Abbys Blog

   Is higher education worth the price?                You know I do not think I could answer this question without feeling like there was truth to both answers. I think that it is too complicated to have a simple yes or no but here is what I would say for each: Yes, most people who go to college are able to make a living after school that can support their education. Also, teachers need to be paid too. The people who are making my education also deserve to be paid a living wage and if they need my dollar that makes sense. No, because then higher education becomes a luxury and something inaccessible to many. Unfortunately, many people in our country cannot afford the tremendous costs of going to university or getting a higher education. But do not we want our society to be as educated as possible? If that is our goal why isn't college cheaper if not free like it is in some other countries? I know that ...

  Is fast food the new tobacco? Fast food is, unfortunately, a centerpiece in most Americans' diets. With how accessible and fast it is, this is no surprise. For many people, fast food is their best option, it is easy, cheap, and can be on the go. In the case of low-income families, fast food is the most accessible for the family and kids. In the article Don’t Blame the Eater by David Zinczenko, he talks about how he was one of those kids in a low-income home and how it was up to him to choose a dinner and lunch of either Mcdonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut, or Taco Bell. These were the only foods available to him at the price he could afford. The problem with our food industry isn't the abundance of fast food it is the inaccessibility to a healthier option. In today's world, healthy food is treated as a luxury. Fast food is cheap, while healthy alternatives are more pricey , fast food is everywhere, but healthier food is not. Good food that fuels our bodies should not be a luxu...

  Does TV make us smarter?      Before this week, I would have said situationally yes but mostly no. I thought this because most of the time, TV is used to procrastinate or as a distraction, in my case.  Just an excuse to not do what you should be doing or as time to turn your brain off and let someone else think. A few shows that fill this need to not think are Gilmore Girls, Sex and the City, and The Great British Baking Show. I feel like these all give very different vibes, but they scratch the itch. So these specific shows aren’t helping me learn anything or make me smarter in the typical sense, but for me, they helped me learn different social things that I didn’t know, Gilmore Girls showed me what a semi-normal college experience looks like, it helped me navigate the important relationships in my life, like how Lorelai does with her mom and Rory with her boyfriends and friends. Sex and the City taught me about adult relationships, about a city I didn’t kno...

Hello! My name is Abby Horter and I am a jazz and contemporary Trainee at the Joffrey Ballet School. I have been a student at NJCU for two years and am working towards a BFA focusing on dance. Outside of school, I enjoy going on long walks, reading, journaling, and watercolor. The reason I took Contemporary Literacies this semester was so I could learn how to connect contemporary cultures and literacies in our world. My first memory of reading was of me sitting in the living room reading these little books called Bob Books. They were books meant to help young children learn to read. They were my favorite books because they were easy to understand and I could finish them quickly which made me feel good about myself because I finished the book. In this specific memory, I remember wanting to show my mom how fast I could read one of these books. You know how most kids want to show you how fast they can do something and they pretend like they did it? Well, this was not me, I read the entire...