I have grown up knowing that non-Indians have certain stereotypes for Indians. As a first generation child in the US, I’ve gotten the best of both worlds. I was thinking about some of the most common stereotypes and how some of them are actually true. However, it bothers me to know that some people think these stereotypes hold true for all Indians.

Many are taking stereotypes to their advantage in media. A few years ago, a low budget movie came out called American Desi. Desi is a slang word for being Indian. It is about American born Indian college students who have a rough time in college when they meet students actually from India. These American raised kids feel embarrassed to be Indian because of the stereotypes they have to face. They are cultured enough to know that they are Indian but don’t have any respect for their heritage. Some of these include Indian people majoring in engineering, science, or math because these three fields of study are the most common. Another time of feeling humiliated when seeing an Indian professor eat typical Indian food in the dining hall. This article summarizes the situation these students were in. After this movie, several others came out that similarly made the same point of how difficult it is to be cultured as an Indian and an American.

Most of us are not thinking about marriage until we graduate from school. Actually most college students across the U.S and western cultures do not expect people to get married till they are in their 20s. What if fate from our family was decided for us before reaching an appropriate age to marry? In Pakistan, three sisters named Abda, Amna and Sajda Khan, all around 18 years old are being forced to marry into their family’s enemy. “Vani is a tribal custom in which blood feuds are settled with forced marriages.” These girls are going to be mistreated and basically treated as slaves. Read this article.

Many of us have a rough idea of what we want to major or even what career we want to follow. But, at the same time there are plenty of those who do no know what they want to do with their lives in the near future. College is suppose to be about taking different classes and experiences. Right?
In this article, college freshman face major dilemna, it talks about how it might be to your disadvantage if you delay on figuring out what you’re going to major in. It is suprising to hear that 80% prospectives are undecided. That is a huge amount! For those who already come to college with a major in mind, those students end up switching 2 to 3 times before graduating.

Lately, I’ve been pondering on the how well we follow our religion. We inherit the religion that our parents have followed and it is only natural for us to follow it. However, I do know some people who do not follow the religion they are born into because they feel that it there exists no such thing as “god” and that the religion is too controversial in the religious books. When young, most kids do not have a choice of what religion they want to follow, or if any at all, but once they are old enough to make their own decisions, it is easier for them to convert to other religions or philosophy based religions. A general controversy relates back into history when many wars came about because of religious conflicts, and if wars cause deaths then how does sin and religion relate?

I stopped taking vitamins for the past year and recently starting taking them when coming to school. I never really thought vitamins did anything beneificial to me, or that I couldn't feel any different after taking so for some reason I just didn't care. My mom told me that I should start taking them and urged me to take them regularly without forgetting. So, I did. Then I heard recently that vitamins increase your appetite and I was like wow, that's not a good thing.

As a believer in astrology, I find it very interesting how people can actually see the future based on the positions of the stars and planets. A lot of people don't believe in astrology, palm readings, and other types of readings because the predictions have turned out to be false. I've had my palm read randomnly at a friend's graduation party, where an astrologer was hired for entertainment on the side. The lady who told me about my future seemed like she was making things up because they were so randomn and just didn't make any sense. Suprisingly, a few of her predictions were accurate as I found out a year later. At the same time many were not true, or at least have not come true. Other times, I've had my birthchart read by astrologers who have been practicing reading these charts their entire lives and they are entirely accurate. So, I guess it makes more sense to go to a person that is a well known astrologer. I've heard that finding out about your future can mess with your mind about making present decisions. Also, it can get annoying how these untrustworhy astrologers who are BSing you and just want your money.

Today after such a long time I was watching tv and with the few channels I get in my room I ended up watching the Tyra show. First, Tyra's big hit was America's Next Top Model, and now the Tyra show. A girl came on the show who had a obsession with handbags to the point that she would live on Ramen Noodles and Macaroni and Cheese, just so she could save enough to buy designer bags. The pocket money her mom would give her last time, all of the $3,000 was spent on a handbag. It was so ridiculous to the point that she didn't end up having enough to even buy basic needs such as toilet paper and food. Suprisingly, she's an economics major and the way she thinks about her spending is that an average per day for each handbag doesn't come out to be a lot of money and therefore she finds it aliright to buy more. Tyra introduced Bag Borrow or Steal , which operates similarly to Newtflix. There are 3 levels of monthly memberships and for each level there is an limited price range of bags you can borrow.

Even though it isn't brought up as much as it should be, college stress can be harmful in ways we immediately recognize and others that will hit years later. I, myself am beginning to see the workload increase week by week and although I don't show it because obviously other people would do not care. Especially here at Bryn Mawr, where everyone is pushed to the limit academically. I think becase of being stressed out lately I am having side effects...I know it's weird but its true...

I mean Philly is nice and all, but I think it's a dull city. I've gone during the daytime usually but even then it's sometimes empty looking and I can't even imagine how it must be during the night. Of course there's exceptions if a special event or something is going on it would be really busy, but usually it seems dead.
I went home to Jersey this weekend for my brother's birthday. Saturday night me, him, and a bunch of his friends went to NYC to celebrate.

Yesterday during lunch the subject of childhood tv shows came up. All of us were looking back on all the shows that we used to watch as kids such as Hey Dude, Salute your Shorts, Reading Rainbow, Strawberry Shortcake, Doug, The Hidden Temple, Double Dare, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and none except a few are still being played today...such as Sesame Street. Sesame Street is my all time favorite...7am mon-fri PBS.

I don't think many people care enough about their business cards that they have a professional designer come up with ideas that fit their profession. They way people present themselves is very important, because even though some might not agree with me...first impressions are very important. Even a little business card that is catchy can do a lot. I remeber from my personal experience when mingling and meeting people at a cocktail party that I was dragged to go to with my older brother.

I'll admit that I've been one of those people addicted to My Space and Xanga. I never even wanted to create one of those pathetic, time consuming journal things. Everytime I would go on AIM, on people's profile I'd see the link that took me to one of those bloggers and I'd entertain myself by reading what's going on in my friends' lives. I even remember suprising a friend by knowing too much that went on in his life. Somehow I got sucked in and made a Xanga last summer, I kept it updated everyday for about a month and then I just gave up. Sometimes I was very lazy and at other times I just did not want some people reading it...at the same time I did want many to read it.

School ended back in May and since then I almost stopped procastinating....and recently it has started again. So I ended up going home Sat. night for no reason and wasted a good day doing nothing but watching tv, talking to my old buddies, and getting stuff for my room. By the time I actually sat down to do work I was falling asleep...I was rereading the same sentence too many times and it just was not making any sense so I went to bed. Sunday I came back to BMC and I procastinated even more. A friend of mine had the the chance to meet someone she really wanted to at Haverford...and she wanted me and another friend to tag along because it was pretty late.

I must admit I was very scared before coming to Bryn Mawr...one of my biggest fear was about fitting in. Having gone to co-ed schools all my life I wasn't too sure of this all girls thing. The past week has been amazing, each night with a new adventure with the new friends I have made. It bothers me how for the most part the campus is so dead after 9pm , but I guess it's good in a way because then I'll force myself to go to my room and do work instead of visiting people. With the frequent visits to Haverford I think I'm beginning to understand the Bryn Mawr community and closeness we have with one another.