Pilgrims on the Journey

Through the last semester taking the course, Vocations of Human Sexuality, I learned a lot about myself and have found a deeper insight on topics such as love and relationships.  I learned to always stay true to myself and to not give in to any pressure's given by my peers and society.  Ranging from talking about body image to defense mechanisms to love to even abortion, I learned what my personal morals are and what I believe in.  After spending time with Sister Colleen in our class and ending the course with watching the movie, The Way, I found out that you can see God through anything and everywhere.  I saw God through Sister Colleen, who blessed our class with her bright smile and words of wisdom and insight and she was such a blessing and inspiration to me because she stuck to her morals and followed her heart which led her to God.  I thought the movie, The Way, was really inspiring because I loved seeing the main character, Tom, walk the camino not only for his son but in the end, for himself.  I loved seeing Tom turn from a stuck-up, tightly wound character who kept to himself, turn into a care-free person who found himself and God through nature and others while on the pilgrimage.

In addition, this course taught me and gave me more insight on the very touchy topic, abortion.  It really made me sad to see people resort to abortion and taking away an innocent child's life because that is the only option available to them.  Before this course, I was very against abortion, but I never took the time to think about why I was so against it.  But after this course, I solidified my opinion against abortion but now I have many solid facts that support my opinion.  After reading about Dr. Gosnell and his horrific story and experiences with abortion, I was sickened to read about such measures women went through to get an abortion and put themselves and of coarse there children in danger.

I had a great time in this class and hearing everyone's stories and sharing their personal experiences, and VHS is going to be a class I will always remember from my time at the Mount.

IVF

After watching the Dateline documentary and reading the article pertaining to IVF, I understand why the Church is apprehensive on the Catholics taking part in IVF, but I believe that IVF is a valuable option for couples who cannot conceive a child on their own.  I think science has come along way with IVF and is a great opportunity for couples who truly want to have kids but are unable to.  I find it very sad to hear many couple have trouble conceiving on their own and I personally am glad that IVF is a an option.  Why should many couples suffer with the inability to not be able to conceive because of bodily problems?  Having children is a beautiful and important step for couples to take part in on bringing human life into the world.  IVF should be an option for all couples who are having problems conceiving.  Infertility is a factor that can possibly tear couples apart for something that is out of their hands.  IVF may be extremely expensive because of the amount of work scientists go through and the equipment they use is extremely technologically advanced, but to most couples it is worth it.  I think it is sad for some couples who are unable to conceive a child but are unable to pay for the lengthy costs of IVF.  I understand why the Church may not really like IVF because technically when a women's eggs and a man's sperm fertilize, it is considered human life, and many of the embryo's are frozen or turned to waste if not used.  I understand that the embryo's are considered human life and when frozen or destroyed, that is taking away a life.  But in that same process a beautiful life is born.  I understand why the Catholic Church does not like IVF, but it still if a Catholic couple wants to have children but are unable to on their own, they should be given the option of IVF without feeling guilty from the Church. I personally think IVF is a great opportunity for the many couples who cannot conceive on their own and I think it is an important step for science and has given thousands of couples healthy babies to grow as a family.

Marriage

I believe the domestic Church as well as the "home" church is continually evolving day by day.  I am very thankful and proud to say I have been raised by my parents in a household that teaches Church values and morals.  I learned the Church's ideals and values through the example held by my parents.  My family and I went to 7:45 mass every Sunday when I was growing up and went to a Catholic school most of my life where I was always in religion classes teaching the Word of God.  My parents have the highest respect for the Catholic Church and take their faith seriously, which has made a positive impact on my life.  I do hope and believe the Church is going to modify some of it's restrictions and practices, for example same-sex marriage.  Even though I was raised to believe marriage is between a man and woman, I do not see anything wrong with same-sex marriage.  I believe love is love and the Church should be accepting of all forms of love, because love brings peace into the world.  I hope the Church will stop seeing same-sex marriage as as sin, but as something beautiful what was in fact created by God.
Unfortunately, divorce has become more of a common occurance in marriage in today's society than it has in the past.  Unfortunately, divorce has become very common throughout the Church because people seem to not take marriage as seriously or marry for the wrong reasons, and divorce doesn't seem to have a huge effect on the Church like it did in the past.
I am very thankful to have been given the opportunity to grow up in a domestic Church environment and have parents who live the God's word and are prime examples of good Catholics, and many of the Church's values have made a huge and lasting impact on my life and morals as well.

Abortion: Why isn't this a national outrage?

I felt so disgusted and disappointed after reading the article about Dr. Gosnell, the abortion doctor from Philadelphia.  I already am a hard advocate against the dealth penalty, but when I read about a doctor who was killing babies over 24 weeks old was so horrifying.  How can a man look into the eyes of an innocent child that has so much potential in life and cut their spinal chord with a pair of scissors??? I do not understand how someone can commit such horrific and brutal and inhuman acts to such innocent human beings.  I am not a strong believer in the dealth penalty either, but this man should be on trial for the dealth penalty because he took away innocent lives with no second thoughts.  He was not even a completely certified licensed doctor either, so how was he getting away with such terrible acts so long? Being in such unclean conditions and performing such acts without the proper equipment is so disgusting, no wonder those women unfortunately carried on veneral diseases.  It is so sad how he discriminated the women there as well.  Even though the conditions were terrible either way, he treated Asians and African Americans more poorly then he would a white women walking into his office.  He already is commiting such terrible acts, why be racist on top of everything?
Abortion is such a unspoken topic among the nation because of people's strong views either for or against abortion that it was hard to break national news so it did not spark controversy.  Dr. Gosnell's office was located in a low-income area of Philadelphia, which may be one of the reason's why took awhile to break national news.  I believe the media was apprehensive on covering the trial because it is such a touchy-topic and to not have a biased opinion on the story coverage. 
In conclusion, this man should be on trial for is horrific and unspeakable acts toward such innocent lives and Dr. Gosnell is a poor excuse of a human being for commiting such acts of violence and cold murder and still being able to get a good nights sleep.  He is a terrible human being and his actions need to be accounted for and I am disappointed in our government system for not putting a stop to his actions quicker.

The New Pope

With the new papal enclave finally coming to a close after the election of Pope Francis, I believe there needs to be some changes made within the Catholic Church.  Firstly, I believe the Church needs to modernize their rules and beliefs and keep up with the ever changing world around them.  I believe the Church needs to have a different and more positive outlook on gay marriage and become more flexible around this.  Even though God created men and women to join together and reproduce and it is said in the Bible, the Church should not take it so literally and not prohibit others happiness.
Also, I think the Church really needs to stay on top of the Church sex scandals and really put them to rest.  It is terrible and sickening enough that a person cannot even trust their own priest, and those accused of scandals should have a greater punishment.  Such scandals taking place in the Church exemplifies those apart of the Church sneaking around and going against the rules, which needs to be ended immediately.
I also think the new Pope should help modernize the Church in ways such as having women priests and allowing priests to marry.  This would be a significant milestone for the Church and women should be allowed to have the same opportunities given in the Church as of men.  Even though priests is primarily a male's job, society in the last 20 years has changed immensely that is giving women different opportunities and the same opportunities as men, and I think the Church should take part in the change as well.

Dating: What's the Point

Dating and hooking-up still continues to be an ongoing argument between adults and teenagers on what is or is not appropriate.  From my opinion on this topic simply states, adults need a reality check.  Meaning no offense to this statement, I am justly saying that hooking-up is more praised in society today through media and celebrities, and dating has become almost "abnormal" for a teenager.  As the article states, hooking-up has a wide range of definitions between teenagers and adults, but hooking-up depends on the person. Personally, hooking-up does not mean immediately sexual intercourse, but it is actions that take place on the 4th date or so.  To me, hooking-up is not just a small kiss on the cheek or lips, even though that is what parents want to hear.  Hooking-up to me is passionate kissing that can sometimes NOT ALL THE TIME lead to something bigger, depending on both person's motives.  For example, I was abruptly introduced to hooking-up when I was a Freshmen and went to the Prep mixer with my friends.  Not knowing what to expect, my naive mind assumed it was a chance to meet guys and hang out with friends, not grinding and gross hook-ups.  Because it was such a different and scary environment for me, I called my mom to pick me up early to go home.  Unfortunately, I was one of the few who left the mixer early; everyone stayed to participate in the hooking-up scene.  Yes, hooking-up is not something a parent wants to hear their child taking part in, but it seems to be such a norm in society now that even 14-year-old Freshmen are taking part in hooking-up. 
Personally, I prefer dating over hooking-up.  I do not like hooking-up because I am a sensitive girl who believes in love and romance and fairy tales, and do not want to be taken advantage of willingly by a guy that I may not ever talk to again.  That make's me uncomfortable and me being the romantic that I am, would want to stay in-touch with the guy after the hook-up, when he probably does not want to talk to me.  With my experience of being in a relationship for a year now with the same guy, I realize how immature hooking-up is and how happy I am being in a relationship with a guy I can trust and create memories with. Hooking-up and dating all depends on what a person wants on the inside and what their form of fun is, but for me hooking-up is not worth it and I prefer a relationship.

Becoming Who You Are

The past couple months have been extremely stressful not only for myself, but for my fellow classmates as well.  With the stresses of applying to colleges, getting accepted into colleges, maintaining good grades, and keeping up with a personal/social life, one can really lose themselves along the way.  With everyone asking me, "Where am I going next year", or "what am I going to do with my life", I found myself asking those questions as well.  I have my whole life ahead of me, and I am in charge of every step I make.  So what am I supposed to do with my life? What is God's plan for me?  Not only do I strive to live up to everyone's expectations for me, I am determined to live my life to the absolute fullest and be true to myself and my beliefs.  My experience in high school really has helped me form and mold who I am today and helped me find out who I am and my strengths and weaknesses, and I am determined to stay true to who I am through my college life as well.
In my future, I found out that I am going to major in Business and minor in Communications at Saint Joseph's University and after my college experience, I am going to be apart of a major public relations firm.  I am confident that this is the path I am going to take in my life and be quite successful.

My Mission Statement

My mission in life is, like many others, is to succeed in whatever I find myself doing in twenty-five years.  But my main and underlining focus to my mission is happiness and to be yourself.  I may be driven to succeed and be wealthy and famous, but I will not loose myself or loose happiness while on my journey to success.  Success does not mean to be a millionaire or be a celebrity and have your name in lights, even though its an add-on to success.  Success is waking up in the morning and be happy to be alive; to be happy with your job, with your friends, with your family, with the one you love, and especially with yourself.  I want to do the things I love in life, which is to do new and exciting things and create memories with the ones I love.  I have the controls to my own life and there are many paths I can take, but if I stay true to myself and find happiness whereve I go, then I know I have chosen the right path.  Smile, love and happiness are three words that are my main focus in life.  Love what your doing and love the people around you, but most importantly always love youself.

Sources of my Identity

There are many factors that have contributed to shaping my identity.  My family, friends, and my high school experience as a whole has really molded my identity as a young lady and to live my life to the very fullest.  My mom, dad, and older sister, Allison Peterson, have really made a huge impact in my life and have always been by my side and supported me and loved me.  I have a very strong relationship with my parents and we are able to talk about everything.  Even though my parents have been divorced for three years, I still am quite close with both of them.  My sister, Allison, who is now a sophomore at Dickinson College,  really helped me through my parents divorce and has constantly been there for me when I needed her.  Even though Allison and I are complete opposites of one another, she has always been a loving older sister and she and the rest of my family will always hold a really special place in my heart.
Friends have always placed a huge part of shaping my identity throughout my life, especially through my high school experience.  Ever since I was little, I have always felt the need to get to know everyone and be everyone's friend.  Even though I am still like that today, I have a core group of friends at school whom I am extremely close to.  My friends really mean everything to me and they have always supported me with any decision I have made and have accepted me for who I am.  I have the best memories with my friends and they really bring a lot of joy into my life.  Just like my second family, my friends and I are determined to stay as close of friends when we go our separate ways to college.  I am excited to keep close relationships with my friends now when we go to college, but also have the chance to meet a ton of new people when I attend the prestigious University, Saint Joseph's University. I am very excited to be apart of a diverse community and create new memories with a new group of people.
Lastly, my high school experience at the Mount has really shaped and solidified my identity.  Between my diverse schedule of classes, to the close-knit environment, and my memorable relationships with my friends and teachers, I have really found my way as a young lady and found out what I want to be.  More specifically, playing piano as the piano scholar at the Mount also played a major role on finding my identity.  Having the piano scholarship has showed me responsibility and maturity.  I had to keep up with my school work, my social life, as well as keep up with my job as playing piano.  From challenging myself to learn harder songs to exemplify my talents, I learned how to pace myself and give myself enough time to learn the songs well, manage my time, and learn to handle multiply projects at once.  Even though I am no longer interested in pursuing piano in college, I will always play piano for fun the rest of my life and having the piano scholarship was the most amazing experience and all my hard work paid off.
There have been many people and experiences that have been the sources of my identity, and I will always live life to the absolute fullest and to never take anything for granted.