now i don't know the facts. i won't be bombarding you with them, you don't need to do the same. this entry is a matter of observation and opinion. your choice is agreement or not.

now, imagine if you will, a company that creates a product that has no positive benefits. how could it possibly succeed? let's add on that its product has a universally known effect of giving its user a uncurable disease. upon use, it destroys your personal hygiene. keep in mind, there are no positive benefits. well, how about we say, the only positive happiness is temporary relief when using the product. let's also throw in for kicks that habitual use of the product will cost you hundreds in a short amount of time.

how could this company possibly succeed? if you haven't guessed already, i am talking about the tobacco industry: one of the largest industries in our country and the above is their single line of products.

the first knowledgable person argues "nicotine." nicotine is the reason for their survival. i would be inclined to agree, but although it does have addictive effects, it doesn't explain how people are starting the use of it year after year. adding on, that the tobacco industry has limited means of advertisement, it still manages to get itself out. so its marketing campaign cannot be.

let me tell you, it has nothing to do with the tobacco industry. it has to do with us.

#1 the illegal sale of tobacco to minors makes it favourable to them. with the ever growing popularity of rebellion (bottom post), smoking a cigarette is like talking back to your teacher. everybody wants to be like that guy, the cool guy. but you can't talk back to your teacher in private to "test it out." what can you do in private? you can smoke a cigarette. evidence of this has appeared over and over. marijuana is smoked by 80% of adults in LA (not sure about this statistic, but i heard it somewhere and i know it is outrageously high like this). the prohibition. etc. legalise it and destroy the flair that seems to come with every box.

#2 stop telling people that they're going to die. after users are addicted, they must have a "fuck it" attitude toward death. therefore, you must inform them of something they DONT know and don't want to be. everybody knows cigarettes will kill them, they figure it's not instant, so they can keep doing it. it becomes a "i'm invincible" attitude. tell them they're going to die and 15 minutes later they're going to take out another stick. smoke it. look at themselves afterward and oh wow, still alive. life goes on.

instead, tell them they're going to suffer for the rest of their life. people tend to look at the end result instead of the process. most people would rather die than suffer for days, weeks, or years on end. telling them they're going to die is like listening to the same old song on the radio, they already know it and they're not going to stop.

ok.... a lot of reasoning things were lost as i went from shower -> change -> computer. haha. i think too much when i'm showering -_-

college

i think that college should begin to be something that starts when we're 24 or 25. there are a lot of reasons for this, but the most important is that we probably don't get serious about what we're doing until then.

so often i find that friends and acquaintances are studying blindly. for those who don't know, I currently attend a junior college. i have friends who do, did, and those who attend four years. i've been told about how rewarding going to a four-year college is and how great the experience is. friends met, etc.

excuse me?

four year colleges (especially with an on-campus dormitory) seem to have a focus of fun and entertainment as oppose to education. the origin of a dormitory (root word from latin/french/spanish whatever: dormir meaning to sleep) was simply a place for employees or the military to stay. the idea of it is to create an efficient and very well focused learning experience. living close on campus allowed for colleges to "advertise" to an entire nation without people fearing of a lack of living quarters.

all that said and done-- is this necessary now? students are finding that dorms are often full and have to resort to living in apartments or homes in the city. can this be done from the start? well, at an age of 18 or 19, one may argue that a college freshman does not have the experience to go out looking for a place. good argument. let's move on.

colleges from some communities have sort of become a requirement. especially in mine, going to a junior college or not even attending college was looked at as disgraceful. what i have found is that very few people research the colleges they apply to or even know what they're going to be doing. myself included (at the time). in relation, colleges have been seperated on a hierarchy of status and intelligence, not focus of study. therefore, students (and especially parents) push to get into a well recognized school. this can be extremely detrimental, especially for an aspiring culinary artist who goes to Cal Tech or MIT because he or she learned that they were prestigious.

to bring my point back into light and to reiterate, young adults don't know much about what they want to do. their focus when they get out of high school is to get into a good college and to make money. as that is the case, potential students select classes and dive into fields they know will really bring home the bacon. truth be told, a large majority are not interested or passionate in the major. these are those who will probably not end up with the high paying job they thought was automatic with a college degree.

fact: college graduates are paid more than high school graduates

good job, but let's look between the lines. these numbers are average. for instance, if we have a hundred high school graduates and a hundred college graduates, and they ALL made the EXACT same amount of money except one. except one college graduate. the result is that college graduates make more. under this theory, there are college graduates who make the same or even less than high school graduates. it has nothing to do with your education, but your own self motivation. if you are working in something you hate, but it has a reputation for money-- you're in for a surprise.

granted, i cannot know this all from experience. i have not attended four years of any sort. however, the advantage of attending a junior college is the people you meet. it contrasts greatly to those at a four year. people at the junior college are typically older than me. i have met many that already have degrees. a milestone to my decision comes from a young man in one of my classes. he has obtained a degree (in an engineering field) at a four-year and is unable to put it to use. he attends the class with me and is currently looking to figure out what he wants to do for a living.

so in closing, i will wrap this all up in a neat little bun hopefully tying everything together for everyone. a lot of 18 and 19 year olds are not ready for college. they are inexperienced and cannot properly find housing for themselves. they are ready for fun; they want to go out and have fun and that's what college sounds like to them. people who tell 18 and 19 year olds about their great college experience are teachers, people who haven't gone out to look for a job in the industry yet, etc-- professionals and extreme success stories RARELY have an opportunity to get their opinion out to students. by the time they realize they have made a bad decision, they have already spent thousands going the wrong way only to realise they will spend thousands more just to make that u-turn.

as a reference, i can use myself as an example. i lacked passion in my major coming out of high school. i could have gone to a four year or a community college, understanding that i could transfer later, i chose the community college. i decided i didn't want to end up stuck at a four-year with the wrong major. nearly two years later, i have decided on a major and realised that HAD I GONE to that four year, i would have been quite dissapointed. unfortunately for young mnds, we feel there is a need to do jump straight into the band wagon and go to the best schools (for us, it was the UCs). i'm not planning to attend a UC and i am actually very unimpressed with their schools (but that's something i will get into another time).

haven't written anything in a long time, neh? this is huge. it's for all my friends and people who are confused about school. it may not necessarily be correct, but i feel i've actually learned something from this rewarding junior college experience. ;)

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Yeah, we're all shallow. Shut up.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Normally it's something I keep in the back and reference to once in a while, but I think I'm starting to notice it.

Do you think you treat others differently, because they're attractive or well groomed?

Now, don't just say no. The world would say no, hell, I'd say no. But in reality, I think I subconsciously do it. Even things such as, I'd rather be seen with this person over that one--it's so... demeaning and pathetic. So I watch it when I'm with people. Let's be honest, we've thought about that? Not necessarily followed it, right? I don't let myself if I am actively thinking it. Nope nope. There is enough Evan for all! :D

As a guy, it's probably worse. For example, if a cute girl was being dorky--she'd be er... cute. Yes? If an ugly girl was being dorky... that's just annoying (but if a cute girl is annoying... she's just going to be annoying). We probably don't think of it right like that, but do you have examples in your life where this is true? Maybe... maybe not.... hopefully the latter. But if the former, maybe it will help you to realise it.

But you know.. Inner beauty. You always hear about that shit in movies and talk shows and stuff, people are supposed to actually look for it blah blah. I am thinking, in almost all cases, if a pretty girl asked me to do something, I'd agree or be obliged to--otherwise, I'd have to second thought it.

Instead of thinking that second time for everyone, I have begun listening to everyone. Not picking them out. It's really interesting, people really do have inner beauty. Maybe I am/was shallow and none of this applies to anyone else. But I feel like it will (to a lot of guys). Okay, just to add to my new years' resolution list (that I have already forgotten), it will be to look at people with eyes closed. If we were all blind, who would be beautiful? Who wouldn't?

Just on another note. I think girls that are pretty have so much of an advantage in life. ;( I really, really do think that they can get a lot done for them just, because they use their beauty. If that's the case, great--just don't complain about shallow guys.