My Dad Is Awesome (1)

Below is an e-mail exchange between my aunt and my dad. She likes to send people panicky stuff, although she's quite level-headed in other things. The email below is my dad's reply to her latest panic attack about microwaves being dangerous for people's health, which my dad disproved for her.

So, in order, is my dad totally sounding my aunt for being gullible, and after that is my aunt's forwarded email. Stuff in italics are my dad's opinion.

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( Dad to Aunt )

( Aunt to Dad )

( Forward from Aunt And Dad's Input )

Speak Your Mind

Yesterday, I went out with sidewalk_slug and everytime I go out with sidewalk_slug, we always seem to end up going to Venus Envy, and dammit, do I ever become a reckless consumer with him! I bought an Oscar Wilde book, a pride flag, a pair of Socks With Attitude that read "Fuck My Socks Off" and a button.

I love buttons. I have a bag where I attached all the buttons I have. I love buttons with slogans, especially those I believe in. I'll list them down someday.

This new button reads: Speak Your Mind, Even if Your Voice Shakes

I think it's kind of obvious by now that in class, I talk a lot. If the teacher says, "does anybody have any comments?" and no one comments, I'll be the first one to go. If someone is making a comment, chances are high that I'll be responding to the comment. If the prof has a question and I know the answer, I'll be the first to raise my hand.

It's not even just talking, but I probably sound extremely opinionated. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my classmates found me rude.

I had a classmate like that. She was also rude to me, but outside of class, we found each other pretty cool. Other classmates didn't like her because she was stand-offish and a little disrespectful, but I found her okay.

Another classmate spoke up often, and she tended to have opinions that others considered to be extremely immature. They never said it to her face, but one day they were talking about her and found she was behind them.

It is the fear of others' thoughts that keep us silent, and while it is true that discretion is the better part of valour, in an academic environment, one should have the freedom to express thoughts without fear. One should have the strength to believe in what one says, to think it through, to act upon it.

I know that others still are intimidated by people like me who talk with such strong opinions. They're afraid we'll question them, challenge them, beat them down. This happened in my Feminism & Orientalism class, where a couple of grad girls got into an argument, and one of them gave up and quit the class. My fellow undergrad quit the class right after, too intimidated to continue. In the end, there were just five of us - one of us was most quiet. One day, I went to hang out with her and another of us, and she said, "I just get so scared and I don't know what to say."

My other classmate said, "Just say anything; just respond. You might contribute something, you never know."

"That's what I'm trying to do. I once told this to Lindsay [another classmate], how nervous I was to respond and how awkward I felt responding, and she said to me, 'well, how do you think we feel when no one responds to us?' I never forgot that, so that's why I'm trying to speak up more."

And Lindsay's right: she's very opinionated, and she stutters a lot. Her presentations must be a struggle to go through, because she stumbles over her words so much. I used to get impatient with her. Further on, I began to respect her more, because she's gone through an entire undergrad and getting her grad degree with this very mild handicap, and she doesn't let the handicap stop her, she keeps right on speaking up because she believes in what she says.

We DO get nervous when we're the only ones talking in class - where's our feedback? Are we right or are we so wrong no one bothers to correct us?

In a previous class, towards the end our professor had to take medical leave, and another prof replaced her. He tried so hard to engage the class, waiting long seconds of complete silence, and no one wanted to answer. At that point I was weary of talking to the professor all the time and wanted to give other people the chance to talk, but no one was talking! So to not waste the professor's time, I answered all the questions so he wouldn't feel so bad. I felt so awkward.

In my third year, I went into fourth year courses and that made things SO much better. The most unassuming people can have the most incredible insight if they were given the encouragement to speak up and had someone to bounce their ideas off. It's amazing to be in a class where everyone has something to contribute to the discussion, and it's wonderful to hear ideas going around.

In the bigger picture, we shouldn't let fear run our thoughts and control our voices. If there is something you believe in, speak up, even if your voice shakes!