Response to Question #1

Gilgamesh loses his innocence once he realizes that nothing is immortal. He accepts the end of things, including his own life. Once Enkidu dies, his world crumbles. He had finally cared for someone besides himself in his life, Enkidu was his best friend. Losing him made him face the reality of mortality. I would say a time of losing childhood innocence would be when my mom’s friend died. I was still a child, about five years old. I couldn’t understand why she was crying or what was happening.  Seeing her cry made me cry, but I still didn’t understand why she was so sad. She then explained to me that people die all the time, sometimes the ones you care about. It made me face the reality of death. I was able to understand the mortality of everything around me, shedding that innocence along the way. 

Response to Question 1

When I was young I, like all other young children, believed in things like Santa, the Easter Bunny,the Tooth Fairy during my childhood. Sadly those childhood figures were debunked all by the time I was 10. First it was the Easter Bunny, obviously as on those church sundays I could see about 10 parents laying eggs randomly around the field in the back. At the time I didn't really care as the Easter Bunny was not one of my favorites but still, that's one down. The next was the Tooth Fairy as I saw my dad try to sneakily put a 1 dollar bill under my pillow and walk away, that one hurt a bit as I actually believed in the Fairy. But Santa was the one that truly ruined my childhood, seeing my cousins parents and my mom wrap gifts from said "santa" and put them in a closet truly ruined that feeling of being rewarded for being good.

Safe to say I was no longer worried about being a bad apple.

Magnum PI was my hero growing up. I admired everything about him from his colorful hawaiian shirts to his spy skills and his knack for always getting the hottest chicks. Magnum appealed to me because he was the strong, smart and the guy to go to if you were ever held at gunpoint.  Magnum would rescue you. I didn't only look up to Magnum because he was really good at cracking all of his cases but  also because he did it his way every time. He didn't listen to anyone; he was his own boss. I didn't just like magnom as a person. I liked everything about his life style. I think on a deeper level what I really admire is his ability to follow his own inner voice, not just as a guide for right and wrong, but because making your own decisions that don’t follow the crowd is living boldly and fearlessly.

My Uncle, the only son among 5 daughters, has had a significant influence on me.  I see him as a role model because at first he started off not going to college, and then went to a community college.  Eventually he realized that he was better than this, and he worked hard for many years getting his education, paying for it himself because his father had stopped paying for his education after being let down many times.  He did all of this work thanklessly and without recognition.  Now he is the CEO of a startup company in the Technology Industry for data storage in the cloud.  He has made over a million dollars and is by far the most successful member of my mother's family.  I am sure his father would be proud of him if he was alive today.  I speak with him frequently over the phone and he supports me and aids me in solving problems that I have.  I see myself in him and I've come to realize that he had many of the same experiences as I did in High School, along with making similar mistakes.  It's reassuring to have someone to discuss with when I'm not able or willing to argue with my parents about the issue at hand.  I look up to my Uncle and believe that I can learn from his experiences and gain valuable advice through talking and connecting with him.  I would be satisfied if I grow up to be even half as successful as him.

Response to Blog Post 1

My Mom has had a significant influence on my life because she got me into sports , she introduced me to Christianity, and she made sure I was on point with school, chores, and track. Without her I would be wandering around in the streets or in jail not knowing what to do about my life. Her introducing sports to me made me let out stress and made me feel like I have a purpose in life chasing my dreams. Introducing Christianity to me gave me something to believe in giving me faith and hope. Last but not least she made sure I was on point teaching me how to become a young man by giving me chores around the house, giving me responsibility. She also made sure I finished my homework before track practice so I could be on top of my grades. 

Response to Post 1

Growing up as the oldest can make it difficult to find a good, relatable role model or hero.  Fortunately, my cousin Chris has been someone who I have been able to look up to.  No matter the situation he always sets a good example.  Through various troubling times of family adversity, he displayed courage and unselfishness to make the best of a bad situation.  He has translated these leadership qualities to his work ethic.  Throughout college he was apart of many entrepreneurial ventures and brought success to each one.  He stepped up during crucial times of misfortune when others would give up and would not rest until each of these ventures were on a path to success.  His motivation to not let difficulty get in his way, no matter the circumstance, has shown me that he is a true hero.

Just like Gilgamesh, I lost my childhood innocence when someone I loved and spent everyday with died. I never personally faced death until my pet hamster died after only 3 years. Although this is something that is not typically seen as a big deal, to me it was my first encounter with death and It forced me to see that death is unavoidable and that I have no control over it. That loss was enough to crush my perfect world and had to accept that even if you really love someone, you can not stop them from dying. While I was told that all living things eventually die, I had the illusion that death was fair and peaceful which it ended up being not true. when Gilgamesh faced reality his view of what his life changed dramatically and so did I when I was exposed to the heartbreaking truth of death being an uncontrollable event.

Blog #1

Someone who has had a significant influence on me is my mom. She has always been there for me every step of my life and I couldn't be more thankful for her, She had dedicated so much of her time trying to raise me to be the best person I can be and I am truly blessed. She understands me more than anyone else and always seems to know what is best for me. She is my hero.

When I was 9 years old, my family vacationed on the Chesapeake Bay, and on that vacation I witnessed environmental destruction first hand for the first time.  I was appalled at what I saw.
On our first day there I sat on a pier, and as the tide went out, I saw hundreds of dead fish covered in tar lying motionless on the ground.  It was the first time I realized that the luxuries we have as humans cause drastic and irreversible devastation to the environment. As a 9 year old it was easy for me to dismiss things that weren't present in my daily routine, but this realization was the first of many that made me wonder how humans can knowingly destroy the environment in exchange for things that we've learned to call necessities.  From that point on I saw life from a very different perspective, one that implored me to not accept the explanations that were given to me, but to draw my own conclusions.

 
 

Response to Blog Post 1

From the beginning of my life, my dad has been like a hero and a role model to me. Without him, I truly believe that I would not be the young man and have a potential for a bright future. When I fail, he gives me guidance and direction to help me get back on track. He teaches me valuable life lessons and knowledge that I wouldn't have if he weren't here. My father has given me a role model to aspire to be like, just like a hero.

Response to Question #2

The moment Gilgamesh realizes he cannot live forever, he loses his innocence. In order to mature, many of us experience an event where it changes our lives. I too go through a change the moment I found out my dad can't live forever. When you are young everything feels infinite, especially your parents. Which is why I couldn't understand why my parent (mom) sat me down to tell me my dad is sick. To a 8 year old me, being sick meant a few days in bed. That's all. But the moment they told me he could leave at any given time, my world shattered. At first, I tried to shrug it off and then deny it. But no matter what, life looked different. Everything was no longer infinite. There is an end just like in my innocence.

Answer to Post about Heros

     In kindergarten they asked me "what do you want to be when you grow up". I never thought of what I wanted to be, so for a moment I thought and came up with a truthful answer. Not completely sure if I would follow this until the future, but sure enough to know that I liked this career, I said "doctor". Years later, happier and more willing to be a doctor, I was faced with a question; what type of doctor should I be? Now I look back and see that if my mom, my hero, who if it weren't without, I might've not found the path she took. A path that helps lives that surround me and my own. My mom is not your typical doctor, though. She introduced me to the field of herbal medicine and holistic nutrition, which has completely re-sparked my interest in medicine. Thankfully, I am now not a high-schooler with no plans set for the future, and have been redirected from wanting to stray from the dream that I set for myself to the path that I am happy with.

Response to Post One

A story I remembered about losing a bit of my childhood innocence, is when I went to Taiwan Mexico to build homes for families who don't have one. I remember crossing into Mexico from the border and seeing all the shacks that people would live in. I remember walking into the "home" that the family of 7, who we were building for lived. There was one room with only a bed. They would try and fit as many people onto the bed as possible. It was a very big shock to see people live this way. This made me very sad and gained a new perspective on the world. It gave me a different outlook on what the world is, and how many people out there are suffering. I have been blessed enough to live in such a wealthy and prosperous area. Where I never did have to worry about where my next meal is coming from, and I could always go home to a bed. That I got numb to the idea of poverty and all the suffering in the world. I was so innocent, and I had this picture of the world that was completely false and ignorant. When I saw first hand, how people lived and that there are people in the world suffering. It really made me lose a bit of innocence. Because when you are a child, you think everything,and everyone live and are like you.But when you experience something like going to a poverty stricken place, it really makes you lose the childhood innocence about everything in the world is ok. And everyone is ok, and not having any struggles.  Just like Gilgamesh growing up, this was a time I really grew up due to different experiences I had.

As a child you look up to your parent and think that you want to be just like them now day. My father has and continues to be one of the biggest role models in my life. My father is the hardest working person I know, know matter what is going on he will do what he needs to do to make sure his family is happy and comfortable. Having gone through a lot as a child, my father is one of the happiest and humble people I know. Every day he wakes up with a smile, even though somedays are though he always makes the most of it. He has guided me through some of the toughest times in my life.

My father has taught many lessons in my life. One of being that family is everything, without family we are nothing. Because of his values I am very close with my family. There isn't a night that we don't have a family dinner, I see my cousins at least once a day, my best friends are my sisters. My dad has one brother, he always told my sisters and I that we always need to have each others backs, because one day when he and my mom are gone were all that we will have. Because of these lessons, I have developed a very strong value of family and how important it is to always have a strong bond because at the end of the day there all you have.

Heros do redirect our own stories without necessarily changing them completely. A friend of mine, who will remain nameless, has taught me this greatly. She and I met freshman year and clicked almost immediately. After about two years, she came to me with terrible news that she was being sent to a therapeutic boarding school to treat her suicidal thoughts and self harming tendencies. Knowing her the way I did, this came to a complete shock to me. But as I looked back on the experiences we shared, I began notice the warning signs I completely ignored even when they stood right smack in front of my face.

This hero didn’t just teach me a different way to look at mental illness, but she also changed the way I see people tolerating the intolerable; how it’s not always clear to others and why there exists such a grand importance of the obliteration of loneliness.

When I was about 8 years old, I wanted to be a super hero. I wanted to be either batman or one of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. I always used to dress up as batman and pretend to be him. Same thing with the turtles, I used to dress up as Donatello. Even at school I used to tell my friends not to call me kye just call me batman or Donatello.  I honestly don't know why I wanted to be a super hero looking back on it now, but at the time I thought it was cool. I was always happy dressing up as these guys until one day my dad told me I couldn't be batman or Donatello. I cried and cried because I was so upset that I couldn't be like them. My dad told me this when I was about 9 or 10. I then realized that I could never become a fictional character. That's the time I lost a bit of my childhood innocence about the world.

Response to Blog Post #1

One person who has provided a significant positive influence for me all my life is my father. In my childhood, he would take me out on hikes, camping trips, and bike rides to help me learn the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle. He guided me to take adversity in stride when things went wrong. He demonstrated modesty and showed me to be humble when things went right. He taught me to never stoop down and worry about the petty problems, and to keep the bigger picture in mind.

Of all the wisdom he passed on to me, however, the most important was the lesson of leading by example that he has taught me my whole life; not by telling me, but by doing so himself. My dad didn't often use words to instruct me - unless I asked him for advice. He would instead let his actions speak for him. As a result, I have gained similar values to those of my father. I choose to let my actions speak for me instead of being outspoken, and I pay close attention to my values and morals without letting them get in the way of my own well-being.

Response to Question #1

Gilgamesh and I both exhibit a variety of heroic qualities, but our strengths have been highlighted in very different contexts. To be more specific, Gilgamesh's storyline took place thousands of years ago, while mine takes place in the present day. However, even though both Gilgamesh and I both exhibit heroic traits, we both had to work to overcome many of our weaknesses. Although, I have not witnessed the death of one of my closest friends like Gilgamesh did with the death of Enkidu, I still have had many difficult ordeals that I have had to face. One person who has greatly helped me in overcoming these challenges is my mother.  One of the hardest challenges for me to overcome was to not get stressed over large amounts of work. Without my mother, I probably would struggle even with completing this blogpost, in addition to my other schoolwork. Thankfully, my mother told me some strategies that had worked for her in dealing with work-related stress; these included only focusing on what is truly necessary to complete and is due the soonest, while still not procrastinating and waiting until the last minute to complete my assignments. Fortunately, these two strategies ended up working for me, and now I am able to complete large amounts of work without getting too stressed out, just like Gilgamesh was able to become a stronger person as a result of Enkidu's influence on his life.

Response to Question 2









It was early in the morning during Christmas of 2008, when I realized that Santa Clause did not exist. I was nine years old, and for the special occasion, I was staying at my cousins house for the night. After the night passed, we were both excited to see that the Christmas tree was full of vivid colors and with many gifts at the bottom. However, when I searched through to see which ones were mine, I could only find two.  I then started wondering why, could it have been because I behaved bad? Maybe Santa forgot who I was? Many thoughts started coming into my mind, until I called my mom and asked her why Santa only dropped me two gifts. At that point I was expecting an answer like "Santa forgot to drop all of your gifts" or "Sorry darling, but Santa was very busy dropping all the gifts in time," but instead I got " Sorry son, but the truths is that Santa does not exist." I was very shocked when I heard that answer and all I wanted to was to tell my cousin, but I retained from doing so. I realized that if I told him, I might have ruined his day and his parents might not have an answer for him. Not telling him that day, was one of my many decisions who make me who I am today. Instead of crying or screaming for not getting what I wanted, I kept quiet and enjoyed the beautiful moment with my family.

Response to Hero Figures (Post #1)

October 17th, 2016




Gilgamesh and I have something in common. When faced with harsh reality's we retreat into our bubble's of comfort. In light of the death of Enkidu and the realization of his own mortality, these realities commanded attention and minuscule distractions couldn't divert his attention long enough and he had to eventually accept that the future is unperdictable and he will eventually die. Though I didn't have a battle with my mortality and the death of a friend, I did have an experience with loss. In the middle of my freshman year, I was told that we would be moving away to Maryland because of my parent's job. I had planned on finishing high school in New York and experiencing the milestones of growing up with my closest friends, now I'd have to do this alone in an unfamiliar place. Instead of accepting the situation I distracted myself. I found myself continuing on with life as if this massive change in a few short months wasn't going to happen. I refused to accept that I was leaving and when the day came, I couldn't believe it, I was distaught and inconsolable. I had remained in the comfort of the past that I was blinded by the future. Gilgamesh and I needed to have a monumental experience of change to realize the unperdictablity of the future. Thankfully, I experience this realization now because it has helped me get a firm understanding of how many things in our life are out of our control and how to be acceptant of certain circumstances.

Answer to Blog Question 1

I love blogs.

BLOG POST #1: HERO FIGURES

In the earliest written epic, the Sumerian hero Gilgamesh notes that heroes "supply the makefaith bridges - to complete a bird's missing trajectory, the complex belief of a tomorrow - to swerve its narrative back to sense once more."  Support his claim that heroes help redirect our own stories and our trajectories through life.  Specifically, indicate a person who has had significant influence on your and describe that influence.

OR

Alternate post:  The Gilgamesh story can also be seen as a story of growing up, of the loss of childhood innocence, and the recognition it cannot be regained.  Gilgamesh loses his illusions about fame and living forever, and comes to accept reality.  Recount a time you lost a bit of childhood innocence about the world and/or accepted the idea that you can't run from your problems, which is a hallmark of adult maturity.

POST DUE: Thursday, Oct. 20 by the start of class

2 RESPONSES TO POSTS DUE: Tuesday, Oct. 25 by the start of class.

NOTE: Remember to create your own post when responding to the question (your teacher modeled this in class). That way, people will be able to click on the word “comment” below your post to respond to what you said.