Caleb

In my First Amendment study, I discovered some discrepancies between the two age groups. Firstly, the older age group was more receptive of the Amendment than my peers. Most of the older generation snuffed out the potential “law” and recognized it was the First Amendment. While some of my peers recognized it as well, many did not and had their concerns about the new legislation. These patterns show me that the older generations believe in the protections of the First Amendment more than the younger generation. Unlike the older generations, the young people thought that the new law would have a hard time being passed in Congress due to it encompassing many rights. Looking back on the study results, it is clear that the older generation was more knowledgeable about the 1st Amendment. They were able to identify it sooner and were also more receptive to passing the law if they did not recognize it. On the other hand, younger people were less knowledgeable about the Amendment. Fewer of the young generation recognized the “law” and were more hesitant to pass the bill. The study that I conducted disagree with recent national studies. According to a study by the Knight Foundation, “There has been a modest increase in average support among students for the first amendment”. This directly contradicts my findings which state that the younger generation is actually less inclined to accept the First Amendment. Although my study showed that the new generation of students is less inclined to accept the First Amendment, I believe that in the near future most students will come to accept the First Amendment.

Today makes the first day of Thanksgiving break and I could not be happier. This semester has been both emotionally and physically exhausting. From midterms to research essays, and just the everyday struggles it has been a lot to say the least. Thankfully, once I return from break I will only have three weeks of school left. I took 18 credit hours this semester and I think that was a bit much. Thankfully, I should be able to finish the semester with only one B. I believe next semester will be much better. I will only be taking 18 credit hours and my classes should not be as strenuous. I am excited to be able to spend time at home with the people I love and enjoy my time away from school. Christmas break cannot come sooner.

Nearly hours away from his execution, Julius Jones death penalty was commuted to life in prison without the chance of parole. The man responsible for commuting his sentence was Oklahoman governor Kevin Stitt. The decision was coming down to the wire, and on the day of his execution, Stitt decided to call off the execution. This decision stemmed from new evidence in the 1999 murder case that landed Mr. Jones in prison. Julius has always pleaded his innocence and claims that he was setup by co-defendant, Christopher Jordan. His family released a statement thanking Governor Stitt for his decision to spare him from execution.

Over the last 3 days, I have had the privilege of watching my favorite sports teams compete on TV. The initial team I watched was my favorite NFL franchise, the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens came into a favorable Thursday night matchup against a vulnerable Dolphins team. However, the Dolphins flipped the script and upset the Ravens. The second game I watched was the the United States vs Mexico. The two rival nations faced off in a crucial qualifying match for the 2022 World Cup that is to be played in Qatar. Luckily, the USMNT captured a 2-0 win, sending them to the top of their qualifying group. Lastly, I watched the Oklahoma Sooners take on the Baylor Bears in Waco, Texas. Sadly, Oklahoma disappointed and most likely ruined their chances of getting into the college football playoffs. Suffice to say, it was not a good weekend of sports for me. The one bright spot was Christian Pulisic’s header against Mexico, just minutes after subbing on.

Newly appointed Tottenham Hotspurs manager, Antonio Conte, will go back to the training ground with all 3 points after defeating Dutch opponents, Vitesse, in the newly formed Europa Conference League. Only a day after sacking Portuguese manager Nuno Espirito Santo, the North London club hired the former Italian as their next manager. Two days after taking over management duties, Conte’s new team won an eventful game against Dutch club Vitesse on the European stage. 3 red cards, a three-nil lead almost blown, and 90+ minutes later, Conte started his Spurs campaign with a win. Next up, Tottenham will travel to Merseyside to take on Premier League opponents Everton, who currently sit one point behind the Spurs at 10th.

Less than an hour ago, hip-hop artist Post Malone released a new song with one of my favorite artists, The Weeknd. Upon listening it for the first time, I was impressed. I felt that the two artists mixed well together and complimented each other. I plan on going back home this weekend, and the first thing that popped into my head when listening to this song was, “I can’t wait to listen to this during my car ride home tomorrow”. One area that I thought the song could improve in was the length. It seemed to me that as soon as it was getting really good it was already about over. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the single and will definitely be listening to it more in the near future. In fact, I have already added it to my “liked” songs on my Spotify account.

Last weekend, I accompanied my family members to the movie theater to see the new James Bond film, “No Time to Die”. We were watching the movie as part of my dad’s birthday wish. I had not seen any trailers for the movie nor had I seen the previous Bond movies recently. Therefore, I was going into the theater mostly blind. At first, I had trouble understanding the story. However, as the show went on, I began to understand what was going on, and I was able to make the connections between this film, and the other Daniel Craig “Bond” movies. I actually really enjoyed it and would not mind watching it again. I recommend it to anyone who likes the action genre, whether you a Bond fan or not.

On Halloween night, nearly a decade after mob boss Teddy Torrio was sentenced to death for his crimes, his wife, Angela, hosted some close friends in remembrance of him. After the group had a few drinks, they turned on the radio for some entertainment. While skimming through the stations, Angela and the others froze when they heard the words “alien invasion”. Upon listening to the broadcast further, the group was sure that they were under attack by extraterrestrial life forms. Quickly, all members did their part in securing the household. Doors were locked, windows were barricaded, and rifles were loaded. Upon hearing a ruckus next door, Angela’s neighbors reported the noise to the local police. When the police arrived to investigate the disturbance, they found the house boarded up and not a peep could be heard. The police chief approached the door, but before he knew it, BANG! He was blasted back onto the ground by shotgun pellets that ripped through the door. A firefight ensued, leaving cops and party members alike dead or wounded. Seeing that they were helplessly outnumbered, Angela led the group out the back door, into the woods. After Angela and co. put some distance between them and the police, the crew found themselves lost and tired. While devising a plan on what they should do next, Angela heard a strange noise they sounded almost human-like. However, before she could react, one of her friends was snatched up by a creature that was moving too fast to make out. Frantically, the crew sprinted away and ventured deeper into the woods. Fleeing for her life, Angela now found herself separated from the rest of the group and was quickly running out of stamina. Angela would have kept on running if not for the strange sound she heard originating from a nearby well. She was sure it was the same human-like voice she heard only moments ago. Angela peered down the well where she thought she could make out a human figure at the bottom. The human-shaped figured let out one word, “Angela”. Angela gasped, “Torrio, is that you?” she proclaimed. However, the sound of footsteps behind her grabbed her attention. Angela whipped around to find herself face-to-face with a giant, alien-like creature that had several tentacles. The creature frightened her so much she took one too many steps back and plummeted down the well, never to be seen from again.

This past week, I struggled with finishing my research essay for my global community class. While I knew about the essay for a couple of weeks, I got a late start on it. I was supposed to use a provided quote as my over-arching theme for the essay. I was able to come up with ideas that would fit the quote pretty easily, but I struggled to find research to go along with it. One thing that made the research difficult was my theme. Essentially, the topic of my essay was Western involvement in Eastern conflicts. The broadness of the topic made it difficult to find research on the small details I was looking for because there were so many articles and other forms of media to look through. However, after some time practicing, I started to figure things out and found some useful research. Despite my research struggles, I was able to submit my essay on time, and I felt confident when I did.