Am I Really Who I Am?

  When I think about who I am I think about what defines me, and that’s my name. My name is Ghazal. Yes, like the animal. When I was younger I used to think my name was weird and I hated my name because people would mispronounce my name or misspell it. Teachers always mispronounce my name as “Guzle” or “Gaazle” whenever they called attendance on the first day of school. Every time I corrected them, they would ask, “Like the animal?” Now, I somewhat dread the first day of school, as the teachers still mispronounce my name, but I’m getting used to it. It seems as if the older I get the better the teachers get at pronouncing my name correctly, or maybe I’m getting used to the fact that they can’t pronounce my name properly. Now that I am older and I actually know the meaning of my name, I tend to like it a lot better. When I considering who I am, I know that I am unique because I have a name that nobody else has. Ultimately, I don't think anyone completely knows who they are. Every day lived, one will learn something new about onesself. As Oprah Winfrey said, "as you become more clear about who you really are, you'll be better able to decide what's best for you." 


Before taking sociology I defined myself by the traits that I have, my characteristics, and personality. Now that I have take sociology I realize that I am not only defined by myself, but those that surround me. I am influenced not only by myself but by my friends, family, school, teachers, workplace, and city in which I reside. Without them, I would not be myself, and there wouldn't be anyone to define. 

Volunteering Experience #5

Throughout the month of December I organized a holiday piano recital for the senior citizens at Sunrise Assisted Living. My brother, sister, and I planned on performing a few songs for the recital, a few classical pieces and a few holiday pieces. I’ve been playing piano for eight years, and my piano teacher in Michigan organized a holiday recital every year, so I thought it would be a good idea to perform for the senior citizens, since I volunteered at Sunrise Assisted Living over the summer. Overall, it was a good experience. It’s wonderful how much they appreciated something that was very ordinary my me and my siblings. It felt to bring a smile to their faces with each song, and to spread the holiday spirit.

HolidayPiano Recital

Performers: Ghazal, Babak, & Denna Baniasad.

          Do You Hear What I Hear .....  Denna

Fur Elise ….. Beethoven ….. Ghazal

Sailing in the Sun ….. Crystal Bowman ….. Denna

Showboat ….. Denna

Dreamcatcher ….. Jennifer Linn ….. Babak

The Clock Shop ….. Denna

The Haunted Mouse ….. Crystal Bowman ….. Denna

Pachelbel Canon ….. Johann Pachelbel ….. Ghazal

Wipe Out ..... Surfaris ….. Babak

Tribute to Pikes Peek ….. Melody Bober ….. Ghazal

The Most wonderful Time of the Year.... Denna

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer…..Ghazal & Denna

Special Thanks to Lisa Knight and Heidi Yang

                  Happy Holidays!

Volunteering Experience #4

On Saturday, December 17 I donated my old clothes to the Salvation Army. It was surprising to see how many clothes I had from the past few months that I didn’t like anymore. I dropped off the clothes at the donation center and after donating my clothes I checked out the Salvation Army to see the people making purchases at the store, and the types of items they bought. My mom told me that she cleans out her closet, my closets, and my siblings’ closets once every other month to donate to charity. After this volunteering experience I look forward to going through my closet every other month with my mom to find donations. 

Volunteering Experience #3

On Thursday, December 8 I donated my hair to Locks for Love for the third time. Breast cancer is a disease that is close to my heart because when I was in third grade my aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer. At such a young age I wasn’t able to help her in any way, so since my hair was really long at the time I decided to donate my hair for the cause. After donating my hair for the first time I had the greatest feeling. After my aunt survived her battle against breast cancer I promised myself I would donate my hair as many times as I can. In order to be able to donate your hair, it must be untreated, so no dye. Also, your hair has to be a minimum of ten inches long. After experience this opportunity multiple times I have come to realize that you don’t need to give someone less fortunate money or material objects in order to make them happy. Something small, such as hair, will suffice. 

Volunteering Experience #2

On Sunday, October 23 I volunteered at Save.A.Pet Adoption Center for four hours. It was not what I predicted. I anticipated playing with cats and dogs the majority of the four our time slot. Instead, we cleaned outdoor animal play area by raking the leaves and sticks. We also cleaned one of the visiting rooms and folded laundry. I was surprised to see that the volunteer coordinator didn’t have many tasks for us to do. For example after every time we cleaned, we had to wait twenty minutes for the coordinator to find something else for us to do. I chose this volunteering opportunity because I love animals, and I have never had the experience of having a dog of my own. My dad passes by this shelter on his way to work every morning, and he recommended this volunteering experience. After helping out at the shelter I learned that not only people are less fortunate, but animals are as well. I’m glad that I found this opportunity, and I look forward to volunteering more often in the future. 

End Racism.

     This week we watched the movie "Crash." This film portrayed racial tension among black, white, Mexican, Persian, and Asian people. While watching this movie I thought that the main theme was racism, but towards the end I realized that the theme is also people's fear and avoidance of racism. Many people think that if they don't explicitly make racist comments, or call someone out because of their race, that they are not racist. In the movie, Crash, Sandra Bullock's character demonstrated a married women who had a gun pointed at her face and had her car stolen. Earlier, she was implicitly racist for holding onto her husband's arm as soon as she saw the two black guys. Later, when she got home, she was explicitly racist for telling her husband that she thought the Mexican locksmith would give a copy of their key for one of his "gang banger friends." Neither one of these reactions is okay. 

     We have to realize that the news and media make the world seem more dangerous than it actually is. The doctor in Oprah said that only 3% of rapists/crimes are done by people of color. This means that 97% of them are white. Also, in the movie characters assumed that the Persians were Arab just because of their skin tone, facial hair, and the tone while speaking. Some people assume that because someone is Muslim they have some sort of terrorist affiliation, but only 6% of all terrorists are Muslim. The rest are white. This is not what most people think. It’s because of the media that they think this way.  Countless times have a seen people look at others in a certain way because of the color of their skin or an article of clothing. This is not right. We should not make any assumptions before we actually talk to the person. 

Racism is Wrong.

     This week  we talked about racism, which branches out into two parts: implicit racism and explicit racism. Explicit racism is an open, negative act towards one's race. An example of this is the Klu Klux Klan,  who don't try to hide their hate. Implicit racism is the opposite, and an example of this can be statements written newspaper that aren't deliberate. 

      In addition to racism we talked about race with an emphasis on the idea that one of the first characteristics that people notice about each other is the color of their skin, and other physical features. In class we classified different balls into different categories. The class recognized that it's difficult to place them into proper categories in which each one belongs because each ball has multiple physical traits. This demonstration is similar to people. You can't place people in specific categories. For example, just one person can be placed into numerous categories: female, Persian, long hair, dark hair, oval face, brown eyes, coffee/milk colored skin, and list goes on. This proves that two people may have a few similar physical traits, but a group of people can't be placed into definite groups. To me this is extremely disturbing. It's important to realize that everyone is the same on the outside, but has differences on the inside, therefore instead of trying to guess what someone's race, ask them about their aspirations.