The Changing Face of Marriage

Personally, I think that society does not keep marriage sacred anymore. I feel like people marry for reasons that are not just love anymore (like money or fame). This is shown to us by the media with so many celebrities getting divorces and cheating on their spouses so now it makes it seem like that is normal so everyone is doing it. Since that is the case, so many people are getting divorces. I plan on making sure I am marrying the person I want to be with for the rest of my life so that I don't have to experience divorce. I don't think I'm going to bring all aspects of the Catholic Church into my home when I get married, but I will accept the teachings about divorce.

Dating and Marriage

For me, I think that dating while you're young is healthy. If you don't ever date, you don't know what you want out of a marriage and you also learn a lot about yourself. Also, you learn to appreciate the person that you're with a lot more. If you end a relationship with someone because they don't posses a quality that you think is necessary, you will appreciate your next relationship because it has that quality. I think that these don't necessarily have to do with Christian morals but I think they are good morals to have. If for some reason you get a divorce and that is the only person you have ever been with, you will not know how you cope and get over things.

Dating: What's the Point?

I think that the claim that dating is "essentially practice for divorce" is a good point but I disagree with it. I think dating in high school is healthy. It is normal to want to spend all your time with one person and not want to go out and hook up with different people. Although many of high school relationships end at graduation, there is always that small bit of hope that things will work out later in life. I have seen a lot of my friends go to college and stay with their boyfriends and I think it is healthy to see how some of them have worked out and some have not. I am going to college in the same city as my boyfriend but that does not mean that the success of our relationship will come easy. I think the "hook-up" culture that Broken Halo wrote about is pretty accurate. I see a lot of my friends go around and just hook-up with people and say that they're happy but I can tell they are just looking for someone to like them. Not that I think hooking up is so bad, I just don't see the appeal of it now that I don't want to be with anyone else.

Some Say Love...

Throughout our lives, we are surrounded with songs that teach us about love. So we can't help to not have our own identification about love. One of the first love songs I remember hearing is "All You Need Is Love." The message is plain and simple, all you need is love and love is all you need. As I got older, I realized that in my life, love was not really all I needed. I now think that if I can have all I need in live and be happy thats enough. But if love were to be in the mix, it would have to be able to go along with my life how it already is. Also, growing up I remember hearing the song "Natural Woman" and having a problem with it. It bothered me that is was basically saying that since she had a man, she was a "real woman." To me, being a woman had nothing to do with a man, it was who you are as an individual. But then there were songs that I thought had a positive message like "Lean on Me." I always thought this had a positive message because it was saying, go out and be an individual but I will be here if you need my help. Personally, I really identify with this message because I don't like to think of love as the main thing in my life. I like to think of it as something that sort of just comes along for the ride. I understand what the article is saying about the quest for a soul mate. We are taught that there is one person in the world for us and its our job to find them. Like the song "Stuck On You," we are taught that there is only one person we should go after and that is our soul mate. Also, we all think that once we see our soul mate, we will know right away that we are meant to be with them. Today, we realize that this is not true and that we have to work for love and its not always easy which we learned in our love story papers.

Little Women

Growing up, I was a huge "girly-girl." I loved playing with my barbie and bratz dolls all the time. I didn't realize then what they were really doing to our society. They sexualize girls at such a young age that it is almost manipulating them subconsciously. I used to dress my dolls up in their clothes and want to dress like them, but their clothes were made for girls who are in their 20s, not 10 years old.
Being at an all girls school, my role as a woman has become much more defined. The media portrays women as objects and that they should not be strong and outspoken. At the Mount, we are taught that we are strong and powerful and can accomplish anything if we set our mind to it.

My Identity

Throughout my years, I have had many people who have helped shape me as a person. They are my mom, my friends, and my lacrosse team.
My mom has been the main person in my life for 14 years. After my dad passed away when I was four, my mom and I became best friends. We fight sometimes, but two hard headed women living in one house will make that happen. She is the strongest and most hard working woman I have ever met. She never complains about the hardships about being a single parent, but she embraces all the good qualities that it has. Because of this, she has made me realize the importance of being a hard worker and not taking anything in life for granted.
My whole life I have had trouble finding a set of really good friends until recently. This year I have really established who my friends are. They are the most awesome people ever. They pick me up when I'm upset and always know the right thing to say. They have been there and happy for me when exciting things in my life have happened. They make me want to be a better person to not let any of these friendships slip.
My lacrosse team is something unique. I've played on the same club lacrosse team since I was in 7th grade. We have traveled to about 20 different states in the last 6 years playing some of the best teams in the country. Throughout these years, these girls became my best friends. We all are so different. We all go to different types of schools, have totally different personalities, and even have different beliefs but because of these differences, we all balance each other out and they have made me really open my eyes to different types of people. We all have been recruited to play lacrosse in college which was an exciting and emotional time in our lives and honestly, I don't know how I would have gotten through it all without them.