Questions Running Through My Mind

When presented with the question of what my research issue will be, the thoughts in my mind scatter like mice, finding every niche and crevice, leaving my mind a blank slate. Yes, there are endless, in actuality an infinite, amount of issues that are occurring throughout the world daily, but it still doesn't make my search any easier. What I feel instead is that it just makes it so much harder. It's similar to being at an amazing organic gelato shop with a thousand varieties of flavors - and then being told to only choose one. How could one possibly achieve such a feat?

The only answer that I have to my own question (I just won't answer out loud because that's when it will get weird) is that I need to find an issue that speaks to me on a personal level, an idea that sparks my mind and one that can withstand the ADD tendencies that my brain seems to constantly run to.

Presently the ideas that swirl around my head coincide with all the subjects that are being ripped from the headlines, but at the same time relate to me.

The first that comes to mind is the issue of homosexuality, specifically in America, because this is where I have my first-hand experience. With the recent passage of Prop 8 in California, this issue has once again emerged as a front runner throughout the media. Without a doubt this is a very decisive issue that splits and divides. My first question would be why? From there, everything is just a avalanche waiting to happen.

Another idea that has been bouncing around my head is the fervor pitch that religion is reaching in America. With the recent Islamic center controversy, and subsequent hate crimes committed, there seems to exist a path leading to an uncertain future for religious freedom in the US. That might just be me over analyzing, but there seems to be a great potential for branching out from this idea.

A personal issue for me would be immigration. This issue has not received as much attention in recent years as it did in the pivotal year of 2006, but I believe because it has been dormant for so long it will reach an ever higher fever pitch than it did before. There has been a certain malaise in the government to rehauling the current system, but when the time does come for change it may very well be one of magnitude proportions.

My biggest hurdle has been debating whether these are too broad, if I need to narrow them, and if I do, how much do I funnel it down to? A doubt of mine has also been if these have been done before, and if they have, does that squelch the research completely or do I continue with different lens on? All these and more have come across my mind, but every question that I come across I simply question some more or question it to death. Who knows? Perhaps I'll ditch all these ideas and figure out why "Dancing with the Stars" is the number one show in America.

The First Search

This blog will be a part of my ENC 303: Multimodal Research and Writing. As the title implies, this blog will entail my journey through my first "real" and "official" research project. What the outcome will be, who knows, but it will definitely be a ride that I am (a little) skeptical/excited/hesitant to partake. In our first reading, the writer's thesaurus describes research as an exploration, inquire, or any such synonym. It is my hope that Magellan will inspire me, because right now all I can think is:

OMG, what I have gotten myself into?