So I think it's best to start off and tell you where I am coming from when writing my opinions on my blog.We are all shaped by our individual experiences and environments; so far mine, like many of my fellow white, middle-class Americans, have been fairly sheltered.

I was raised in a conservative, traditional Catholic household. My family-friends were either Catholic or Lutheran, mostly all card-carrying Republicans who voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, and a long line of Republicans before that. We, my family and I, watched Fox News and I actually considered it to be a reliable, truthful source of "no-spin"news. Consequently, throughout high school I was a loud supporter of the Bush administration and would have voted for him in 2004 if I had the chance.

Admittedly I have grown up in fairly non-diverse environments, so the more and more I experience life, the more I see how much we all have in common--regardless of our race, religion, or nationalities. In college, I have challenged the ideologies of my past community, and now I want to write about it.

That's me. The soon to be fresh out of college, tax-paying, amateur citizen.