Normality

The latest session of the pipeline soccer camp for kids with special needs was interesting as always. After being at Cristo Rey a getting to know some of the kids there it was fun to be back, and see how everyone was doing at the pipeline camp.

It started of as always where the kids were just running around and enjoying themselves. Hearing the laughter around the soccer field was great and made me remind why I even started playing soccer in first hand. Now playing soccer at a competitive level makes me dislike the sport a lot of times. It is not always easy to have the strength to go to practice after a loss. You rather want to lay them in the bed and do nothing. However when I see the kids playing I understand why I still do it. Everyone who plays a sport does it for the love of the game. My personal experience is that if I don’t play for a week, I start to miss it and I cannot be without soccer for more then a week.

Watching the children play made me realize how much they have progressed throughout these sessions. It has been a couple of weeks now and the progression has been incredible. They are much better on the ball compared to the first time, however more importantly how they act. In the beginning of the camp they did not listen to their instructors but now when they have created these bonds, it is much better. Because of this everyone seems to have a good time, the parents on the side, the kids and the instructors.

Hopefully this can continue and improve for future sessions.

The poem “Tableau” talks about the unheard equality between black and whites, and the hope it will become a reality in the future. The speaker uses a white and a black boy together, arm in arm, being stared by other white and blacks. In the final stanza the speaker uses some symbolism when using the metaphor of thunder and lighting. Thunder and lighting lives in harmony just like the speaker hopes that black and whites in future can live in harmony without any questions. 

This is something happens in our community and especially in Baltimore today. The race question is present today and needs to be solved. It has become a very serious matter that have to stop and maybe black and whites can live in harmony everywhere around the world. To make this happen everyone in the community needs to show a good spirit and not build fences because will only divide it more.

The beginning of the poem “Theology” has the sound of the speaker being of religious beliefs when talking about heaven. However looking at the title “Theology” you notice right away that it is pretty ironic having a title named theology and the poem itself talks about higher divines like heaven. Halfway through the poem achieves its comic effect. As earlier said the first two lines it sound like the speaker is religious but then the last two lines change that and gives the impression of someone who is hostile towards other and believes he is above everyone else. 

The world is changing and so is religion. I believe it some sort of represent that change. People are going from believers to non-believers more often now and it is a big change in society. Society has always been build upon Christianity and maybe that is about to change. Just like “Tableau” society needs to accept both sides of the coin, religious people and non-religious people. Everyone can live in harmony if we just accept everyone who they are, like the kids at Pipeline soccer camp gets accepted no matter who they are.

The first feeling I had while reading Frankenstein was it felt refreshing. Reading those letters gave the book a completely different start and it was something fascinating about them. In the 21^st century letters are pretty much extinct, which is very sad. A letter is something very personal and has its own life, compared to an e-mail, who does not give you any feelings at all.  Furthermore when Frankenstein talks about his childhood and his mother. His mother is very loving and a lot of kids in this community do not get to experience that. Another thing is also the relationship between his mother and father. His mother is very passive, which can be connected to other poems we have read about on women’s role. The 19^th century woman had not the same influence as she has today and throughout the first half of the book women plays a very passive role. However in our community we still see gender discrimination, where males are put ahead and a solution to that matter has to happen.

The relationship Frankenstein has with the monster and how they have the same traits could be analyzed that the monster is his other half. They are different to everyone else and are outsiders from society. Reading this I connected right away with the Pipeline soccer camp for the kids with special needs. According to society they are outsiders because they look and act different but when I see them on the pitch, they are just kids who are having fun. So in my opinion there is no normal because no one is alike and it is good to be different.

In general Frankenstein somehow reflects on everyday life and all we have to deal with and go through. Life can be very hard sometimes just how it is for a lot of people in the community and for Frankenstein in the book.