Writ340-Michael

Michael Parsa My biggest passion is to travel; my ultimate fulfilling goal is to travel to every country in the world. However, sometimes I worry that landmarks and places I want to see will not be there anymore because of pollution or climate change. For example, Venice, Italy is already flooding and some parts of the city are underwater. It is examples as such that has me wishing that this planet takes control of what we use and how we use it. We are so busy with our everyday duties that we forget how much of an impact we have on this world. Driving to work releases fumes into our environment, polluting and spilling oil into our oceans ruins our coral reefs and hurts or kills animals. When we do not recycle, tress is killed, we are using up energy, and landfills are reaching capacity. There are so many steps we can take to help save our planet, but in some countries, they are excluded from that type of knowledge or education. Despite preparing myself to become an expert in the ...

     I have never truly realized how challenging and cutthroat it is to land an internship in this job market. Some of the internships I have been applying to only offer a few amounts of spots, but they have a surplus of highly qualified candidates fighting for the job. Also, some of the potential candidates have been grad or master students which significantly adds to the difficulty of landing one as an undergrad. My peers in my major and I are fighting for the same spots in the more prestigious internships, and I recently experienced how competitive it can get.      Last week one of my classmates asked me who I had an interview with. I replied with the firm that I had an interview with and he was in shock since it is very competitive. He abruptly asked me how I landed an interview and I responded with that I had a mutual connection with the person in charge of the internship program. He then proceeds to hide his screen. I than get a glimpse of ...

After reading Born on Third Base, I gained much insight on the current gap between the 1% and 99%. Most people in the United States do not have immense wealth, which already creates segregation between the rich and poor and the lives they lead.  Amongst struggling to live comfortably and have better lives, the underclass watch as the 1% holds the dominance and control of the society we live in. Living with these circumstances is not fair and not the way the world should work. Being the majority but having no control creates frustration and anger towards the wealthy, increasing the space between the classes.  Chuck Collins discusses how the classes need to work together to rid inequality and thus create better lives for everyone. The 99% need to be willing to let go of their emotions and problem solve, while the 1% needs to have empathy and be generous by volunteering their efforts and money to communities in need. Collins leads by example, he grew up in the 1% but donated his...

Practicing stress management has been impactful and important in my life; meditation, specifically, is the most effective stress-reducing solution for me. I was introduced to meditation in high school during a mindfulness class I signed up for. The class started out with a brief explanation of our lesson or focus of the day. We then set our intentions for the meditation, I typically would choose the intention of relaxation. My teacher would remind us each class to stay focused on our breath when distracting thoughts would enter our minds. He said to acknowledge the thoughts then dismiss them to experience a successful and beneficial meditation practice. Breathing is a constant movement flowing to create a balance through inhalation and exhalation. When I can direct my attention to how breathing sounds and feels, I can be fully present in the moment. That moment of pure bliss helps my brain think clearly once I peacefully end the session. Since I started meditating, I have applied ...

The Cost of the New Hip Neighborhood is The Price of Another's Displacement Displacement Happens in our Backyards Being in Los Angeles means that displacement is happening every day. From the eviction of Lil Bill’s bike repair shop on the USC campus to residents priced out of their homes the act of displacement is changing the very fabric of the city. The local bike shop business owner who was integral to USC community was affected by the new USC Village: his business was shut down after operating for over 40 years. During an interview with an anonymous displaced former Crenshaw resident, she described an area that was once deemed affordable and “unsafe” become a place for young, affluent individuals. Previously at night, she stated it was dangerous to stroll down the street, it was impossible to feel comfortable while turning into dark corners. Now due to gentrification, now walking down the street at night does not feel like there is always an impending danger. The forme...

As I continued reading Growing a Farmer , I could appreciate Timmermeister’s story, but knew that I could never follow such a path. However, I enjoyed how the descriptive (sometimes mundane) chapters helped the reader visualize and explore new aspects of the farm as Timmermeister did. I really liked that he found multiple ways to use all parts of his land and livestock so that nothing went to waste. He completely lived off his own land and also provided goods to others as well. He cultivated raw milk from his cows, honey from his bees, and meat from his slaughtered pigs. Honestly, the Slaughter chapter was brutal to read. As an animal enthusiast, I could never witness an animal being butchered, even when that’s its purpose. It was interesting to see that the had a genuine emotional connection to his pigs, but was still, at the end, able to murder them. Interestingly, my aunt who lived in DC actually did exactly what Timmermeister did. She owns and runs 8 restaurants in the area, bu...