Reflections Upon The State Of The Union

I don''t think that anyone can doubt Obama is a great orator. He is also correct in that although our economy has rebounded, certain sectors of our market have vanished altogether. I know that personally in my town several factories have all but vanished, with a lot of the new job growth coming from the biofuel and biotechnology department due to the demand for ethanol.

Hooray for some of the best post-secondary schools in the nation.

Our nation is founded on ideals and dreams of our children and to get there, we need to focus on primary and secondary educations. We are certainly not out educating the rest of the world when it comes to these sectors, not even close. I know the figures came out today that only 40% of Minnesota kids are proficient in science. I think we've stepped away a lot from the "WOW" moments of science that inspire kids and make them want to learn more, rather than drilling them on how to take tests. We lost the dream and imagination aspect. I think we stopped teaching kids to ask "Why?" and instead said memorize this.

Any future energy policy needs to include nuclear power. It can bridge the gap between the other alternative powers such as wind, water and coal. Sadly though, I don't think we're going to have as many as 1 million electric cars on the road by 2050 unless someone extends their mileage between cars. We're not the leaders in research and technology, that is for sure.

Wow, I hadn't realized that we've fallen to 9th in people getting a secondary degree. I wholly agree that family is the key to getting a good education. I know that I wouldn't have gotten as good of one if my parents hadn't been strict about turning off the TV and encouraging me to learn and grow. Science should be celebrated more than the Super Bowl, that is for sure. Why is it that we celebrate athletes so much but not mathematics or science? I also know that some of the people who have inspired me the most have been some of my teachers. I can think of a few professors as well.

I think something he also needs to emphasize is that to be successful in today's job market is that your college education needs to have an "and" to it. Technology changes so often that it can affect any part of the industry, no matter if you think of it as "tech-proof" or not. Even agriculture has shifted to quite a lot of tech over the last 20 years or so. Also, hooray for high speed wireless internet access for 98% of America!

The Iraq war may be coming to an end, but we must never forget why we were there or who we have lost. Nor may we forget what is currently going on in Afghanistan and the brave men and women we have lost there as well. However, I think that we need to understand we can't stop out terrorism all over the world. It is not feasible, nor is it possible. Hooray for the START treaty as well. Though to be fair, we still have enough weapons to destroy the world many times over.

I feel like, overall, Obama did a really good job with this State of the Union speech. I think he reemphasized working together across party lines in order to better our selves and country, and that America has, and still is, a nation of dreams.