Author: Casimir Colon (Page 1 of 5)

After three units of my favourite class, 1121, I learned an important detail about myself as a writer (and video editor). When I look back at 1101, I understand now that it was the beginning stages of how to genuinely be a writer. It was a seed planted within my repertoire to improve my English articulation that blossomed through 1121, and has allowed me to create ideas that I can articulate in interesting ways. This is a blessing and, sometimes a curse. The blessing is it gives is the ability to talk about any topic in an intriguing fashion. The curse is if I’m not cautious enough, I can get lost in my own thoughts.

Unit One:
Unit One was very interesting to me and possibly my favourite assignment due to its potential creativity that allowed me to express my creativity in large proportions. The assignment was to write about a word or phrase that is important to my discourse community. It was a chance to show off my wisdom and elaborate on how much my chosen word means to me. The word I chose was ‘osu’.

My highlights was my organization. From my strong introduction, then transitioning to what my word means, my experience with osu and the  pros and cons. As I worked on my essay, I used a tone that was of storytelling for my real life experience.  I poured a lot of emotion and wisdom into my work which all resulted in an A.

Unit One taught me that the tone of an essay is significant and powerful in creative writing. For example, I used a lot of creativity for my introduction yo set the essay off: “I left one world, but with a purpose of entering the other as a stronger version. I transitioned by walking through that gym door, stepping onto the mat, stood tall with my feet together, arms crossed and said the one word that would begin anew. It symbolizes the niche that rebirthed me, changing my existence forever: Osu!”  When I typed the introduction, it was with such emotional drive that empowered me to create a strong intro in the form of a powerful statement. The intro helped the essay to be as strong as it is from beginning, middle, and end.

Unit Two:
Unit Two was an eye opener for me because it was absolutely the most frustrating assignment due to the complicated topic I chose. In Unit Two, I was required to choose a problem that impacted my community.  I chose gun violence in metropolitan areas. When I look back at my frustration,  I realized that when you work on a complicated topic, you can be flooded with ideas and lose sight of implementing an important structure. For me, it was having a thesis of what you’re writing about.

I spent weeks doing research as well as proof reading. It was exhausting due to pulling a few all nighters so I felt some frustration. When I submitted it, I thought to myself, “There is no way this can be less than an A.  All this research cements a guaranteed A.”  My favourite professor Ms. Hall gave me a reality check that stood out to me.  I’ve noticed it is one of my downfalls: I’m prone to overthinking which I have noted affects me outside of college, and I am now aware that it leaks onto my writing. This embarrassing habit causes me to focus too much one one essay structure (in this case, detail) and neglect another (the thesis).

Unit Two taught me the importance of going with a certain flow relaxed flow of writing to be more accurate instead of trying to articulate an overthought bubble of ideas.

Unit Three:
Unit 3 was the Unit I was dreading the most. The assignment was to make a documentary of our how your life was affected last year of 2020. I chose to do mines in the form of a monologue podcast. My podcast would be about how 2020’s tumultuous nature broke me and how I rebounded.

Throughout the making of my podcast, I found it to be complicated and embarrassing.  It was a first time doing an assignment that required work of that style. There was also the complicated nature that is editing. Having to listen to your own voice repeatedly and trying to make sure it fits well into your video really brought out my insecurity.  Most people hate listening to their voice repeatedly. My project was no different. What also made it tough was the constantly re-editing my podcast to ensure it was at its best. The repeated steps of downloading videos and background music, cutting and splitting audio, cropping and exporting was energy draining.

In the end, it all worked out. This Unit reminded me that if you have a realistic and genuine motivation, you can get around any assignment. What motivated me was to use my editing skills to create an unorthodox display of who I am to my favourite professor. I wanted Ms. Hall to see more into my world of what I look like, who I am (or what I am) and what I like to do. It was my way of expressing gratitude towards her for restoring my passion to read and write with passion.

Conclusion
As my favourite course unfortunately ends, I am proud of the lessons I have learned.  Throughout this entire journey, I’m proud that I am more knowledgeable of the writer I am as well as more aware of my potential highlights and flaws.  In1101, I was gifted the passion to be a proper writer for the first time. Throughout 1121, I was gifted the the passion to practice, express and strengthen the gift I was given in 1101. I finally felt like a true writer. It made me believe I could write like a journalist. This is a feeling and experience I will carry with me throughout college and beyond. I will never forget my favourite class and the professor who made it all possible.

Intro – One of America’s biggest problems
2020 will be remembered as a strange year that witnessed some of the highest rate of gun violence America has seen in a long time. This problem, however, is nothing new in America.  For a long time, the United States has experienced issues with gun violence. The country has the highest gun ownership while also holding an overall high rate of gun violence.  Unfortunately, its culture and gun laws play a role in fueling the serious problem that has to be addressed appropriately very soon.

Origins – creation of the first firearms: 
In the 9th century, Chinese invented black powder as a means to use fireworks. This invention soon found its way into weaponry. The first firearms trace back to the 10th century. During the Yuan Dynasty, the Chinese invented what historians deem the first ever firearms. The first guns were made from a tube of bamboo filled with gunpowder to fire a spear.

Around the 13th to 14th century, firearms made its way to Europe and the Middle East. The Silk Road trading system gave European and Middle Eastern regions the ingredients needed. Overtime, the spread of gun technology allowed guns to evolve into the fierce, dangerous and controversial weapon we know it as.

Origins and history of American gun culture:
America’s traditional hunger for guns dates all the way back to America’s frontiersman days. The American frontier era was rough and rugged period.  Almost everybody during the Frontiersman era carried a firearm of some sort. Knowing how to hunt and shoot was a necessity for survival due to the wild and dangerous agrarian environment. Before the American Revolutionary War, the U.S government did not have a full-time army, thus being an armed civilian was more necessary.

There is no question about it. Americans venerate guns. Guns are, after all, glorified in American cultural traditional. In fact, it may be venerated to an alarming degree due to the many civilians that own them, and how easy it is to obtain them, including through nefarious means. One concerning example of how Americans traditionally love guns is data revealing there are more guns in America than there are American people. In America, there are 120.5 guns per 100 residents. America also owns a large amount of handguns. The total number of handguns in the world is 857 million. America owns 45 percent of those handguns.

How American gun control  began:
The term “gun control” is described as laws that regulate the manufacturing, modification and possession of guns. Gun control came fruition 143 years after the ratification of the 2nd Amendment (right to bear ‘arms’, meaning guns). As a response to the St. Valentine’s Day massacre in 1929, President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed the first gun control legislation known as the National Firearms Act (NFA) in 1934. It was a means to decrease gun violence by taxing the manufacturing and distribution of guns, restricting people with a criminal background from getting a gun, and requiring gun shows to have a federal firearms license to sell weapons.

Following the assassination of president John F. Kennedy, the FFA was replaced by the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA). The GCA are a series of federal laws that examines and regulates who can buy or sell firearms. Such regulations include prohibiting gun distribution to people who are felons, below the age of 21, and mentally ill, along with restricting obtaining guns overseas.

Gun control efficiency in the United States:
Unfortunately, there are many loopholes around legally purchasing a gun. For starters, gun sellers, including sellers with a Federal Firearms License (FFL), can sell guns privately under the Firearms Owners Protection Act (FOPA). The FOPA Act, signed by president Ronald Reagan, is a federal law that allows FFL sellers to distribute guns to people with less restrictions. This opened series of slippery slopes and loopholes for individuals that are unfit to carry guns.

One loophole is the inefficient  background checks.  Before one can purchase a gun, it is required to have a background check examined. The seller must run the background check through the federal system, which evaluates factors such as criminal and mental health history. However, background check enforcement is extremely weak. They are infamously underfunded and underresourced. The FBI can take days to complete a background check to give authorization to buy a gun. By that time, a gun is already sold. This results in misinformation or reports taking too long which, furthermore, results in the customer being allowed to purchase a gun. Another issue is the appetite for some sellers host a private gun shows where one, usually a friend or family member, evades a background check, thus the private seller makes fast and easy cash as well as making it easier for guns to be obtained.

A great example of slipping through a background check is the Charleston Church shooter, Dylann Roof. Despite failing a background check due to a history of substance abuse, Roof managed to obtain a handgun. The FBI did not receive his background check in time, giving Roof the opportunity to kill nine and injure one church attendees with a Glock.

Legal bias is another loophole.  America is a historic racially divided nation that glorifies guns. Gun control has a history of being presented in the form of prejudice, targeting minorities. One example is the Mulford Act that targeted the Black Panther Party. The Black Panther Party, who resided in Oakland, California, was a Black organization that patrolled their neighborhood by practicing their right to publicly carry a firearm. This act was efficient in protecting the areas they occupied. However, it did not bode well with the government who viewed the Black Panthers, or any seemingly powerful Black person, a threat. In an act to strain the Black Panther’s power, California Governor Ronald Reagan passed the Mulford Act. The Black Panthers protested this unfair bill by marching to the Capitol with loaded guns. Unfortunately, this did not help prevent their right to bear arms from being usurped.

How Gun Control correlates with gun violence (in metropolitan areas):
The basis of gun control is to prevent someone who should not have a gun from obtaining one to curtail gun violence, right? This may be true to an extent. For example, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act prevented 2.1 million purchases from 1994 to 2014. An estimation of those preventions were given to one million people who had a criminal history.

Studies show states with stricter gun control have fewer cases of gun violence. This includes both city and rural states (this article will however focus mostly on metropolitan areas). New York State is considered strict with gun ownership. For instance, carrying a handgun in the open is forbidden and purchasing assault rifles is prohibited. In 2019, NYC’s crime rate reached a record low of an estimate of 95000 incidents.

California is considered to be the state with that has the toughest gun restrictions out of any state. To manufacture, sell or obtain a gun requires 5-year Firearm Safety Certificate along with a monitored written test. If there is any violation of a firearm in the state of California, one can receive a 10 year ban. On a federal level, it can also result in a lifetime gun ban. In 2019, the crime rate in California decreased from the previous year to 2272 per 1000 residents.

Possible solutions – what the US can do? How other countries’ gun control policy fare well compared to the United States?:
Can control work? Yes. But there is still a lot of work to be done. To grasp a better understanding of the potential efficiency of gun control, here is a look of how other rich countries fare well with gun control:

Canada’s gun control policies are similar to the United States but is regulated with major restrictions. Obtaining a license to carry a firearm is a strict process. When applying for a license in Canada, you go through a series of background checks. This includes 18 years of age (some exceptions allow 12-17 but must be under supervision of a licensed owner), criminal history, mental evaluation, cases of domestic violence, and addiction. They also prohibit certain guns such as sawed-off shot guns, short barreled handguns and certain military guns.

Once you obtain your gun license, it must be renewed every five years. Once you get a gun, you must, by law, keep it in storage unloaded when not using it.

In 2019, the total number of gun homicide in Canada, a population 37.59 million, was 263.

The United Kingdom has some of the most strict western gun control policies in the world. Its policies contradict the reason many Americans want a gun: self-defense. In Britain, self defense is considered not a good reason to own a gun. Generally, handguns are banned from the public and reserved only for police and militiamen.

In order to get a license to own a gun, you must have a reason that is validated by the local police chief. The few exceptions where a civilian can own a weapon include job requirements, shooting vermin and sport. Background checks include evaluation of age (must be 18 and above), criminal history, mental illness, drug addiction, home state and attitude towards firearms. Once one is given a firearm, you must renew your license every 5 years and keep your gun in storage unloaded when not using it. Any unlawful use of a firearm can result in 5 years in prison.

In 2019, the total number of gun homicide in the United Kingdom, a population of 66.65 million, was 33.

So what can help curtail American gun violence? It is a complicated multistep solution. America’s gun violence problems stems from simply having too many guns that are poorly supervised. However, because studies have shown strict gun control decreases gun violence, it is time for the U.S to practice more strict gun control. The FBI needs to go harder on background checks by making it more difficult for anyone to obtain a gun. No gun should be given to an individual until the FBI gives authorization.  Another practice should be to destroy the excess amount of guns America has. To have more guns than people in a country is absurd and it shows guns are arguably more valued in America than a living person.  Earlier, it is mentioned states with more strict gun control experience less gun violence. It is time to expand that throughout all 50 states at a greater level.

At a young age, I experienced torment through bullying. From name calling to getting beaten down, this is how I symbolically became a revenant. At my current age of nineteen, I don’t know much about living or how to be happy and successful at life. But what I do know is what promotes the reason for anyone to live: discovering your niche(s). After suffering from frequent antagonism at school, I obliviously lost sight of who I was, how to enjoy life and what I could do about it. I was in pain and it killed me. I left one world, but with a purpose of entering the other as a stronger version. I transitioned by walking through that gym door, stepping onto the mat, stood tall with my feet together, arms crossed and said the one word that would begin anew. It symbolizes the niche that rebirthed me, changing my existence forever: Osu!

In order to have a better understanding of my discourse community word, one must understand its origins and meaning. The genesis and meaning of the Japanese word osu (pronounced oss) is complicated to grasp due to many theories and opinions. Therefore, it is misunderstood by most people. Even most Japanese people misuse it. How it originated is disputed. One of the popular possibilities of the terms origins is it was first used in the Japanese imperial navy. Another possibility is the term originated from the martial art known as kyokushin. In kyokushin, two popular kanjis (Japanese system of writing) are used. One is the word ‘osu’ which translates to push. The other kanji is ‘shinobu’ which translates to suffer. When joined together, it translates to ‘osu no seinshin’, meaning to endure while being pushed, an important fundamental in kyokushin or any combat sport one practices.

Osu is generally a word describing masculinity and hard work ethnic within Japanese custom. Japanese culture is considered strict. Therefore, one should not say it to someone of Japanese descent, one who is younger than you, or in a lower tier. Because it is, as stated, a masculine word to use, women should not use it. In reality, this is almost never the case. Osu is considered a way to greet each other today. In Japan, people may use osu as a way to say good morning. In American gyms, this is applied as a common form of respect. It’s how trainers and practitioners say “hello”, “goodbye”, “how do you do this technique?”, “understood”, “let’s go hard”, “thanks” and et cetera by both genders and people of all ranks and ages.

From my experience, most American martial arts gyms use osu as a way to greet each other, asking questions and answering them. My gym is no different. Those who have been going to my gym for a long period of time grow an attachment to the word. Because we know and train with each other, saying ‘osu’ to one another feels like a ‘family members only’ ticket. We say it with pride knowing we will make each other stronger. When I’m with a friend that I train with or has combat sports knowledge, whether on the gym or on the street, I sometimes substitute a ‘hey’ or a ‘wassup’ for osu. It is the pride and respect of friends that enjoy or train in combat sports that makes me use it as a ‘hello’ or a ‘goodbye’.

Now that you know more of the meaning of osu, you will understand better of what osu means to me personally. If you know me or read some of my previous articles from English 1101, you know I have discussed this before. Middle school was absolute torture. I was the easiest to attack because I lacked the ability to fight back as well as the temerity to stand up for myself. That was until the nature of osu rebirthed me into the formidable fighter I am today. I began watching combat sports and I wanted to learn how to fight like a professional. My father put in a gym get real training. Once I uttered the word ‘osu’, my fate was sealed. Indeed I lived up to meaning of pushing and enduring, for no longer would I be a easy target. No longer would I feel defenseless. No longer would I be a pariah. When you get on the matt, put your feet together, cross your arms and say osu, not only would it signal the start of training, but the start of a new passion. A passion that grew stronger. A passion that fostered into what helps me earn respect regardless if one is friend or foe. For me, osu means to experience a catharsis of weakness and be rejuvenated through strength, resilience, and redemption. A low moment transformed into a permanent lifestyle. When I think of osu, it will always be evidence that pain and misery that I endured from bullying can be replaced by achievement. As beneficial as it is, I have also experienced the consequences it can hold, so it is to be taken with a grain salt.

The power osu bestows upon you feels amazing. It is addictive, satisfying and emotionally liberating. But, if used incorrectly, it can also backfire. People who have been hurt are prone to turning that pain into hatred thus it leads to retribution. Sometimes without realizing. I experienced this two years ago. In 12th grade, I started targeting a boy in my gym class. Previously in 10th grade, he attacked me and made me a laughing stock. This made me train harder so I could prevent this from happening ever again. Fasting forward, I see opportunity to settle the score, and without realizing, I was unintentionally hurting this person in the locker room with no witnesses, giving him visible injuries. The injuries I gave him lead to me getting into trouble, but I felt more bad about my actions because I don’t condone unprovoked violence. I learned from this egregious act an important lesson: respect through fear is frivolous.

The nature of osu contains philosophical meaning. A meaning and importance that I would love to share because it can be adapted to benefit anyone’s regular lifestyle, not just fighters. The specific audience I want to introduce osu to are people who feel weak and helpless. Similar to how I was. ‘Osu’ means to push and endure, which is the natural structure of how life is for successful individuals. It’s how we elevate ourselves like I did. As someone who has felt weak and helpless for a long period of time, I can concur that being introduced to an osu-like environment will replace weakness with many strengths such as endurance and pushing forward. In fact, you don’t have to be introduced to this philosophy through combat sports only but by other means.

One example, film. One of the best movies that represents the meaning of osu is Rocky Balboa. In the film Rocky gives some of the best life advice ever: “You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!” The philosophy of osu will empower anyone. Your toughness, courageousness and self respect will rise along others respecting you. Fear and people attempting to attack you will also plummet. The audience exposed to osu must also manage the philosophy of osu with responsibility. It is possible to take that philosophy and use it as way to hurt others and eventually yourself. My advice is to use the philosophy of osu for personal strength and self-defense while also practicing forgiveness rather than nefarious activities. Vengeance is an expensive luxury. Do not pay the price for it.