Tag: Social Science

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Successful People Can Struggle With Mental Health Too

DeMar DeRozan mental health

Despite being a successful NBA player, DeMar DeRozan still deals with mental health issues.

It is extremely difficult to be drafted into the NBA.

It is even more difficult to have a long and fruitful career.

And it is even more challenging to become a star in the league.

DeMar DeRozan did all three.

He was drafted by the Toronto Raptors in 2009 with the ninth overall pick and didn’t have a high ceiling. Though scouts believed he had a ton of potential, they also didn’t see him unlocking it.

And in his rookie season, he proved them right. He struggled against the best in the world and averaged just under 9 points a game. He also didn’t provide much else.

By the time the offseason came around, he knew he had to improve if he wanted to stick around the NBA for a while. So, he took on the challenge of being a professional and devoted himself to basketball. He trained day in and day out. He made working on his basketball skills and conditioning a daily habit.

The following season, the effects of the training kicked in. He nearly doubled his points per game by averaging 17.2 points. He also averaged 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1 steal -all improvements from the previous campaign.

After seeing the successful results of the deliberate training, he continued to put in the work every offseason thereafter.

Eventually, DeRozan became an All-Star. But more importantly, he was leading the Raptors to the playoffs perennially while also helping them secure the top seeds in the Eastern Conference.

But while he was on this journey, he faced some difficult times. He dealt with depression and anxiety and didn’t openly talk about it until he was a few years into his career. Continue reading “Successful People Can Struggle With Mental Health Too”

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It’s Okay To Get Angry: Wisdom From a Roman Emperor

Here’s the best advice I’ve received on how to deal with my anger.

I have always been a short-tempered person.

Ever since I was a young child, when someone or something ticked me off, I would burst into an angry fit.

For example, if I couldn’t beat a level in a game by the third try, I screamed and hit the table.

Or if I couldn’t solve a math problem, I screamed and swore at my textbook and (very occasionally) threw it against the wall.

And after every fit, my mom told me I had to get rid of my anger. I didn’t know how or exactly what this meant, but I tried it anyway. 

It was my mom telling me to do something, after all.

However, it didn’t work. I still got angry and I still erupted. Continue reading “It’s Okay To Get Angry: Wisdom From a Roman Emperor”

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5 Things I Learned from Sociology That Explain Today’s Major Issues

Here are 5 sociological facts that explain the society we are living in.

In high school, I would’ve never thought that I would major in sociology. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even know what it was.

But on a whim, I decided to take an introductory course because it fit my schedule.

And I’m glad I did because it was one of the most interesting courses I took.

I learned how society works and how powerful it is to understand its systems.

It’s been a few years since I graduated but here are 5 things I mustered up from my memory that I think explain some of today’s social issues: Continue reading “5 Things I Learned from Sociology That Explain Today’s Major Issues”

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What is Nationalism?

When the “Donald” (aka Donald Trump) was the President of the United States, he was constantly referring to himself as a nationalist and as a person who believes in American interests first.

He said he wanted to give Americans their jobs back so that America can be wealthy and strong.

He believed that America should keep out illegal immigrants, and limit immigration and the sponsoring of refugees. He also believed that kicking out illegal immigrants was one of the best things for American interests.

This, to him, is nationalism.

But is it though? Continue reading “What is Nationalism?”

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What is the Bystander Effect?

The bystander effect is a psychological effect. It’s a theory that claims people are less likely to help someone when there is a crowd present.

So, I was walking around a national park a few weeks ago and I saw this lady slip on some ice. She was maybe in her late 50s to early 60s.

She laid on the ground for a while and I wondered if she was ok. There were a lot of people around, but no one walked over to her to check. I considered doing so, but there was this resistance that kept reeling me back.

I just thought to myself that there are so many other people around -people that were most likely more qualified than me to help her. So, I just stood there looking at her.

And as time ticked away, people just imitated me as they stood in place and observed her from afar. No one went over to check on her

This experience, which is very likely fiction (it is), is a social psychological theory called the Bystander Effect. Continue reading “What is the Bystander Effect?”

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What is Ethnic Cleansing?

The term ethnic cleansing has been tossed around a lot lately. But not many people are explaining what it means. So in this article, you will find out its definition and examples of its uses.

Ethnic cleansing is just the worst, isn’t it? (hint: it is.)

This happens when, as Merriam-Webster puts it:

“The expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority by a dominant majority in order to achieve ethnic homogeneity.”

In laymen’s terms, ethnic cleansing is pretty much a dominant ethnic group coming into another nation and tries to remove the original ethnic group from that land via deportation, displacement, evictions, mass killing, or whitewashing.

Additionally, the ones who “cleanse” will also turn the land they attack into their own nation. They will remove the original laws, cultures, and traditions, and replace them with their own.

They pretty much jack the land and turn the original occupants into second-class citizens. Continue reading “What is Ethnic Cleansing?”

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The Story of Victoria’s Chinatown

Victoria’s Chinatown

Are you curious about Victoria’s Chinatown? If so, read on and learn the story of one of the oldest Chinatowns in North American history.

I was initially doing some research for an article on Victoria, B.C. because I visited it many times when I was younger and wanted to learn more about it. And through my research, one fact caught my eye more than anything else –Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia!

Okay, just joking! That’s not the fascinating fact that I learned, though I didn’t know that prior to my research. The interesting tidbit is that Victoria’s Chinatown is the second oldest Chinatown in North America.

I always thought that New York’s and San Francisco’s Chinatowns were the two oldest. But nope, San Fran and Victoria are home to the two first Chinatowns in the Americas.

Intriguing right? Continue reading “The Story of Victoria’s Chinatown”

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Divide and Conquer and Racism

Divide and conquer is a sociological and political concept where one group pits other groups against each other. So, how is it being used systemically?

I recently came across this video on Instagram that talked about the attacks on Asians that’s been happening since the start of the pandemic.

In it, the host brought up how some people claim that these attacks aren’t because of white supremacy (or colonialism) because, in many of them, it was black people who committed the crime. She said that this was a lazy way of looking at the problem and that the people who claim this don’t understand the larger structure of racism.

I admit -I was initially confused by this statement. But then I started to think about it. And I remembered this theory that I learned in a sociology class called “divide and conquer.” Continue reading “Divide and Conquer and Racism”

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