Argument in Favor of the Arts on our Cognition

With all the discussion that we have had recently based on the questionable rise and decline of our intelligence levels due to the Internet, I've started thinking a lot about things in my life besides the Internet that have had a positive impact on my cognition. Since I was three years old, the art of dancing has been my hobby, passion and creative outlet. Now, here at SMU, I am a dance minor, learning from some of the most esteemed instructors and choreographers from around the world. Through such dance instruction, I've not only been able to improve my skill and technique, but have gained a vast education on many of the world's cultures through movement. 

Sure, many who are not involved in the arts classify artists as a very "alternative" breed, but I tend to believe that this uniqueness is a good thing, spawning from the learned tendency for artists to look at the world in a deeper way. In dance, for example, we must adapt to the stylistic differences of all types of choreographers.  We not only have to pick up the sequencing at a fast pace, but in order to perform well we must also interpret both the music and the choreographer's intended message to the audience. 

Having been such a huge part in my life, I can testify that art has enhanced both my coordination and my ability to decode the intended messages of other artists and authors. With that said, I feel that art should play a more pivotal role in a child's elementary education because it's an incredible aid to our cognitive development. 

Comment

I have commented on Krystal's post "Spring Break Fever." You can see my comment at Spring Break Fever.

Alcohol: A College Normality at Every Age

As I sat on the plane that was jetting towards my hometown before the holiday break, my mind was filled with joyous anticipation. After the countless hours that I spent staring at books on the hard, wooden study tables of SMU's library, my hometown had become a place where I could only dream to be; an oasis where an alarm clock was completely nonexistent and high school friends were at most 20 minutes away. It was going to be wonderful to see these friends again, all of us having experienced a dip into the pool of independence, now having been launched from the pre-collegiate bubble that surrounded our once closely monitored lives. Unlike many of my fellow high school graduates, who decided to stay within the state for school, I was one of the only travelers half way across America to Dallas, leaving behind every part of the childhood with which I was so familiar. 

Not having seen any of my graduating class since I left town in August, it was truly interesting to see how everyone was acting all together again. While most of my closest friends had not changed an ounce, there were some who made a complete transition from "jock" to "nice guy," and "good girl" to "party animal." Sure I had received multiple overly-talkative phone calls at 4am from some of my school's most esteemed and previously straight-edged students at Stanford, Duke and Georgetown throughout the first semester, but I guess I had completely underestimated the rate at which alcohol consumption rises as all high school seniors morph into college freshmen.

It's truly remarkable how casual drinking becomes for every college freshman dragging their suitcases home for the first time. In high school days, underage drinking was an incredibly difficult task. Since it's obviously against the law, kids had to go great yards to experience the feeling of drunkenness, seeking out houses to play a few games of ever-loved beer-pong where the parents were out of town for the weekend, or taking pre-concert, pucker-faced swigs of whatever someone had the guts to take from their parents. Drinking was mostly for the rebellious during those times. Most high schoolers who drink do it for the yearning to experience one of the only activities that parents place in the no-no box.

I, for one, never really partied hard in high school. My parents were definitely strict about my wellbeing and safety, understandably, and the consequences of being caught or hurt were just too high for me to get drunk and make a fool out of myself for a few hours. Since being at SMU, I've found that college certainly puts a spin on the high school drinking practices, for as a college student, alcohol becomes a clear-cut part of social culture as a way to mingle comfortably with people in an entirely new environment.  While during the first week here, I was worried and curious as to whether SMU was the only school where drinking was a prevalent part of the college culture, I soon came to realize while at home that everyone had now become a "casual drinker" (even those smarties attending Harvard, Yale and Stanford).

 For the most part, parents seem to lighten up about their children drinking underage after a whole semester alone. It's only logical really, for even if they don't relay it to their children, they each remember their days as college freshmen, partying their way through such newborn independence. It was quite liberating, actually, to have the sense that I could be honest with my own parents about going out to drink with friends, knowing that the only thing they may question is how I would get back home safe and sound.

Much controversy lies in the drinking practices of college students. While it's definitely still illegal for most of us freshmen at 18 and 19, why does the instant transition from no-no in high school to understandable in college so easy? Some argue that life would be much easier for everyone if only the drinking age were lowered to 18. Could it really be true that since it's legal for us to vote and go off to war at 18, that we should be able to share a beer or two with our parents as well?