If You Really Knew Me..

My friend Karen told me about this show on MTV called "If You Really Knew Me". It's a show that films a group of students that are involved with a program called Challenge Day. Challenge Day is an organization that goes into schools to speak against hate, promote diversity, and to show kids that it's okay to be themselves. For the episode I watched, they filmed at Putnam City West High School, in Oklahoma City.

Here's the show if you want to watch it:

http://www.mtv.com/videos/if-you-really-knew-me-ep-104-putnam-city-west-high-school/1645378/playlist.jhtml

Here's info about Challenge Day:

http://www.challengeday.org/index.php


The show was really funny in some ways. It showed the different stereotypes: the jock, the brain, the class clown, the homecoming queen, the loner. These were the same sort of stereotypes that I had in high school, and some of the kids, especially the homecoming queen(every time she spoke, I wanted to roll my eyes and say, "Seriously?"), stayed true to form. Lots of snarky comments were made in my brain.


As the show went on, you got to learn about what those kids were *really* going through. The class clown's(Malcolm) story really struck me. He was always really funny, making jokes, etc. What you didn't know is that he doesn't know where is mother is, and his grandmother, who he was really close to, died suddenly. After I heard his story, I totally lost it.


The end of the program showed the kids trying to apply what they learned, and it was kind of cheesy.

I think the Challenge Day is a great idea, in theory. Kids these days are total jerks, and alot of them could do well to know what it's life to be in another person's shoes. They spend most of their time pretending to be something that they're not, and by the time they get to be adults, they don't really know themselves. In that respect, the organization can work.

The problem is what happens after the day is over. They do offer a "Next Step" workshop, but not all the kids involved get to go to this. It's just like church camp: You go, have an amazing time, find God and what not, have the "mountaintop experience", and then what? The kids that don't get to go to the workshop; what happens to them?

I really wish they had a program like this when I was in school. I did go to a large high school, so I wonder how effective it would have been. I just wish that I had an opportunity to really get to know alot of people, and have them get to know the real me.

So, in an effort to be more honest, here are three "If you really knew me" things:



If you really knew me:

* You would know that I am probably the most judgemental person ever, when it comes to looks, but I do it to not have to talk about my own body esteem issues.

* For a long time, I hated all African-American men.

* As much as I dislike Oprah, I'm really bummed that I'm not famous enough to go on her show, and it's ending soon.

What about you? What three things could you share. If we *really* knew you?

Distracted

I'm really bad about keeping up this blog. I would like to get to a point where I write something every day, but I get distracted really easily. So much so, I think that I have ADD. So, in lieu of trying to write about one particular thing, I'm just gonna talk about what's been on my mind lately:


1. I'm in Tulsa now. I've been here for nearly a month now; I can hardly believe it. I'm really proud of myself. Moving here is one of the few things that I said that I was gonna do, and actually DID. The job is okay, not my dream job, but it will do. I'm living with a roommate again, but it's more a tenant/landlord sort of thing. So far, it's going well. She keeps to herself, and so do I. We're friendly, but not overly so. After years of living with my best friend, I like this new arrangement. I enrolled in school today, and am working on getting financial aid in order. So far, so good. I'm really grateful to J, Brian and Karen for listening to me while I fought myself, and all of my drama. You three are my saving grace. And big thanks to everyone on facebook and twitter for having my back. I really couldn't have done this without your love and support. Someone had asked me if I'm happier here. I wouldn't say happier, but I'm more at peace here. I don't know how my friendship with Tia will survive, but since I now have only *my* problems to worry about, the peace that has come over me is amazing. It is lonely sometimes, but that's to be expected. I'm just glad that I'm here.


2. Now that I'm in Tulsa, I want to find a boyfriend. I got my courage up, and asked a guy in my class out. It didn't go well, but at least I tried. I would like to say that I'm a complete romantic, but my cynicism gets the better of me. I want to have someone like me for me, and all that jazz, but it's more than that. I can't explain it. I express myself better through music, so here's a song that describes how I feel about love these days. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=096aXAytYZY

3. I am thrilled that Prop 8 has been ruled as unconstitutional. It's a major breakthrough for equality, and I can't wait until all my GLBT brothers and sisters have the same rights that I do(And when that happens, I am available to be a flower girl.). I do worry about the backlash that is sure to come, and to those who are against gay marriage, here's a message for you: God is Love, and in the end, LOVE always wins. (Big ups to Brian in Seattle; I stole that from his facebook page)


4. Whenever I'm feeling down, this song always peps me back up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BRv9wGf5pk


Here's to posting more often, or getting tested for ADD.