Exploration Two: Lydia Freudenberg

Hi. My name is Lydia Freudenberg and I am currently an International Business/Fashion Retail major. I graduated from Marysville High School and commute from a quaint street in a 106 year old house in Marysville. I loved high school but couldn't imagine going back. I loved being involved in Symphonic Choir, A Capella and ShowChoir but I'm ready to move on and create my future and hopefully full fill my dreams. A refresh on my fun fact: Fashion/shopping are my hobbies. And I hope to become a decent archer. Of course archery would be a side hobby, but a thrilling one that would keep things interesting. To wrap up this first paragraph, here is my face. Tah-dah!

I decided to look further into the life of Fredrick Douglass, a man who went from slavery to being a successful writer, anti-slavery lecturer, and even held government official status under the presidency of Harrison (1889-891). But what interesting, or should I say impressive quality I found in Douglass was his motivation for equality. When he was still under slavery he founded a school to educate his fellow slaves and refused whipping, this of course infuriated his master and Douglass eventually realized the only way out was to escape. After his flee to New York City, I was highly impressed with how Douglass's life played out. He became an author or a 30,000 copy selling autobiography, began writing in several newspapers, helped with the underground railroad and even asked Lincoln to make abolition a goal during the Cilvil War. And in the late 1800's he become an activist for Women's Rights. Frederick Douglass was an impressive individual and it was impossible to narrow it down to one interesting fact the man possessed. Here is a link where I found a majority of my information on Frederick Douglass.
http://winningthevote.org/F-FDouglass.html

I thought it was only appropriate that I chose the poem "Bury Me in a Free Land" by Frances E. W. Harper. Not only was this poem beautiful it was quite sad to here of the damaging side affects a slave possessed from horrid memories. This poem stood out to me because it allowed me to see what Frederick Douglass most likely lived through up until his escape, and the pain he must of felt when he was separated from his mother. This poem was very personal and had an earnest tone. The line where Harper wrote "If I saw young girls from their mother's arms - Bartered and sold for their youthful charm" it convinced me that Harper may have experienced a situation of this sort and how heart wrenching it must have been. But I'm curious to know what Harper really did live through, or if she is speaking for the slaves who did suffer.  Overall though, this was my favorite poem of the three.

One of my favorite novels that really moved me was Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austin. When I first began reading the classic novel, I found myself frustrated due to the old English style of writing. But as I read further and found myself looking up vocabulary and phrases, I started to understand the style and realized that times really have not changed. If you are not familiar with Pride And Prejudice, a quick summary; there is an intelligent, stubborn, independent women, Elizabeth, who lives in the 1700s and she refuses to marry any man, but wants to marry for love. I instantly fell in love with Elizabeth's character and how she would not change her morals for what society believed was appropriate. The reason I appreciated Elizabeth so much though was because I found a lot of myself in her. I have morals and refuse to change them for any circumstance. I'm very stubborn and always want it my way and have learned that the hard way; that by being selfish you can hurt yourself, others or relationships, and Elizabeth experienced this as well. But towards the end, Elizabeth became my role model. Elizabeth learned that by listening and being kind and compromising, you can be happy and not loose the ones you love. I knew then, what I needed to work on, and that I shouldn't be ashamed of my bold personality, yet I should learn to control it in necessary situations/circumstances.