Your posts in response to others students should be 125-175 words long

1.Before entering college and while I was a sophomore in high school, I remember struggling with the conflict of studying for the SAT/ACTs because my parents signed me up at a rigorous tutoring center early on in high school as they wanted me to do well on the exams. I knew I was supposed to do well and the guilt of knowing how much money my parents spent on me at the center also made me feel like I was obligated to do well. The “me” at the time wanted to be perceived by my parents as their definition of successful although I wasn’t completely sure of what I wanted myself. At the same time, I had peers in high school who hadn’t started studying, weren’t worried about it and were more “go with the flow” people with higher education. In my opinion looking back at it, in a way I feel like my parents were saving face with family and friends because I had cousins or friends’ daughters and sons who I could be compared to. However as a  young student in high school, even though I felt like I needed to and was supposed to do well, I wasn’t 100% into it just because I also wanted to take it easier and go with a community college route rather than seeing if I could get into a top UC or any other prestigious university/college. I don’t think it was until my third year of college where I was able to in a way, undergo resocialization, so that the mindset my parents had ingrained in me that I had to go to a better school or UC went away and that any education is still good education – it just depends what you do with your knowledge.

2.My family and I like to have weekly family dinners where we all sit at the table, and some other family members join us such as my grandma, and some family friends such as work friends. We like to do this because we all have very busy schedules with work and school, so we make time for one night a week to have a nice dinner all together. Since we only do this once a week, we all know that we have to be there on time, look presentable, turn off our phones, etc. These are our roles for my family’s weekly dinners, and are all actions that we know to do because it is the right thing to do socially. If someone is wearing pajamas to our nice family dinner, or if someone is on their phone the whole time, it can make them look a little out of place or even rude. It is human nature to wear clothes to a dinner, but for my family, it is just known that we have to wear nicer clothes rather than pajamas or a bathing suit to the table. Although it is our family, and not a nice gathering, we like to be respectful to each other, and spend quality time together since we don’t get much of it throughout the week. This is a perfect example of the concept of the generalized other. This concept is what you expect from others socially, so in my family we all expect that everyone is on time, dressed appropriately, and has their cell phone put away or turned off.

example comments from other students

1. Hi Sydnie! I can relate to you about the guilt and pressure I felt to succeed academically in high school as my mother spent a good amount of money for summer courses to help prepare for the upcoming summer. However, I wasn’t entirely certain of my academic and career path. Being compared to my independent cousins in high-paying jobs and status made me feel insecure. I like how you wrote about re-socializing yourself about the perception of good education. Similarly, it’s not just about what you know, but also who you know. The process of socialization states that hard work will always pay off, but the world isn’t so fair. Meeting more people and experiencing different environments will help people broaden their horizons and sense of others.

2. Hi Paige! This is such a great idea to spend quality time with your family. I know it is difficult for people to stay off of their phones so having that rule set in place can really help you guys connect and catch up. I definitely agree with your statement about showing up to dinner with pajamas and being on your phone the entire time, this is generally seen as rude in society. If people were to not abide by these social rules, they will definitely be looked down upon and judged. I think this experience is a perfect example of socialization and you can clearly see the roles in your family. You did a very good job at explaining your understanding of the bolded words and I enjoyed reading about your experience!