighten the crooked arrow we call government. everyone whom promises change of corruption, get swallowed up by the magnitude of the issues compounded in the system. 

Together, Forward, Together

Together, We can strengthen the image

    Have you ever wondered why it was necessary to have two separate police departments instead of one? Where is the division in work between them? Also, where do they work together and how thick is the dividing line? A few questions that have come up with the recent activity of the police force here on campus.  The level of importance of a firm police force in a town like DeKalb is imperative. Being that our town is mainly Northern Illinois students, knowing that there are people who are firmly watching over us and there to back us up, needs to be a fact. For a majority of the students that, however, is not the case.

 

   With the latest disappearance of the beloved student ‘Toni’ Keller, it has felt like the credibility of the protection seems to be very low. Toni was reported missing to the NIU police on Friday October 15th, at around 1pm, still however not released to the students. There is sincere doubt that the case is being handled improperly, and insecurity that we are safe living here. Toni was a perfectly normal student whom did no wrong to deserve what happened. She was merely walking in a public park, not more than a block or two from NIU’s campus. Where was her protection? In the police briefing on Friday it was stated that security would be beefed up and services would be available on the school site and this is supposed to ease the tension of insecurity. There are still many people whom have sincere uncertainty for their safety and the safety of their loved ones. How is it that a girl goes for a walk and does not come home? How can two departments of ‘safety’ not ensure her safety?

    Being a resident in DeKalb, it is no secret that crime has raised dramatically in the last few years.  Illinois ranks second from the top of the charts in gun violence (Machiavelli), and if you sleep in DeKalb, you know this to be true. The constant hearing of gunshots and reading of gun crimes (when it actually makes the paper) is terrible. It seems that the patrol and advocacy of the DeKalb police is lacking in contrast to the patrol of the NIU police departments. This town is supposed to feel safe to live in, but it seems that the dividing line of the departments has gotten in the way of protecting and serving.

    Working together as one unit and even under one budget can only benefit both parties while also serving to the community as an even stronger force. The Evanston police department and the northwestern police departments have been doing this for years now and both sides exclaim it to be sincerely beneficial.  Both departments serve under the same premises’ and drive to protect the same public. Working together they can support each other and create a safe environment here in DeKalb.  The working relationship that has been shown to work, as evidenced in Evanston, is something the departments should really take a hard look at so that the crime in DeKalb, as well as the security, can be restored. Evanston Police Deputy Chief Tom Cabanski says "Because they help us patrol the downtown area and the areas where they have off-campus housing, we can concentrate on other efforts, and vice-versa, we help them with traffic problems and other criminal matters," he says. "By working together, we make the community better for everyone." (Katherine Duke)

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2009/11/police.html

    Although it seems as if the two working together would make nothing but sense, “convincing both the NIU campus and local residents would be a challenge” says Sergeant Smith of the NIU police. The two forces are different in ways that we are blind to see until we need them.  The NIU police have EMT training with five fully trained EMT’s on the force, something DeKalb police lack, due to what is needed in their line of duty. The two forces also differ in ways that they deal with the students. NIU is geared towards educating the students on better practices while DPD is geared toward writing tickets and punishment. “If the two were to work under one budget, there would still be a division of the force into one part dealing with the campus and another working with the town, which could create severe animosity in the department, which would be a problem”(Smith). With the different policies on daily interactions and educating rather than punish, in combination with getting the public to agree to this change and the animosity created, the idea seems farfetched.

   

 Although those all seem like valid points, I feel with a little bit of working together and the formation of a campus team whom wanted to work with the students rather than criminals, the switch can be made quite simply. The people of DeKalb would be happy to hear that this plan would save a ton of money and that the crime rate would go down just as dramatically. With the cooperation shown by the forty members of the case squad, whom were shipped in here to work on the latest Keller case, it shows just how swiftly and cooperative operations should and could be here in DeKalb. Who wants to see a tragedy like this ever happen again? With the firm hand of the law becoming more solidified we can send criminals back to where they belong.

    Since moving to DeKalb, well over a year ago, I have seen an increase in crime and that was only a year. We can bring that feeling of safety back by bringing the two departments toward each other rather than apart. The dorms are not the only part of this community where students live, and that is where majority of the “off-site” issues are being created. With the merging of the two departments, a strong, affirmative task force can be created and take this town back.