My Final Blog :(

Well Honestly i enjoyed just about every section from Keeping the Republic and Where does the money go? Not trying to be a suck up or anything but everything we went over in class was fluffed with great information that i needed to know. The way the class was ran made me not dislike anything! Erik you know how to keep people's attention which kinda made everything interesting. So i can't say i have a favorite section because every section was my Fav!So i guess that kinda answers the second question also..
Before coming to this class my political knowledge was very very slim. I use to honestly sit around and listen to people talk about political issues and i never had any input because i did not know what to say. After this class i can get politically engaged in conversation. So after this class i can say that i am now well informed about politics and government. I know there is always room for learning more things that we did not cover in class but for the most part I learned so much!
Some of my friends are like i was before i had this class. They really don't know much about politics but they are willing to learn about them. My bestfriend and I were having small talk and i bought up some issues with social security and her feed back instantly was I dont care. So i dont know im going to work on her but i do have a few friends who are clear on politics and political issues going on in today's society. So i guess my generation still has some learning to do, there's always room for improvement and i do feel like learning about politics is not pushed enough in our generation so we do need to fix that issue.
I think that if i get involved and speak up for what i believe in i can make a difference in my country. So that's exactly what i'll do!
This class was excellent! Mr. Rankin your a really really great professor...go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back because you are passionate about what you teach and you do a great job at it! I really appreciate everything you have taught me this summer.....
i remember when i was scared about this course at first because i thought Honors....OOO no im a regular but no this class was amazing and i fit in just fine......

McLean County part 2?

I had an amazing time today at the McLean county Museum. Before going to thw museum i could tell you very little about McLean county but after leaving the information filling museum i can tell you way. I learned so much about the early settlers and how they lived their lives. It is important to appreciate history of where you live because its good to know that our ancestors did a lot work to keep the town up and running. As we all know it is not required to be well informed about history in your county because it is not required of all citizens. Which is a sad thing because i feel like if we knew more about our history some people would value and appreciate the modern way of living these days. I have lived here for about ten months and i have not visited this museum previously because i did not realize how important it is to know about history of the place where you reside. Honestly, if it weren't for this class i probably would have never realized how important it is to know about the history of McLean county or even the county where i was born and raised. At the museum today i found that the Vietnam war room really caught my attention. I liked this room because of all the valuable information that i did not know about the war. For example when it started, how and why....Today was just an information filled day at the museum and i really enjoyed myself!

McLean County

Well i have attended school in McLean County for about 10 months and i don't know much about the county. I learned from my politics class that McLean county is extremly conservative but thats really all i know. I just start researching information about politics in my home town county because this class motivated me to want to learn and be involved about things going on there. So honestly I just began to research my county that I am from. So with that being said its probably because I really do not consider myself a part of this county because i consider where i grew up at home. I should know a little bit more information about McLean county seeing that i will be attending Illinois State for about three more years.But i kno that YOU Erik Rankin...just got recently elected to the county Board....but thats it...

"The Test"

On this scale I am not suprised where i fit. I am politically closer to Nelson Mandela which is pretty cool! I have a democratic family and we never really discuss politics but I do consider myself a part of the democratic party. Their are a few issues that i side with the republican party on. So IDK, i think i am that confused teenager still trying to figure out exactly where I stand as far as political parties but for right now I feel like im leaning more towards the democratic party, im not a hard core democrat but this is the party that i am apart of.
On the Republican party website i feel as if the home page is out right disrespectful. " Democrats are advancing their agenda, you are now under their scrutiny." I feel like they are being very bitter about the presidential elections. I believe that they should focus more on their party on their home page instead of bashing an entire party.
The Democratic party's website is colorful and full of useful information on the home page. It has a lot about Sotomayor on it because this candidate was a smart choice made by the Democratic party.