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Reflective Essay

Einstein once said that to solve the most difficult problems in science, “a state of feeling similar to that of a religious person or a lover” is required. This is coming from a man that single-handedly changed the world through the venue of theoretical physics; his theory of special relativity is especially important because of the implications and technological applications that have been found for it. His love and pursuit of physical problems single-handedly changed the culture of physics; it provided evidence that a new and better way of thinking was required to make advancements in the understanding of the physical reality. Einstein’s love and passion for the subject has not only changed the culture of physics, but of civilization as a whole.

For a very long time, Newtonian physics prevailed in the world of science because it seemed to work in all natural situations and it proved to be almost entirely common sense. It has been used to describe the force that acts upon objects, the acceleration that objects experience as they fall to the floor, and speed at which things travel as a result of the forces that are acting upon it. Classical physics works in most situations throughout daily life, even for the common engineer. It remained the standard in science until scientists began to realize its shortcomings.

In 1887, an experiment that is called the “The Michelson-Morley Experiment” was conducted. It was designed to detect small changes in the speed of light while making use of a light beam and a moving mirror. The developers of this experiment were surely surprised to discover that they could not detect a difference in the speed of light, even as they changed the parameters of the experiment. The experimenters struggled with the results for some time, only to find out that the speed of light is constant regardless of the conditions they imposed on the experiment (Serway, 7). This conclusion defied their understanding of physics, but the science community was forced to consider other options.

While the classical understanding is proven to be useful, it was becoming apparent that classical physics was beginning to reach its limits through experiments such as the Michelson-Morley experiment. It failed to explain some of the phenomena that scientists had discovered throughout the late 19^th century. It failed to explain to true nature of light, describe objects with exceptionally high velocity, and take into account true relativity between different reference frames. As these problems began to become more and more apparent, the need for a new theory arose; Einstein’s theory of special relativity has come to be accepted as the more truthful theory about physical reality because it has shed light on physical phenomena and has more been proven to provide more accurate descriptions.

The theory of special relativity assumes two fundamental logical truths: the speed of light is constant to all observers in a vacuum and that the laws of physics will hold constant to all observers. With these two assumptions made, Einstein went on to make many different predictions about the world that have been proven to be valid. For example, time dilation is principle that Einstein predicted and it states that clocks in relative motion to an observer will appear to be slowed down. The mathematical relationship is shown below:

The  term of this equation is the time interval measured by an observer who is constant motion with respect to the clock and the ’ term is the time interval according an observer who is stationary in relation to the clock . The  term is the relative velocity of the observer, and the c term is symbol for the speed of light. Notice that as the relative speed increases, the time interval difference grows. It predicts that time appears to slow down as velocity increases; this prediction seems to defy logic and certainly defies personal common sense and the natural intuition of most individuals.

This important concept has proven to be useful in everyday life through global positioning systems. Because satellites orbit around the surface of the earth at a very fast pace, they are subject to time dilation. Without the adjustment for time dilation given in the theory of special relativity, GPS systems would not be capable of providing the accurate results that they provide for human civilization (“Real-World Relativity…”).

Imagine a rod of a certain length that is travelling at a speed that is very close to the speed of light. How would you expect the length to change as you measure it while it is in motion and when you measure it at a stationary state? The theory of special relativity predicts that the rod actually contracts in the direction of motion as it move through space; furthermore, the magnitude of contraction depends on the rod’s velocity. This concept is commonly referred to as length contraction. It is yet another example of the proven physical reality that was discovered because of Einstein’s theory that seems to defy logic but catch the attention of the inquisitive mind.

Among other intellectual achievements, Einstein’s special theory of relativity has earned him a place in nearly every facet of American culture. He seems to be mentioned all of the time in popular culture. He has certainly become a personal intellectual hero. His achievements have shed light on the world of science. He represents a culture that is determined to make developments in understanding so that humankind can continue to progress. The manifestation of scientific understanding has come through innovation that has benefitted much of mankind.

Bibliography

1. “Real-World Relativity: The GPS Navigation System”. Accessed 5 December 2014. Website. http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/Unit5/gps.html
2. Serway, R.A. Moses, C.J., Moyer, C. A. Modern Physics. Third Edition. Belmont. David Harris, 2005.

Esay 3

“The Day the Universe Changed-Episode 9 (Making Waves)” was a short video that depicted the progress of science and technology as related, but separate stories. According to the video, the innovations in technology have come about because of the world of science and have received far more public attention than the discoveries that were responsible for new inventions. Furthermore, the video implies that technology has clouded the view of the public from the importance of scientific discoveries because it is so quick to apply the discoveries in order to use them in daily life.

According to Webster’s dictionary, science is the knowledge about and study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observations. Note that the application of discoveries made in the world of science is not mentioned within the definition of it. Technology is the application of scientific discoveries through inventions and innovations. While these fields are related, they are definitely discernable.

Science and technology are often thought of as a single thing in the minds of people who are not trained in these fields. As explained by the video, people have long taken light and electricity for granted. They are not often concerned with how or why these things work, but how they can be harnessed in daily life.

The lack of discernment for science and technology is important today because it has stolen the genuine curiosity about nature. The enthrallment and love of all things new has kept us from asking truly important questions about the way things are and how they work. This love of industry is interesting because its very existence is due to the discoveries that have been made in science, but it quickly destroys the scientific curiosity that has brought us this far.

The worlds of technology and science seem to differ today in major way. It seems that popular culture believes that technology can answer all of the problems that we as a race face today. Edison is premiere example of this because he believed that all things could be improved. In his mind, invention and improvement had no limits. Science, on the other hand, has taken a view point that is in direct opposition to this. In the world of science, nothing can really be known for sure because of the relativity and uncertainty that is inherent to our universe. Additionally, it has stopped trying to answer the question “why” and has settled for the question “how”.

Science, or the study and knowledge of nature, is misunderstood by the general public. This is exemplified by the way in which it is talked about. Einstein’s famous equation (E=mc²) is talked about in all types of scenarios (from children’s shows to comedy skits), but the general population does not have the opportunity to think about the implications that it has on our understanding of reality. If the entire population were able to truly ponder scientific discoveries such as this, the advances in understanding of nature would exponentially grow.

Essay 2

The definition of an integral is given below:

An integral is basically the summation of values for a certain function within a certain range. In fact, integrations use Riemann summations. Riemann sums are used to approximate the total are under a curve.

Energy is often spoken of in continuous terms when relatively large systems are being considered. A good example of energy being treated as continuous is when problems are being solved with the ideal gas law. Consider a system that is constant in pressure, and the temperature increases. The volume must also increase to compensate for this change. Typically, we think of this compensation and the increase in temperature as continuous processes. We rarely think of the increase in temperature as a quantized process in our daily lives.

We think of energies (and measures of energies) in our lives as continuous because it gives us useful and easy to understand approximations. In macroscopic systems, these approximations are typically close enough for the purposes of daily life.

While these approximations are true, they are technically incorrect. Because all systems are made up of atoms, things on the quantum scale, they must all follow the rules that are established in the quantum scale of things. Energy is quantized at all levels; energy in a continuum is just an abstract and useful idea that can be applied to larger systems.

Because the laws of physics apply everywhere in the universe, all energy is quantized. Since all energy is quantized, that means that everything should be quantized because everything is interrelated. Momentum, for example, must be quantized because it can be related to the energy of a system.

 

 

Source:

http://archives.math.utk.edu/visual.calculus/4/definite.1/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riemann_sum

 

Help Received:

Cited sources

Essay 1

“Einstein’s Big Idea” helped to remind me that science is a craft that doesn’t take place in a vacuum; in other words, it’s a communal effort to answer questions about nature. While Einstein is perhaps the most famous scientist of all time (perhaps rightly so), it’s important to realize that he did not make the scientific advances alone. He was simply at the culminating point of hundreds of years of scientific inquiry. If it were not for Newton, Planck, and other important scientists before him, perhaps he would have never come to the conclusions that he was able to decide on within his lifetime. Today, scientists are standing on the shoulders of giants from the past.

In addition to the communal effort, I came to understand that great scientists are often simple and extremely curious men and women that are determined to answer the questions that they have about the universe. Einstein’s childlike obsession with the idea of light led to the discovery of the world’s most famous equation: E=mc2. Because of this important equation and the understanding that it brought to the world, many technological and scientific advances have been made. Because of Faraday’s fascination with electromagnetism, we understand so much about the magnetic lines that come from electrical current. The curiosity of some very determined men and women is responsible for many of the things that we have today.

The sort of film is fascinating to me because I want to become a professional scientist. It helps me to continue to chase my own curiosity in hopes of finding answers that could potentially bring a change to the world. Through science, we have the chance to solve many of the problems that we face today as a whole.

Reflective Essay

I call the Appalachian Mountains because I was born in the Appalachian region. I once thought that I understood the culture of the area because I have been personally involved with the people and their traditions for my entire life. In the past, I understood it to be a simple culture. One without real cultural struggle. I also understood that the Appalachian people were often called hillbillies, and that people from Appalachia were generally expected to fit a certain stereotype; I never truly understood the reasons and history behind this stereotype. Until I began the study of the Rhetoric and Culture of Appalachia, I never considered the Appalachian region in full. I was never educated on the history of the area, or on the effects that history has on the culture that that we see today. While I began life assuming that the Appalachian culture was simple, I now understand that the culture is made up of a heterogeneous community of individuals that have all undergone oppression and ridicule from American society through the hands-on experience and research of the Appalachian region. The Appalachian culture is complex and misrepresented.

I began the course of the Rhetoric and Culture of Appalachia with an idea of Appalachia that is very common. To me, most of the Appalachian people were hillbillies (An Introduction); I seemed to subconsciously know that my conception of the people was unfair because I felt the need to defend my assumptions about Appalachia. In “An Introduction”, Appalachia was full of people that were often uneducated and resistant to change. Through my studies, I have learned that the stereotypes that I have held of Appalachia, and the people therein, are not only misrepresentative, but held by most American people.

Appalachian people have been the victim of cultural stereotyping for a very long time. It often takes the form of name-calling, where these people are labelled “hillbillies”. It is commonly assumed that these people are uneducated, unintelligent, and the product of incestuous relationships. I learned about the hillbilly stereotype from a simple google search of the term. The search yielded pictures of For the purpose of study, I was asked to search the term “hillbilly” and found strong examples of the way in which the Appalachian people are stereotyped by American popular culture (Music: Rednecks and Hillbillies). Hillbillies are often toothless, alcoholic and gun-toting. Sometimes, they are depicted as homicidal, degenerate, inbred people that are out to wreak havoc among the “normal” American people.

My understanding of the Appalachian stereotype, and its perpetuation, has been further developed through class assignments such as the reading the play, The Kentucky Cycle. This play is about the Rowen family that began to inhabit Appalachia in the late 18^th century. The family struggles throughout its time in the Appalachian area. They are subjected to unfair treatment by the coal mining companies that arrive in the area, violence with their neighbors, and internal strife. Many of the individuals in the family are portrayed as evil, greedy, and violent. Michael Rowen is the best example of a character that fits the Appalachian stereotype; he kills out of greed, he kidnaps a woman to force her into marriage, and violently beats the members of his family. Michael Rowen is the quintessential Appalachian hillbilly.

As expected, the hillbilly stereotype has been a major source of social shame to people that are from the Appalachian region, but do not necessarily fit the hillbilly stereotype. I have learned from stories like “One Affrilachian Woman’s Return Home” by Crystal E. Wilkinson that the shame that Appalachian people feel about their regional identity is so intense that it forces people to change the way that they act and speak when they are away from Appalachia (The Appalachian Experience). The way that Appalachian people are treated by the American society is unfair because it often forces them to do unfair things such as changing the way that they speak and act. The perpetuators of the Appalachian stereotype are mistreating the Appalachian people.

According to Ronald Lewis, “Appalachia is a region without a formal history”. He argues in “Beyond Isolation and Homogeneity” that the common conception of the Appalachian region was developed in the late 19^th century by local color writers. The color writers developed stories of the region as entertainment for the middle class (Beyond Isolation and Homogeneity). I have learned that many of concepts that Americans tend to hold true about the Appalachian region were born in the time in which the color writers were developing the story.

I had the opportunity to interview an individual from that grew up in the Appalachian state, West Virginia. I was able to ask him about his experience with the Appalachian stereotype, and the effects that it has had on his life. He explained to me that people have not been able to discern him as an Appalachian from other Appalachian people. Additionally, he mentioned that he could not pick out an Appalachian person from another at first glance (Interview Project). From this, I developed an even deeper understanding of Appalachian misrepresentation (Interview Project).  In reality, Appalachian people do not fit the hillbilly stereotype.

I have learned that that this stereotype, while heavily influential to the American understanding of the Appalachian people, holds little real validity as a true representation of the Appalachian people. In an interview of an Appalachian man, we had the opportunity to discuss Appalachian stereotyping, and his experience with it. While he was familiar with the stereotype, he had no personal experience with someone that fit the stereotype (Interview Project). The obvious implication is that most of the Appalachian people do not fit the stereotype of the region.

 

In conclusion, I have learned that the Appalachian people make a culture that has been misrepresented by American society for the benefit of others. The Appalachian stereotype holds little validity, and has been used as an effective tool to mistreat the community. I now understand that I have helped to perpetuate the hillbilly stereotype because I did not have a real understanding of the culture, its complexities, and the misrepresentation that it has endured.

 

Interview Project

With

Glenn Reynolds

Interviewer: Dylan M Guthrie

10/21/14

Interview Transcript

Dylan: This is Dylan Guthrie and I’m sitting here with Mr. Glenn Reynolds. I’d like to thank you for agreeing to sit down and interview with me.

Glenn: Absolutely.

Dylan: I would just like you to answer the questions to the best of your ability and feel free to speak freely. Okay. First question. Where did you grow up within Appalachia?

Glenn: I grew up in the mountainous region from Richwood, West Virginia up to the Maryland border due to my dad’s travelling and work.

Dylan: So how long did you live in those individual locations?

Glenn: My father followed road construction and the road jobs would last anywhere from four to six months. So probably two or three times a year, we would move to a new locations and go to different schools.

Dylan: Can you describe to me what it was like to have to move schools and make new friends and things like that?

Glenn: In West Virginia at the time, it was a very rural area and there were mostly one room schools where they taught eight grades. Most of the economy was bad because it was right after the depression. The schools were ill equipped and homes at that time didn’t have electricity or water; everything was very primitive.

Dylan: Do you identify yourself as an Appalachian?

Glenn: I’m a West Virginian and an American. The Appalachian Mountains is the name of the region, but I am not identified with that region.

Dylan: Why would you not call yourself an Appalachian?

Glenn: It doesn’t have any meaning. I’m and American and a West Virginian. It’s just like calling yourself a New River Valley person, it’s just an area that doesn’t have enough meaning.

Dylan: Consider the Appalachian area, not that these people call themselves Appalachian, but consider the Appalachian area. How would you describe the culture and certain aspects of that culture?

Glenn: The culture was very rural with a poor economy. There was no industry much coming into the mountainous areas. People were very poor. And the living conditions were pretty poor. Not much in the way of transportation and communication systems? People were living with very limited resources.

Dylan: So, do you think that’s changed today? Do you think that it’s still the same today?

Glenn: No, it’s changed dramatically over the years. Rapidly changed with better roads and more jobs available. People becoming employed. School system got better.

Dylan: If you were to meet a person, and you had never met the person before, would you be able to tell if they were Appalachian?

Glenn: I don’t think so. I’ve never been identified as a person from Appalachia by my parents or actions. So I don’t think that I would recognize one.

Dylan: So, people don’t generally identify you as a person from Appalachia?

Glenn: No.

Dylan: But do you think that happens? Do you think there are people out there that you can look at and say that they are from Appalachia?

Glenn: Very limited number.

Dylan: We talked about the culture of Appalachia and you pointed out some of the aspects. How do you think that these aspects differ from those around the country and the world?

Glenn: You have to understand that a rural area is a totally different culture from a city. People in the rural areas have to live off the land and they tend to be more resourceful and independent and they’ve got to make do with what they’ve got. They are a little more independent.

Dylan: Do you think an independent farmer from Appalachia is different from the same sort of person in the Midwest or other regions?

Glenn: They’re the same sort of person in agriculture, except for they had fewer mechanical farm machinery. Everything was pretty primitive. Also, the mountainous regions are more difficult to farm than the flatlands. The farming culture is somewhat similar; however the mountains and terrain are the handicaps.

Dylan: What role does family play in your life?

Glenn: Family is a basic institution in my life. In that era, family was very important. Everyone stuck together and helped each other. Then people helped other families in need. But the family structure was very important and the father figure was usually the main figure in the family and the mother took care of all the raising of the children and the household and things. In my family, my mother was probably equally as strong as my father as far as a promotional and motivational person. She wanted everyone to get an education. All of her children got college degrees. The family is very important.

Dylan: You said that the man was typically the head of the household and the wife is in charge of taking care of the kids and the household.

Glenn: And working at home.

Dylan: What sort of reasons for that? Do you think it has anything to do with the region? Time? Religion?

Glenn: The time, because there were not jobs for women at the time outside of the home. My mother, she did sewing, laundry, cooking for anybody that she could help. She was very resourceful.

Dylan: Did religion play a role in your family?

Glenn: Yea, religion was very important to most families in the region. Most people attended church on a regular basis. The church was a place where you helped other people.

Dylan: So what sort of church did you go to?

Glenn: I was baptized in an Episcopal church, but mostly attended Presbyterian Church until I went to college where I went to a Methodist church, then a Baptist church, then back to a Presbyterian.

Dylan: Ok. So, growing up, did you have any memories of the way people from Appalachia were portrayed in the media? Like the news, or TV, or popular culture? So, when you heard people talk, did they paint a certain picture of the way people from Appalachia area?

Glenn: Well, of course when I was growing up before I got to be 18 years old, you never heard much from the media because there was no media. We didn’t have newspaper, TV, radio or anything. You heard anything, it was transferred by the word of mouth. So you didn’t hear much world news, except when World War II started and then all the men were drafted into the army. In fact, when I was going to school. I went to a one room school, and I was in the eighth grade. I had a partner that was 18 years old and he was drafted into the army. When I graduated from the eighth grade, I was the first student that she had ever sent to high school. She was very proud of me.

Dylan: So, you didn’t really have a lot of contact with the media and stuff like that; how do you think the media would have portrayed people from the area at that time? Do you think that there’d be any unfairness or anything like that there?

Glenn: Later on, after I left high school and sometime in the ‘60s the media began to portray the Appalachian region as sort of a backward, illiterate, uneducated area. This was not totally valid. There was some of that but mostly these people were independent and resourceful. The image was a little bit false.

Dylan: Why do you think that they were painted that way?

Glenn: It made a big media story. There were movies and things made of it. It was a story.

Dylan: You can talk about now or then. Did you eat any special or particular kinds of food in the area?

Glenn: Most of the food that we have in the area, was homegrown food and vegetable. It was typical country home food. The meat was either domestic animals, or when we went hunting, you always preserved the meat for consumption. Everything was cooked at home.

Dylan: Did you have meat often?

Glenn: Whenever we had it. We didn’t always have meat because of the circumstances you didn’t always have meat.

Dylan: What would you consider respectful in your community? If you were to meet someone, what would you expect them to do as far as customs and courtesies and things? What kind of customs and courtesies do you practice when you go into people’s homes?

Glenn: In that era, the courtesy that you would show other people: you would say yes sir and no sir to the men and yes ma’am and no ma’am to the women. When you met someone, you always spoke them and was very respectful, particularly to the older folks. And you expected to be respected in return.

Dylan: So this is just the opposite question. What would you consider disrespectful in your eyes? Like if they were invited into your home as a guest.

Glenn: If you met someone on the street and they didn’t speak to you, that would be considered to be disrespectful. If they come into your home, generally if they are invited into your home, they are of a more friendly atmosphere. Usually, you don’t take issue with someone in your home and argue with them about some issue. It’s just a courtesy to not do that.

Dylan: Do you think that these common courtesies are the same everywhere across the country?

Glenn: They’re different. Some areas of the country, people are more abrupt and don’t acknowledge meeting someone at all. I call that a southern thing, southern culture. Where people like to greet one another cheerfully and everything.

Dylan: Why do you think that is? Why do you think that applies more to south than any other region?

Glenn: I think that when you get into bigger cities, people become not as personable, not as close together like a community or family.

Dylan: And you feel that it’s because of the atmosphere that a city creates?

Glenn: Yes, it’s totally different.

Dylan: What do you think are some common misconception about the Appalachian people?

Glenn: Well, the most common is that they are backward and illiterate. Many are uneducated, but they are very intelligent. The common picture that you get is just backward and illiterate.

Dylan: Can you give a specific example of something that you may remember from your childhood that may counter the stereotype?

Glenn: No, but let me tell you a little story about my childhood. Right after the depression, early on, my dad had a good job. He was an engineer on the railroad. When the depression hit, he got laid off. Then he went to work for a lumber company that was logging in West Virginia. He ran the locomotive for them. He made good money and bought three little houses in the lumber town. He lived in one and rented the other two. After a couple of years, the lumber company went bankrupt. He lost his job, and they owed him about eight months’ pay. Well there no jobs available then. So he couldn’t pay the mortgages on the three houses. So they were foreclosed and sold at auction. Well the auction didn’t bring what he owed on them. So the bank wrapped it up into one mortgage and he had a 30 year mortgage to pay off over the next 30 years. So when he began to work again in road construction, every month, he had to pay the mortgage. Usually it was about half of what he made. Now, I grew up watching that bill come in every month and saw the stress that it took for them to rake up enough money to pay the mortgage on houses that they no longer had. When I got out of high school at 18 years old, there was no chance of going to college. So I went in the Marine Corps, where I made 75$ a month. What I did is take out an allotment of 47$ every month for four years to help them pay that mortgage. When I got out of the Marine Corps, I went to college. Of course, my mother worked and paid back every dollar that I had sent home. It helped them get it paid off in 1952. Then they bought a little farm in a mountainous area there near Marleton. My dad retired on the farm and raised sheep and a few cows. The last couple of years I was in high school, we lived on that farm. I walked two and half miles on a dirt road to get on the bus to ride 25 miles to schools. That was some of the experiences that I grew up with.

Dylan: That’s very interesting. How would you want young people to think about the Appalachian region? What would you want to tell them?

Glenn: Let me put it this way. I look at the Appalachian region today as a beautiful mountainous region with some highways through them. They have a tourist industry. It’s a beautiful place to visit. The farms are a lot more prosperous now. A lot of government projects that went through the region all the through the Tennessee valley and down and the highway projects. It’s the reason that the region no longer carries the stigma of Appalachia.

Dylan: Do you think that stigma is still around today?

Glenn: No, I don’t.

Dylan: How about in the minds of the people outside of the area?

Glenn: I am not aware of it. I don’t see it anywhere.

Dylan: How do you feel growing up in the area has affected you today? In family life? Professionally? In life in general?

Glenn: I think it made me more independent and more determined to get an education and achieve something in life.  And to take advantage of all of the opportunities that are available to me. It helped me a lot.

Dylan: Why do you think growing up in the area did this for you?

Glenn: Like I said, it made me independent and strong enough to not be upset by little setbacks. I noticed when I got out of high school and eventually went to college, due to the school system that I attended being very weak, I had to play catch up in math and several subjects to catch up with my peers. I was determined to do so, I had to work a little longer and harder, but I could compete.

Dylan: Will you just take a second to speak about your professional life?

Glenn: Probably when I went into the Marine Corps, I lacked a little self-confidence but Marine Corps training gave me a little more self-confidence. Then, after four years in the Marine Corps and one year in Korea where I worked on aircraft, I went to college and studied to become an electrical engineer. Then I had an opportunity to get into the Air Force and become a pilot, which was an ambition of mine since early high school. So, I was able to fly in the Air Force, and later in the Air National Guard for a total of 32 years of total service. I retired at the rank of Colonel, which was very successful for me. During the same time that I was in the Air National Guard and went to work as an electrical engineer for American Electric Power and did some engineering and then moved into marketing and sales. I learned to sale and do marketing and was very successful. By doing so, I moved up the ladder to economic development for the company, which is seeking new industry in the area where you work and moved on into the ranks of management and later on to be the director of marketing and customer service for the company. Which was a pretty good run in the corporate world. So, I have to say that I look back on it as successful.

Dylan: Are you aware that there is discussion of the area in the academic in the world?

Glenn: I am aware, but I can’t remember any of the books that I have read about the area. There are some very good books about the region, but none of the names of them stand out. But I am aware of them.

Dylan: Have you seen shows like the Andy Griffith Show or the Beverley Hillbillies?

Glenn: Yes.

Dylan: Do those shows mean anything to you? Do they hit home with you?

Glenn: Most of those shows have a little bit of truth in them, but then its embellished to sell the move and to provide entertainment. It tends to be a little more fiction than truth.

Dylan: Do you think those shows would offend people within the Appalachian area?

Glenn: It’s not offensive to me personally. It may be offensive to some, but not to me.

Dylan: Have you ever heard or met anyone that would identify themselves an Appalachian?

Glenn: No, I’ve never heard anyone identify themselves as Appalachian. The closest would be to call themselves West Virginian?

Dylan: Why do you think it is that people inside the area don’t normally call themselves Appalachian, but people outside the area do refer to them as Appalachian?

Glenn: I’ve never heard anybody call them Appalachians. Maybe I have a limited background in the area. When I think of West Virginia, I think there are some important people that came out of there. One guy is Homer Hickham, who was the rocket scientist. He came out of that region?

Dylan: Do you think that he was successful because of the region?

Glenn: I think he was successful because he had an interest in a subject science and he had a teacher that saw his aptitude that gave him opportunities to expand his knowledge. Seems like the teacher will always make the difference in those situations.

Dylan: So, if you will just take a second to talk about your college education in West Virginia. What was that like?

Glenn: When I first went into college, I saw that I was far behind. I was out of high school for four years. I was far behind the other members of my class because I needed some math to catch up. So I had to work hard. At the same time I had to work to earn a little money. I was working twenty hours a week at Kroger stocking shelves at night. So, I had to play catch up academically, but soon I caught back up. Though I was probably never as good as some of the scholars who came from great high schools, but I managed to do satisfactory work.

Dylan: How do you think your college education compared to other colleges across the nation?

Glenn: First, I’d have to look at the West Virginia. At that time, there were only two engineering schools in the state of West Virginia: West Virginia Institute of Technology and West Virginia University. West Virginia Institute of Technology was a smaller school and I selected it and I think that I did the right thing. Now, how it ranked against other universities, I do not know how it compared to engineering at Virginia Military Institute and Virginia Tech. It was good, or better, or equal to West Virginia University. But I couldn’t rank it with other major universities because they probably had more resources.  But I found out this, when I got in industry we hired a lot of engineers from VMI from WVU and UVA and West Virginia Tech. And most of the ones that we hired from West Virginia Tech. stood out and performed better than the others. And someone asked me why, and I said “the only thing I can say is the guys that went to West Virginia Tech. probably had to work a little harder and took it a little more serious than some of the others”.

Dylan: So, is there anything else that you would like to say? About your childhood, or the region?

Glenn: Well, I’ll speak about my family. My dad was married previously to my mother and he had three children: two boys and a girl. Then he married my mother and they had five children. The two oldest brothers served were drafted in the Army and served in the Army with distinction. My oldest brother served in the Marine Corps in World War II, south pacific. Then myself and my two brothers served in the Air Force and were all pilots and at the same time we were all fighter pilots. Then we all made Captain together at different times, and eventually is was all Lieutenant Colonel together. We were a very patriotic family that based primarily on my family structure. My mother was always promoting college…always always promoting college. She was a lady that worked her entire life for practically nothing. But when she was 72 years old, she started a bed and breakfast. They put a Snowshoe resort in, right near the farm. She turned her house into a bed and breakfast and she ran the thing until she was 87 years old and made plenty of money. She sold a bed for 6$ and two meals for 3$, but people that would come were attorneys and doctors and would tip real big.

Dylan: I’d like to thank you for your time and I deeply appreciate you sitting and talking with me.

Glenn: I’m happy to talk to you, I hope that you got something that you can use in your paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection

            The interview with Mr. Glenn Reynolds was very interesting because it revealed things about his past that were initially unknown to me. He took the opportunity to speak about his family and the way life was as he was growing up, and the way that he thought about certain cultural aspects in Appalachia. He also spoke about his grade school and college educations, his father’s sporadic working life, and his successful professional career after leaving the Appalachian area. Glenn Reynolds is a great example of the type of person that directly counters the general stereotype of individuals from the area; not only does he differ greatly from the stereotype, but he has almost no concept of an Appalachian.

Because his father was employed by a company that built roads throughout the state of West Virginia, Glenn’s childhood was not spent in a specific town or area in the state. The family was forced to move “two to three times a year” where the Glenn was forced to change schools and towns often.  According to him, “the schools were ill equipped…and everything was very primitive”, which seems to have lead to an education that made it very difficult to complete a formal grade school education; he was the “first student…ever sent to high school” (referring to his elementary school). Perhaps it was because of the difficult economic times that people were forced to drop out of school at a young age in order to help support the family, but the lack of education in the area has long been used as a tool to stereotype the people in the Appalachian area. One of the presumptions that people made about Appalachia is that the people were dropping out of school because they weren’t intelligent or hardworking, but it was because young people were being forced to work by the very challenging economic and social times.

The ill-equipped schooling that Glenn received throughout his childhood created difficulties for him that followed him to college.  Glenn said, “When I first went to college I saw that I was far behind”. It’s a statement that shows one of the challenges that he faced because of the tough economic situation that many people of the area suffered under. This sort of statement shows us that the lacking education that he received followed him into his adulthood; it presented him with unfair challenges that could’ve held him back. Fortunately, Glenn Reynolds is a very hardworking man that was lucky enough to see many of his dreams realized, but many individuals from the area may have not been so fortunate. While it may have not held Glenn back later in life, this sort of problem can often prevent (or at least make it challenging) a person from reaching certain goals in life. Because the problem of poor education is likely to be a problem that touched many lives of children in the Appalachian area, it begs the question: how many people were forced to drop out of school to support the family and, thus, miss the chance to realize dreams that these individuals may’ve had?

While he acknowledged that there were problems with his childhood schooling and the environment that was created because of the tough times, he neither explicitly stated nor implied that there was a group or person of blame. It was not because he was a person who grew up in the Appalachian Mountains, but because it was the way that life was. He seemed to view his lacking education as a challenge that must be beaten in order to reach his goals in life. In his mind, the trials and tribulations that he and his family faced were a part of normal life.  He was not looking for someone to blame so that could relieve himself or responsibility. He used these challenges to push him to succeed throughout his life.

I had the chance to ask Mr. Reynolds if he considered himself an Appalachian and he very abruptly replied, “I’m a West Virginian and an American. The Appalachian Mountains is the name of the region, but I am not identified with that region.” Upon asking why he felt this way, he stated “It doesn’t have any meaning. I’m and American and a West Virginian.”; furthermore, he didn’t think that he could spot an Appalachian person among other people. These very simple remarks introduce some very important concepts. It’s almost as if he has no concept of an “Appalachian person”, but only the concept of people that come from the area. This was interesting because it forces one to wonder: do all people from that area see things this way? Are the stereotypes of people from the Appalachian area only carried by people from outside of the area itself?

Glenn did understand that there were some misconceptions and stereotypes about the people that come from the area, but he seemed to carry none of the stereotypes about the people. He didn’t even seem to link these people together as a group; there was no concept of “Appalachians” as a group of people. In his mind, he is a West-Virginian, not an Appalachian. And it’s not like he resented to term “Appalachian”, or the idea of being from that area, it just wasn’t the way he identified himself. The fact that he carried no concept of “Appalachian” people would make it difficult for him to see the people from the area as a group that has been socially oppressed by much of the country.

I chose to interview Mr. Glenn Reynolds because I knew that he would counter the stereotype that many Americans seem to believe. He is very successful man, with a strong beliefs in hard work, family, and morality. What I did not expect is that he would not call himself an Appalachian, nor have a concept of what an Appalachian person was. Again, he labelled himself as a “West Virginian and an American”, which counters the common idea of the Appalachian regional and cultural homogeneity. Glenn is a prime example of the differences between individuals and areas within the region solely because he does not call himself Appalachian, but a West Virginian. This very simple statement acknowledges the fact that culture differs within the region. The people are not all the same. Perhaps the American public can learn a lesson from people like Glenn Reynolds. He defeats the stereotype.