Many beliefs have been passed down from the past. Between generation to generation, from family to family, but where do these beliefs come from. Beliefs are things that a person, or many believe or where taught from a young age as it was taught from parent to child. Different beliefs are endogenous to a certain ethnic group and you won't often find beliefs that are shared between the different groups. When looking at the different beliefs that are endogenous you still need to be aware of your prejudices, preconceptions and assumptions.

From my ethnic group there are many beliefs that was taught and 'believed' which could all be seen as endogenous to this group. One belief was that a Sunday is the day that nothing happens. On a Sunday no one is allowed to work, play sport or do anything of physical labor. More so no shops are allowed to be open and it is believed that on a Sunday the whole family should all come together to sit at a table and share a meal that would signify the "closing" of the week. The dinner that is shared between the family is usually after the whole family has gone to church early on a Sunday morning and gotten together afterward. This belief, or some would say tradition, is still active in my household to this day. Every Sunday after we have gone to Church, the whole family shares a homecooked meal.

The second belief that has been taught through the generations from the past although it is not so common nowadays, is the belief that in a house the man is supposed to be the one who works and who provides for the family whereas the wife and mother of the house says at home to care for her family. The husband would do all the physical labor and would experience all the hardships when it comes to providing for his family and the mother and wife of the house would provide and care for the family in the home, like cooking and cleaning and being  mother. The man creating the feeling of protection and the woman the feeling of peace and warmth.

Although there are still many beliefs that are taught throughout the world and all from different cultures these different beliefs should all still be respected as they hold a specific importance to each and every individual on this earth. When learning and acting out on these beliefs, one must still be aware of your prejudice, preconception and assumptions as they could cause conflict between people, families and cultures.

An individuals life can be seen as an onion. Very weird analogy, I know, but if you thought a bit harder and longer you would come to find it as true. If you were to take said onion and peel it layer by layer, one more important and more closer to the center than the other, you would find yourself at the core of it all. With this bad example, the core would be me, and all the layers that were ever so gently peeled were my networks...my people.

All individuals have their own set of networks. People and things that make you, you. Some networks tend to be a bit more important and closer to the heart than others. Some networks are there to help you forward into life, while others are there to just simply fill a void that you might need filling.

I have my own set of networks that all play their respective roles. I have my outer "layer" if we were still stuck on the whole onion theory. They are typically the people I use to fill the silence when it might get a bit eerie. This network consists out of people I greet in passing that I might have met one time at an event or somewhere in class or on campus. They are the people who don't really impact me that much. My life would not come to a complete standstill if I didn't see them o that particular day or at that particular time. You can see them the same as you would the extras on a movie set.

The middle layer that gets closer to the center are the people that I would g to if I were alone at a social event. I would typically go to them and just wait there till my real close friends arrive.  These are the people that played a significant role in a certain amount of time in  my life. They are the people that might help me through a tough time, but it wouldn't effect them that much. They are my people, but they only come after my real real people. Examples of these people could be that one teacher that helped me trough that one tough, dark tie that we both agreed to never mention again, because why relive the past when they helped you through it.

The last layer is the one that gets real close to the center. This is the centers last line of defense. These are MY people. The ones who I can cry, laugh, joke around with after we forgot about a blog or an assignment but then would help each other to get it done. These are the people that I would invite to my funeral that I would also attend. This network is made out of a strange set of individuals. One being my ex whom I have the best of friendships now, the other is a friend that is in Germany. 

You would think that a network is only supposed to be out of the people close to you physically, but for me, a network is so much more. For me, my networks, are my people.

Waking up on a morning like this one, was no easy feat. Who on earth would wake up when you can bury your face closer into your squishy feather pillow and snuggle deeper into your scrunched up, soft and fluffy blanket. I can tell you who... or more like who was forced to open their eyes. Me.

Sitting up, I stretched the biggest stretch probably ever stretched, you could hear all the joints pop in an almost scary manner back into place before you could see my face melting into one of contentment. Right before morphing and melting into one of pure and utter despair. It's a Thursday. You could almost say it was a blue Thursday, but the color blue didn't match the feeling at all. It was more like a sickly green color. Like one that if you ever saw it you would automatically feel nauseous. That is how I would describe the day that was about to commence. 

Getting out of bed was a war in itself. After fighting the battle of all battles with Hypnos, the god of sleep, and almost losing it, I got out of bed. Getting dressed wasn't that hard, luckily, throwing on a flowy dress  and putting on shoes, I was out the door. With the sun glaring at you from the sky above in all its yellow, hot glory, it gets a bit difficult to walk from your home to campus. But with beads of sweat dripping down my face, heaving breaths and heavy steps, I managed. 

I was very glad when I got to campus and could hear that beep that comes with scanning your student card, because it meant no more struggling on the route of "Vader Cloete". Walking to class, was like walking near bee hives with all the buzzing coming from people having conversations. One yelling at the other about being late to class, only to rush past me in a haste because they were, in fact, very late. A group of girls giggling because they find their lector very attractive and compare him to a celebrity whos name has slipped my mind. It's your everyday campus life.

Taking the many steps, that seems to never end, I get to my class. Taking a seat near the front because it seems that the only time my vision was 20/20 was back in 2020. Thankfully class seemed to go by in a blur of images and sounds. My mind having slipped at one point and going on holiday instead of returning, when we did an activity about meditation. When it did end I rushed out of that class so fast, one could argue that I'm the flash. The girl and better looking one though, obviously.

At some point life jumped from me, because the next thing I know it's already 18:24 and people keep blowing up my phone, I even contemplated putting it in the freezer, but when I saw people commenting about when the blog is due, I panicked. My heart almost completely stood still for a second. It completely slipped my mind that we had one due today. In a panic I got my laptop and just started typing. If there were any mistakes, this would be the testimony as to why. Which brings me to now. At 21:12 Writing about my day in as much detail as I can remember, as it seems that my memory has grown older, not wiser though, the last few weeks. 

Typing on my laptop, I try to keep it as simple yet effective as possible, with my eyes shooting to the word count back to the text, to the time back to the text and then back to the word count. It seems that it is about time that I end this endless ramble that might not even make sense anymore. Which is why at 21:15 I end my days activities.

El-zaan Palm; 50646508

People often deny that they are actively stereotyping individuals when they are called out on their actions. Stereotyping could be that girls are more manipulative when getting something that they want or another could be that men are more direct with their conversations because they see it as a waste of time to soften a blow. Why try to sugarcoat when you can say it to them straight. 

I often forget that something as small as commenting on something someone does or the way they act could easily mean that I am placing them in "boxes" and that I am unfairly stereotyping them because I do no personally know them or their background. Stereotyping could either be positive or negative. The most common one that I often catch myself doing is the latter, as it is easier and quicker to rather see the negative than the positive in someone. One of the most common ones that seems to rise above all the other ones recently is that the students who answer almost all the questions are the "nerds" of the group or the ones seeking academic validation. 

It isn't always that easy to positively stereotype individuals or groups, as it is often harder to do because the more dominant aspects tend to be negative. When reflecting on my own assumptions and understandings I now come to the realization that it creates a form of "otherness" amongst everyone as some people might see it in the same light.

Upon further reflection I have also seen that more of my views on individuals fall under the negative form of stereotyping and it is rather unfair against them. People need to start viewing others differently than to what they first think and see before they get to truly know them.