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Daron Howard Chapter Summary

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As a college student at Miami University in Ohio, young Daron Howard had immense interest in Spanish culture and language. His college professors urged him to immerse himself in a Spanish-speaking society so that he can hone his Spanish speaking abilities. He decided to follow their advice and spent summers and semesters in Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Panama. There he lived among different neighborhoods in the country and was able to interact with the region’s culture. After such an experience, Howard returned to the United States with a completely different outlook on the world. Being exposed to new cultures and social structures, he became increasingly interested in aspects of human society, such as the on the interactions …show more content…

In this fieldwork, he studies the chess players for their moneymaking tactics, their hustling strategies and the aspects their lives have led them to this situation. He also finds it extremely interesting how these people, living on the fringe of poverty, interact with NYU students and the affluent residents of Greenwich Village. Because he played a lot of chess growing up, he is able to become a chameleon in this environment and study the natural behaviors and social patterns of these people close-up
Professor Howard stresses the importance of sociology as a field, especially in how it opens up people’s minds to the realities of the world. It helps people understand the dynamics of how the world operates and how our own personal worlds operate. Also, sociology allows people to witness how social forces influence us and shape our actions every day.
To conclude, Professor Howard offered excellent advice to freshmen at Baruch. He stresses the importance of freshmen to joining clubs, studying abroad a semester and taking a variety of different courses and electives. By experimenting and trying new things in college, freshmen can open their mind to new interests and find their passion in life. It is then they can settle down on a major and strive towards the life they want to live. Otherwise, they can end up getting a miserable job after graduation that they for the rest of their lives, just to pay the

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