First Place for Youth: My Favorite Community

First Place for Youth is an organization for emancipated youth and teen parents who have emancipated from foster care, which the staff there are really dedicated to help them expand their horizons. First Place is located downtown of Oakland, Ca, which is some what of a good area. The good thing about it is you don't have to wait for buses as long( if your traveling on public transportation), very secure with sercurity walking around, and there are widely used stores that many shop at. The bad thing about downtown Oakland is the drug dealers, bad parking ( anywhere you park you would have to pay), and the riots that have been going on. First Place is also very diverse and has offices throughout California( not sure if it is worldwide).First Place provides services for their clients such as housing, transportation, jobs, food,etc. While in the process of applying for the program, you will have to fill out an application, be interviewed by the intake coorindator, and take a class called Step It Up. The class is only a few weeks long and the instructor teaches how to become a responsible adult and tips on how to handle minor and major obligations in the adult world. As long as I have been in this program, my life has dramatically changed. I have went from a struggling single parent to a independent, responsible mother and young woaman. As stated in the beginning, the staff at First Place are truly dedicated to helping troubled youth. They really try to help resolve issues by brain storming all possible aspects of the situation and making sure that we have back up plans. The staff are always upbeat, inspirational, motivating, and fun. The participants there, however, are rude, loud, and just messed up. It may be because of their past or reason for being in foster care or they made had a bad experience with that person. In addition, all of that is thrown out of the window when it comes to the events First Place has planned.

Plus/Deltas of myself

I have learned a lot about myself in the first module. I feel I did very good in participation, organization, and communication. I'm really surprise that I handled some conflicts the way I did because of my bad temper. I'm gradually working on my temper and is learning how to keep it under control. I was really disappointed about the infractions I earned because it could be the smallest thing and it would be considered being irresponsible or not being professional. Below, is my self evaluation:

Plus:

• participation
• organization
• communication
• keeping up with work
• code switching

Deltas:

• Attitudes
• Taking better notes
• Being more focused and prepared
• Avoid infractions

My Neighborhood

What comes to mind when I say I am from East Oakland, Ca? People may say it’s too dangerous, some may say they don’t care, or some may say it is certain parts you should avoid. All is true but I have a different outlook on my neighborhood. I grew up on the 79^th and Ritchie, but like most parents, my mom was so strict she wouldn’t let me walk to the store. In high school, I saw why my mom didn’t let me go outside by myself. My generation then was robbing others, being victims and suspects of rape, and shooting others for unnecessary reasons. My neighborhood today has gotten worst but there have been more shootings than anything. Castlemont High School (aka herpe high) was the worst school you can go to, I heard. The students was always fighting, bringing weapons to school, and even having sex on campus.

When I was able to experience “the hood” for myself, I didn’t care about nothing, I wasn’t scared of nobody, and I always was fighting. I guess I was thinking I was tough and nobody couldn’t step up to me. My second year in high school, I had my first child, but being a teenager and a new mother didn’t affect my ability being in the streets. A year and a half later, I was an innocent bystander in a shooting. I couldn’t believe that I got shot, someone who is a mother and a 4.0 student. I tried everything in my power to get away from this area because it seems like trouble would always follow me or I was being the follower. My neighborhood has made me the person I am today because if my mom let me do what I wanted to do, I would be dead, in jail, or prostituting. I sometimes feel ashamed of being from East Oakland because of what the country has to say. “Oakland is a mini- Afghanistan”, “Oakland is too ghetto”, says TV shows and maybe people around the world.

“The Poverty Business”

The mentioned companies are making the opportunity divide worst because they target low income people or people who are working but still struggling. The reason why companies do this is the rich have the money to pay back with no problems, but the poor would take longer to pay back or even go into debt. When trying to get a loan, the banks do not tell them what the risks are.  When consumers sign the loan agreement, they don’t read the small print nor look at the interest rates because they need the money fast. The banks just give the consumers the basics. For example, in the “The Poverty Business”, Thomas was trying to get a computer from Blue Hippo. The company told him they would take $124 dollars out of his account by direct deposit and would owe 17 payments after that, which he thought was a good thing. A week later, he didn’t know he would have to pay over a thousand dollars over nine months to get the computer; he called and cancelled the order. The company told him it would take up to ten days to cancel. The company basically gave him the run around and tried to take his money.

I personally believe it is the people who go out and get these loans and/ or expenses because they need the money right then and there. When going to the bank and trying to get a loan, they don’t read the small print because of how bad they really need money. The consumers wonder why they owe so much money when it’s time to pay the money back. It is also the corporations fault because they don’t tell their clients about the interest rates and such things like that; greed is getting the best of them. In order to prevent this from getting exacerbating, the community needs to come together and brainstorm things they could do. Some welfare offices have things like this, such as, financial advisors, non-profit organizations, budget your money, having a savings or checking account, and only use your credit when you really have to.

-Shakila T.

What would you want that person to know? How would you like to represent yourself?

As a child, I have been shy and very quiet.  The way I expressed myself was by drawing free- handed and writing my thoughts and /or feelings in a journal. In school, trying to make friends was hard because people thought I was mean because of my facial expressions. But they didn’t realize that that was how my face is and what makes it worst today because of an eye injury. Gladly, some individuals saw me as a person who is kind, genuine, respectable, reliable, hilarious, goal-oriented, and dependable. When I became a mother, it hit me hard and fast. I had to sit down and think for hours on what I wanted to do with my life and how would I be a positive role model for my kids. My kids and my mother is the reason why I strive to do my best in any situation. Now as a single parent and young adult, I want you to see the inner me and not the outer me. I want you to see me as someone who is not afraid to share my thoughts and feelings in an appropriate manner, is goal orientated, a team player, someone who is able to follow directions, someone who doesn’t give up easily, and takes the initiative to accomplish anything.

            -Shakila T.

Michelle Le

On May 27, 2011, a student nurse by the name of Michelle Le, was reported missing after having a break from her classes at Hayward hospital. Nobody knew where she had gone or who the last person to see her. Michelle’s family and some people from the community organized search parties and held candle light services and hoped for a safe return. Later in the investigation, police arrested Giselle Esteban as a person of interest of Le’s disappearance. The police was led to Esteban, when they discovered that she blamed Le for the relationship failure between Esteban and her child’s father. Esteban was later charged with murder when they found evidence of blood on her show, which belong to Michelle. Esteban later denied that she didn’t kill Le behind her child’s father. Last week, Michelle’s body was found by a nearby dirt path off I-680, three miles from downtown Pleasanton. Le’s body was so badly decomposed, that investigators couldn’t identify if the body belong to a male or female. The coroners said they will have the identification by Monday, which did belong to Michelle Le.

My feelings about this are sad and mad, but more confusion. I don’t how Giselle blamed Michelle for the breakup with her child’s father. In reality, Giselle is the only person to blame. I also feel that Michelle and her family didn’t deserve this. As a person, it is your responsibility to accept your wrong doings, make a lesson out of it, and work on not making that mistake( or whatever the case maybe) again. Only you make your own choices, NO ONE CAN DECIDE FOR YOU! (Think about it)

For more information, click on this link

http://www.ktvu.com/crimeandpunishment/29221770/detail.html

My high school experience

I went to Skyline High in Oakland, Ca. Most of you know that Tom Hanks and Tommy Davidson graduated from Skyline. Skyline was the type of school that you would go to if you were up to date on all the latest fashions and technology. Everybody had Jordans, the latest phones, and name brand clothes. I was kind of in that category, but I never socialized with anyone. The reason why I didn’t socialize with anyone because everybody had their own clicks or group of people they would hang around during and after school hours. Everyone was also judgmental to me because if you wasn’t up to date with the latest trend or technology, you would be considered broke or a nerd. If you didn’t know, Skyline is located in the Oakland Hills. Especially during winter, it was very cold like we (the students) were in the snow. After school hours, my principal has informed the students and staff that there has been mountain lions on campus. Luckily, I haven’t seen any.