Education Portfolio

Hello to all m y avid f ollowers. Today, I wanted to talk a little about a book I read called Oddly Normal . Its about John Schwartz's son Joe and Joe's coming to terms with his own sexuality and mental illness but told from the point of view of the parents. It was a really good read and I thought I would share some thoughts I had from the book. Also, spoilers. So...watch out. 1. I had a few places where I felt a little uneasy. The first kind of idea was how casual Joe's parents were with his struggle. Several times throughout the book, the parents discussed Joe's sexuality with other people before Joe even came out. I was a little put off by the fact that they felt that it wasn't a big deal when it clearly was. Joe at one point said that his "secret" (his sexuality) was so big that if he told his therapist, he'd have to kill her. Yet his parents talked about his sexuality with his teachers, administrators and friends of the family. I also felt disr

This is the banner photo for the USGA website and Facebook pages. Look in the back row to see a familiar, handsome face.  USGA at BYU For this portfolio, I want to talk a little about Understanding Same Gender Attraction (USGA) at BYU and the resources available there. While the target demographic is focused a bit more on university students, the resources are great for both secondary students and their parents. First, though, I want to talk about how they helped me in high school. It was around that time that I was coming to understand my sexuality and that I was not straight. As someone whose identity up to that point was centered on their Mormon religion, this was pretty tricky. I went into high school right on the tail of the whole Prop 8 debacle and how involved the Church was in that and it just drove me further into the closet. During my research into how to not be gay or how to fake being straight, I came across a video created by a group of BYU students called

This was interesting for me because it made me stop and thing about what situations I really am an "other" and I came to the conclusion that in a lot of social situations I am the other because of my sexuality. I think that because I can be really straight-passing, I don't really think about it but there are definitely situations where my sexuality puts me at odds with others when I am in groups with mostly straight people. So to really make it stand out, I decided that a Super Bowl party is the place where I will be the most other. It seems that football is the epitome of stereotypical straight masculine culture and since I am neither straight nor do I subscribe to the notions of traditional masculinity, this was a situation where I was "the other." Also, I don't like football which is a dangerous thing to say at a Super Bowl party. In the normal conversation of the party, several homophobic slurs and comments were thrown out just as part of the culture

Family Photo Culturally, there is a focus on the nuclear family and creating a life for yourself. In LDS culture, there is strong connection to extended family. Reading and Literacy Education is a cultural value because it relates to the value of money and commerce. You have to be educated to make money. Religion Religion has influenced much of the culture that I grew up with. Many of the beliefs and values differ from the Western culture. However, even these differing beliefs connect to individualism and self-sufficiency.  Pride Flag This is a cultural symbol for an anti-hegimonical culture of which I'm a part. Music This relates to the American Dream-belief--anyone can be anything. Television and Entertainment This is a cultural status symbol. If you have enough time for relaxation and entertainment, you're well off.  Esther Poster This comes from a Christian culture (different than LDS). It represe