Family Relationships

      I've been to a lot of weddings in my life for lots of family and friends. I've been able to participate in the celebration and help out with the execution of the wedding. Its always been interesting for me to see the differences between each wedding. Over the years, I've learned just how much time, money, and effort can go into a wedding. It's such a happy and exciting time of life where everyone comes to celebrate two people they care about. It's gotten me thinking about what I'd like to do for my wedding. I've also been thinking about how these beginning parts of a relationship affect the relationship for the rest of a couples' lives. I want to start a relationship off strong, and I've discovered some good tips for how to do so.     Let's start off with the engagement. Often, online and in the movies we see people putting on a huge display for their engagements. Sometimes they invite others to come watch and take pictures of this special

      When was the last time you planned, prepared for, and went on a date? Dating is something that is becoming more and more scarce in the world. I’ve noticed that it has been replaced with casual hanging out. Based on my observations and experience this past year, I believe a “date” is seen as a stronger commitment than hanging out. Hanging out is more comfortable and there’s almost no decision making happening in it. No one has to decide if they like the other person enough to become more serious with them. It’s often around other people rather than one on one, so there’s others to interact with. Also, you don’t have to commit to hanging out with someone, and it’s easier to cancel as well as reschedule. However, I think dating has become seen as a greater commitment than it actually is.     When someone goes on a date, they are wanting to get to know the other person better. Questions are asked about one another, and there’s a lot of listening and learning involved. One thing that’

      I look at the world today and I see so many stereotypes that we put on others. I also see stereotypes that others put on me. I’ve always tried to avoid these stereotypes and go against what is expected of me. I chose a major that not a lot of women are found in. I love hanging out with guys as much as I can and always try to be “one of the boys”, doing activities they like to do. A term that may be used for this is ‘tomboy’. It’s pretty common among girls and is a socially acceptable, and even encouraged, behavior. Now, I’d like to turn the perspective a little bit. What if there was a boy that wanted to hang out with girls, paint nails, and play with dolls? How did your perception change? What was your initial thought of this boy? There is also a term commonly used for this: ‘sissy’. This brings to attention the fact that our perceptions of men and women are different.     When I think about it, I can think of quite a few things that are socially unacceptable for men. At the beg