Coming Out In College

   

  Have you ever experienced something so impactful that a core part of your identity was formed, one you had no idea you had? That’s something that happens to many LGBT+ individuals in college as they get out on their own. The sudden independence and exposure to individuals they may have never encountered otherwise can open the door to discovering themselves.

“I came out last year,” said Cyrus Jackson, a transgender man in his junior year. “I hadn’t really had a chance to think too much about my gender at home.” Once he’d gotten involved with other LGBT+ people on campus, the door to questioning things was opened. “One of my friends came out as nonbinary and when they did that, I started thinking about my gender more in-depth.”

Cyrus realized he’d never questioned anything because he’d always been the ‘beloved granddaughter’ and ‘perfect daughter.’ He’d simply accepted that role, and even though he never liked wearing dresses and never liked how his body looked, he assumed it was a regular part of puberty. In his prom photo, he’s the epitome of discomfort; his shoulders hunched forward and a forced smile, seeming to hope that he could go invisible.

Cyrus pre-transition, getting his prom dress altered.

“Before I’d fully admitted to myself or anyone else that I was a man, one of the ladies who worked in the cafeteria called me ‘sir,’” Cyrus said. “I absolutely lit up, excited that someone had seen me as something other than a girl. I was gushing about it to my friends and then started experimenting with he/him pronouns.” Two months later, Cyrus knew there was no other explanation and came out as transgender.

He started hormone therapy over that summer, seeing some drastic changes to his voice and build after just a few months. He still takes testosterone to this day and continually changes for the better. “Ever since he started taking HRT, he’s brightened up beyond belief,” said Vix Gerry, Cyrus’s friend. “He stands up straighter, he talks more, and he can actually make eye contact.” The confidence level change is noticeable; he’s started engaging in more activities and making friends in classes instead of trying to blend in with the back wall.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do this without my college friends,” Cyrus said. “Having them around and supporting me made it possible for me to explore my gender and figure myself out.”

College is a time of self-discovery for everyone, but more so for LGBT+ individuals. They can take the time to themselves and think about their gender and sexuality. Giving people the time and space to discover themselves is incredibly important, and college is just the way to do it for some people. If you have friends or family who came out during college (or any other time), give them your support. Chances are, you’ll see your loved ones change for the better.

Cyrus a few years after starting HRT.

 

My Personal Story

A Nostalgic Show

 The very first night of October was nothing but cold and drizzling rain, but the crowd that had amassed outside the PNC Arena in Raleigh didn’t seem to mind. Throughout the sea of brightly dyed hair and punky clothing, you could hear a hum of excitement as we waited for the doors to open and allow us to get settled in our seats and wait eagerly for just a while longer.  Most of the crowd had grown up listening to the music that we were about to hear, and the combined anticipation of the thousands of concert attendees was so thick it was suffocating.

            I stood in the VIP line with my father, excitedly chatting with him about the songs I recognized from the setlist and telling him which songs I thought he’d like. Dad, while unfamiliar with the singer, was enthusiastic and matched my excitement, happy to spend the time with me and do something new and fun. This was my second concert ever, the first one having been Green Day five years before. I had high hopes for this concert, since I’d been listening to his music since I was 13 years old.

***

            Who was this crowd of young scene kids and their tired parents waiting for? None other than Brendon Urie, better known as Panic! At The Disco.  

            If you paid even a smidgeon of attention to popular music back in the early 2000’s and through the 2010’s, you’ve heard of P!ATD. Forming in 2004, the band quickly rose to fame with their second single “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” skyrocketing their first album to triple platinum. Over the years, most of the original band members have left to pursue other work. Urie was the only one who stayed, keeping the P!ATD name and fame to this day.

            Urie has outlasted his other band members, due in part to his undeniable charisma and passion for his music. He was the main singer and wrote several of the band’s hit songs such as “Nine in the Afternoon” and “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” meaning that the songs that have been beloved since their release are made almost entirely of Urie’s influence. Even if he’s the only member left, it was his contribution and voice that made the impact on the world, allowing him to keep going completely unimpeded by the loss of the others.

***

            Finally, the doors were flung open, and people started pouring into the stadium. Dad and I went through the metal detectors after just a few minutes, and then fought our way through the crowd looking for our suite. The company Dad worked for had bought out one of the nicest ones, dead center with an unobstructed view of the stage.

            The rest of the group wandered in over the course of the next five minutes, and I quickly made fast friends with the other 17-22-year-olds. We found our way to our seats, Dad sitting to my right and my new friends to my left. When the time hit five minutes to 8 pm, the display screens suddenly showed a countdown and the energy in the room increased tenfold as everyone started to watch the seconds tick by with bated breath. “Five…Four…Three…Two…One!” echoed through the auditorium when the timer finally ran out, and the announcement of the opening acts was rendered almost inaudible as the crowd burst out in cheers.

***

            Before any good concert comes a good opener, and this one stayed true to form. Both performers were passionate as they sang, one new to the scene and one familiar. They both performed for about 30 minutes, hyping up the crowd, before clearing the stage and giving way to the main act.

For a split second, the arena went dark and almost completely silent, save for the slight noise of excited whispers. The next moment, the first few chords of one of Brendon Urie’s newer hit songs, “Say Amen (Saturday Night)” kicked in at the same time as a bright spotlight shot down to the stage, revealing Urie standing there with his arms out and a massive grin on his face. The crowd exploded in cheers, nearly rendering the music an afterthought, as Urie started to move around the stage and began to sing. Throughout his performance, the smile never left his face and his energy never wavered. He didn’t seem to tire at all, even though the effort and passion he put into his show was enough to exhaust anyone else. From where I was sitting he should have been no more than a speck on the stage, but he seemed to be the only visible thing in the room. His black dress coat was edged with gold and accentuated every move he made, and the light hit him in just the right way for his black shoes and pants not to disappear into the stage.

Once the first song was over, he rolled right into the next without even pausing to take a breath, and the delighted singing along followed him straight through without pause. The people around me were screaming in excitement, losing their voices almost instantly and looking like they were about to go flying out of their seats. To my right, my dad was smiling and bobbing his head along to the music, the only thing stopping him from singing along being that he didn’t know the words. He said later his favorite was “Emperor’s New Clothes,” which Urie had given a much deeper, darker and hard rock-styled twist with gravel in his voice and bright flaming skulls in the lighting.

A few popular songs later and Brendon Urie finally paused for a moment, but only to introduce his new album, Viva Las Vengeance, and rip off his black coat in favor of just his white undershirt. I hadn’t heard these new songs before; I’d been purposefully avoiding it so that the first time I heard them could be live right then and there. The album holds a lot of emotional weight for Urie, being based on looking back at who he was at the start of his career and how much he’s changed, and the passion he holds for his music was clear throughout his performance.

Each song was accompanied by light shows matching the lyrics. Some that I took particular note of were “Star Spangled Banger,” being coated in the American flag and massive singalong text along the back during the chorus, which prompted the crowd to yell along with passion, and “God Killed Rock and Roll” having the title of the song projected in flaming letters, fog machines to show off the laser lights, and pyrotechnics that were so intense that I could feel the heat from my seat. The lightshows added so much emotion to the performance, telling us the emotions, thoughts and ideas that went into each one. Urie clearly had a lot of investment in these songs, hitting some incredibly high notes as he threw his soul into the performance, darting around the stage and nearly falling over with the intensity of his songs.

Once the new album finished, one of Urie’s biggest hits was up next, the song “Girls/Girls/Boys” from 2013. The song is from before same-sex marriage was legalized and was seen as an LGBTQ+ anthem from the moment it was released. Many of Urie’s LGBTQ+ fans hold this song in high regard, seeing it as a timeless favorite full of emotion. For many people, this was one of the first songs they’d ever heard that was openly accepting of relationships outside of the heterosexual norms, and some had heard this before they’d figured out their own sexualities. Hearing this song before you know it’s for you invokes an almost indescribable feeling. It makes your chest feel like it’s about to burst, a strange combination of joy, excitement and something that you can only identify as acceptance and pride when you look back at the experience. When something makes you feel that strongly, seeing and hearing it in person becomes that much more meaningful as it rekindles the deep and overwhelming feelings from before.

The arena was full of rainbow beams and the background became a melting rainbow as the song seemed to pour from the walls as the crowd filled with a unique pride and belted out the words with vigor. Urie himself is pansexual and stood on stage with an air of unwavering confidence as he sang his heart out, his voice blending with the audience as he twirled around the stage, one hand on the microphone and the other pumping in the air.

 I think an equivalent event could only ever occur at a Pride parade, and every second of it was etched into my brain with the intensity of rainbow-colored flames.

It was past midnight at this point, and the concert was reaching its end, but there was one more song that no P!ATD concert could leave out. Even if you don’t think you’ve heard anything of Urie’s, you’ve almost certainly heard “I Write Sins Not Tragedies” as it’s easily been P!ATD’s most notable song from their whole 17-year run and is still one of their most-played songs today.

The funny thing is, the song is so well known that Urie barely had to sing at all. He sang the opening, and then let the audience take over for the first rendition of the chorus. However, we all kind of took over the song and ended up singing the whole thing with Urie chiming in here and there, but the only real sound from stage was the band playing the instrumentals. I found that to be a fascinating scene, watching the artist watch the audience take over with a delighted grin and finally taking a sip of water before jumping right back into dancing, this time to the melody of the audience’s voices. Throughout the 3-minute song, the audience joined the performance and became more than just observers. Most concerts don’t have that type of moment, making this one feel even more special.

***

Shortly after that incredible experience, the concert came to a close. I was still buzzing with excitement and couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as we started moving back to our car. My dad enjoyed the concert way more than he was expecting to, since a lot of the songs leaned farther into the rock aspect of pop-rock. Dad and I excitedly chatted the whole way back to the car and then the drive back to the hotel, exchanging our feelings on the songs, our favorite moments and whatever else came to mind.

Panic! At The Disco is a band that, while popular with the younger generation, can catch the interest of all generations if they take a moment to listen. The genre is somewhere between pop music, rock and roll, punk and alternative. Depending on what song you choose to listen to, you’ll get different concentrations of each genre so as long as you enjoy any of the listed genres you’re certain to find at least a few songs you’ll love.

Brendon Urie has an intense stage presence that makes him seem to fill the room by himself. His performances are memorable and entertaining and his joy for life and his music is infectious, engaging you in the lyrics and filling you with emotion. It’s an experience like no other, standing out as something special among other live musical performances. If you find yourself given the opportunity to go to one of his concerts, I’d recommend you take it. It’ll be something you remember for the rest of your life.

Final Blog Post

 

Technology is an integral and ever-changing part of society, evolving in function and growing in popularity daily. For those of us born into a world with these technologies at our fingertips, living in a world without them is entirely unfathomable. Almost none of us would give up our technologies, as we feel like we need them to get by.

Technology and its rise does have a lot of good, practical uses. For example, the increase in working online from home opens the door for many disabled people to pick up careers that otherwise would have been impossible. As long as there's a computer in the house, a person could easily do writing work, editing, technical support, and several other professions that otherwise would have been impossible for these individuals to do. 

The technology of today also allows people to stay connected over long distances. Once, when you came home from university for the summer, you would rarely see your friends or even speak to them if you lived far apart, or if your romantic partner had to travel for school or work, you'd seldom hear from them. These days, phones and computers facilitate those relationships, as you can always message or speak to those you care about. 

However, that's not to say that technology has its downsides and dangers. Social media and many video games work on instant gratification: causing you to receive immediate pleasant feelings and satisfaction upon playing a level or posting an image. Instant gratification can reduce a person's capacity for paying attention for long periods of time and even lead to addiction.

Social media addiction is a real thing, and it can ruin lives and create just as many issues as more well-known addictions like drugs or alcohol. It can consume people's lives, taking up all of their time to the point that they neglect their health and relationships to keep their social media profiles pristine. These people also lose their attention spans and end up restless and anxious without access to the internet, thinking of nothing but being able to post to browse again.

Social media can also have a horrible effect on young people's body image. Photos can be easily edited and set the standard for attractiveness to an impossible height. They can cause young women to starve themselves in an attempt to look like the girls they see online and push young men into destructive gym cycles, trying to build muscle to look like the guys they see in photos. 

The popularization of the 24-hour news cycle with immediate reports available online has had its effect on the world as well, both positive and negative. On the one hand, we can see what's happening at any point without delay, keeping us up to date and informed about the state of the world. On the other hand, the 24-hour news cycle prioritizes speed over accuracy, so the immediate information may be incomplete, biased, or unintentionally false.

That quick turnaround on the news can also create a doomsday mentality in the viewers, leading to a perception that the world is collapsing and negatively impacting one's mental health, leading to issues with depression and anxiety. Tragic or otherwise negative or polarizing stories get priority on the news, so looking at the front page of a news website can be overwhelming. All you'll see is death, crime, war, and pain, making it seem like good things never happen. If you want to see good news, you have to specifically seek it out, as it will rarely hit mainstream reporting.

However, as stated before, technology isn't all bad. While bad news and negative effects have a substantial impact on our society, the connections we can make with others due to technology are fantastic. We can keep in touch with the people we love over long distances and can get information on anything we can think of with a simple Google search. 

Technology has had its effects on the world and our society, both good and bad. There are healthy and unhealthy ways to engage with it, but that can apply to just about anything. As long as you remain aware of the effects technology can and will have on you and your life, social media, reading the news, and interacting with the internet can be done safely. Used right, it can enhance your life, being more of a positive influence than a negative one.

Blog Post 8: EOTO 2

We'd all like to think that we have all the facts and that the information we get from trusted news sources is entirely accurate. Still, disinformation has become increasingly prevalent in our society. People can say just about anything, and someone will believe them, and some people who know of this will use our inherently trusting natures to convince us of false information that they want others to think. 

Why would people spread this type of false information? Most of the time, the purpose of disinformation is to push someone's agenda and cause others to believe it in order to alter the course of society, politics, and acceptance. 

One example is the unfortunate belief that LGBTQ+ people are inherently pedophiles. This horrible rumor and stereotype has been perpetuated to spread fear, hate, and discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals. The community as a whole vehemently rejects any association with pedophilia and is just as disgusted by those horrible acts as anyone else. 

But why would people want to spread lies in this manner, ones that only encourage hatred and anger? The biggest reasons are control and power. If you can convince people that you're telling the truth and turn them against a perceived enemy, anything the other side says gets dismissed as false even if it isn't. The person giving out actual disinformation then keeps power and control over the people who believe them and can push those who trust them towards the beliefs they want their followers to hold.

Disinformation affects everyone, as everyone can fall victim to it. For those who identify as LGBT+, the example mentioned causes them to fear being affectionate with their romantic partners in public, mentioning their sexuality for fear of violence and discrimination, or even losing their jobs for being themselves. Because of the misinformation that people have been given, some people that believe it will act out in verbal or physical ways against LGBT+ individuals in a perceived act of justice when it's just an act of hate.

Disinformation splits our society into parts, engaging us in a bitter social war against each other. People with different beliefs are told that the other side is full of liars and traitors, and they believe it so thoroughly that they'll never open their minds to listen to others. The disinformation creates so much anger that there's little chance for reconciliation or civil discussions; only anger and distrust remain. 

The current generation has grown up with more technology available at their fingertips than any other generation. While sometimes the openness of technology is a great thing, at other times, it can create a trap, causing people to fall down disinformation rabbit holes and developing extremist or exclusionary views. 

To protect yourself from falling victim to disinformation, always double-check the accuracy of things you hear on the internet. Check other sources to see if they agree with the claim or if they disagree, and check to see if there's any overlap between stories. If the same story is told by two different sites with different views, the overlap is what's most likely to be accurate. No one is immune to falling for disinformation, but if you check multiple sides of the story and listen to others, even if they disagree with you, you can keep yourself from falling for lies.

Blog Post 9: AI

 Artificial intelligence, or AI, has been a staple of science fiction for many years. The idea that some jobs can be done by computer programs is not a new one, but it has just recently become a real possibility to see AI doing some jobs that were previously done by humans. Already we have seen AI that can beat even the most talented players at some games such as Go, and some self-driven cargo trucks are seeing use in California to haul freight. 

The rise of AI also brings up concerns surrounding privacy and safety. For example, China uses AI to enforce social credit programs that can instantly give you a fine via face ID for jaywalking or could prevent you from taking out loans or buying homes if your social credit is low. This program makes it much harder for people to have privacy since every move they make is watched and tracked, with the AI knowing precisely who's doing what, even in a large crowd. 

Other people argue that having AI can help improve national security due to its ability to identify people who have become threats. With AI's ability to recognize patterns, it could even catch people who were the most likely to be planning a mass shooting or a murder, preventing lots of death and devastation. It could also identify those who have committed crimes in public if the cameras were everywhere, creating fewer false accusations and reducing crime rates.

While the stated benefits are great, are they worth the loss of privacy? It depends on who you ask. Most Americans are horrified at AI surveillance's effects on privacy and would rather deal with the dangers of not having that protection than the loss of privacy. At the same time, those from other countries are more comfortable with it since it's the norm where they live.

Post 7: Privacy

 

The importance of personal privacy is one of the few things all people can agree on. No one wants to have their private lives interfered with or scrutinized, but the truth is that almost everything a person does is tracked and identified. 

For example, your GPS data can track exactly where you go and where you are, so if your phone company sells your data, whoever purchased it will know exactly where you go and what your habits are. While, unfortunately, this is standard practice, it's uncomfortable to know and makes you feel tracked and watched.

I don't like knowing that some phone companies can read your texts and hear your calls. I think that's invasive and uncomfortable. I also dislike the fact that very little of what you do online can be considered anonymous, even if you try to keep your real name and face unattached. 

If you're trying to remain anonymous, use pseudonyms and don't put in your real information. Don't connect accounts that have your personal info on them with any other accounts without your actual data to keep the others truly anonymous, and make sure your phone carrier is one that cannot listen to your calls or read your texts.

Blog Post 6: Anti-War

 

If you pick any random person off the street and ask whether they support wars, almost anyone you ask will say no. However, this doesn't mean they don't support veterans or respect active duty military, just that they don't support the act of war itself. Even with this being true, a lot of media makes it seem that anti-war is a minority stance.

Why is this the case, and why do you have to go out of your way to find anti-war news? Unfortunately, many outlets such as CNN or FOX don't cover anti-war stances. Governments can be very aggressive towards those who disagree with their actions in other countries and spin the narrative toward those who don't support war as though they don't support the government or the country as a whole. 

The damage that wars do is felt in the death toll and the economy of all countries involved. This is why so many people protest the wars, as they don't want their loved ones to die or to deal with the economic consequences. However, many people in government would prefer to fight these wars for the possible diplomatic opportunities or political control that they may get in the future if they've weakened an enemy.

Blog Post 5: Diffusion of Innovation

Social Media blew up in popularity in the mid-2000s with the release of Facebook. Since then, several social media sites have been released that have overtaken Facebook in the younger generations, such as Instagram and Snapchat. These platforms have become an essential part of communication for younger people.

Social media caught on because younger people wanted an easier way to keep in touch with friends and acquaintances and show off exciting or interesting things that had happened in their lives. The early adopters of social media were younger adults and teenagers. Still, some late adopters, the older generations, ended up becoming more numerous on Facebook while younger people moved on to other platforms. 

As social media became more normalized by the youth, older people grew interested and started making accounts to help keep up with their family and friends. As more and more platforms cropped up, early adopters of each would hop over to a new one and start building popularity and some noticeable age groups that used each one. For example, TikTok and Snapchat are generally used by children and young teens, Instagram is mainly used by older teens and young adults, and Facebook is used by most people older than Instagram users.

Social media has many good effects, such as people maintaining friendships more easily over distances and time, connecting with people they would never have met otherwise, and exposing people to varied opinions outside of their immediate circle. However, there are plenty of negative effects as well. Social media can become addictive; some platforms are prone to creating rabbit holes into extremism, and some people crave validation from posting on social media. 

Blog Post 4: History Of Communication Technologies

 Bluetooth is an increasingly important technology, allowing people to communicate and engage with media hands-free. At this point in time, most modern cellphones no longer have a headphone jack, requiring a set of Bluetooth headphones or earbuds if the owner wishes to listen to something privately. Bluetooth is a common feature in most modern cars as well, with the connection allowing people to make and take calls while driving, listen to text messages which reduce the risk of texting and driving or put on music or a podcast to listen to during the drive. 

With the commonality of Bluetooth in the Modern Era, one may wonder how it got its start. A Swedish inventor named Nils Rydbeck created what was then known as "Short-Link Radio Technology" in 1989, hoping to make wireless headsets for the company he worked for, Ericsson Mobile. The intention was for the technology to allow a wide range of devices to work together without using too much battery life, allowing for a more straightforward battery or costing too much money. 

While the initial idea and concept were created in 1989, the actual development of the technology started in 1994, with a real, workable solution and prototype appearing in 1997. Rydbeck worked with IBM head Adalio Sanchez to use his short-link radio technology to connect an IBM Thinkpad notebook to a mobile phone since connecting the two otherwise was a significant drain on both devices' battery life. The first-ever Bluetooth phone was released a few years later in 2000, the Ericsson T36.

The Ericsson company released a set of Bluetooth headphones alongside this phone, showing off its unique capability to connect to other devices wirelessly. After this phone was released, Bluetooth technology became increasingly widespread, included in technology such as IBM's Thinkpad A30 in 2001. As the years passed, Bluetooth technology improved into what we know today. 

Bluetooth has a wide range of uses, and is incredibly common in the modern day. With the lack of headphone jacks, the demand for Bluetooth earbuds and headphones has risen drastically in recent years, and included the capability in cars is in increasingly high demand. People want to listen to their own choice in media and music, so radio stations are becoming increasingly overshadowed by Bluetooth.

This technology is excellent, reducing the wires and cables we have to use to have more than one device connected. Bluetooth is now considered essential for everyday life and a standard feature in most modern cars and all modern phones. Almost everyone uses Bluetooth daily, and the world would be quite different without it. 

However, this doesn't mean that Bluetooth doesn't have its risks. You'd think that voice commands in cars would reduce the risk that comes from texting and driving, but studies show that using the hands-free technology in cars can be just as distracting if not more so than traditional texting while driving. Bluetooth capability can also drive up the cost of technology, so it becoming more common causes the cost  of technology to steadily increase.

Post #3: Eight Values of Free Expression

Freedom of speech: The first amendment and one of the most meaningful freedoms the citizens of the USA have. The first amendment protects our right to express ourselves and our opinions without fear of repercussion, allowing us to have more meaningful conversations about the things that are important to us. The right to disagree with the government without fear of repercussions and violence will enable us to build a country that truly represents the people, not just one that works for the people who run it. 

The first amendment protects the freedom of several aspects of speech, from freedom of religion and freedom of innovation to the right to dissent. The importance of each cannot be understated, as they allow us to truly be individuals and express ourselves, our feelings, and our beliefs. While all are incredibly important, in the current day, I believe the most visible one is the right to protest, covered under Stable Change, AKA the safety valve.

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court made the incredibly controversial decision to overturn the 50-year-old case Roe Vs. Wade that guaranteed the people of this nation access to safe abortions and contraception. This decision has sparked anger, despair, and fear among many minority groups in the country. Overturning Roe may set a precedent for overturning similar cases, with some Court justices expressing a desire to reconsider and possibly remove Obergefell vs. Hodges, the decision that legalized same-sex marriage across the USA.

Stable Change protects the people who have gathered to protest the decision and protects them from being punished for their outrage. This also plays into our ability to self-govern since we're hoping to make a difference in how our country works by making our voices heard. These people who are protesting, screaming, and trying to fight for their rights to be restored or to remain need to be able to make themselves heard, as it both gets the point across and prevents violence from breaking out.

If people cannot be heard and cannot make themselves known by words alone, they're more likely to start taking action to force themselves to be heard. These actions commonly involve violence and physically fighting, creating an uproar to force their words to be heard.  The violent protests cause injury and death, so allowing people to yell and express their anger lowers the chance of those violent protests from breaking out, which is why this value is also called the "Safety Valve."

The right to dissent is one of the most visible of the eight values of free expression. We've seen this right excercised over the past several years as events in the country cause anger and fear, moving people to try and make a change via protest and action. I believe keeping this right intact and protected is the most important thing this country can do to keep our country truly free. If the citizens of a country are not free to speak their mind, then they are not actually free at all.

Blog Post 2: SCOTUS

 Going into this assignment, I already knew a decent amount about the Supreme Court. I know that the Court can pick and review cases and decide what they really mean and whether or not they're consitiutional. However, I thought that the justices were simply chosen by the president, and I learned that the Senate is able to reject the president's decisicions if they feel that it's neccesary. I think that's really interesting as it's a direct example of checks and balances, since the president, in theory, wouldn't be able to just pack the court full of his own supporters and effectively keep control after his term in office. 

Through reading this article from the History Channel, I also learned that the amount of seats on the court has changed a lot throughout the years, with a lot of changes going anywhere from 5 to 10 seats up until 1869. I had no idea it had changed so often and had such a wide range of seat numbers, so I found this information interesting.

I think this article has given me a lot of interesing information about the supreme court. Having this new information will be helpful in discussions and give me some better background for why the supreme court is run the way it is.