Over the Rainbow

Written by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Yip Harburg, “Over the Rainbow” is a famous song which was written in the late 30s and is known until today (Arlen, 2013). This song was written for the film The Wizard of Oz and talks about somewhere beautiful over the rainbow, where the dreams really do come true, the sky is blue and the problems do not exist. It was used in the begining of the film when the  character Dorothy, performed by Judy Garland, wants to scape her sad life on the farm looking for to be in heaven where she thinks is a good place like the music says (Garland, 2014).

First, this music was named “Over the Rainbow is where I want to be” (Garland, 2014). The world was passing through a critical period in political, which was called Great Depression. Great Depression was the severe worldwide economic depression, which lasted from 1929 to early 1940s. In 1929, the stock market crased with no hope to recovery. So, the panic struck the population. People have wanted to  sell their stock, but nobody has bought it. Furthermore, banks had invested a lot of money from their customers savings in the stock market, so they were forced to close when the stock market crashed (Rosemberg, 2014).

Businesses and industry were affected, too. Because of the closed banks, they  have lost much of their own capital, so they have wanted to reduce the salary of their employees. Since the employees have had salary reduction, they spent less money and stoped to buy things as luxury goods. So, the industry didn’t sell its products and it also closed. This was a period of severe economic crisis in all sectors. It was during the presidency of Hebert Hoover that the US economy broke down and entered the Great Depression. But in 1932, people of the US has high hope to solve all their problems, because in this year Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected. He started to establish programs designed to get America out of the Great Depression, which was known as New Deal. So, the lyrics of “Over the Rainbow” had a political significance. Harburg wanted to express hope for America under Franklin Roosevelt’s “New Deal”  program (Rosemberg, 2014).

In 1939, this song won the Oscar for Best Original Song and the film Wizard Of Oz  won the Oscar for Best Score (Garland, 2014). Since this year, this music has singed by many famamous artists as Eric Clapton, Beyonce and Pink, but one of the most famous versions was the version singed by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.

We don’t live in a perfect world, so we are always hoping for somewhere where there is no descrimination, social difference and wars, and where our dreams can be reality.  Because of it, this song is so popular until today.

Education and Future

Looking for some  articles about Education I found one which is very interesting for me. The article "What are you really learning at school?" by Holly Epstein Ojalvo talks about child development, skills which children need to be succeeded and the culture of testing.

According to the author, experts believe that the culture of testing is inhibiting the development of children's life skills. They think that good grades at school means that children are not developing skills that they need to have future success in their lives like motivation, self-control, focus and resilience.
Dr. Ginsburg said that teachers need to teach children that there is difference between easy and difficult subjects and this may help them on their goals and interests. Subjects that they like can help them to focus in their careers.
I think that teachers still focus on students' good grades and sometimes they forget that students need to be prepared to the lives and their career. On the other hands, I think that children need to be evaluated in some way and they need to be encouraged to study even to the test. Children usually don't like to study, so they need to be encouraged. Thus, teachers want to find a teaching methodology which attracts the attention of the student and helps them to develop their life skills to be succeeded in the future.

Going to Las Vegas

    Thinking about where to go in Thanksgiving, my Brazilian friends and I decided to go to Las Vegas. Everybody in Brazil has ever heard about this city and everybody in their 20s wants to go there. So, It is a good time to go there. My father always says to me that we need to take the opportunities while we are young. So,  since I was in US I should take all opportunities that I could have.
   Looking for some places to go or things to do before go there. According to Joel Stein, there are 10 things that we need to do in Las Vegas, which will be listed below:
1- Bellagio Fountains
2- Cirque Du Solei
3- Designer Dinner
4- Breakfast Buffet at Wynn
5- Shark Reef Aquarium
6- The Clubs
7- New York-New York Roller Coaster
8- Party at the Pool
9- The Spa
10- Downtown
    Seeing the photographs of this places and events in the article by Joel Stein, I could see that Las Vegas is really a good place to go. I think that we are not worried about expensive foods to eat in Designer Dinner or Breakfast Buffet at Wynn; because here we are just students and we don't have enough money to do things which could be expensive. Furthermore, the spa is not a good option for people who have 20s like us. On the other hand, there are many other things to do there, like go to the Clubs or downtown.
I think that to leave Macomb even for one week will be good for us and I hope we will have a good time in Las Vegas.

"I got my angel now"

 I do not remember my first step, my first fall, my first words or even my first cry, but I remember a fascinating person, who took shape in my eyes and voice in my child ears. A person who completed  me and has always been there in my growth. Whether because of a fall, while I still learning to walk, either by a frustration when still knew the importance of losing, or even a word at the right time, when I demonstrated my first insecurities about life.

With her ​​I learned unconditional affection, which generates a unconditional love and often inexplicable understanding before inconsequential acts. I also learned the importance of being who I am, the need to always fight for what I believe and trust. I got that the little moments and little conversation need no sense, because this is always present on the abetting of being together. And is thus being more rigid or flexible, she taught me the real importance of who I have in life, not what I have in front of it.
But the years pass and the illusion of lifelong learning is coming up in the reality of life that is sadly short. Be in the morning, afternoon, evening, whether faster or slowly, we are betrayed by the unexpected and realize the weakness, ignorance and inability to understand and accept the reality of what was taken from us. As children, lost in their first emotions, we are forced to live with a new sensation, which tightens the heart and seems to scratch the soul. After all, it seems that everything has changed. Where are you? We start to imagine trips that never end, fantasizing about the possibility of her return, the possibility of a last hug, one last kiss, one last word. How to know that would be the last time to talk, to smile, to look? I never imagined my life without her, because she was the essence that fed my battles, my dreams, my accomplishments, my life. I still seeking his eyes in the crowd. I wish I could see them, I would want to feel her approving look. You're gone. And then cuddles in the morning, lunch conversations, goodnight kisses, the smiles, the hugs, walks hand in hand, the stories (oh, the stories!), Everything seems to be half full. I would never want to lose you! I wish you were here for a second, because it hurts, it hurts so much knowing that I can not touch her beyond recall.
And so, knowing everything you've done, everything you worked, everything you faced to see me here, I raise my head and do my best to move forward with the sincerest of smiles on my face. After all, you always showed me that I could go on, when I thought I could not. You always strengthened my weakness to, even in your absence, I was able to realize my dreams.
Today, I do not have more security in your hands, but I support your teachings and continue following in your footsteps.
Today, I woke up thinking of you mom.

Guru of Gadgets

     One of my professors of WESL asked me to do a research paper about one person that I wanted to choose. So, looking for the options, I chose onde person which would had influence in my major. So I chose Akio Morita, co-fouder of SONY. I didn't know him yet, so I started my research looking for his life and somethings that he did. I found many books, journals and articles which told me many things about him. So I discovered that he was one of the most important managers of the world and it makes me happy, because he had a lot of influences in my field, Management Engineering.
     The struggle for the creation of SONY showed me great dedication and courage by Akio Morita. He was a man who had specific characteristics, like his ideas and dedication in marketing. Furthermore, he learned with his mistakes and studied the problems encountered, always looking for a solution to resolve them. His persistence of goals and constancy of purpose marked the course of the company in the early years, besides the challenges of innovative products faced forward a highly competitive market. In conclusion, his lessons go through decades and still valid for companies and leaders who seek success and competitiveness. 

Desires of Consciousness

This week I was talking with my friend about the meaning of dreams. She is a psychology student and told me that she has done a discipline that studies our subconscious. I was talking to her about things that I used to dream since I came to US. In many days on my dreams I used to eat something like beans, drive a car or talk with people that I really miss, like my family and my friends.

She told me that our dreams are the wishes of our subconscious, something that we really want, miss or feel. I agree with her, because I have been dreaming about things that was part of my daily life and here in US I can't have them. 

Freud was one of the great researchers about dreams. He explained an important concept: when you sleep your subconscious mind awakens. And when we wake up, wake up the conscious mind and the subconscious falls asleep. He also found that during the dream all our frustrated desires, emotions, thoughts that were not released during the day are released by our unconscious mind. These are our dreams according to Freud. 

So, despite I'm missing many things, I think that my dreams can bring me good memories and make me closer to people that I love, even for a few minutes or hours. It can gives me strength to continue chasing my goals here in the US.

   Learning about the meaning of Thanksgivin

      Since I came to US, I wanted to know what Thanksgiving means for american people, because I always heard they talking about it. Many brazilians friends, who already lived in US, told to me that american Thanksgiving is as important as brazilian Christmas. So I decide to look for the meaning of this important date.
  According to the article “Thanksgiving History” by William Bradford, Thanksgiving is an american special holliday witch was founded by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag. They always used to give thanks for the Creator’s gifts, but in 1621, after a year of sickness and scarcity, they had a bountiful harvest. So they decide to celebrate and thanks God with feasting and sport witch expressed their happiness and gratitude. Many years after, presidents Washington, Adams and Monroe proclaimed national Thanksgivings, but just in 1941 the holiday was established as the fourth Thursday in November. Today, it is a Holiday in witch everybody returns to their house to see and get together their family and friends to eat roasted turkey with stuffing and pumpkin pie. This holiday express american gratitude at the heart of all this feasting, prayerful thanks, recreation and nostalgia.

   After read this article I could agree with my friends who compared Brazilian Christmas with american Thanksgiven. Not only our Christmas, but also their Thanksgiven can connect family and friends in a big dinner, thanks for all the good things that happened in our lifes.