The Gift of Giving

After celebrating Christmas about 21 times, I can say that this particular year held the most meaning in my heart.  I’ve been given many gifts over the years, from toys to games and money. However, this year included more giving rather than getting.  Seeing the smile on another’s face is a gift in its own.  I experienced what it truly means to be selfless, and I must admit that the results were great.  I was given a large amount of money in gift cards that I planned to spend on myself, but instead decided to use on my father and sister, and it turned out very well.  It’s especially pleasing for me because I’m not really good at choosing physical gifts; I’ve always been the type of person to buy gift cards and allow others to choose on their own.  When you give a gift to another person, you tend to be so elated from their happiness that you forget about your own, and that’s what being selfless is all about.  I realize now why it’s called the season of giving and not receiving.  The true gratefulness in the holiday comes from being charitable rather than covetous. 

My thoughts before and during the break

This winter break has been an extreme relief for me.  I have never been so worn out from working until coming to Year Up, which took up so much of the social life that I once had.  I find myself waking up and going to sleep thinking about Tech, BC and Pro skills every day, making sure that I’m organized and ready to take on the next day’s challenge, whatever that may be.  The meager 4-5 hours of sleep that I get every night doesn’t make anything easier for me, but now I totally understand why so many adults drink coffee in the morning.  During the last week before Christmas break, I spent every day mounting my anxiety because I desperately needed some time to rest, relax, and be with the people whom I love.  I wanted to make sure that I get through the week working hard, but it felt like I had senioritis for a second.  I was so focused on free time that I didn’t feel like I was putting out complete efforts in class.  My head is much clearer now that I’ve been able to wake up in the morning, look at the clock, and throw the covers over my head again without thinking about the consequences.  My head is finally clear and I feel relieved waking up and not thinking about what assignments I need to make sure I have turned in. Although there is homework due, I take it as working from home, because I choose when to complete it myself and don’t have to worry about physically getting the assignment in by a deadline.  This week was most definitely needed and will be a great charge for my brain so I can come back to Year Up primed for succeeding beyond expectations.

The Way of the Intern

Someone who in internship ready is constantly responsible and holding themselves accountable for their actions on and off-site.  They are leaders to say the least, and they show up ready to learn and be an example to others.  Also, someone who is internship ready knows the material well and can execute what they’ve learned without any issues and won’t allow themselves to fold under pressure. 

I have a couple of ways to show myself as “internship-ready.”  One way is converting on all of the growth areas presented to me from my first evaluation. I had issues with my dependability due to lack of organization and discipline, and with only a handful of weeks left, I must and will perfect this skill so I can be nearly flawless.  Also, I will make sure to reduce the amount of infractions I have received by at least half, but the ultimate goal is to avoid them altogether.  I found myself earning infractions that were so petty and could’ve been avoided so easily had I paid more attention to detail, so I implemented a plan to keep myself organized and ahead of schedule before every class. Failure and mistake are no longer options.

My attitude and energy are always high, but I want to make sure to bring them up another notch. I want to continue speaking in a professional manner so much that it becomes second nature.  Most importantly, I want to make sure that my organization is flawless, so there wouldn’t be a soul that I don’t impress.

The "Blessing" and the "Curse"

The best job that I ever had is the job which I work at right now.  I am a server at Red Robin and I’ve really have some great experiences while here. Some of my primary responsibilities are greeting and taking care of our guests by writing down their orders and keeping their drinks full.  This was the most important part because the company’s success was determined by the prodigious service that my coworkers and I gave to our guests. The job was made enjoyable by the people that I worked with. The managers at Red Robin strive to hire very friendly and social people, so there was never a problem with making friends and establishing a core of efficient teamwork.  While at Red Robin, I became a better socially, and I really made good use of my small talk. The social skills that it takes to excel at this job are what will help me be successful at internship.

The worst job I ever had took place at GameStop. I had the responsibility of alphabetizing and helping guests when they needed assistance or were ready to pay.  I did enjoy the fact that I worked amid one of my favorite things, being video games and accessories.  I also liked the fact that I was always on top of whatever new games were coming out so I could try to sell it to customers or reserve it for myself. What made this job so dreadful is the fact that it was so boring and the dead times outweighed the busy times. I developed good study skills for the games that were coming out and I learned that I can’t be bored wherever I work or else there will be problems with my performance.

Occupy the world

Occupy wall street and all the other protests in the country have people sleeping on the streets, whether intentional or forceful. In Diego Rivera’s painting, the middle image shows a bunch of people sleeping in one congested area which has a guard protecting them. These people are similar to those protestors; these are people who make up the middle class, put the most money into the economy, and create more opportunities for the lower class to make a bright future themselves. The occupy movement has begun because the upper class has put a halt on the progress of many of the middle class workers.

In the middle image of Diego Rivera’s painting entitled, Frozen Assets, there are a large group of people sleeping together in a tight space. The division of images from the middle to the bottom has this divider that looks like wiring or gears or pipelines that you might find in a subway system. As you may know, pipelines can’t be built by the simplest of people; there must be some form of education to create such a thing. I believe these people sleeping together are the middle class and Diego is portraying that they are the pipelines, gears, and wiring that create everything in the top and the bottom. This middle image shows a connection, both in the mural itself and in society. Diego is saying that the nation cannot progress or flourish without the works of the middle class. The occupy movement consists of many middle class workers as well, who ironically sleep together at night in confined areas to show their togetherness in changing the economy. They want nothing more than to restore their assets and go back to living their lives as before.

Joshua Bennett: A Brave New Voice

I started writing poetry in my senior year of high school. A friend of mine by the name of Christine Ruff got me interested in poetry and its deeper meaning, and I took off like a rocket, composing pieces on a daily basis. I used a hypothetical inspiration to start off and name my pieces, but it wasn’t until I watched a young man by the name of Joshua Bennett on HBO’s “Brave New Voices” that I decided to engulf myself in its culture.  

Joshua Bennett is a recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts, and also a dynamic slam poet who caught my eyes and ears when I first heard him. First of all, slam poetry is performance-style, which means that the artist puts plenty of emotion into their piece. This emotion includes either a combo or choice of anger, sadness, happiness, fear, etc.  Joshua is a master at his craft, being able to incorporate multiple emotions into one stage act. The first time I heard him, he was performing in a 5-man group and by the end of their performance, I had literally shed a tear.  I have never been so touched by poetry in my life, and from that moment on, I made it a must to learn as much as I possibly could about Joshua and the art he professes.

I went on YouTube and looked up as many poems from Joshua as I could possibly find. To this day, my favorite poem is called “10 Things I Want to Say to a Black Woman.” I was so inspired from his piece that I watched it 15 times over and tried to memorize it. I always suggest him to my friends whenever they are looking for a great artist to follow. I have actually composed personal pieces inspired from his writing style, and from this point on, any poem that I write contains some style that he incorporates in his own style.

A Temple and Community

The members of my chosen community are all religious people to say the least.  They range from weekly members to ushers, deacons, pastors and so-on.  Some of us have been members of this community since birth, and some for only months.  Whatever the case may be, we’re all family; we love and care for each other in the same manner.

Interaction between each other is done usually in a genuine manner with each other.  There are some people who don’t get along very well, but every week, we all work on making ourselves better so that we will be a stronger community, thus making a stronger team.

In order to become a member, that person must have a desire to belong to the church, or else they wouldn’t waste their time in the first place.  I attend a Christian church, so it’s beneficial for this person to know who it is that we worship, and if they don’t know completely, they can be taught in new member’s classes.  Some members have been a part of the church since birth, so joining the church isn’t necessary.  They are joined through their parents, and eventually undergo various ceremonies, like a christening.  One thing I like about Christianity is that it’s not a forceful religion.  This means that if someone decided they wanted to leave due to lack of belief or wanted to join another church, there would be no kind of reprimand for doing so.

I enjoy fellowship inside of a small, positive building of people who all just want to better themselves.  I enjoy my church because it is the perfect place to go to turn a life around.  Anyone who is truly in the belief knows that it takes complete faith to experience, and when that feeling is finally accomplished, it can be felt.  Many people don’t believe because they don’t trust something they cannot see, but there is always space to turn around as well, no matter the age.  That would bring up my next reason for enjoying this community: No matter past experiences, a person can rejoin and try to turn their life around. 

The many thorns of Myself

The things that I learned about myself over the past seven weeks will change me forever. The first thing I learned was I actually was able to do homework without procrastinating and cramming it out at the last minute. I also discovered that I have a potential that I never even noticed in myself. I was so accustomed to under-achieving and not caring about the things that I learned, but I guess that was based off the fact that I simply wasn’t motivated enough to push myself and work harder than I’ve ever known to be possible. 

I surprised myself two major times last module. The first time was winning the Elevator Pitch competition, and second was being awarded Top Performer in my section. In both of these events, I had no clue that I was going to receive these awards because I didn’t find myself capable to earn at that level. It seems like the past 3 years of community college really took a negative toll on my confidence.  I was disappointed in myself when I earned the many infractions on my account. I only have 185 points as of now, and I know that I can do much better.

PLUS/DELTA of myself

Plus(+)	Delta(Triangle)
1.    Earned “Top Performer” in BC 2.    Won Elevator Pitch 3.    Didn’t procrastinate as much 4.    Paid attention 5.    Used professionalism 6.    Was given much praise for blog posts 7.    Got to know many people	1.    Should study more 2.    Talked too much 3.    Missed small things 4.    Pay more attention to detail 5.    Be more unbridled