Theories on Education; Volunteer Mentoring

I have to do community service for my speech class and I decided to volunteer at a partnering school mentoring kids’ grades k-12. Today was my first day and I’ll just say it was really interesting. The school is in Brooklyn, apparently it’s an underprivileged school, but I don’t see how that’s true if it’s a private school and the kids have to pay tuition. Plus it’s like sponsored by my college which clearly has bread. But anyway, I’m thinkin’ we go in there and color or play games with some kindergarten kids and have a fun time, because you know kids’ say the darndest things. Lol. But it wasn’t exactly like that. The kids are about 13, in the 8th grade and pretty grown to say the least. The two girls and I talked about school and their grades, about places they’ve been, things they’re looking forward to and high school.

So apparently in New York you have to apply to high schools. There are high schools for performing arts, communications, science and all that. So both of the girls I was talking to wanted to apply for the performing arts high school. They’re talking about taking this test that’s going on their records for high school, blah blah. Then we talked about their classes now. And they were telling me how much they hate the private school they’re at now. I asked them why and they said because its ‘dead’ (their words not mine). I ask ‘em how its dead and they say because the classes are boring, there’s nothing for them to do, they don't have recess, they said the teachers aren’t bad they’re just not learning anything they find interesting. So I ask ‘em if they have music classes or foreign language classes and they didn’t. The only class they had other than the basics was gym. Now I remember middle school; and all through my middle school experience I was taking some kind of elective. I took French one year, band, tech ed., and gym another year, not to mention the host of after-school activities that my school sponsored. Basically, I had a full, well-rounded middle school experience and I felt prepared for high school. My middle school was public, and therefore state sponsored, but I don’t think that being a private school excuses the school from having events to keep the kids interested in coming to school. I mean if they’re not interested they’re not gonna do well regardless. And if someone at the school sees a need for whatever the kids need to succeed, and really wants it done I fully believe that they can do it.

What they said about school was so depressing. I asked them how their grades were and one of the girls said “I’m average”. I asked her what that meant and she shrugged, and said “I don’t do bad but I’m not that good”. I started asking her about her study habits and she was honest in telling me that she didn’t study that much. I asked her why not and she said because it was boring. Okay, true, we don’t spend time on things that aren’t interesting. So then I’m thinking about my criminal justice professor and how he said education was an important factor in middle class families so I start wondering if her parents encourage education and such, basically going off on tangents.

We talked about the places they’ve been next. Both of them have been out of the country once whereas I never have. So I’m like woah. And of course that got me thinking about how much I don’t know and how big the world is and how much I really have to learn and open myself up to. After that I’m thinking man these kids are already exposed to so much. They were talking about some party that the school throws for the kids and how there’s dancing and it gets ‘crazy’. I’m askin’ em what ‘crazy’ means and they won’t tell me, they just look at each other and laugh. You can assume for yourself what that means. I mean at that age yeah I guess I was doing stuff I shouldn’t too, but its different when you look at somebody else’s baby doing it.

So the problem I see is that no one sees the need, or no one really wants it done for the school. And that’s basically the point of this blog. There is a big lack of teachers who are REALLY concerned about the students and REALLY want them to succeed. I feel like a lot of teachers just happened into the career, and teaching should definitely be a passion. i’ve really been thinking about becoming a teacher but I’m just not sure if I want to try to support a family off what they make.

Regardless this experience was touching as hell. I will definitely be volunteering at that site on the regular.

Theories on Education; Social Classes

*original air of this blog was sept. 25th

So I’m on the way back home today. It’s been a long day already when I think about it. I had class starting at 8 and it was over by 12. Went to eat, and then rolled out. I’m hungry as hell right now. My bus didn’t leave until 3:30 but I got to the stop like an hour and a half early just to be sure. It was my first time riding the train by myself. I will admit I had a little freak-out: I thought I was on an express train that had passed 34th and Penn Station. But I wasn’t even out of Queens yet. Lol. Anyway, I get to Penn Station and have no idea where to go from there, but I figure it’s not actually inside the station. So being the genius I am, I look on my ticket and see the address where the bus stops. Yeah I know, kinda slow. But whatever. So I’m waiting and about four other buses load and pull off in the time I’m waiting. I didn’t even realize that Megabus went to more places than just D.C. I mean I knew it, I just wasn’t thinking about it. It might just be that I didn’t realize they went to other places from NY. Anywayysss finally ready to board the bus and lucky me I get a good seat. On top in the second row, with a really nice view. It’s pretty cool so far. There’s a really nice old lady sitting next to me and everything. Don’t underestimate them old ladies. Anyway. The subject of this blog isn’t even my bus experience; I just wanted to fill you guys in about it. Did I mention there’s Wi-Fi? Yeah there is. Took a little configuring to work it though.

So the subject here is my criminal justice class today. We’re talking about police, and how policing has changed over time. Like it used to have real political undertones. Basically the politicians picked police who would enforce their laws and scare people into voting for them. Then there was this era of policing where the police were just all about business. They weren’t courteous to citizens and they just wanted the facts basically. So he’s like if police are like that; really unfriendly, no one’s gonna want to report crimes. So during that time, someone had the idea to make sure police officers were educated. See before police were just average white-collar citizens. No formal education, just a high school diploma or equivalent. So someone’s like they want the police force to be middle class instead of working class, and you do that by educating them.

Dude had my attention here.

So he’s like the difference between middle class and working class isn’t money at all, its education. He’s like middle class have different attitudes too; like they’re less violent and less confrontational, plus they place more of a value on education. So of course this peaks my interest. And I’m wondering about that middle class, and about the rich class. It makes sense when you think about it. Middle class families often have one or more parent with a college degree or some education after high school.

Okay I get it to that extent, but what about rich homes? How are they rich if the adult has the same level of education as a middle class adult? Just because you’re rich doesn’t necessarily mean you have more education. Does it? If this is based on education, those rich guys who only have B.A.’s wouldn’t make it as far as they’re getting.

Idk, and what about the middle class? Middle class is defined as those who aren’t financially stable, but they aren’t below the national poverty line. These families have the same attitude of middle class families, just not the education. So if this class thing is based on attitude, missing class families who perform like middle class families will eventually get out of the missing class right?

So yeah, this is what has been on my mind as I waited on the bus, and while I was at lunch. And that’s really how I know I should be studying sociology or something. My criminal justice teacher says something about sociology and immediately I’m intrigued, and my mind gets a-workin’.

My Love For Common Revealed

The Light - Common

There are times.. when you'll need someone..

I will be by your side..
There is a light, that shines,
Special for you, and me..

I never knew a luh, luh-luh, a love like this
Gotta be somethin for me to write this
Queen, I ain't seen you in a minute
Wrote this letter, and finally decide to send it
Signed sealed delivered for us to grow together
Love has no limit, let's spend it slow forever
I know your heart is weathered by what studs did to you
I ain't gon' assault em cause I probably did it too
Because of you, feelings I handle with care
Some niggaz recognize the light but they can't handle the glare
You know I ain't the type to walk around with matchin shirts
If relationship is effort I will match your work
I wanna be the one to make you happiest, it hurts you the most
They say the end is near, it's important that we close..
.. to the most, high
Regardless of what happen on him let's rely

There are times.. when you'll need someone..

I will be by your side..
There is a light, that shines,
Special for you, and me..

 Yo, yo, check it
It's important, we communicate
and tune the fate of this union, to the right pitch
I never call you my bitch or even my boo
There's so much in a name and so much more in you
Few understand the union of woman and man
And sex and a tingle is where they assume that it land
But that's fly by night for you and the sky I write
For in these cold Chi night's moon, you my light
If heaven had a height, you would be that tall
Ghetto to coffee shop, through you I see that all
Let's stick to understandin and we won't fall
For better or worse times, I hope to me you call
So I pray everyday more than anything
friends will stay as we begin to lay
this foundation for a family - love ain't simple
Why can't it be anything worth having you work at annually
Granted we known each other for some time
It don't take a whole day to recognize sunshine

Chorous: There are times,
when you'll need someone
I will be by your side
There is a light that shines
special for you and me

Yeah.. yo, yo, check it
It's kinda fresh you listen to more than hip-hop
and I can catch you in the mix from beauty to thrift shop
Plus you ship hop when it's time to, thinkin you fresh
Suggestin beats I should rhyme to
At times when I'm lost I try to find you
You know to give me space when it's time to
My heart's dictionary defines you, it's love and happiness
Truthfully it's hard tryin to practice abstinence
The time we committed love it was real good
Had to be for me to arrive and it still feel good
I know the sex ain't gon' keep you, but as my equal
it's how I must treat you
As my reflection in light I'ma lead you
And whatever's right, I'ma feed you
Digga-da, digga-da, digga-da, digga-digga-da-da
Yo I tell you the rest when I see you, peace

Chorous: There are times
when you'll need someone
I will be by your side.
There is a light that shines
special for you and me

*my favorite lines highlighted in red

I'm just gonna say I feel some kinda way about this song. Its like the song you listen to with your girl and both of yall thinkin the same thing. Or the song you listen to when your girl isn't around, but you see her face in your head. Its nothing to joke with. The lyrics really speak for it, but the first time I heard it I was surprised because I always heard the remix. The remix is cool, but this is on a whole different level. Its chill and sultry and everything great about Common. Erykah Badu being in the video just takes it there.

There's a lot of relationships that just aren't good for you and its up to you to determine if the relationship is harmful or not. Then its up to you to keep it going. If you're doing your part and everything is meant to be then shit should just flow. This song makes me love relationships again. It makes me want to be the best girlfriend I can, and Common in general is just an amazing artist. So if after this song, you don't understand why I think Common is the shit, just give up because you never will.

Priorites

Just when I thought I had my priorities straight this exhibit comes to my school all about genocide in Rwanda, Congo and Bosnia. I'm sitting in the room reading about how shitty meat is for you and all this other stuff, thinking "man I'm gonna get healthy. I'm not gonna eat meat or dairy" and blah blah. Then I go to this exhibit and it just changed my whole my mind. I mean food in amerika is processed, bullshitted, and fed to the masses, but how important is that, really, when girls in Rwanda are being raped and infected with HIV? when thousands of kids in the Congo are orphaned daily?

Yeah its really important to eat healthy. But how important is it compared to genocide? So what if I'm healthy if my life isn't contributing to helping these people live; helping people survive the legalized murder of their family, the rape of their children, and the theft of their humanity.

I'm REALLY having a conflict of priorites. I went to dinner after reading some of this book called "Skinny Bitch", (its all about food thats good for you or not good for you) and going to the art exhibit. I was torn between wanting to eat healthy, and not caring because the girls who got raped in Rwanda haven't eaten in days, and the little kids in Bosnia are hella hungry while I'm rejecting america's processed, growth hormone induced meats. Where's the justice?

So after I came from the exhibit I see all these people walking around with their heads up their asses, and I'm just like how do you justify that? How do you sleep at night in with a thousand dollars worth of shoes in your closet, and not give anything to someone less fortunate? How is it okay to take everything we are given for granted? How can I go back to normal after seeing that? How can I just go back to my $10,000 dorm, at my $45,000 school, get on my $1,000 laptop while texting on my hundred dollar phone and not feel guilty as shit? I do. I feel so ashamed to be using all of this while being encouraged to turn my head and pretend like I don't see SHIT. Just act like I didn't see it. Soon as I leave the building its like it never happens. How do you go back to laughing and joking about someone being fat, skinny, dark, even a hoe? Those girls were gang raped by militiamen. GANG RAPED. Cast out by the family they had left and we have the nerve to label each other bitches and hoes.

I just have so much to think about now. I feel like I'm the only one ever affected so deeply about these things. And as black people especially, how can you see that and still complain about what you don't have due to "the government", or "the man"? Africa is YOUR country. Those are your people, that child is YOU. You can't tell me you have it worse off than those kids.....I guess its true that we as amerikans see things through the glass on the TV, and say "oh thats terrible" then just change the channel.

RED MEAT

So I decided to cut red meat out of my diet. No more Taco bell, meat lovers pizza from Pizza Hut or Mcdonalds double cheeseburgers. No more steak or any of this processed shit they have in my school cafeteria. Its already proved hard, but in the end I know its going to be worth it. I'll be a healthier, happier, more in-shape person. So the outcome definately outweighs the sacrifice.

But I was thinking earlier this week. There are Hall Counsel elections going on and one of my roommates is running for Vice President. So there were speeches and stuff, a lot of people came to hear the speakers. But they were mad rude. So I'm sitting to the left of where the speaker stands and I can see all the people on the other side. My roommate goes up to give her speech, and there's a girl on the other side who's looking her up and down. My roomie says something about how she's not such and such, and the girl mouths 'in other words you're a bitch'. I don't even know how to describe how unnessesary that was. It was so extra I couldn't believe it. She didn't know my roommate from her elbow and here she was making unqualified judgements about her.

So this is the other red meat right? Bitchiness, jealousy, being judgemental, closemindedness, unnessesary attitudes, cattyness, overall qualities of a majority of women. Red meat CAN be cut from a diest with the hard work and dedication. So can being a bitch. Cutting red meat is all about watching what you eat. Cutting the bitch is all about watching what you say, monitering your nonverbal communications and really trying. There's no excuse for being an asshole, especially when you don't even know the person.

Hi My Name is.....And I Have Holes In My Face

I want some peircings =]
Oooohh just the thought of holes in my face is exciting. Just kidding, but I do want peircings. So typical pericings are

• ears
• lip
• tongue
• eyebrow
• nose

But I saw this guy in times square with his hands peirced, and his cheeks where his dimples are. He looked a mess. He was walkin around like his shit didn't stink too. But whatever.

I'm lookin at eyebrow, nose, and lip right now. The lip thing is interesting because last year I really wanted a monroe.                 --------------------------->>>>>
Like I was obsessed with getting it and with anyone who had one. I thought it was sooo sexy.

But nooowww I really want a double labret aka the snake bites =]--->>>

Like that but cooler. And my lips are bigger than this kids' so I'm thinking it will look a little bit better. And if I get the balls I want em smaller, but maybe I'll get the spikes in awesome colors. And I'll admit; I saw a guy at my school with it and I was like "that is fucking awesome". So yes I took his idea, yes he had it first, and yes I will give credit where credit is due.

Other piercing ideas are eyebrow which I just think is standard. My bestie had one for like three weeks then she took it out. She's wack for that. But eyebrow piercings look good on pretty much anyone so thats nothing out-of-the-ordinary. I've heard that when you get the eyebrow they start you off with a ring and people usually upgrade to bars and spikes, but I think I'd just keep my ring --------->>>> 

You're So Anti, Don't I Matter!?

My roommates call me antisocial. Really? Because I don't bring 50million guys to the room? Or because I don't try to meet the 50million guys they bring to the room? That shit blows me. On the real. I hate that there's always some random dude walkin around our room. But thats not the point. I don't think I'm anti-social at all. I'll admit I stay in my room and to myself a lot, but I'm just very particular about who I allow into my life. People give off vibes. And you can feel the vibes when you meet someone, its up to you to listen to them or not. I'm sensitive to those vibes. Having a lot of different people can equate to a lot of different drama. And they're wondering why they already have rumors going around, or why people are mad at them already. Its because you're too damn open. I'm really not anti-social. If anything I just have my priorities straight. I mean yeah this is college, and a big part of it is being social, but this school costs too much for me to bullshit around because I wanna be known, or be popular, or have a million and one people around all the time. I honestly think I just haven't found the right people, that I can fuck with hard yet. I mean you meet people that are cool, and who you can chill with on occasion, but I haven't found anybody to be like a real person I can get down with. I mean I'm cool with my roommates, but I don't really fuck with any of them hard like I did with people back home. I don't feel anti-social, maybe socially awkward, but not anti social. What I mean by socially awkward is that sometimes I just don't fit in with the group. Like all of my roommates will be talking about some guy and I'll drop knowledge or something totally obvious to me and they'll just be like "wtf". Or I'll make a joke that I think is really funny, but they don't laugh. Lol okay, thats just me feeling like 'damn, I wasted a joke on you mofos'. But yeah, I was really worried about the social aspect of college before I came. Now, not so much. I was worried I wouldn't make friends and stuff but now I'm just chill. I feel like I can be me without putting myself out there, because that's what they do. They feel the need to go to all the parties and events and thats just not my goal in college. So I'm pretty much gonna just let it happen.

 

 I think my roommates just don't know the difference between anti-social and reserved.

Lust For Clothes

So I have this thing, and it usually only happens when I see fly ass guy clothes, but I'm just really fascinated by em. I like clothes but not to the point where I'm 'stylish'. But when I see a nice coat for example, I'm intrigued. I stare, and think of all the possiblities of outfits. Next thing I know I'm in a whole different world. But I get snapped out when I look at the price tag, or think about the lack of zero's in my bank account. It makes me remember how I need to get on my job grind =/                                                                                                            But since I'm on the topic of clothes; I really don't think clothes should have a gender. Like who's idea was it to say girls are limited to this, and guys are limited to this. I feel like if I like it, and the outfit is fly I should wear it. It really, honestly, has nothing to do with my sexuality. But I can see how that could be confused. I mean gay girls wear guy clothes. But aside from that I think its stupid that clothes are seperated like they are. I have guy jeans that fit like girl jeans and if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't know. So what's the point. Plus with guys wearing jeans as skinny as they do, they may as well just wear girl jeans. And stuff like sweatpants? Sweatshirts? Should definately be unisex.

Lately my college attire has been sweatshirt, jeans and slides. I have to wake up too early to worry about clothes. And its getting chilly out, so I'll definately be buying more sweats and thermal underware asap! But first I gotta get that job =/