Originally submitted as my final for HIST-2020. Citations have been removed, since they were mostly bull anyway.
"Look the island!" The cry ran throughout the passengers on the deck. "You can see her arm!" Sure enough, on the horizon a gleam had appeared. All eyes watched with anticipation as lady liberty crept into view astride that beacon of promise: Ellis Island. This was where millions had taken their first steps towards achieving the American Dream for themselves, and it held the same promise for everyone on board. Minds raced as stories of the abounding opportunities suddenly seemed believable. People imagined their future jobs and the regular income they could provide or the open country waiting to be settled; and in both cases, the better life that children and grandchildren would be able to share in.
Continue reading ‘The Family of the American Dream and How the 20th Century Lost It’
By the end of next week I need to have finished three programming assignments, one 2-page essay, one 6-page essay, signing a contract for an apartment for next year, turning in a lot of paperwork for scholarships next year, and have a second birth certificate issued to me. After that I can worry about finals!
I’ve partly completed one programming assignment so far.
Sam left yesterday afternoon putting an end to the best weekend ever. There are a few pictures on Flickr (check the sidebar on the right) from Katie following us around with my camera on Sunday afternoon.
Classes started for me yesterday, finally. The winter break turned out very well. I worked a bit at Chick-fil-A, had some time to spend with family and friends, a lot of time to spend with Sam, and a couple of new gadgets to play with. I particularly like the new Logitech G5 mouse as a complement to my usual Trackman Wheel usage, but the more notable new toy was a Canon PowerShot SD1000. My Flickr pictures should be flying by in my photostream by now, so keep an eye out.
I’ve only got twelve hours this semester, so except for my Thursday night history class, I’m done by 1:30pm all week long. I have a algorithms class that I’m in at the moment which is already escaping me. I should be doing much better in C/C++ with my previous experience with the professor and two friends in the class with me. My ‘Concepts of CSC’ class will turn out well, and though a bit boring, I’ve liked what I’ve had so far. What I think will be my most difficult is my ‘Design of Algorithms’ class. Our professor is the kind to pace back and forth and ramble in a quiet voice that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the class, and I have no idea what was on the projector slides on the first day. Three of my four classes have at least one programming assignment as part of the grade, so I’ll have my work cut out for me, but David is in all three of those classes with me, so between the two of us I think we’ll be ok.
