This week I wrote a paper about racism that is revealed after natural disasters. While applicable to many natural disasters, I focused specifically on Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath of her havoc. I won’t bore you with the statistics, research methods, and mind numbing details, but here are the key points: A grassroots organization called Common Ground Collective (CG)…
I’ve cried at work before. There was that one time at the Dolphin Research Center that I was walking out of the fish house and slipped on the glassy, wet sidewalk. I fell directly onto my knee and when I finally got the courage to look at the damage, I discovered that my kneecap had dislocated.…
Obviously there is no “right” or “wrong” way to use Facebook, but surely there are things we all do on a daily basis, maybe even subconsciously, that are making our social media experiences less enjoyable than they could be. Or maybe you are one of those people who isn’t affected by social media in any…
It’s no secret that social media has changed the way we interact with one another. Being the sociology/psychology lover I am, I’m very interested in the way it shapes, changes, and influences our personal relationships, and how it affects us emotionally. It’s amazing to think that there are currently kids, yes, actual human beings, who have never experienced…
I am an extremely curious person, and living in the age of Google and Wikipedia has only increased my obsession with fact checking and reading as much as possible about things that I’ll probably never need to know about. We’ve all been there before– you look up something on Wikipedia and then see a link…
I put on a good facade and pretend like I hate awkward situations and uncomfortable exchanges, but here’s a dirty little secret: I love them. I love observing human interaction in general (psych and sociology classes in college were like brain candy) and I especially love surprise “out of the norm” situations. Witnessing a very…
This holiday season, remember that good deeds and random acts of kindness don’t count unless you post about them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and every other social media outlet you belong to. I was so thankful when November finally ended because I’m not sure how much longer I could handle reading Facebook statuses like “Day 20:…
I wish that we, as a human race, could somehow make a big, executive decision to stop sugar coating, quit playing games, and just say things as they are. In our society, there is a plethora of unwritten rules and “social norms” about how we should respond to situations or topics. Because of this, when…
Isaac and I lounged on opposite couches in our living room, tears rolling down our faces from laughing so hard. It was near midnight, way past my bedtime, but we couldn’t stop reading, it was just too good. It felt like someone had spent a year studying my husband in his natural habitat and wrote…
Dear Extroverts, Let me just start off by saying you guys are great. Really and truly. The world needs people like you, and some of my best friends, family members, and heroes are extroverted. But ummmm….extroverts? You exhaust me. I understand that you get your energy and jollies from talking a lot and being around…
The Other Courtney 