Writings from my journal Part III ; Happy New Year!

Today is Sunday January 1st, 2012, Happy New Year! I will be writing about Saturday December 31st, 2011, New Years Eve. On this day my family and I ran errands and cooked food. I am still at my parents' in Vallejo, Ca and the day is moving just a tad slow. First I take my brother to AT&T to get a new phone because he broke the blackberry I gave him, we stayed there for a long time. After leaving the store we head over to my grandmothers' and then off to my house to hang around until the ball drops. After a couple of hours of just watching movies and indulging in ice cream and goodies I leave to show my face at my friends little "kick back", formally known as a get together. I end my night there by counting down to the new year and being thankful for everyone I have in my life and hope to keep in my future. My break was fantastic and I plan on continuing to enjoy the rest of my year from start to finish.

Writings from my journal Part II

Today is Tuesday December 27th, 2011 and I am In Vallejo at my parents house still enjoying my family time. Nothing really took place today worth writing about but I did get out and take in some sun. My friend Omar and I decided to walk a trial back behind the houses in American Canyon by the water. He tried to teach me how to skip rocks, tried being the prime word, I still can not do it but I had a fun time and it was exciting. Hopefully I learn how to skip rocks soon though.

Writings from my journal Part I

Today is Christmas Eve. I wake up with no real plans but I know that I am starving, so I call my friend Lupe to schedule breakfast. As the hours progress it turns into brunch and then we end up just going to eat at Denny's around 2-3pm. I obviously went with out breakfast. (laughing)

Later in the evening I get together with some more of my friends to hang out. We end up having a blast and take a boat load of pictures. I really enjoy spending time with my friends when I'm available since when hardily see each other due to work and school. Overall, I had an amazing Christmas eve and plan to have an even more amazing Christmas day.

Paid or Volunteer

1. What is the best and the worst job (paid or volunteer) that you have ever had?

• What were some of your primary responsibilities?
• What made the job enjoyable or not?
• What skills did you develop that will serve you well in internship?
• What lessons did you learn about the workplace and yourself?

The best job that I ever had was working with NASCAR. I was working there to raise money for my high school cheerleading team. We would work the Infineon race track and serve the customers that came to see the races. My primary responsibilities were to serve beer and direct people to their seats. I had my own booth and I had a lot of fun. The part I most enjoyed was the sales portion. We had to create slogans for the beer and would bet on who would receive the most tips. I always won of course. Working with NASCAR I was able to add to my customer service skills and my leadership abilities. I had to monitor other booths and was often in charge of handling the money.

My worst job was working at Six Flags. It’s all glitz and glamour on the outside but on the inside it’s a horror film. Now don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my time there and made a lot of friends but the working part of it was crucial. We were under aged, under paid and worked ridiculous hours. Most times we would work over time but wouldn’t get paid for it because we weren’t at the appropriate age to do so. Other times we would be written up or pink slipped by the HR department because our lead or supervisor asked us to do something that we weren’t qualified to do and instead of them being reprimanded we were. This was an impoverished attempt to better one’s work ethic.

A Note to Obama

On Tuesday November 22, 2011 President Obama was interrupted at A Manchester High School by many occupy protestors while giving a job speech. The Occupy movement is an international protest movement that's primarily directed against economic and social inequality. The protestors used the "human microphone" method only minutes into his speech to gibe attention to the arrest of protestors in Occupy movements all around the nation.
The students quickly drew the attention away from the speech as they began to shout "Obama! Obama!".
After his speech a member of the movement was able to push through the crowd to get close enough to Obama to pass him a note. The note read:

"Mr. President: Over 4000 peaceful protesters have been arrested. While bankers continue to destroy the American economy. You must stop the assault on our 1st amendment rights. Your silence sends a message that police brutality is acceptable. Banks got bailed out. We got sold out."

President Obama is not the first politician to be pinpointed by the Occupy movement. But my question is what do they expect him to do? President Obama can not make all of the changes in America. We can not expect that every politician has the power to fix all of our economic problems. We all go through hard times and yes the economy is going through trying times but for us to expect one person to change it all we are only hindering ourselves from becoming great leaders. Why can't we work to change our issues in a logical way? Sometimes protesting only makes the situation worse.

My Inspiration

In small and large ways, we are all inspired. We draw our inspiration from people, pictures, art, music, behavior, nature, etc. Consider something that inspires you and write a blog post of 300-350 words about it. Here are some things you may touch on:

• Describe the source of your inspiration- be specific and detailed.
• What feelings or emotions do you experience?
• Are you alone or do you share this inspiration with others? Are you aware of others having an alternate reaction to your source of inspiration?
• Forecast how long you think this inspiration will last- does it inspire you in the moment or something that you will derive inspiration from for the years to come?

My inspiration stems from the power of emotion and the fact that it is almost time altering. One person can go from a state of happiness to being sad in a matter of seconds. I think it is a beautiful thing. Everything I do I get emotional about, especially my music. My music is my craft and ultimate passion. Rather it be instrumental, lyrical or through choreography I put every bit of myself into it and it is purely an emotional thing. The power of emotion can run a nation because that’s what drives the passion to do so. The power of emotion can build a relationship, start a revolution and comfort an aching soul. When we grieve our body is filled with emotion just as when we are happy. Emotion pretty much runs what we do a human beings. Love and emotion are to different things so on that level I won’t even try to compare but in order to love emotion does have to be involved. When my body becomes controlled by emotion I tend to become very spontaneous. I do things off of impulse and sometimes shoot for satisfactory. Most times instant gratification is what I’m trying to obtain. But overall I wouldn’t be able to function without emotion or being able to use my emotions to be successful.

Community

Community: ___________________________________________________________

To begin visualizing this group of people as a particular shape with particular functions and characteristics, Pre-write about this community. If you get stuck or aren’t sure what to write, answer some of the questions below and see where they take you:

· Who are the members of the community? How do they interact? What is central to their membership? Do members choose to be a part of this community or are they members because of other reasons (geography, ethnicity, religion, etc.)

· What are the community’s characteristics? Its benefits? Its disadvantages? Its successes? Its problems?

· What do you enjoy about the community? What do you dislike about it?

I am a part of a community called Umoja, (a Kiswahili word meaning unity). Our mission is that we are a community and critical resource dedicated to enhancing the cultural and educational experiences of African American and other students. We believe that when the voices and histories of students are deliberately and intentionally recognized, the opportunity for self-efficacy emerges and a foundation is formed for academic success. Umoja actively serves and promotes student success for all students through a curriculum and pedagogy responsive to the legacy of the African and African American Diasporas. I however Am I member through the Napa Valley College program in with we had to participate in four classes so that we would build our community on and off campus. We host events, dinner, plays and much more. We go out to inform others about us and what we represent as well and team up city, state and national. Umoja goes on yearly camping trips and run meetings so that we all stay o the same page. I no longer attend Napa Valley College but I am still a part of the community. I took all four classes which does mean that I have graduated the educational aspect and now I shadow the new members at events and functions. I enjoy every part of what we do and will continue to support my community.