UN Policy on Trafficking

For one of my classes, I had to take an issue and explore it in every rhetorical situation. I decided to take the issue of the United Nation's policy on human trafficking. This policy is well-rounded and thorough; however, it is not complete. The policy explains that human trafficking is a terrible crime and explains their zero-tolerance approach. But the policy does not do anything for the victims of trafficking. It does not provide any compensation and rehabilitation. So...many of the victims either die for lack of resources or go back to their old way of life because they do not know any better.

I explored the issue and covered reasons that the policy may not extend to the victims. After I explored the entire rhetorical situation, I created a speech that I would give to the United Nations. It explained why the policy needed to be fixed and what it needed to cover. I explained that the UN should provide victims with different aspects of rehabilitation: counseling, family support, occupational opportunities, healthcare, and transportation.

I have continued addressing the issue of human trafficking and until I can make a bigger impact, I am trying to raise awareness. Two of my friends and I played a song at Unplugged, a concert-type thing at King, where anyone can perform. I sang Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield. The first time I heard this song was when she performed it in the movie "Call and Response" in honor of the trafficked victims. We performed it in honor of those victims...The fight still continues.

Commonplace Book

A "Commonplace Book" is an ancient tradition in the rhetorical world. Many famous leaders have created commonplace books. It is like a collection of things that have been important to you over time. We had to make a commonplace book this semester (for my advanced composition class) and it was very good for me. The theme of my book ended up being my spiritual journey over the semester. It contains florilegia (flowers of reading), journal-type entries, and progymnasmata (different things I have written).

I have collected and copied down portions of books that have meant something to me, including books that I have read for class and leisure. I have written down parts of songs, quotes, and scriptures that have been meaningful during the semester. It has become a valuable collection for me. I have kept journals based on the things I have collected and they somewhat correlate. In the progymnasmata, I have collected all of my writings for this class and some for other classes. I have learned the importance of collecting meaningful things in my life. It has been really creative and neat for me to see what kind of things that I carry with me.

Christian Jargon

This semester, I wrote a ten page paper about "Christian Jargon." It is interesting that every person is a part of a discourse community, where there is a sublanguage. In that sublanguage, jargon exists. Jargon is defined as, "speech that is unfamiliar or peculiar to a group of people; it is terminology for a given group" (OED). The Christian jargon is more familiar in the southern part of the U.S. where religion is more established. I looked up nine words for the meaning, etymology, and usage. The nine words were: atonement, blessing, confession, gospel, hymn, justification, pastor, redemption, and theology. I learned what each word really means and the first time it was used in print. It was very interesting to learn where we got this "jargon" in our discourse community. The sublanguage was revived during the Reformation and Awakenings. It is important to understand which discourse community we are a part of and the jargon we may use. Although it must be appreciated, it may be like a foreign language to many. Understanding the discourse communities in which we are involved help aid in a person's explanation of beliefs, ideologies, backgrounds, and feelings.

My health

I have been battling with my health for over a month now. My body wants to shut down. I have bruises on both of my arms to show all the blood that different doctors have taken. They don't know what is wrong with me. After going to the hospital because of a seizure, the doctors realized they should do something about it. I was put on Topimax and had serious side effects. You know when you see the commercials for medicine and it says, "Side effects include mood changes and thoughts of suicide" and you think, "Geez, that's intense. Does that really happen?" Yes. It happens. I'm proof. So, my doctor took me off of that and put me on a new medicine, Lyrica. We'll see how I react to it. I'm nervous and I'm tired. My body doesn't want to fight off the pain anymore. God has shown His faithfulness in the last couple days. I have had two pain free days. Jeremy Camp sings a song, "I still believe in your faithfulness. I still believe in your truth. Even when I don't see, I still believe."

The picture is me playing in the Spring tournament. You can probably tell I don't feel well. I was on narcotics. This is our new family bunny, flower. She is precious and I love animals.