The thin line between helping and cheating.

"When Students cheat on exams it's because our School system values grades more than students value learning" -Neil deGrasse Tyson

      Like Jim Cooper wrote, Puerto Ricans are the most hospitable people in the world: they really love to help everyone that needs it, especially their friends. It is fine to help people you really care about, but what happens when you help a person in a situation that you are not supposed or allowed to do it? The very-interesting chapter eight of the novel "Down on the island" by Jim Cooper talks about how students helped each other during tests. This is known as cheating, and college students know that this attitude has so many negative consecuences. The great problem is that, students did not realize that they were doing something wrong. When Cooper asked them why are they looking at other student's papers, they honestly said that they really needed  the answer to get a better grade.

    Also, Students really think that if they don't have a good grade at the end of the semester, it is because the proffesor never liked them. Professors want you earn that good grade. Most students do not want to study english because they do not dominate the class, or they care more about the grade that they want to obtain, but in an easy way. The real problem is that school system makes them to think that way. Cooper writes that even teachers promote the cheating attitude.

     This problem is still affect people, including myself. Sometimes we just want to help people, but we dont realize when we are helping in a in a bad way. We just have to make a balance between these two problems. We have to promote active learning (Cooperative works really improves the student's intelectual status. Every problem has a solution, we just need to work on it.

Puerto Rican Educational system in the 50's, by Jim Cooper

     Jim Cooper presents in chapter 7 on his story "Down on the Island", how political and economical changes in the island affected the educational system, especially with English language. English was primarily the main language, but since the drastic changes affected the island in the 1950's decade, it became a second language, and most people didn't want to learn english well, or teach it well. The goverment changed the educational system now. Like Jim Cooper wrote: "The Emphasis is on learning to speak the language by imitating the native speaker model. Quite Obviously, If the teacher cannot speak the language, then the system cannot work".

     Jim Cooper experiences how students did not care about english class. The majority did not wanted to learn because they did not know english very well. On the other hand, they were not fully motivated to learn english, especially from local teachers (known as native speaker model). They gave their class to their students in an incorrect method. For example, the person assigned gave the class in a way that they think that they were following the system: obligating the students to pronunctuate  many times the same sentence, without knowing the true meaning of it.  They did not care if the student was really learning, they just wanted to follow the system.

    Cooper experienced this conflict in the 1950's, we are in 2014 and there are still teachers that they don't really teach very well english, and the most sad part is that they know it. These social problem keed growing, but there are real solutions, we just have to look for them. Like Cooper, there are other professors who really want to motivate their students and teach the way that they can improve and become better intelectual people. Like Brad Henry said: "A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning."

A small place called Home

"Antigua is a small place. Antigua is a very small place. In antigua, not only is the event turned into everyday, but the everyday is turned into an event" 

Sometimes, when we are on vacation in a different place away from home and all the work that we have to deal with every day in our respective lives, we find that place a dreamland, like we are locked out of heaven. For the people that lives in that place, reality is different, and cruel.

Jamaica Kinkaid, author of the novel "A small place", talks about the reality that Antiguans face every day in a small island in the caribbean called Antigua, still dealing with social, cultural, and political issues from the past. Antigua wan an English colony, and in november 1st 1981, Antigua obtained independence. Unfortunately, Antigua never progressed as an independent island, and poverty and corruption took over the island.

Antigua, a beautiful and sunny island (as described in the novel), is often visited by different tourists coming from different countries. According to the novel, tourists don't really know what it is happening on Antigua. According to Kinkaid, they care more about the sunny weather, be relaxed in the beach, eat "Local seafood". For Kinkaid, tourists are morally ugly that usually travels  to escape the boredom of ordinary life." They want to see new thing and people, see the beauty of Antigua; they do not understand the corruption and social deterioration that the island is going through. That is why Antiguan people hate tourists, as well they envy their lifestyle, gesture, etc.

According to Kinkaid, corruption is related to colonization in that it is a continuation of the oppression of colonialism. Antigua was never able to recover to become what it used to be when they were Great Britain's colony. Kinkaid tells that Antigua is not the same island as it was when she was young. For example, the library was damaged a long time ago, and has not yet been repaired. It has only a sign that says "to be repaired soon". The people from Antigua never taught how to be ordinary people, especially in a beautiful island they call home.

These two major problems that Kinkaid presents in her Short novel, also occurs in different places around the world, especially in Puerto Rico. Poverty and Corruprion is also an everyday's issue that affects all social classes of puerto rican society. This social disease is growing every day and it will guide us to cultural deterioration.

One quality that caracterizes puerto ricans are their hospitality, but throughout the years this has been changing. I remember that I was in Old San Juan and a few people were making jokes about the tourists because they were lost in the city. They were joking instead of helpig them. Also, like Antigua, Puerto Rican economyhas been deteriorating because of the politicians that has been controlling our island. Also, people really want to "earn" their money in an easy way, like corruption, drug dealing, etc. These issues don't bother tourists, because they come to Puerto Rico only to enjoy the hot weather and drink piña coladas.

Kinkaid's short novel made me think about my actions, not only as a tourist, also as a local. If we want to progress as a country we need to educate society and promote values. We have the tools to rescue our island, but without the help and dedication of all habitants of the country, it will not be possible, and it will affect our little place called home.

NY 2012