Wow... This was an incredible video to watch. I applaud Bliss for the way he stood up in front of the "teacher" like that and said what he felt. My first thought after I was in shock was that I worried that he would been punished for speaking to an authority figure by doubting her skills and disrespecting her in front of the class. I can't imagine what the punishment would be; suspension or expulsion? Who knows.. I found it difficult to disrespect an elder because that is how I was taught. Punishment for not obeying would be a slap on the mouth or hit with a belt (it wasn't considered abuse back then). To do it to higher authority, people of education? Shoot, I was scared straight.Then I thought, oh my gosh, that is one ballsy guy. And good for him for speaking up for himself and others. Thankfully, I followed up on this video and he did not get punished for speaking his mind. The teacher on the other hand did got paid administration leave, whatever that means. Must be the privilege of where she's from or being a teacher. The next day he went to school, everyone was screaming his name and giving him high fives; he was a celebrity. He changed lives the moment he said those words. For him to have the privilege to say that and with passion, tells other students everywhere it's OK to speak you're mind and stand up for what's right.What Bliss says is true. Students can't learn just by packets. Students need interaction, to speak their thoughts and feelings. To hear others. One can read something over and over and may never understand what it is one needs to learn just by their self. It would be saying ,"The blind leading the blind." It's very difficult to see that happen. But hearing someone say the text, just by the sound of the emotion behind it makes all the difference. How we can have a future if the students now are not being taught to free their minds and know they can make a difference no matter what they do? This is a free country, we have the right to speak our minds. Why does educational system make us feel like we are not privileged to speak our minds to them about them? But it's OK for us to do it anywhere else?
Student mad at teacher
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
3 intersections for "Into The Wild"
Privilege is one of the intersections from this book. McCandless is privileged by having wealthy parents who can afford to pay for a University or buy him a new car. Not everyone has the luxury to go straight to a University right after high school. Many people have to can't afford it would have to go to a junior college for a couple years and then go to a four year college like the one McCandless went to or a car for that matter. He was already perfectly content with the car he already had and didn't want to give that up. In the "Breadgivers", she didn't have privilege, she had to rebel and go against everything in her life to get a college education. Sara had to work while going through school and had her transportation was her feet. The Laramie Project, Shepard had money to attend the Univerisity, he was also a man just like McCandless and white men. Sara on the other hand was a foreigner woman who had to experience all the hardships.
Independence is a crucial trait that also intersects. Unfortunately, two out of the three books end in death but during their lives, they lived it to the fullest. One who claims independence needs to be strong willed for there are many obstacles that come along with it. Once the independence is there, it is the greatest victory one can have. People strive to have this all through the world and many of them will never know what it feels like to have it. The best way to describe it would be customized freedom for an individual, everyone's is different because of their lives. McCandless was independent because he didn't want to be brainwashed by society, he wanted to be his own, wanted to start from the ground up. Sara was independent in many ways, she disobeyed her culture and men, including her father. Shepard claimed his independence by telling everyone he met he was gay.
Passion in life to follow one's dreams is the most acquirable of all. It gives life life. Although the two people who died living their passion, no matter the situation, they can reflect upon their life and not have too much regret because they lived the life they wanted. It may have not been what others would appreciate or understand but that doesn't matter. On'es passion might unknowingly lead to death but in the end, one would probably say it was worth it.
Chris McCandless
"Indeed Chris had only recently upbraided Walt and Billie for expressing their desire to buy him a new cars a graduation present and offering to pay for law school of there wasn't enough money left in his college fund to cover it (20)."
Independence is a crucial trait that also intersects. Unfortunately, two out of the three books end in death but during their lives, they lived it to the fullest. One who claims independence needs to be strong willed for there are many obstacles that come along with it. Once the independence is there, it is the greatest victory one can have. People strive to have this all through the world and many of them will never know what it feels like to have it. The best way to describe it would be customized freedom for an individual, everyone's is different because of their lives. McCandless was independent because he didn't want to be brainwashed by society, he wanted to be his own, wanted to start from the ground up. Sara was independent in many ways, she disobeyed her culture and men, including her father. Shepard claimed his independence by telling everyone he met he was gay.
"He intended to invent an utterly new life for himself, one in which he would be free to wallow in unfiltered experience (23)."
Passion in life to follow one's dreams is the most acquirable of all. It gives life life. Although the two people who died living their passion, no matter the situation, they can reflect upon their life and not have too much regret because they lived the life they wanted. It may have not been what others would appreciate or understand but that doesn't matter. On'es passion might unknowingly lead to death but in the end, one would probably say it was worth it.
"Unlike most of us, he was the sort of person who insisted on living out his beliefs (67)."
Chris McCandless
Friday, July 19, 2013
A Bullied Student Finds an Inspiring Hero
I picked this video, for one, Ellen is my hero(ines)but when I seen this it automatically thought of Laramie Project. So much hate against a college student and homosexual. He was bullied by having his car vandalized with so much hostility. Being bullied or being the bully is so appaling. It can scar long term.Some may even commit suicide from this type of treatment. A man heard what happened and reached out his hand to the one being bullied. He did it because he thought "it was the right thing to do." And it was, it was benevolent. This is an example of privilege and heterosexism. Passion is included with the man who came and helped the bullied student by fixing and transforming his car in his shop. This touched my heart and thought it's so amazing to know there still are people like that in this world. I rarely see people helping out each other these days. Ellen being the hero that she is, helps both of these men by telling the story by the people themselves and helping them in her own ways.
Andrade Response
It's powerful how one person can change another's life. The power of words followed through with actions, it shows that we do need each other; to help grow as an individual and a group/community. Giving a little more love to children, especially the ones that are visible of struggling in some way, can help encourage to the right path.Ones who struggle just want to know that one does matter and are worth something. They are our future. This type of behavior happens during the teenage years when hormones are raging out of control that feelings and emotions becomes overwhelming and don't know what to do. Without the support through this stage for whatever the reason may be, one gives up on oneself and becomes angry. One begins to do inappropriate things that catches other peoples attention. One can start using drugs because it numbs the pain and/or makes the thoughts go away, although sometimes it can backfire and create more rage. It's just like the phrase "misery loves company". On the flip side, if there is someone that sticks around, it helps clear the path to one's goal or passion, no matter what happens outside of class. It may even encourage one to be more involved in school and turn that time working on oneself or others. School should always be a safe zone for students. The more involvement in school, the more they learn about themselves and know they can make a difference.
This brings back memories and takes me back when I was in high school. I tried to be involved in school by joining in a club called, "Club Vogue" and was in choir since middle school. I was taken away from this to watch my little brother and cousins after school during the week. This was my outlet from home and school during hours of operation. Eventually I felt trapped so I started skipping school to go to the mall or S.F. with some of my friends or boyfriend(s). As time went on, I would run away from home and be gone for days at a time which turned into weeks. During those weeks when I wasn't home, I was out getting high on different types of drugs. Fast forward, I got clean, went back to school and my first semester here changed my life. What did it was when my instructors made it mandatory to meet with them two times in the semester. I learned many things about myself and created friendships. I heard it's up to the students to make the initiative to make the appointments to talk with instructors but I have noticed that the ones that make students do it are the ones that are more involved in school and you can tell that's their passion. The passion they have rubs off, only if one is willing to meet halfway.
It makes me mad how education as a whole has dropped over the years. During the depression, teachers should have been the last to get cut. I remember when I was a kid and went to school, I took a school bus to school and back home, the whole K-12, now one has to take the city bus. All schools in the city were open from all the kids that attended. Now at least half of the schools are closed, leaving teachers with 30-40 students, I remember 20. Basically Educational system is totally screwed up. Maybe the reason why teachers now days act the way they do is because they're stressed out and pissed off they have to work how many part time jobs commuting from one end of the bay area to the other. I do commend the ones that have the passion and is still burning within and making that extra effort to watch their students grow. If only all teachers would be like this, more so now than ever. Poverty has grown over the last couple decades in a lot a of cities throughout. Hopefully these students now come back and help the community into which they were from. It's needed everywhere, especially Oakland. And I believe that when money is there, we as a county should help them to improve the their city and give their kids the education they deserve. Everyone should be given the same opportunity, no more, no less. But in reality, it's not like that.We need more people like Andrade to speak and travel through different schools and spread the word because it is much needed.
1. What is the capacity of the program he is running and is there other programs similar to his in Oakland?
2. What ways does the medical community provide assistance for urban youth for CPTSD?
3. What ways would it be beneficial for urban youth to be relocated in environments better suited for their academic and personal lives (in comparison to East Oakland)?
This brings back memories and takes me back when I was in high school. I tried to be involved in school by joining in a club called, "Club Vogue" and was in choir since middle school. I was taken away from this to watch my little brother and cousins after school during the week. This was my outlet from home and school during hours of operation. Eventually I felt trapped so I started skipping school to go to the mall or S.F. with some of my friends or boyfriend(s). As time went on, I would run away from home and be gone for days at a time which turned into weeks. During those weeks when I wasn't home, I was out getting high on different types of drugs. Fast forward, I got clean, went back to school and my first semester here changed my life. What did it was when my instructors made it mandatory to meet with them two times in the semester. I learned many things about myself and created friendships. I heard it's up to the students to make the initiative to make the appointments to talk with instructors but I have noticed that the ones that make students do it are the ones that are more involved in school and you can tell that's their passion. The passion they have rubs off, only if one is willing to meet halfway.
It makes me mad how education as a whole has dropped over the years. During the depression, teachers should have been the last to get cut. I remember when I was a kid and went to school, I took a school bus to school and back home, the whole K-12, now one has to take the city bus. All schools in the city were open from all the kids that attended. Now at least half of the schools are closed, leaving teachers with 30-40 students, I remember 20. Basically Educational system is totally screwed up. Maybe the reason why teachers now days act the way they do is because they're stressed out and pissed off they have to work how many part time jobs commuting from one end of the bay area to the other. I do commend the ones that have the passion and is still burning within and making that extra effort to watch their students grow. If only all teachers would be like this, more so now than ever. Poverty has grown over the last couple decades in a lot a of cities throughout. Hopefully these students now come back and help the community into which they were from. It's needed everywhere, especially Oakland. And I believe that when money is there, we as a county should help them to improve the their city and give their kids the education they deserve. Everyone should be given the same opportunity, no more, no less. But in reality, it's not like that.We need more people like Andrade to speak and travel through different schools and spread the word because it is much needed.
1. What is the capacity of the program he is running and is there other programs similar to his in Oakland?
2. What ways does the medical community provide assistance for urban youth for CPTSD?
3. What ways would it be beneficial for urban youth to be relocated in environments better suited for their academic and personal lives (in comparison to East Oakland)?
Potential deal breakers
The two struggles I have noticed about myself the most since I started college is PTSD and my self confidence. PTSD is post traumatic stress disorder and is caused from extreme emotional trauma. The common events that can cause this are from domestic abuse, car accidents, rape, assault, natural disasters, and/ or war. Symptoms that come with this are anxiety, tension, avoidance, stress, reliving the situations such as flashbacks of the event or uncomfortable reactions when reminded of the event to name a couple. Another is guilt from surviving the event. These are a few type of symptoms. Unfortunately, I am a victim to half of these mentioned. It took me a while to figure out how to deal with this; I now have a support system that seems to be growing slowly but surely. And that helps A LOT.This was a hard thing for me to do when I was in grade school and I wondered why that was; I also suffered from a disorder, manic depression (a.k.a. bi polar) and that messed me up real bad with school, work, relationships, and myself. I have been stable for about 6 years now. As Romeo says, "Problems there are always problems we face. We can learn from it and rebuild our life and making better choices." True, there are always going to be problems that pop up all throughout life, it's inevitable. Hopefully one can learn from the problem to not make the same mistake again in the future. Or learn how to deal with the problem if it shall present itself and then make better choices. "Alleviating that stress. It doesn't change what's going on outside of you it but it starts it slowly will start to change how you deal with it. Knowing that I can come here everyday; it's a safe environment. I can do what I need to do," Samira affirms. To lessen the stress; whatever happens on the outside, it won't change. Knowing that coming to Chabot everyday, it is a safe environment. With a safe environment, it's easier for one to take care of what they need to at school.
With my first struggle, this partially relates to my mom because as I was growing up, we never did get along and she was a negative Nancy towards me all the time. What affected me the most was that she called me a whore and blamed me for her divorce with my father; when in fact she was having an affair on my dad, had a child with this other guy. When he was born, my dad and I were the ones to raise him. My dad knew the whole time it wasn't his and I figured it out when she gave birth because he came out very very light skinned with light brown hair... and we're filipino! I don't know if there are albino Filipinos... She continued having her relationship with this guy until she divorced my dad (about 8 years later). They were still living together, sleeping on the same bed and acted like nothing was wrong.The divorce screwed me up because my dad didn't want me to live with him and told me to live with her. I felt like both of my parents didn't want me. When I lived with my dad, he ignored me all the while I was raising my kid on my own. As for my mom, it's as if she resents me; I could never figure out why. When I was younger, she always told me who I needed to become, it was the typical doctor or a nurse because it paid good money. So instead of asking "what do you want to be when you grow up, it's what kind of doctor do you want to be when you grow up?" I was trained to believe I wanted to be a pediatrician for the fact that I was pretty much raised all my younger cousins and younger brother at the time. Seemed like if I don't become that, I am a failure; to her and my family. I knew that was something I didn't want to do. As I grew up, I would talk about all the different careers I wanted to do. They were all never good enough. When I told my mom recently how I want to interpret sign language, first response was, "oh..do they make good money?" She didn't sound too thrilled. After the the fact she wouldn't help me go back to school, I never told her I went to school to get my G.E.D. and received it. I told her after, again, she didn't sound happy. I always hear her telling me, "You can't do it, you're not going to be anybody. You can't even finish school!" So every time I feel I'm moving forward, making a change in my life, I hear her. The first day I came to Chabot to take the assessment, I had a breakdown in the parking lot and didn't leave until about an hour later after I calmed down. I was too afraid to go back after that day. The second day I returned, I had my boyfriend come with me to support me. He was the one that made me go back, otherwise I wouldn't have. Then the first day of Fall semester, I was going to have another breakdown while going to class but everyone that I passed, smiled at me. That gave me comfort in knowing that I could get through my first day. I recently figured that I have lived most of my life without her. I should just continue to do that because when I do let her in, all she bring me is pain as if she doesn't want me to succeed. I can and will do it without her.
The other struggle I deal with is my self confidence. Confidence is having full on trust in one self or assurance. It is also to have believe in one or one's abilities or judgments. It is a an important trait to have because it is needed in everything one does. Many people suffer from this. For ones that cannot or do not find it struggle with becoming successful in life. "We are definitely scared to make mistakes in the classroom because it's embarrassing," Ray expresses. When one is embarrassed from making a mistake, it makes one feel withdrawn or extremely uncomfortable it makes one feel self-conscious. Fear to not be or look like one knows, feels rejected. When one feels rejected, one doesn't know what other people are thinking or saying to other people. If one knows the audience, it's creates less tension because they are already acquainted. The way I take action to overcome this is to continue to add to my support system, like make more friends, talk to instructors by small talk or through conferences. Emily claims, "The teacher's job is instilling passion and I've had several teacher's who've done that, is constant communication with the students, constant reassurance." A teacher is to give knowledge or help build skill and encourage it. A teacher is with a student sometimes more than their own parents. For that, they help create the safe and comfortable environment that may not be there at home. If a teacher is passionate about their work, they become the student's cheerleader. Once the bond is there, it never leaves one and becomes part of one's step forward in life.
My first semester was the hardest to deal with but it has become better with the actions I am making. Since I've been told how worthless I was for a good fifteen years from not only my mom, aunts, and guys I've dated it's a difficult mentality to break away from; it's just like an addiction. I've been also told that I wouldn't make a good mother and I would never have long time friends who would want to be involved with me.The sad part of it all is that when you hear it constantly over and over, you believe it. So as crazy as it may sound, I struggle with every assignment that I am given. I am always stressing out that it's not good enough so I have to keep pushing myself. If/when I get a good grade, I'm happy but I can't get myself to believe or accept that I'm not what my mom said about me. I am afraid that if I don't get a good grade on anything, I am what she says. I have become a failure which means I'm not going to be good at anything and I'll have to go back to the hard life. When I go back to the hard life, I will be a bad mother because all I would be doing is working just to provide and not having the time to be with them, watch them grow. Looking on the brighter side, the friends that I have made here, they have always been supportive when I ask for the help or not. I have built a great support system. Something as simple as a smile or a "hi", always reassures me that I am going to be OK, from friends or just anyone. Talking to instructors are equally on thee same level as my friends, if not a little more. Just being able to talk about school work, homework,what I need to work on, or just life helps boost me. An older (and wiser) instructor from myself giving me positive feedback with or without constructive criticism gives me comfort. It helps fill the void of assurance as bad as that may sound but is a good thing because I should be listening to someone that really sees my work; practically everyday rather than someone just seeing or hearing it. I find that to be extremely helpful; to be a single mom of two while going to school full time, I haven't interacted with one instructor that has been negative.
With my first struggle, this partially relates to my mom because as I was growing up, we never did get along and she was a negative Nancy towards me all the time. What affected me the most was that she called me a whore and blamed me for her divorce with my father; when in fact she was having an affair on my dad, had a child with this other guy. When he was born, my dad and I were the ones to raise him. My dad knew the whole time it wasn't his and I figured it out when she gave birth because he came out very very light skinned with light brown hair... and we're filipino! I don't know if there are albino Filipinos... She continued having her relationship with this guy until she divorced my dad (about 8 years later). They were still living together, sleeping on the same bed and acted like nothing was wrong.The divorce screwed me up because my dad didn't want me to live with him and told me to live with her. I felt like both of my parents didn't want me. When I lived with my dad, he ignored me all the while I was raising my kid on my own. As for my mom, it's as if she resents me; I could never figure out why. When I was younger, she always told me who I needed to become, it was the typical doctor or a nurse because it paid good money. So instead of asking "what do you want to be when you grow up, it's what kind of doctor do you want to be when you grow up?" I was trained to believe I wanted to be a pediatrician for the fact that I was pretty much raised all my younger cousins and younger brother at the time. Seemed like if I don't become that, I am a failure; to her and my family. I knew that was something I didn't want to do. As I grew up, I would talk about all the different careers I wanted to do. They were all never good enough. When I told my mom recently how I want to interpret sign language, first response was, "oh..do they make good money?" She didn't sound too thrilled. After the the fact she wouldn't help me go back to school, I never told her I went to school to get my G.E.D. and received it. I told her after, again, she didn't sound happy. I always hear her telling me, "You can't do it, you're not going to be anybody. You can't even finish school!" So every time I feel I'm moving forward, making a change in my life, I hear her. The first day I came to Chabot to take the assessment, I had a breakdown in the parking lot and didn't leave until about an hour later after I calmed down. I was too afraid to go back after that day. The second day I returned, I had my boyfriend come with me to support me. He was the one that made me go back, otherwise I wouldn't have. Then the first day of Fall semester, I was going to have another breakdown while going to class but everyone that I passed, smiled at me. That gave me comfort in knowing that I could get through my first day. I recently figured that I have lived most of my life without her. I should just continue to do that because when I do let her in, all she bring me is pain as if she doesn't want me to succeed. I can and will do it without her.
The other struggle I deal with is my self confidence. Confidence is having full on trust in one self or assurance. It is also to have believe in one or one's abilities or judgments. It is a an important trait to have because it is needed in everything one does. Many people suffer from this. For ones that cannot or do not find it struggle with becoming successful in life. "We are definitely scared to make mistakes in the classroom because it's embarrassing," Ray expresses. When one is embarrassed from making a mistake, it makes one feel withdrawn or extremely uncomfortable it makes one feel self-conscious. Fear to not be or look like one knows, feels rejected. When one feels rejected, one doesn't know what other people are thinking or saying to other people. If one knows the audience, it's creates less tension because they are already acquainted. The way I take action to overcome this is to continue to add to my support system, like make more friends, talk to instructors by small talk or through conferences. Emily claims, "The teacher's job is instilling passion and I've had several teacher's who've done that, is constant communication with the students, constant reassurance." A teacher is to give knowledge or help build skill and encourage it. A teacher is with a student sometimes more than their own parents. For that, they help create the safe and comfortable environment that may not be there at home. If a teacher is passionate about their work, they become the student's cheerleader. Once the bond is there, it never leaves one and becomes part of one's step forward in life.
My first semester was the hardest to deal with but it has become better with the actions I am making. Since I've been told how worthless I was for a good fifteen years from not only my mom, aunts, and guys I've dated it's a difficult mentality to break away from; it's just like an addiction. I've been also told that I wouldn't make a good mother and I would never have long time friends who would want to be involved with me.The sad part of it all is that when you hear it constantly over and over, you believe it. So as crazy as it may sound, I struggle with every assignment that I am given. I am always stressing out that it's not good enough so I have to keep pushing myself. If/when I get a good grade, I'm happy but I can't get myself to believe or accept that I'm not what my mom said about me. I am afraid that if I don't get a good grade on anything, I am what she says. I have become a failure which means I'm not going to be good at anything and I'll have to go back to the hard life. When I go back to the hard life, I will be a bad mother because all I would be doing is working just to provide and not having the time to be with them, watch them grow. Looking on the brighter side, the friends that I have made here, they have always been supportive when I ask for the help or not. I have built a great support system. Something as simple as a smile or a "hi", always reassures me that I am going to be OK, from friends or just anyone. Talking to instructors are equally on thee same level as my friends, if not a little more. Just being able to talk about school work, homework,what I need to work on, or just life helps boost me. An older (and wiser) instructor from myself giving me positive feedback with or without constructive criticism gives me comfort. It helps fill the void of assurance as bad as that may sound but is a good thing because I should be listening to someone that really sees my work; practically everyday rather than someone just seeing or hearing it. I find that to be extremely helpful; to be a single mom of two while going to school full time, I haven't interacted with one instructor that has been negative.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Connection between passion and privilege
In order to have passion, one needs self identity because without it one could not love. In order for one to love, one needs to have an open mind. The open mind couldn't be possible if there was not privilege. With self identity, one is being oneself and not another. It is to know who one is and accept it with no boundaries. It is hard to find but one must be willing to have the courage to go on the journey to find oneself. Self identity is what makes everyone different, unique. "In order to love life you have to find your passion; you have to find what truly makes you happy and when you find what truly makes you happy you gottta chase after it; you gotta take those risks," Ray illustrates from the Passion Project. One must be willing to take risks because that is how one finds out what one likes or doesn't like. Once one finds or realizes what one likes and if it makes one happy, go after it. When passions are found and being lived, life becomes like a rainbow; it's bright, see different shades of colors, and sometimes can't find the end, although if you do there could be a pot of gold.... And with no leprechaun of course because they are scary. I one hundred percent believe what Ray said because how can you chase a dream if you don't know what it is? And how could you chase a dream if you don't know if you're even in it? You have to get to know yourself and learn all you can about yourself before having passion about something or someone. Once you have that passion, skies the limit from that point. No one can stop you but yourself. Tiffany mentions: "What you take in like it kinda like it shapes you, it molds you, like it defines you." What the mind takes in, one's body will react thus giving it a place of memory. When it's implanted in the memory one slowly continues to react molding into one, defining one. I had always lived for other people like my mom, passed boyfriends, aunts, uncles, friends etc. I thought that if I was who they wanted me to be, I would be loved and accepted. I was just fooling myself in every way. Becoming a different person for other people is exhausting and I knew I didn't want to live that the rest of my life. And that's when it started.
Self identity wouldn't be around if it weren't for love. Love is the root for passion. Love is a warm feeling, deep affection/passion, unconditional, and a strong connection. It can also be an intricate thing. Without it one would live life alone. "The more passionate or the more that you love something, the more you learn from it because you're you're I guess you're separating yourself. You're having like an outer body experience and you it's like a reflection almost like wow this is so beautiful I want to do this forever," comments Karina. The more love or passion grows, trust increases and that leads to exploring. When one learns, one reflects upon it and it feels like you're looking form the outside in. It is so beautiful that one wants to continue. And when one wants to continue "and as long as your true to yourself then you can then love unconditionally. Like you can accept people unconditionally because you're not worried about what people think of you," Samira points out. Being true to oneself and continuing to do so creates more love and self identity; it equals acceptance. Once that is mastered, one can love others without any limits. This is what I have been working on and figuring out most of my life. And I wondered why I was so unhappy going through life.I am still working on different levels of this area and it's a hard one to conquer, don't know if I can but it's something that I need to overcome. What I have learned from that was you can't please the whole world. And you can't please the world or anyone in that case if you don't have love for yourself. Love is very powerful and shouldn't be underestimated because it can take you anywhere and make you do anything.
An open mind comes with privilege. Having an open mind is being open to new ideas or not to be prejudice. Having a closed mind is to be prejudice which leads to racism. New ideas brings more understanding. Andrew puts it,"I was exposed to new things and how some people you know view their world basically. So it's helped me you know get an understanding of of what, you know, how other people think." Exposure to different things isn't always a bad thing. One starts to see things in a new light and realizes it's not just about one person, it's about everyone. Learning a variety of things from different people help open a mind. One can learn about culture, language, food, religion, traditions, and how one views life. On the other hand, Ray comments: "Without talking to students without getting to know them you know I have closed doors. I can't I can't pursue what I want to do, and so just getting comfortable with everybody around you knowing people in general opens all these doors of possibilities that leads to, that leads to many different possibilities." One can't always do everything alone. People need each other to survive in this country. With that said, the more people that are exposed to one, there is more chance of opportunities that will become available. I think with an open mind, it's already half of the battle. I think that's the hardest part to overcome because it's letting yourself know you are going into the unknown, which is outside of the box. For me having an open mind was to not believe all the harsh words said about me all through high school, that's when it all started; and to believe in love because I never seen it. My open mind was to learn to be a leader and not a follower; be myself even if that means more harsh words, and love myself for me because I am a good person and hopefully there will be someone who will love me for me. That doesn't happen until a little over a decade later! Good does come out of it, I promise. It takes a lot stepping out of boundaries to get there and it's not easy. If not for this recipe, along with support and endurance, I wouldn't be where I am today. And where I am today is somewhere I would have never thought I would get to. And the exact reason why I wouldn't let someone, including myself take it away from me.
privilege and passion comedy video
Self identity wouldn't be around if it weren't for love. Love is the root for passion. Love is a warm feeling, deep affection/passion, unconditional, and a strong connection. It can also be an intricate thing. Without it one would live life alone. "The more passionate or the more that you love something, the more you learn from it because you're you're I guess you're separating yourself. You're having like an outer body experience and you it's like a reflection almost like wow this is so beautiful I want to do this forever," comments Karina. The more love or passion grows, trust increases and that leads to exploring. When one learns, one reflects upon it and it feels like you're looking form the outside in. It is so beautiful that one wants to continue. And when one wants to continue "and as long as your true to yourself then you can then love unconditionally. Like you can accept people unconditionally because you're not worried about what people think of you," Samira points out. Being true to oneself and continuing to do so creates more love and self identity; it equals acceptance. Once that is mastered, one can love others without any limits. This is what I have been working on and figuring out most of my life. And I wondered why I was so unhappy going through life.I am still working on different levels of this area and it's a hard one to conquer, don't know if I can but it's something that I need to overcome. What I have learned from that was you can't please the whole world. And you can't please the world or anyone in that case if you don't have love for yourself. Love is very powerful and shouldn't be underestimated because it can take you anywhere and make you do anything.
An open mind comes with privilege. Having an open mind is being open to new ideas or not to be prejudice. Having a closed mind is to be prejudice which leads to racism. New ideas brings more understanding. Andrew puts it,"I was exposed to new things and how some people you know view their world basically. So it's helped me you know get an understanding of of what, you know, how other people think." Exposure to different things isn't always a bad thing. One starts to see things in a new light and realizes it's not just about one person, it's about everyone. Learning a variety of things from different people help open a mind. One can learn about culture, language, food, religion, traditions, and how one views life. On the other hand, Ray comments: "Without talking to students without getting to know them you know I have closed doors. I can't I can't pursue what I want to do, and so just getting comfortable with everybody around you knowing people in general opens all these doors of possibilities that leads to, that leads to many different possibilities." One can't always do everything alone. People need each other to survive in this country. With that said, the more people that are exposed to one, there is more chance of opportunities that will become available. I think with an open mind, it's already half of the battle. I think that's the hardest part to overcome because it's letting yourself know you are going into the unknown, which is outside of the box. For me having an open mind was to not believe all the harsh words said about me all through high school, that's when it all started; and to believe in love because I never seen it. My open mind was to learn to be a leader and not a follower; be myself even if that means more harsh words, and love myself for me because I am a good person and hopefully there will be someone who will love me for me. That doesn't happen until a little over a decade later! Good does come out of it, I promise. It takes a lot stepping out of boundaries to get there and it's not easy. If not for this recipe, along with support and endurance, I wouldn't be where I am today. And where I am today is somewhere I would have never thought I would get to. And the exact reason why I wouldn't let someone, including myself take it away from me.
privilege and passion comedy video
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Passion
I am passionate about many things: My family and friends, American Sign Language, Astronomy,writing, and life in general; to always move forward.Watching this movie brought out many thoughts and feelings. I looked back and it made me rethink of the reason why I am attending school and it brought some spark back. The reason I am attending school is because the opportunity was taken from me when I was 17 years old by my mom. I made many mistakes because if all the rebelling I did and ended up getting dropped from school. The only way for me to go back was for my mom to fill out paperwork that was given to me and which she had all the answers to. When I asked her, she refused to and said what would the point be? So from that point, I started looking for jobs. As the result of all my rebelling, I was a single mother who raised her son for about eleven years on my own. The journey for me to get to this point has been a wild and crazy one. It has also reminded me why I won't give up. Every time I do feel like giving up, I think about the hard life I lived along with my kids and it puts me back in place.
I think of myself as a shy person, others think different. The feelings I get when I'm in school, makes me close up and I automatically think I'm stupid because kids in high school are mean and. It seemed like almost everyone hated me back then and I never knew why. When an instructor were to ask me a question in front of the class, I blank out and my answer is "I dunno" because I don't want to hear the laughter from others if my answer is wrong. And I think the rejection I received from my mom intensified it. I'm currently trying to figure out a way for me to overcome this and have I had good conversations with some instructors on this; I continue to try. I am learning through my instructors and friends I have made that I am not stupid and is helping me overcome this.
Many times through this movie, I felt like crying but retained myself from doing so because when it starts, there's no stopping it. People who can make a movie about their hardships through college are awesome role models to let the people watching that their not the only ones who feel what they are feeling. Different strategies to help make the experience a not so terrible one. There are people who want to help, Chabot is a safe environment to be in. Many of the things that was being said, I could relate to because I'm going through it now or have been through. I too, am trying to figure things out about myself and remembering as I go; for example the things that I did like or want to become when I was younger. I am going after what I am passionate about and not letting people who don't understand why get in the way because the fact it may or may not pay a lot of money. I always believed that one should do what makes one happy and not for someone else or what makes the most money.
I will continue to learn about myself and won't give up because I was an unhappy person for a long enough time to know I don't want to ever live like that again.This all changed when I started to live for myself and not others because at the end of the day it's me that takes care of me, not anyone else; it's me that has the thoughts and feelings, not anyone else; And it's me living my life, not anyone else. For this reason, it gives me the reassurance that it's OK to make mistakes or fail. Somewhere in all of this, I hid who I truly am. I felt that if I were to be myself and have the truckers mouth that I do, an instructor or student would read a paper of mine and think that I didn't really write that. I learned that hiding myself doesn't make me a happy person. I didn't realize it until last week in class while in groups, I playfully and accidentally called someone a bitch and apologized. She laughed and said it was OK but I was too busy thinking: I can't believe I said that because parts of the "real" me is coming. I must say, it did feel good! There was something that made me feel comfortable around her.
I have made a few relationships with people in these last three semesters, including instructors. These people all have made an impact on my life and I am thankful to have met them. I never thought instructors would want to know and help you if you let them, especially with all the students they have. They are great resources and can be great mentors, not to mention great friends because they do want you to succeed and give you encouragement and reassurance to be you. It's important to me because I value their opinions.They have become my support system and I will be sad to not see them as often as I do when I transfer in the Spring.
Words from the heart that can't be spoken
I think of myself as a shy person, others think different. The feelings I get when I'm in school, makes me close up and I automatically think I'm stupid because kids in high school are mean and. It seemed like almost everyone hated me back then and I never knew why. When an instructor were to ask me a question in front of the class, I blank out and my answer is "I dunno" because I don't want to hear the laughter from others if my answer is wrong. And I think the rejection I received from my mom intensified it. I'm currently trying to figure out a way for me to overcome this and have I had good conversations with some instructors on this; I continue to try. I am learning through my instructors and friends I have made that I am not stupid and is helping me overcome this.
Many times through this movie, I felt like crying but retained myself from doing so because when it starts, there's no stopping it. People who can make a movie about their hardships through college are awesome role models to let the people watching that their not the only ones who feel what they are feeling. Different strategies to help make the experience a not so terrible one. There are people who want to help, Chabot is a safe environment to be in. Many of the things that was being said, I could relate to because I'm going through it now or have been through. I too, am trying to figure things out about myself and remembering as I go; for example the things that I did like or want to become when I was younger. I am going after what I am passionate about and not letting people who don't understand why get in the way because the fact it may or may not pay a lot of money. I always believed that one should do what makes one happy and not for someone else or what makes the most money.
I will continue to learn about myself and won't give up because I was an unhappy person for a long enough time to know I don't want to ever live like that again.This all changed when I started to live for myself and not others because at the end of the day it's me that takes care of me, not anyone else; it's me that has the thoughts and feelings, not anyone else; And it's me living my life, not anyone else. For this reason, it gives me the reassurance that it's OK to make mistakes or fail. Somewhere in all of this, I hid who I truly am. I felt that if I were to be myself and have the truckers mouth that I do, an instructor or student would read a paper of mine and think that I didn't really write that. I learned that hiding myself doesn't make me a happy person. I didn't realize it until last week in class while in groups, I playfully and accidentally called someone a bitch and apologized. She laughed and said it was OK but I was too busy thinking: I can't believe I said that because parts of the "real" me is coming. I must say, it did feel good! There was something that made me feel comfortable around her.
I have made a few relationships with people in these last three semesters, including instructors. These people all have made an impact on my life and I am thankful to have met them. I never thought instructors would want to know and help you if you let them, especially with all the students they have. They are great resources and can be great mentors, not to mention great friends because they do want you to succeed and give you encouragement and reassurance to be you. It's important to me because I value their opinions.They have become my support system and I will be sad to not see them as often as I do when I transfer in the Spring.
Words from the heart that can't be spoken
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