It's The Little Things

Weather in Arkansas over the last few days has been nothing short of insane. I know that I have been very dependent on the Weather Channel App on my iPhone. Not only that, I have been glued to the TV watching the radar, and anytime I get in my car there is weather on the radio. My dependence on those resources make me wonder what life would be like without the help of those corporations. What if we didn't have the Weather Channel to flip to on TV, much less even the cable to receive that channel? It is the little things like this that we so often overlook and simply take for granted. These corporations have a huge impact on our daily lives. Each morning, before I even get out of bed, I pull up the weather on my phone. I cannot imagine what it would be like without this. Just tonight, I had to make a quick trip home to Little Rock and I was so thankful for an easy to use radar to let me know if the coast was clear. Even as I have this blog post open, there is another tab open on my browser that has a constantly updating radar map. I could not be more thankful for the little things on stormy nights like this. I challenge you to think about the little things. Try to notice them and be thankful for the corporations that provide them, because there are so many less fortunate than us.

www.weather.com

Just Imagine....

One in six people in the world today do not have clean water. That is something that we as Americans can't fathom. Even as I am writing this post, I have a bottle of clean, clear water right next to me. I can't imagine what it would be like if that water was brown, or if my sink didn't produce clean water. Even just the thought of dirty brown water or not having a sink is such a foreign subject. We are so fortunate to have had corporations step up and provide us with clean water. Many other countries are not so fortunate. Thankfully, there are so many corporations stepping out to try and make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.  Most of those countries are full of diseases like cholera and dracunculiasis, the guinea worm disease. Yes, a worm literally grows inside of you, and then starts to emerge when it gets too big to stay inside. In these countries, "Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war. Children are especially vulnerable, as their bodies aren't strong enough to fight diarrhea, dysentery and other illnesses." (charity:water) All because of not having clean water. It is very easy to become a part of the corporations working to bring clean water to the world, so why can't we spare an extra $20 a month? We so often take for granted the corporations that supply us with clean water, much less electricity, air conditioning, and even shelter. I encourage you to maybe not go buy that fourthmeal late at night and instead donate the money to one of the corporations trying to give the world the luxuries that we have. A few of these organizations are charity:water, The Water Project, and Clean Water Action. The next time you go grab that clean bottle of water, brush your teeth with clean water, or shower with that nice clean warm water, be thankful for the corporation that brought it to you.

I Really Will Never Use This Again....

MailOnline

Throughout those boring classes in middle school and high school, we always find ourselves saying, "When am I ever going to use this?!" Of course, your teacher has one of those charts that really does show you how you were going to use it, but being in college puts a whole new spin on things. I am majoring in Speech-Language Pathology and find myself asking why I am stuck taking World History. Ironically, enough that very question came up in my World History class. America is one of the only countries that requires every student to take a set list of "general education" courses. Who says that we need it? Who deems that necessary to be a true "scholar?" The corporations, that's who. For so long, I only saw the small picture, I thought that it was only my high school or middle school that required that you take those boring home economics and family consumer sciences classes. Being in college for a few months has given me a whole new perspective on who really decides what classes we take. It is all the decision of a corporation, someone who knows nothing about me deciding what will or will not make me a well rounded person. I really think that these "general education" requirements are the cause for "one in four freshmen dropping out within the first few years." (Careers and Colleges) Why four years of history, english, and math aren't enough is a question that I cannot even begin to fathom an answer to. I hate sitting through boring history lectures and math lessons. Why can't I just get straight to the reason I am even in school: to be trained for the workforce. If that isn't the point of school, then what is?  Who are corporations to say that I have to take these boring classes to become a true person of the world? I can confidently say that my job will NEVER reference World History or World Literature. So why am I being forced to take them? Corporations, that's why.

Whitbourne, Jonathan. "The Dropout Dilemma: One in Four College Freshmen Drop Out. What Is Going on Here? What Does It Take to Stay In? | Careers and Colleges | Find Articles at BNET." Find Articles at BNET | News Articles, Magazine Back Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics. Mar. 2002. Web. 14 Apr. 2011.