Response from the youth

I have always been interested in how people think for some reason. I find it so fascinating how different people respond to different situations. When people respond in particular way about something, like how they handle a break up with a boyfriend/girlfriend or how some people cannot stand it when you sit on their bed, I always wonder what has happened in their life to make them think or feel that way. Those are obviously small examples, but I also ponder the minds of addicts, hot heads, perfectionists, etc.

I can’t help but believe people react to things the way they do not solely on their personality traits, but also by events that occurred as children. Children have minds like sponges and just absorb the environment around them. This can effect them in a positive or negative way. It is simple yet so complicated to understand the child who was abused to grow up with anger management issues, but what are the effects on youth who grow up in a world with a happy, for the most part normal family to all of a sudden be confronted with a wall that wasn’t there a few days ago? What would it be like to be missing classmates because they were on the other side of the wall? It is one thing to be raised in the East Berlin community, just knowing not to approach the wall, but what would it be like as young person who was just old enough to understand what the rise of the wall meant, or lack of understanding what the wall meant?

I would be interested in talking with the people who were the youth of the era during the time the wall was created in 1961. I can only imagine the confusion this created on both the East and West sides of Berlin. I would also be very interested in how this occurrence might have effected them later in the lives.

The Devil's Highway Part I

Luis Alberto Urrea got me hooked into “The Devil’s Highway” the first few sentences. His detailed and meticulous descriptions of migrants and border patrol is so real and poetic. He writes in a way I believe a true story should be written. He leaves nothing to the imagination of the reader with his clear descriptions. It wasn’t until after our class discussion did I realize “The Devil’s Highway” is this years common book. I suppose since I’m a junior, I’m out of the loop with things like that.

I was eager to begin this book ever since I purchased it and read the back. I have recently become very interested in immigration, specifically immigration across the U.S.-Mexican border, ever since a class I took this year focused on that topic. Before I took this class, I really didn’t have an opinion either way as far as illegal immigration goes since I wasn’t educated on the subject. However, since I spent a whole quarter looking at policies the U.S. has had dealing with immigration, detention centers, seeking asylum, and the journey migrants take to leave their country for whatever reason, I feel like I have been able to establish my own opinion on the matter and I want to continue to learn more.

I found it fascinating how Urrea was able to get so much information from border patrol. The way they are depicted in “The Devil’s Highway” makes them seem like red-neck vigilantes who enjoy hunting humans. It’s very sad but real to read about the journey that Mexican migrants make to try to enter the U.S. yet it is also very difficult to try to create a solution to the problem. I don’t believe in an open border policy, but curbing immigration so Mexicans try to enter the U.S. by more dangerous paths is not the solution either. It’s obvious that a fence is not going to do the trick. People have been immigrating for as long as mankind can remember. Immigration seems inevitable and I do not see it stopping in any time in the future.

A Social Border Seen in Seattle

As I was walking down the Ave, tuning out the world while listening to my iPod, making a to-do list in my head, I noticed a homeless man yelling out jibberish while holding on to his dog that looked just as homeless as the man wearing a raggedy bandana. Usually I’m immune to the homeless community around the U-district since I have been living here for three years now, but then our assignment about finding a border around the city popped in my head. Then I realized the large border between college students/working community in Seattle and the homeless community that is typically populated by the mentally disabled and addicts ranging in all ages.

Thinking about this in the sense of a “border”, I came to the conclusion that although there are often physical borders such as Nickelsville and other homeless shelters around Seattle, the main border lies within our societal behaviors. College students for example typically do not associate with the homeless community, and the homeless community does not associate with everyone else. The cultural border expands throughout most of the greater Seattle area and it seems difficult to cross into the other side of the border.

Although Seattle appears to be diverse with working adults, college students, and the homeless community walking on the same sidewalks together, we do not seem have anything more in common than sharing the same city. In reality, anyone can be homeless if they chose to be, yet, not everyone who is homeless can chose to have a home, a job, or an education. I think Nickelsville is a good example of where our borders meet because it is set up to help the homeless community get back on their feet. Although it is just temporary living and that living situation is a tent in a parking lot, it is also a starting point. They have a place where they can put their things and sleep and a chance to perhaps look for a job and move into the other side of the border.

The Ghosts of Berlin

I was glad to have to opportunity to read The Ghosts of Berlin by Brian Ladd to help further explain the history of Berlin and the significance of the Berlin Wall. I found his writing to be so detailed and descriptive which made it easy for me to understand the feelings of the Wall from Berliners, both east and west. The Wall stood for something more than just the division of political beliefs, therefore, once the Wall was taken down, the mixed feelings of the walls representation is understandable.

"The Wall became an unintentional monument to the remarkable era in which two rival states simultaneously claimed Berlin. The division marked by the Wall, in turn, grew out of the shattering era of German history that culminated in World War II. Thus the wall was built-- literally and figuratively-- atop the ruins of war, terror, and division. And it, too, is now among the ruins and memories of Berlin. The Wall-- from concrete, to monument, to rubble-- gives form to the story of Berlin and of Germany in our time"

I find it fascinating that a literal wall was created to separate to conflicting political ideologies. Furthermore, it was built in the middle of a city, separating the country. I try to imagine what it would be like to be either living or working in the center of Berlin before the Wall was put up and my devastation because of it. Not only did shops go out of business, but neighbors were separated. Not only would this event be confusing, but trying to corporate East Berlin after the Wall fell into a capitalist society in West Berlin would be difficult. The separation of the Berliners for such a period of time I can imagine deepen societal differences.

My Wall

When we discussed "walls" in our life, the first thing I could think of was my relationship with my high school friends. I first noticed this "wall" my freshman year of college when we would come home for break from our different schools and it was becoming more difficult to relate to each other in our developing lives.

Now being a junior, I think the differences between sizes of our schools, location and academic interests have only expanded the wall. I find myself fortunate enough to have such wonderful friends from my hometown where we are able to stay in touch with one another, yet it's becoming more and more difficult for me to reminisce on high school memories rather than update each other on our lives. Especially friends of mine who are still in community college who lack the social aspect of college that you can get at a big university such as UW.

I also think that is just a part of getting older. People find new interests and it seems inevitable that people are going to grow apart through college.