Information to include in each column:

First column: Write the date, time, and location of your journaling experience.
Second column: Write down ALL of the details that you included in the original journaling
experience. Do not leave anything out.
Third column: In the Analysis of Significance column reflect upon your journaling observations
now that some time has passed. What have you learned about yourself? Have your ideas
changed? What further ideas have occurred to you since your original journaling experience?

Journaling Experience Original Observations and Reflections Questioning and Analysis of

(date, time, and location) Significance

Entry #1
Date/Time: January 4, 2017, 5:27
PM
Location: My desk, facing my
window to let the sunlight hit my
face
I am sitting at my desk in my room, writing this after
watching a show about detectives in Seattle trying to
solve a murder case. I am not really enjoying the show,
but my standards for entertainment have dropped so
low after watching so many shows and movies that I
now only seek a mild distraction. Nevertheless, while
watching the show, I started thinking about the new
year and how nothing has changed but the biggest
number on the calendar. During this time of year, my
mind always wanders to the less fortunate because my
family from my dads side of the family are the less
fortunate. They live in Mexico, not that far from the
U.S. border. Nevertheless, it is as if they lived three
worlds apart. I imagine how they spend the holidays
and how much more horrible it must be for the people
under attack in Syria.
For us, the holidays are marked with celebration and
copious spending, but for places like Aleppo and
Damascus, they are marked with searing memories of
death and destruction. My desk is cluttered with
unneeded materialistic objects while their streets are
cluttered with corpses of loved ones and neighbors. I
am privileged in this way; I only worry about a mess
on my desk, not a massacre outside my door.
The people in these cities are suffering because they
are under an oppressive dictator that disparages the
lives under his rule. In this scenario, the people really
are helpless and alone because although humanitarian
aid is being provided, children are still being orphaned
and entire families are being wiped out. It seems as if
the person responsible, Bashar al Assad, could not care
less about the destruction he is inflicting because he is
not directly affected.
Reading this, I am not surprised
that I thought and wrote about
Aleppo. My senior research
project was on the Syrian Civil
War and I did much research on
the topic. I looked at a dozen
sources, but the thing that stuck
to me the most and was the
reason for this journal entry is a
video of a little boy in Aleppo in
an ambulance. It just so happens
that it was also what inspired me
to research that particular crisis.
That research paper really made
an impact on me, I look at my life
a different way. We only hear
about the most disturbing
massacres and wars in human
history, we do not experience nor
observe them, or so I thought.
Bashar al Assad is a dictator that
is killing thousands of people for
power and control. He reminded
me of the ruthless dictating kings
of England in the 16th century.
He is like Macbeth.
Macbeth first killed to fulfill a
prophecy of kingship and with
that power, he became headstrong
and reckless, killing more people
senselessly. Much like Bashar al
Assad, he had no regard for
human life, especially not the
lives under his rule. How did
power affect them both? It made

Entry #2
Date/Time: January 5, 2017, 7:03
PM
Location: Sitting on a couch,
waiting in the lobby at the hotel
where my mom works.
Entry #3
Date/Time: January 6, 2017, 6:40
AM
Location: Starbucks at 10th and
I am waiting for my mom to get off work and take me
home. I am sitting here alone with nothing else to do,
so I decided to journal. The hotel has just recently been
remodeled and everything looks brand new. There is a
coffee machine at the bar and the front desk person told
me to help myself but I cant help feeling weird if I do.
I always feel out of place here, even though I know
most of the workers and it feels like I wait here, in this
same chair, every other day. I think its the guests, they
intimidate me.
This is an expensive hotel and the people that stay here
usually have an air of condescendence and superiority.
They are also white and look like they fill every minute
of every day with very important things to do.
I am a very Mexican teenager sitting in the lobby with
my school uniform still on at 7pm, a peculiarity in this
scenario. They are people of power, I see it in their
confident gait, their stern face, and in their expensive
outfits.
The five men that just walked in are all sporting gray
and white hairs in their full heads. All in similar
business suits and casually talking amongst themselves.
They seem relaxed but have not fully let their guards
down, how can they when theyre socializing with their
coworkers, most likely their competitors. Everyone is a
contestant in the business world. They put their hands
on each others shoulders a lot, probably to emphasize
what theyre saying but, to me, it looks like an
intimidation technique.
I decided to make some good use of my time while I
wait half an hour to leave for school. This Starbucks
was recently remodeled and I cant help but to be angry
that the table Im sitting at is already wobbly. For some
reason my mind immediately blames the homeless, as
if they are the only ones at fault. I quiet these
them murderers and self-serving.
Here, the building itself is an
institution of power. It holds
hundreds of bedrooms with
expensive white furniture and
premium roast coffee in each
bedrooms coffee maker. Reading
this entry, I have learned that
although I am intimidated by
these businessmen, I am also
curious and do not waver when
analyzing them. I notice that my
own race matters to me and I care
about how I am perceived to
other people, especially people
that look powerful.
Additionally, I noted the white
and gray hairs on their heads
because even now, in the 21st
century, it is a representation of
wisdom and, when coupled with
other characteristics, a trademark
of power. I remember they were
very sophisticated but still plainly
used a subtle intimation
technique of touching each
others shoulders as if
transmitting through the weight
of the pressure how strong and
willing they are. Okonkwo from
Things Fall Apart might have
approved. If Okonkwo embodies
everything manly from the
novels setting, if he were to have
been there, with that group of
men, sharing their background,
he too, would constantly be
placing his hand on the mens
shoulders when speaking to them.
In this entry, I noticed that my
knowledge of sociology kicked in
a little bit. Since taking the
college sociology course offered
at the school, I have learned to
put new meaning to things. We
Market, sipping on a caramel
latte, waiting to leave for school.
Entry #4
Date/Time: January 7, 2017, 9:51
AM
Location: La Pacifica RV Park,
my moms second job where I
volunteer.
discriminatory thoughts as fast as I can come to my
senses and think of the dozens of people that visit this
place every day. The table is also sticky, and because I
am a bonafide germaphobe, I carry disinfectant wipes
with me. As I wipe the table, the man behind the
counter looks at me and stares, as if it is the weirdest
thing hes ever seen, which I highly doubt in this part
of town. I ignore him and take out another wipe to go
at it again, just for good measure.
When I finally sit down, I take out my laptop and do a
little bit of everything for my assignments. The barista
calls out my name for my drink and I stand up to get it.
I notice that the place is unusually empty and it stirs a
sense of happiness in me because I can work without
the usual buzz of the morning crew. I sit down again
and notice the items that fill my desk: an Apple laptop,
an Apple phone, a five dollar beverage, and aesthetic
stationery. I feel fake. These items do not represent me,
not really. The laptop was provided to me by the
school, my phone is from 2015, and the only thing I
indulge in, because I dont particularly fancy makeup,
is stationery. I have an explanation for all these things,
except the drink I just bought. The money I bought it
with wasnt even mine, I didnt work to earn it, not to
mention it was ridiculously overpriced.
At this time, a group of girls walk in, they look like
students, and are chatting about what they will order.
They finally settle on the largest frapp size, one for
each. These girls look like me, so I imagine they must
be from a similar socioeconomic background.
My mind was already riled up by the sudden and crude
realization that I was scammed by Starbucks so I
naturally thought, This business is tricking us into
giving them money we dont have to buy overpriced
drinks overloaded with sugar that increases the
potential for diabetes, especially in Latinos. Theyre
harming us and were paying them to do it. Why?
Symbols of power and status.
Once again, I have nothing better to do than this
project, so I sat down and wrote. Im sitting on an
office chair in the back of the office, eating a breakfast
burrito because we didnt have time in the morning to
cook breakfast. Im not used to eating breakfast so I
only eat half and save the rest for later. Its a mellow
morning in the office, not many people have come in.
My mom is in the front watching a show on Netflix and
recently learned about false
consciousness and how it is a
bourgeois scheme to keep the
proletariat yearning for
something seemingly attainable:
social status.
Manufacturing things like
iPhones and Starbucks drinks, the
bourgeois give the general public
a false sense of social power by
making them think that they are
part of the upper class because
they can afford these things
when in reality, they cant. It is a
form of ignorance from the
proletariat that keeps the
bourgeois rich and comfortable. It
is how the bourgeois hold power
over the public. This was my
epiphany whilst writing this
particular entry.
Furthermore, what I learned
about myself from this
experience is that I am either
more aware than I thought, or
overanalyzing things. However,
my ideas have not changed and I
still think Starbucks and Apple
are scamming us. Ignorance is
bliss.
What I learned from this journal
entry is that I care for people
more than I like to admit and that
I do overanalyze things, but its
sensible analyzation. I seem to
have a natural bias against
Christians in this case because of
what has been going on with the

Entry #5
Date/Time: January 8, 2017, 7:42
AM
Location: Coffee shop close to
my house, drinking a reasonably
priced mocha and enjoying the
morning.
knitting, she seems relaxed.
I was thinking about the cleaning lady, Anita, who was
fired last week because she only has a tourist visa,
shes not allowed to work in the United States. My
mom and I became really good friends with her, shes a
very friendly person and easy to talk to, even for me.
She came in earlier to talk and started crying because
she didnt know what to do now that she doesnt have a
job. She lives here, at the park and has three daughters,
her husband also works at the park. The owners of the
place claim to be Christian and extremely religious, but
they still put a competent woman out of a job without
warning. Doesnt the bible preach altruism and to be
kind to your neighbor? It was comprehensible why
they had to let her go, but it was disagreeable not
giving her a heads up beforehand. To them it must have
just been another replaceable worker in the lower
division.
I decided to come here to write my last entry because it
is one of my favorite places. The coffee shop recently
opened and sell the best-tasting lattes and mochas Ive
ever had. After that epiphany at Starbucks, I have
decided to quit going there. At least with independent
coffee shops like this one, I have an idea of whom my
money is going to, not to a capitalistic corporation that
benefits from false consciousness because their
products have become a status symbol. I feel better
about spending money here because it is cheaper for
way better quality and I have known the barista since
they opened so I know she will deliver.
At starbucks, the workers never stayed long enough for
me to know them or vice-versa. Once I started making
progress with them in greeting them in the morning
hoping theyd recognize me, a different barista would
come. Some of them were just temporarily transferred
and came back, but I had to initiate the process of
making small talk and greeting them cheerfully all over
again because I am a shy person. In contrast, I even
have the barista here as a friend on Facebook and I
have also become friends with some of the other
regulars.
Starbucks is such a big corporation that their system is
almost Kafkaesque, dozens of customers go in every
day with the same intent. The workers always meet
them with either a practiced smile and cheerful voice or
a monotone voice and an eagerness to end their shift.
presidential election. Many that
support Trump and his hatred
claim to be extremely religious
and conservative. Because of this,
I made up my mind that the
people who fired Anita were bad
and could not care less about
their employees. I want to think
more on this over time to
hopefully find a solution or
another way of thinking.
However, my ideas about my
moms bosses at La Pacifica RV
Park have not changed. Since this
journal entry, however, I have
come to the conclusion that
something else was at play and
the bosses are not all to blame.
What I have learned about myself
from this experience is that I have
the power to change what I
disagree with. I used to think that
it wouldnt matter if I stopped
supporting something I disagreed
with because I was just one
person out of thousands. Now, I
see that I hold the power to
change things for myself, even if
it doesnt have an impact
elsewhere.
Furthermore, in this scenario, I
use my philosophy knowledge to
analyze what is happening when I
enact a change in my life.
According to myself, I got out of
a Kafkaesque situation, which we
are currently studying in
philosophy class with Dr.
Chowdhury. Kafkaesque makes
an enemy out of repetitive,
exhaustive situations that are
connected to the system which
I interpret to be as capitalism. To
me, changing from Starbucks to
an independent coffee shop was
how I got out of the system.
The wheel spins the same all day, every day. I used to
think I liked it there because it was inspirational, but
looking back, I almost never got work done because I
was distracted by the going-ons of the place. Im
starting to believe that I only pretended to like it
because it was trendy and it really is a symbol of
status amongst teenagers, I was practicing false
consciousness.
However, after analyzing this
entry, I realized that I did not get
out of the system because I am
living inside it. So, my ideas have
somehow changed, I still think
Starbucks is an evil corporation,
but I no longer think I escaped it,
I only chose the lesser of two
evils.