Write about a time in your life that you felt invisible. What was this like? Was someone MAKING you feel this way? How did you feel? When did the feeling of being invisible begin and end? After you've told your story of feeling invisible, comment on invisibility in society--will certain groups ALWAYS be invisible? How does a group of people become VISIBLE? What does a person or group stand to gain by being recognized and acknowledged by society?
Please, react to your classmates' posts! Agree, and--more importantly--disagree! Contradict, refine, and revise your ideas based on others' reactions--this will make this blog so much more than just a homework assignment.
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A time where I felt invisible was the first day of college because that is the time when most people don't know each other and are trying to figure out their schedules. This is most likely happen to commuters since they don't live with, or in the same building as a student who lives in a dorm room. Another reason is that there are 2000 plus students from all different areas, including different countries. transferring from high school to college is a big leap for anybody, since everyone is more busy doing work instead of meeting new friends.
ReplyDeleteAt some point in our lives, we’ve all felt invisible. For me, the transition from high school to college was a struggle. I went from being someone in my high school, to just another face at WCSU. It was something I wasn’t really expecting. For the first few days, I missed home and all my friends. But, there came a point where I realized, its really not that bad. I’m away from home and this is supposed to be a growing experience. So I put myself out there, and became a lot more content here.
ReplyDeleteIn society, I think you’re invisible only if you yourself be. You can’t hide in the back all your life. You have to put yourself out there; That’s the only way you’ll be recognized. Once you become visible, you feel comfortable and happy in your own skin.
The feeling of invisibilty can be the worst feeling to a person. It seems the times where we need the most attention is the time we feel invisible. When I had broken up with my boyfriend of 3 years many people stopped talking to me because I pulled away from them. Like Kaiceeg said, you're only invisible if you allow yourself to be and that's exactly what I did. It got to a point where none of my friends bothered to ask me to go out because they knew the answer. Feeling invisible creates a feeling of meaningless and if you feel meaningless in life you have no ambition and will not be happy. Once I realised hiding in the back wasn't going to change anything I pulled out of my situation and began to hang out with my friends again and enjoy life. Groups in society will only be invisible if like me, they allow themselves to be. If a group or person just takes that leap and puts themselves out there then they will no longer be entirely invisible because they have gained the attention rather than standing in the background.
ReplyDeleteInvisibility is something everyone, male or female, feels at some point. I agree with Gerald and Kaicee when they say that the transition between high school into college was a time I felt invisible. I think almost everyone feels invisible then. For me it was a big change. All my life I've gone to catholic school so my class size was always really small. Although classroom sizes aren't that much different at Western compared to my high school the amount of people you interact with on a daily basis makes you feel like your no one. Once I made my friends and because used to life on campus the invisibility ended. As everyone stated I too agree that you can only be invisible in society if you allow. I also disagree with this because sometimes if you don't fit a certain "stereotype" then society with choose to make you an outcast leading to a feeling of invisibility. It's up to you to make a name for you and shed the feeling of invisibility.
ReplyDeleteSometimes invisibility is something that can't always be controlled on your part. Whenn I first started my job at Putnam Hospital I was just the cashier, that took the money, really a person of no significance in life. Unlike, Doctors and Nurses that came down to get something to eat all the time. I felt really beneath them. Mainly because they are just of so much more important to society then I am. But, after a few days I realized everyone starts at the bottom and has to work thier way up. All the doctors and nurses were really nice, and kept telling me to 'come and work with them, once I get out of nursing school'. This really isn't the case though for most lower end jobs. For example, the cleaning people for big CEO companys. You really think they get noticed? I highly doubt it, and it's really sad because they are just as hard working as everyone else. In respose to what shannon said 'you're only invisible if you allow yourself to be' I agree, but I also disagree with that because sometimes it is just out of your control. It's what society tells us, that higher end people don't really communicate with people not in thier class, if that makes sense.
ReplyDelete^ Kim Goodwin.. I don't know why it's being stupid and won't post my name. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteA time where i felt invisible was my second year of high school. I had always lived in the same town for years, so moving to a new town and new school was extremely hard for me. I was so comfortable with everyone my freshman year of high school. I knew almost everyone since elementary school and the school was small which made my first year in high school easier. I felt so invisible moving to a bigger school and not knowing anyone it also made the transition so much more difficult. I missed my friends and wished i could go back because i felt so alone. Being a shy person did not help at all because i struggled making new friends. Feeling invisible did not last long. After about two weeks or so i met one of my best friends to this day and she helped me break out of my shell. she introduced me to new people and i felt comfortable in my own skin again. I didnt dread going to school anymore and it felt great. Whether we acknowledge it or not we all want to feel loved and cared for in life, and when we dont we become depressed or feel unwanted. I agree with most people that say your only invisible if you allow yourself to be. It is really up to you to stand out in the world and let everyone see who you truly are. Hiding behind everyone else is no way to live life.
ReplyDeleteIn society i think it is also true. If groups tend to be quiet and blend into the background no one in the world is going to acknowledge them or bother to care. You have to speak your mind and let yourself be heard and there is no way you will be invisible if you do.
Nicole Pain ..it wont post my name either =]
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kaicee when she says that we all are invisible at some point in our life. I also agree with a few others when saying that the transition from high school to college was a difficult experience. I can relate to Emily because I have always had a small amount of people in my classes. I went to Catholic school since I was in kindergarten so I have never experienced a large class before. It was hard coming to college from high school because there were so many new faces and so many different people to meet. I am sure that we all have felt invisible to someone here because it is impossible to meet every single person attending WestConn. There are also certain groups in society that are invisible to other groups. I believe that we are all invisible at some time in our lives, but it is up to you to make a difference and be a person that a best friend or a member of society remembers you for who you are.
ReplyDeleteI think everybody goes through a period where they feel invisible. For some it may be college, like for Kacieeg and Gerald, for others they may be intentionally ignored. Growing up I was always shy, which was thought of as weird considering I'm from a LARGE Italian family. Get togethers at Thanksgiving and Christmas were very loud at our house. Everyone would be talking and having a good time, chiming in on everyone's conversation. And those split moments were id get up the courage to say something, it'd be as if I didn't speak at all. I was there, I knew that, present at the table sitting right next to them, but it was as though I was invisible to them.
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree with Shannon on the fact that some groups don't have a choice whether they are invisible or not. Some people will never get used to the fact that things change and that everything will not always be the way that they want it. For example, the Ku Klux Klan, they are still around today and their viewpoints are sure to never change about white supremacy.
I think that some groups are making their way toward visibility but their will always be those who oppose it and fail to see it as a group. Groups can gain alot through visibility; they can gain support, obviously awareness, and can talk to others about it who might not have known in the first place.
A time that I felt invisible was when I moved from Florida to Connecticut mid-year of 10th grade. I did it to myself really. I lived with my dad in FL for as long as I can remember so moving to CT to live with my mom was rough. I didn't want anything to do with anyone. It made me feel invisible which is what I wanted. In my situation, what kaiceeg said is dead on.
ReplyDeleteA group in society that is invisible and will always be invisible is the homeless. Many people ignore them when they ask for money and even just ignore them in general. If people could walk through people, the homeless would be walked through the most. The overall population of homeless will stay invisible because most other people view them as gross, unkempt animals.
~Patrick Flanigan
In my life I've had many instances where I've felt invisible. I guess one of the many aspects of growing up is making yourself respected, and having the feeling of not being important is one of the many hits we all have to take to succeed. I agree with kaiceeg and gerald when they talk about their feelings of being invisible with their first steps in college. I too felt, and still feel, being a freshman its very easy to feel out of place with no voice in this new school.
ReplyDeleteDespite the struggles of fitting into a new school I find having a new job to be the most difficult. I would have to agree most with Kim Goodwin on this aspect. I too felt invisible at my job when I first started working there. There is always pressure at a new job to fit in while performing at the best of your ability. Being the rookie at a new job, individuals don't commonly have their own "voice" yet. For example, how the company/restaurant runs, vacation time, or complaints. At my job I felt invisible in all these aspects and it made me very uncomfortable. However, despite the feeling of being invisible, I believe its also a benefit to prove to people you do have a voice in society and it gives any individual a new start to their future.
Invisibility only happens to people if they allow it to happen much like what other people have said. Despite the feeling of invisibility being self induced, every one experiences it at least once in their lives. I felt most invisible when I needed the most support. My girlfriend and I broke up over the summer and I felt like there was no one there to help or comfort me. I isolated myself which only made me feel worse. My feeling of invisibility was made worse the first couple of days at WCSU. I knew no one and felt like just another face of some college. No one will truly be invisible to society forever. Humans are social by nature so even those who feel to most invisible will eventually try to make themselves stand out and become visible.
ReplyDelete^^^ John Choquette
ReplyDeleteI have experienced many times in my life when I have felt invisible. Just a few weeks ago I experienced feeling this way. Like previous posts had stated, the transition from high school to college made me feel invisible. I was a commuting student until this semester. Moving into the dorms mid-year was a struggle for me. Everyone in the dorms already knew their neighbors and had their set groups in which they hung out with all the time. Everyone was very friendly to me and tried to include me in their group but no matter how hard they tried to include me I did not feel like I belonged. Although I was surrounded by people physically I felt invisible and lost as they talked about past memories or the latest drama. It is two weeks later now and the feeling of being invisible has vanished. I now found a group of friends in which I am comfortable with and now feel I belong. Similar to the other comments I also believe people allow themselves to be invisible to a certain degree. If you do not put yourself out there and try to be seen you never will. With society being composed of many different stereotypes and groups, many people can be purposely or subliminally ignored. Throughout high school groups were made, there were the jocks, nerds, preps etc. If you were not “in” with one of the groups sometimes you were invisible to the others.
ReplyDelete-Tori Tumino
When I reported to football camp in august of my freshman year, I deffinitely felt invisible. I was a new kid in a new place who didn't know anybody. I went from being what I guess you can call "the man" to just another freshman trying to prove himself. It wasnt that anyone was forcing it upon me, it was just that it was a normal and natural thing that happens to everyone. As camp went on I began to feel more comforatable and I started to make friends. Sure camp was tough but that's what it's all about, it's meant to weave out the weak and show who's really there to play football. Basically I became visible after camp was over and the coaches and team knew I was there to play and contribute to the team.
ReplyDeleteI think invisibility in society is something that is in a way chosen. Like kaiceeg said it only happens if you let it happen. To become visible you have to put yourself out there and want to be seen. It is true that not everyone knows who the "quiet kid" is, but that's because he is the "quiet kid". If he wanted to be seen he would talk and interact more. By a group becoming recognised by society they can possibly gain the support of others and strengthen their cause.
-Greg Galasso
At some point in everyone's lives they will feel invisible. This was something that I had not experienced until I went through the transition from high school to college. In high school I always had my group of friends. I was never alone, not even in class. My best friend was in every single class I had my senior year so we were constantly together. But when I came to Westconn I only knew one person, and that was one of my friends from home. On my first day of classes I knew absolutely no one in my classes and that made me feel invisible. I had never experienced this feeling before and it did not help with my nervousness from it being the first day. When I started meeting people and making more friends I started to feel less invisible. It also helped knowing that I was not the only person feeling this way because all of the freshmen on campus were experiencing the same thing. I feel like in today’s society you should not allow yourself to become invisible. There are so many opportunities that shouldn’t be missed, and there are also many new people that you can get to know. So why go your whole life feeling invisible?
ReplyDeleteSCOTT VAN WINTER..
ReplyDeleteLike everyone has already stated, invisibility is a feeling that most people can relate to. I have not felt invisible too often in my life, but I guess the closest time occured when I first joined the Army. There were so many people from all over the country. I did not know anyone and it was a very tough transition. The feeling was different, I did not know who I could trust and what to expect from my adventure. The beauty of my experience was that everyone felt the same way I did and like the quote says,"misery loves company". The invisibility feeling only lasted a few days. I feel that people pull together and want to be a part of the group during times of increased stress and emotional discontent. I agree with what Emily and Kim stated earlier about only being invisible if you allow yourself to be. I feel that the timid and afraid will always be invisible, because it is a choice. Every person has the ability to stand out and choose how they want to live their life. Going against the grain here, I do not feel bad for everyone that is "invisible". Many use this as a cop out and a sympathy vote. I understand we live with a rigid class structure, but that does not mean to give up and feel bad for yourself. Go out and make your own group, start a band, join a club. There are always ways to connect and network yourself with the world.
A time in my life when I felt invisible was when my younger sister was born. Until that time I was the youngest sibling and always received the most attention. Although I was only two years old at the time she was born, I still felt as though I was invisible. The new baby required a lot of work and took up my entire parent’s and relatives spare time. I now realize that a baby requires more work then I did at the time but I was still jealous of the attention she received. This ended as I got older and realized my parents gave equal attention to all their children. For example the popular cliques in high school were always the one that were visible compared to the outcasts. To become visible you need to stand out and not be the common person. A person will gain acceptance and an improved self-esteem by being recognized and acknowledged in society.
ReplyDeleteA time when I felt invisible was when I went to Las Vegas with my best friend from high school and her two friends from college. I had only met her other friends briefly when I went to visit her at school for a weekend so I really didn’t know the other two girls very well. As soon as all four of us had met up at the airport, the three of them all started talking about school and their other college friends, which I obviously had no affiliation with and I felt left out, or “invisible”. I don’t think anyone made me feel this way, I just couldn’t relate to their conversations so I felt excluded and bored. When we got to Vegas I made my best effort to get to know the other girls and we all had a really great time. I agree with Kim and Shannon, who said you are only invisible if you allow yourself to be. I think that some people go out of their way to be noticed or “visible” by whoever’s attention they are trying to get, and in the same respect some people go out of their way to not be noticed by anyone at all. I think it is important for a person or group to be recognized in society. I think this is important because if people are recognized, such as Audrey Hepburn or Princess Diana, for example, who were often recognized by society for their charity work, it sends a message and inspires others to be charitable as well.
ReplyDeleteFor the first 14 years of my life i felt invisible. I was dealing with trying to figure out who i was as a person. Being gay was something that always had a negative connotation to it. In church i was being told that i was going to end up in hell because the Bible said that anyone who participated in these actions were damned. Then all the guys in school were always harsh homophobic saying to anyone who was different and they picked on anyone. I knew i was different then the guys in my school, and the sports teams i played on. But because of these to things i kept to myself about being gay. I didnt want to go to hell and i didnt want my friends to turn on be for being gay. These feelings ended when i came out to my friends and family and chose to life my life as myself instead of feeing invisible to everyone around me.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned in class that the elderly are invisible when they get to the point in life where they have to be placed in assisted living home. I dont think that any group of people choose to be invisible. Its not like the elderly want to be ignored. I think its the people who have them placed there who tend to forget about them as horrible as it sounds but you could say out of sight out of mind.
Feeling invisible is one of the worst things to feel. I agree with many of my classmates when they said they felt invisible transitioning from high school to college. I grew up in a small town where you knew everyone. Leaving all my friends behind and being placed in a completely strange environment was very hard. Coming to college, you are crammed into a small room with random strangers in most cases. It was not as much invisibility as it was awkward. It is an uncomfortable feeling to see hundreds of faces and not know who any of them are. After a couple of days, that feeling went away, and faces became familiar. Some people just allow themselves to be invisible. Even in high school, there would always be the people that did not interact with anyone and just chose to be by themselves. I believe that some people just feel uncomfortable and just become invisible.
ReplyDeleteThere have definitely been a few instances in my life where I have felt invisible. One occurance in particular was when I was much younger, about 9 years old. It was the end of the year banquet for my hockey team and we held it at a local pizzeria. Family members for each player were there so there were a good amount of people in attendance. I got up to go to the bathroom at one point and I could hear one of my freinds little brothers voices through the bathroom door. I didnt know what he was doing at the time but all I heard him say was that his (private area) was on fire. As I walked out of the bathroom I thought nothing of what I heard and turned the corner. On my way back to my seat one of the mothers grabbed me by the arm and started screaming at me about how I had did something wrong. I had no idea what was going on at the time but it turned out that the little kid had prank called 911 and they called the pizzeria. Obviously I attempted to plead my case but no one believed that I didn't do it. The culprit didnt own up to what he had done and so the blame was all put on me. I felt truely invisible because no one would listen to what I had to say or even look at me for the rest of the night. I was a bit of a trouble maker growing up so everyone just assumed that it was me. This made me feel as though what I had to say was going unheard and nobody acknowledging my existence made me feel very small and minute.
ReplyDeleteIn life there are always those people who are treated as though they are invisible. The less popular kids, shy people, people with bad reputations, and people with low self esteems are all examples of people that are treated as though they are invisible.
For invisible people to gain visibility there must be some sort of a dramatic change or situation that allows them to come to the forefront. There needs to be something that allows them to overcome being invisible so that they are no longer unnoticed.
By being visible to other members of society the person gains a sense of worth. Everyone needs a feeling of belonging in their lives. This is why people strive so dilligently for acceptance from their peers. Being seen and heard is very important to someones self esteem, and if this sense of belonging is not present for an extended period of time the person can start to feel alone in the world and are more inclined to allow themselves to remain invisible to others.