Getting Ready For My First JA Session

This Wednesday, I'll be doing my first student teaching session with JA. It took me a while to finally get started with this, because my JA representative couldn't find a school and a teacher for me to work with. About three weeks ago, my JA representative finally found me a teacher to work with, but the teacher asked me to start coming in on November 5th. So I will be getting ready for my first session on Tuesday night. I'm a little nervous and a little excited. I'm nervous because I will have to teach for an entire 45-minute session, once a week for the next six weeks. In the past, I only had to observe classrooms, this time I'll actually be teaching a class, so there's a lot of responsiblity on my shoulders. I'm excited because I will finally get a little taste of what my future career will involve. I've chosen to pursue a career in teaching, so this student teaching session with JA will help prepare me for my future career.

That's about it for this past weekend. I had a pretty boring weekend. I didn't do much on Halloween. I just passed out candy to kids that stopped by for trick-or-treating then hung out with a friend for a couple hours afterwards.

The most exciting thing I did was complete my mail-in voting ballot and mailed it. Two of the most important issues to me on my voting ballot were the presidental election and Prop. 8. I decided to vote for McCain and Palin. I trust John McCain with the presidency the most out of all the other candidates. He has good character (one example is when he chose to stay as a POW during the Vietnam War, when he had the option to be snuck out earlier). He also has a lot of experience as a politician (26 years) which makes him qualified to hold the highest office in the land. I identify more with John McCain than the other candidates. I'm also the type of person who votes more on the character and qualifications of a politician rather than what they say they'll do once they're elected into office. Any politician can change their mind about what they said they were going to do once elected into office (remember George W. Bush?). But their character hardly changes.

The other issue that I felt was very important to me was Proposition 8. Marriage between a man and a woman is a very important issue to me, because only a man and a woman combined are capable of PRODUCING a family. Ask all of these gays and lesbians where they came from, I doubt any of them will say that they came from gay or lesbian couples. So I definitely voted Yes on my ballot for Prop. 8. I believe that all of the gays and lesbians in California who are fighting on this issue are viewing this issue the wrong way. They say that they want equality; but equality is not the issue here. The issue here is the sanctity of marriage; marriage has always been between a man and a woman for as long as history can remember. Changing the way marriage has always been would be like changing Thanksgiving Day dinner with vegetarian food instead of turkey because the vegetarians want "equality." Being gay or lesbian is a choice that goes against typical family values in our society. I believe that this issue goes even further than just marriage alone. Gays and lesbians want the state to recognize their status so that they can save money on taxes and be recognized as a couple by the state. If gays and lesbians didn't care about saving money on their tax forms, then they wouldn't be making such a big deal about marriage and equality. Gays and lesbians make up a very small fraction of society, they are not the majority so why should they ruin something which the majority loves so much just the way it is? If they want to experience the same joys of marriage as the rest of society does, and have the state recognize it, then they need to revert from their lifestyle. I also believe in the slippery-slope argument. If we allow gays and lesbians to marry in California, where will it end? Will pedophiles with underage lovers spring up and say they want the same rights too? Will people who practice bestiality suddenly say they want to marry their pets too? Will people be able to marry lifeless objects too? Where does it end? If we don't draw a line somewhere and put it in writing, there's no end to it.

Aside from everything I just said, I will admit that I am a Christian (non-denominiational) with Christian values. So I find homosexuality to be disgusting and wrong to begin with. I also think that gays and lesbians who are trying to push their lifestyle and this issue in our faces are being selfish too. If married couples couldn't save money on their tax forms, then they probably wouldn't be pushing this issue at all. Also, if having a gay or lesbian lifestyle is your thing, then keep it in the privacy of your own home. The rest of society doesn't need you to rub it in their faces. I have a friend who went to Disneyland last month with his girlfriend, and they were shocked and unprepared to see that there was a gay pride parade at Disneyland. Of all the places in the world to have a gay pride parade, Disneyland?!?!