Fall Term 2007 Grades

Fall Term 2007 Grades

Course Title.......................................Final Grade........ Credits
Business Math and Calculators......... A .........................3.00
Orientation to Deafness.................... A .........................4.00
Eng Voc-Grammar/Interpreters......... A .........................4.00
Acting I........................................... A .........................3.00

Awesome!!

Once A Catholic

Ohhh, finals time is here, and in my acting class I have to do a scene with someone else, and we selected a scene from a play about 2 catholic girls discussing their sins.... I played Mary Gallagher, and I got an 'A'!


Once a Catholic
By Mary O’Malley


Act II, Scene 5

This comedy takes place in the Convent of Our Lady of Fatima, a school for girls near Detroit. All of the girls in class 5A are named Mary and all of them are trying to reconcile the dogma they are taught in school with their own budding needs.
Mary Gallagher is a “sensible, attractive” student. She is going out with Mark, a Catholic 6th former. Mary considers herself quite modern and, in the scene below, she prods her friend and classmate, Mary Mooney, into revealing her own extra-curricular activities with men. Mary Mooney is reticent at first, but gives in to the urge to share her secret.
As the scene opens both girls are in the garden on the Convent. They are supposed to be praying silently.



Mary Gallagher: Oh Jesus, I’m bored out of my mind.
(Mary Mooney puts her finger to her lips.)
Don’t tell me you’re not bored.
(Mary Mooney shrugs her shoulders.)
I’m sure they’re trying to drive us mad. It’s a well-known fact that too much silence can drive a person insane. It’s all right for them. They’re already round the bend. Especially Mother Peter. If she hadn’t put herself into a convent somebody would have locked her up in a loony bin.

Mary Mooney: Sssh!
Mary Gallagher: It’s all right. There’s nobody about. Although they’ve probably put a load of microphones into the bushes. And they’re sure to have stationed Reverend Mother down in the basement on a periscope. Why the hell can’t they have their idiotic retreats in the holidays? D’you want a Smartie? (She takes a tube out of her pocket. Mary Mooney shakes her head.) Oh have one, will you, for Christ’s sake. We’re not supposed to be fasting, you know. Hold out your hand. (She pours some Smarties into Mary Mooney’s reluctant hand.) Are you keeping quiet just to annoy me, by any chance? (Mary Mooney shakes her head.) I suppose you’re scared of getting caught.
Mary Mooney: No I’m not.
Mary Gallagher: You are.
Mary Mooney: I’m not.
Mary Gallagher: Well, what are you being so holy for? Come to think of it, though, you always have been a bit holier than everyone else.
Mary Mooney: I have not. I’m no more holy than you are.
Mary Gallagher: Not much. I doubt if you’ve ever committed a genuine mortal sin in all your life.
Mary Mooney: Oh yes I have. I’ve definitely committed one.
Mary Gallagher: Oooooh, one. That’s a lot isn’t it.
Mary Mooney: Why, how many have you committed?
Mary Gallagher: Millions.
Mary Mooney: Have you really?
Mary Gallagher: Yes. You know that box of Tampax?
Mary Mooney: Yes.
Mary Gallagher: They were mine.
Mary Mooney: They weren’t!
Mary Gallagher: They were, you know.
Mary Mooney: Why didn’t you go up and claim them?
Mary Gallagher: You must be joking. She didn’t suspect me for a minute!
Mary Mooney: Who got the blame in the end?
Mary Gallagher: Mary Zajaczkowski.
Mary Mooney: That wasn’t very fair.
Mary Gallagher: She’s not bothered. They could just as easily have been hers. She went red when Mother Peter cross-examined her. Did you know she’s going out with a really old man?
Mary Mooney: No.
Mary Gallagher: Yes. He must be at least twenty-five. Nearly everybody in our form has got a guy. It’s time you got yourself one, isn’t it?
Mary Mooney: You think I’ve never been out with a guy, don’t you?
Mary Gallagher: Well you haven’t, have you?
Mary Mooney: Oh yes I have, if you want to know.
Mary Gallagher: Oh yes? Since when?
Mary Mooney: Since just after Easter, actually.
Mary Gallagher: How come you’ve kept so quiet about it, then?
Mary Mooney: If I told you something really confidential would you promise to keep it a secret?
Mary Gallagher: Yes, of course.
Mary Mooney: Would you swear to God never to tell a soul?
Mary Gallagher: Yes. You can trust me.
Mary Mooney: Cross your heart and hope to die.
Mary Gallagher: All right.
Mary Mooney: You know when you were in Fatima?
Mary Gallagher: Yes.
Mary Mooney: Well, I met a guy in the street and he asked me to go to his house with him, so I did.
Mary Gallagher: What, you let a guy pick you up just like that? And you didn’t even know who he was?
Mary Mooney: No. I mean yes. I did know who he was. That’s just the trouble. You know who he is too.
Mary Gallagher: Who?
Mary Mooney: Promise you won’t tell anyone in all the world. Especially not Mary McGinty.
Mary Gallagher: Why not her?
Mary Mooney: Well, see, this guy…It was her boyfriend Derek.
Mary Gallagher: Wow! No!
Mary Mooney: Yes.
Mary Gallagher: Are you sure you’re not making it up? I can’t imagine you and him together.
Mary Mooney: Well we were.
Mary Gallagher: Christ. She’d go berserk if she ever knew.
Mary Mooney: You won’t tell her will you? Please.
Mary Gallagher: I wouldn’t dare. Did he ask to see you again?
Mary Mooney: I wouldn’t want to see him again, not as long as I live. He’s horrible.
Mary Gallagher: Is he? How come Mary McGinty’s so mad about him then?
Mary Mooney: He was nice at first. But then he turned nasty. Well not exactly nasty, but rude. Do all guys try to do rude things to girls?
Mary Gallagher: The majority of them, yes, if they get the chance.
Mary Mooney: Has Mark ever tried to be impure?
Mary Gallagher: He never thinks about anything else.
Mary Mooney: But he’s a Catholic.
Mary Gallagher: Yes. Terrible, isn’t it?
Mary Mooney: You’ve been going out with Mark for a long time, haven’t you?
Mary Gallagher: What about it?
Mary Mooney: Is that why you’ve committed so many mortal sins? Because he makes you?
Mary Gallagher: He doesn’t make me. What a thing to say. It’s the devil who makes you commit sins.
Mary Mooney: That Derek must be possessed by the devil.
Mary Gallagher: Why? What did he do? Oh dear, you haven’t lost your priceless virginity, have you?
Mary Mooney: No. No…but…
Mary Gallagher: What?
Mary Mooney: I couldn’t possibly tell you.
Mary Gallagher: I’ve probably heard it all before.
Mary Mooney: I couldn’t possibly say what he did. But I’ve got it written down in my diary. (She takes a book out of her pocket.) I have to keep it with me all the time in case anyone should ever find it. My mom’d hit me if she saw it. You can have a look at it if you like.
Mary Gallagher: (reading the diary) Wow, imagine letting a guy do that to you the first time you ever go out with him.
Mary Mooney: I didn’t want him to. But he was a lot stronger than me. He’s not like a boy, that Derek. He’s a big man, you know.
Mary Gallagher: They will usually stop if you tell them to.
Mary Mooney: I did. But her said we all know “no” means “yes”. That doesn’t make any sense though, does it?
Mary Gallagher: It means you liked what he was doing but you don’t want to admit it.
Mary Mooney: I did not like it.
Mary Gallagher: Didn’t you? You must be abnormal then.
Mary Mooney: I’m not
Mary Gallagher: You must be. Everybody else likes it.
Mary Mooney: Well it wasn’t all that bad, I suppose.
Mary Gallagher: You want to find a guy of your own. It’s not cool to go around borrowing other people’s.
Mary Mooney: Oh, shut your rotten face. And give me back my diary.

orientation to deafness

Throughout the course of the semester, especially in the first week or two, I developed relationships with my fellow classmates and even with the second year students in the Interpreter Training Program. I was absolutely terrified to go on the observation, because I didn’t know what to expect, so I pushed it off until the absolute last minute possible. I forced myself to take a deep breath and put on my brave face, and walk in the audiologist’s office like I didn’t have a fear in the world, the same way I did on the first day of school this year. It turns out I really enjoyed myself, and learned so much from that experience.
Learning about the history of deafness, and how it was perceived from ancient times, until now has been an extremely fascinating educational journey for me. I felt like my brain couldn’t keep up, and even though I probably didn’t read the text book as often as I should have, I really enjoyed the fact that very detailed notes were given. I guess I took for granted the struggles underwent by the Deaf community, which is not something that I will do twice.

Vegetarian

Why am I vegetarian? To me, it's about trying to treat all life, not just human life, with compassion and respect. If I don't need to take life, I'd rather not do it. I mentioned before that I love a lot, and that is the main reasoning for my choice.

In a nutshell that sums it up pretty well, however; there is a lot more to it than that.

• How can we justify our treatment of animals? Why is it that the feelings of one animal aren't as significant as the feelings of another? People treat animals as companions when it's convenient for them, but turn savage at meal time. We know somehow, intuitively maybe, that animals think and feel, and would rather live than die.
• The cruelty of animal farming, where animals are pumped full of hormones to grow faster, and full of antibiotics and chemicals to keep them alive even when they are sick and suffering, just so they produce more milk or more meat; chemicals that end up in our bodies, and flow through our blood now.

My decision to be a vegetarian certainly isn't going to save the world, but it's a small step that I have decided to take. I'm not a vegan by any means, but I try not to be associated with anything that involves the merciless slaughter of innocent victims, such as wearing leather.

I have never felt the need to justify my decision to anybody, as a matter of fact I didn't even tell people that I quit eating meat for a very long time because people aren't sensitive to the ethics of others, especially if they can't relate.

My mother told me that she had a difficult time getting me to eat meat even as a child, and this is kind of funny to me, because my niece is a little over a year old, and she blatantly refuses to eat meat, even when they try to trick her she scrunches up her face and back out it comes.

When I was in high school I had this friend who lived out on some gravel road. His house was a little farm house at the end of a long lane, and right next to his house was a cow pasture. The cows didn't belong to him, but his landlord owned all of the property, so I assumed they were the landlord's cows. The gate to the pasture was literally at the end of my friend's driveway, and we were there the day they brought the little calves in. There was one little calf in particular that just had the personality of a little dog, she pranced around all cheery and played and ran up to us so we could pet her, and she just basked in all the attention that she got. We have many pictures of this cow that we affectionately named Cha-Cha, and as she grew, there are videos of us trying to ride her.

HAHAHA Cha-Cha was quite a clever little cow, and would stand still while we stacked up chairs and buckets to be tall enough to reach her back, but just as we would swing a leg over, she would step off to the side, sending you tumbling down to the ground between the two of you. Of course the rest of us in the group would be laughing hysterically, and I think that Cha-Cha knew how happy we all were, and I firmly believe that she was a happy girl too. She would just stand there over and over again as we made fools of ourselves time after time....

I was in high school at the time, and I was sitting there in my last class of the day, and this is back in the day of pagers, and my pager went off, and it was my friend. Of course, I had to wait until I got home to call him back, but when I did he told me that the truck was there loading up the cows, and he thinks that Cha-Cha was on it, but he didn't know for sure because the rest of the cows took off to the other side of the pasture.

What a sad day it was, I hurried up out there, and I passed the cattle truck on the lane, and Cha-Cha was nowhere to be found. I cried and cried, and vowed never to eat beef again because it all I would be able to think about was how I could possibly be eating my friend Cha-Cha.

What a heartwarming story huh? It's been about 9 years now since I've eaten red meat, and close to 6 since I've eaten any other form of meat. Haha, I was pretty grossed out actually, I was eating a chef salad with turkey on it, and my fork wouldn't go into the turkey, and when it finally did i looked at it, and it just reminded me of human flesh....I dropped my salad and ran away to get sick, and never touched anything to do with meat again.

I'm sure you probably could have lived without that random little piece of information, but I don't mind sharing :)