Inside the Bubble

Hi everyone! Welcome to another Yoga Tuesday. If you haven't checked out the last one, I'd highly recommend it. Yoga Tuesdays are a continuation of my musings in a more centered direction. I always sit at home listening to some indie music with tea and of course, wearing yoga pants. Thus the name was born: Yoga Tuesdays. I hope you put on a pair of your own comfy pants and take a little moment or two to ponder a random issue with me. Today we take on the Bubble.

Song of the day: Out of My League by Fitz and the Tantrums
(I'm weirdly obsessed with this song...)

"What is this bubble you speak of?" you may ask. I don't know about you, but I live in a very safe neighborhood. People here have literally known each other all their lives. There are four elementary schools nearby and this dictates the characteristics you have. Then people grow up to attend the same middle and high school most of the time ending up with lifelong friends, and the Bubble. I moved to this area after 8th grade so I'm relatively new. Four years is nothing compared to some of these friendships. O (short for my location) is a fenced off little community away from the harms of the world. I personally haven't ever seen bullying take place at school. The teachers are all very well qualified and dedicated to their craft. The worst horror story I've heard is that a teacher gives way too much homework. There are no pregnant girls walking the hallways. I know drug use isn't absent but I've never been peer pressured to do something I didn't want. The most popular people are so nice to everyone and care deeply about the school. They're not popular only for looks but rather their kindness and hardworking attitudes. People are very involved in their extra curricular activities and my school is especially competitive.

We live in a bubble away from "real world problems." A school only 20 minutes away has a completely different story. They grow up in a community where the same number of people who go on to a college equals the number of people who go on to commit murder. I had the luxury of taking the ACT at one of these schools and the head testing coordinator had to verbally communicate that students were not to bring or drink alcohol during the test. It's a completely different environment than the one I've grown up in. People grow up a lot faster in these parts.

I'm a very idealistic and happy person but it's easy to do that in such a Bubble. My mom was reflecting on her years living inside a Bubble, how naive she was at times. It's important to leave the Bubble once in a while, both in physical location and in thought. It's easier said than done but going to a less economically stable part of a city or country and experiencing life through that lens leads to development and personal growth.

As someone interested in journalism, I always have people tell me how I should look beyond myself and my community. I am absolutely in love with my government and economics class because it gives me a snapshot of what life is like outside the Bubble. We learn about health care problems and the military industrial complex and it opens my eyes to the realities of the world. It's not a happy place. It's not a happy place, but it can become a happier place. My mom was saying how it's our job as educated people to go out and make the world fair.

That's what I love about journalism, especially political journalism. Politicians twist their words and messages to appeal to the people who don't always know as much about health care. They make it seem like Obamacare is socialism instead of necessary and helpful. The people who need it most are often forerunners of the opposition. Journalists are the voice of truth and reason in this confusion. Although it's supposedly a dying field, we need these people to notify the public of what is going on.

One of the most exciting parts of the college process is the thought of leaving this Bubble. It's scary at the same time to leave something so familiar and safe and diverge into the unknown. As I finish up my supplements, I hope I've left you with some sort of thought for Tuesday.