About Me:
My name is Madi Belvito and I am a senior English major with a minor in education. I am from Syracuse NY, which is about two and a half hours away from Siena. Syracuse NY is a part of Onondaga County, which covers roughly 806 square miles. According to World Population Review, Syracuse is home to 142,749 people. Demographically, 55% of those people are caucasin, 29.67% are african-american, 6.77% are from the asian descent, 5.40% are two or more races, 2.3% are other race, and .83% are Native American. Syracuse is known as the 5th most populous city in NY and is known as the educational and economic hub of Central New York. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtf5BLk5uTA. Even though there are over 147,000 people residing in Syracuse, playing sports my entire life has given me a chance to meet a wide variety of people. I have been playing soccer since I was as little as 4 years old, allowing me to travel all over the city, different states, and country. Due to this, I have been able to see much of the country and travel to many cool places. Soccer has provided me more than just playing a sport, but new friends, new hobbies such as traveling, trying new foods from the places I played at, and so much more. Additionally, I am a student-athlete here at Siena College and that has provided me an amazing experience of furthering my athletic career and meeting new people. It has also brought me new friends, roles in leadership, and an experience not many people can say they had. If I can say one aspect of me that really defines who I am, I would say my religion as being Catholic.
My Family:
I come from a family of 5. My two parents, Rick and Tess have been married for 20 years since this last november. I have an older brother, Derek who is 28, and a younger brother, AJ who is 17. Since this is an assignment based on who we are as a person and what we identify with and so forth, I am not close with my older brother as much as I would like to be, for many reasons. However, I am very close with my younger brother AJ, who is currently as senior and just decided to attend SUNY Oswego next Fall in Business. My Mother went to school for cosmetology and had worked in a hair salon for many years before finally giving it up to do day-care in our home and work part-time in a very nice nursing home in Skaneateles NY. This is not necessarily the “most ideal” decision in the eyes of society because she never attended college and got a degree. Like Becker states, a person who breaks the “rules” is seen as a special kind of person and cannot be trusted to live by. “He is regarded as an outsider” (Becker, 1). My Father went to Syracuse University to get his bachelors in Education. He is a physical education teacher and lacrosse and football coach for the school district, Marcellus, I had previously attended.
Both of my parents sacrificed a lot of their time and money to get me where I am today, and to make almost every single one of my college athletic games. My younger Brother also part takes in sports and they have never failed to make sure he got to every practice and game. I grew up in a very loving, safe, and warm home. My parents always put us (their children) before themselves and always made sure we had whatever we needed or wanted. There was never a time my Mother or Father decided to get themselves a new pair of pants instead of us, and that never went unnoticed by any of us children. My parents work very hard to make sure we feel loved and nourished.
My Father is almost 100% Italian and my Mother is a mix of many things such as Polish, German, Dutch, Native American, and others. The different mixes ethnicities has given me a chance to learn about my many different ancestors and what traditions they started and now have carried into my life. Every Sunday night, my family has “sauce sunday.” This is common for most Italian families. This means my Father spends all day making homemade tomato sauce for dinner, and it is always the best meal to look forward to throughout the week. I see this almost as a rule to have “sauce sunday” and when we don’t, it almost feels like we’re breaking Italian norms. Becker discusses this in his “kinds of deviance” by saying “conforming behavior is simply that which obeys the rule and which others perceive as obeying the rule (Becker 19). Having a “sauce sunday” is considered important in my family because it is expected everyone to be home for it, and it is a way for all of us to come together and discuss how our week was and etc.
In addition to my blood family, I have people in my life that I consider to be my family, but aren’t necessarily related to us. My Mother is still best friends with one of her high school friends, Megan, and she has a son near my age. I call her my aunt and her son, Austin, my cousin. They are always at our house and they come to almost all of our holiday parties and events. Cohen discusses this type of relationship as a “personal family” (Cohen 6). I see Megan and Austin as just as important as my blood family and treat them the same.
My Social Institution as Power:
Like previously said, religion is a major part of my life. This part of me comes mainly from my Mother and her side of the family. Religion has been something stressed on me since I was a child by getting baptized, getting my communion, making my confirmation, and attending St. Joes Church every Sunday along with church school and bible camps. Being a Catolic has shaped me as a person and what my beliefs and morals are. Becker discusses the ideology of crusading reformers and moral entrepreneurs by saying, “He believes that if he does what is right it will be good for them. Or he may feel that his reform will prevent certain kinds of exploitation of one person by another” (Becker 148). I grew up with this mortality both from my Mother and the church I attended. I have always believed in good and bad karma and if I do good in the world, it will benefit both me and other people. This gives me the power of doing good and bringing good to people and things. On a different path of power, being a Catholic has never given me issues or cause people to look down upon me. The community I grew up in was mainly apart of the Christian or Catholic church, both similar religions. This gave me the power to “fit in” into my community and feel a sense of belongingness, whereas other religions around me did not get that feeling.
Madi's Blog 