“Iron the clothes, sweep the floor, clean your room, stand up straight..” It never ends! When will I ever be able to catch a break? My brother doesn’t have to go through all of this. I know how to do all of the chores but my mother just doesn’t trust me. I wish she would just give me a chance to see that I am capable of doing all of the things she asks me to do on a daily basis. I have morals, mom! Why must you think so negatively of me? I have followed everything you have done my entire life; why would you assume that I will become a slut? You are my example and I wish you would begin to trust me more. I know how to iron, I know how to cook, I know how to be polite and I know how to dress. I keep trying to tell you but you refuse to listen to me; you just go on and on with your rules and directions. If only you took the time to listen to me and get to know the great, well-rounded, responsible daughter you have raised. Then maybe you wouldn’t doubt me in everything that I do. I know you are just trying to do your job but I feel like you have done everything right; all that is left is to just be my mom. I know you mean well and I love you so much but you don’t have to be tough ALL of the time. Just be my mom!

Although Clarissa and Septimus never meet each other, they share many things in common. They are also linked together through other characters throughout the novel. Although it confused me at first, it becomes  clear that they are “doubles”. They both have internal struggles that they are dealing with and are disconnected to society. They both often ponder about the subject of death and its connection to nature.

Vanessa walked out of her house and the beautiful weather put her in a great mood. Once she reached her car after walking 3 blocks, her car was hot! She was confused at the drastic weather change in October, “It should be cold!” she thought. She began to head North on Flatbush Ave. towards the Manhattan Bridge and per usual,  the crazy drivers made her highly upset. Once she got on the bridge, She noticed that not a lot of people were on the road which made her very happy. Once she reached Bowery St., she saw Tina got pulled over by a Jeff the police officer which immediately made her make sure that she was following all of the traffic rules. She parked her car on 24th Street and  3rd Ave. and walked towards Baruch College. She took a left on Lexington Ave. and as she approached Baruch’s building, she noticed a lot of police officers were walking around which made her feel very safe.

In Phillip’s “Discourse on the Logic of Language” the poem focuses mainly on communication and the lack thereof. The repetition that ends up transitioning to new words really emphasizes the continuous conflict between the different cultural languages. “…not a foreign lan lan lang language languish anguish a foreign anguish.” This part of the poem really stood out to me because it shows us the lack of knowledge the slaves had by using the phrase “foreign anguish”. This was a very troublesome transition for slaves because it was not what they were ever used to. There is an evident conflict between finding balance from her culture and the new culture she is experiencing, and for all slaves for that matter. His poem relates to Frederick Douglass in the sense that they are both slaves who had a different culture imposed on them. They were both forbidden to know the lives they came from. He was an oppressed slave who felt lost because ignorance was strongly used towards the slaves. With all this being said, knowledge freed Douglass from being lost in the mindset of being a slave.

My Map

1. My Home – Nanuet, NY

This is my home; where I grew up. I lived in Nanuet all my life and I think it definitely helped me become who I am today. I say this especially because of the high school I attended: Nanuet High School. The teachers were amazing and they definitely helped me succeed. Nanuet is a suburban area so it is very quiet. Everyone mostly gets around by driving their cars and it is not as populated as the city but there is still a lot of people that live in the area.  There is a line in the Song of Myself that reminds me of my hometown; implying that this was the starting point of my life. “There was never any more inception than there is now, nor any more youth or age than there is now, and will never be any more perfection than there is now…”- Song of Myself

2. My Workplace – Monsey, NY

This is my place of work. I work for a Corporate Filing company called Vcorp Services. This company has assisted me with my growth in the Corporate world. This job began as an internship and turned into a full-time position. During my internship, it helped me find myself and find what I wanted to do in the future as my career. I can also relate The Heart Sutra with this part of my life because it gave me a sense of clarity for my future endeavors. “Therefore one should know the prajnaparamita as the great spell, the spell of great knowledge, the utmost spell, the unequalled spell, allayer of all suffering, in truth — for what could go wrong ? By the prajnaparamita has this spell been delivered.” – The Heart Sutra

3. Brooklyn Home – Brooklyn, NY

This is my home away from home. Now that I currently attend Baruch College, I reside in Brooklyn for the semester because the commute is a bit better than from my home in Nanuet. I work remotely on the days that I attend class in order to avoid the heavy traffic. It is a big change for me, but I like it so I am getting used to it day by day. The urban lifestyle as far as taking the train is definitely new to me but I see why people do it; driving is insane!

4. Baruch College – Manhattan, NY

This is where I currently attend college. I am a transfer student so this is a new experience that I am starting to love. I attended a community college and got my Associates degree in Business Administration but I am happy that I am finally attending the school I wanted to go to since I was in high school. I hope to learn many things in this class that can be applied to my life. Overall, all roads led me to Baruch College and I am glad that they did.