Branches Happen

[brancheshappen-blog]

#Imwithher

[brancheshappen-blog]

I wanted to talk specifically about pride parades and how they came about, what they mean to people, and about their protesters. I found little information about these parades. With them being such a big statement/ part from the community you would think there would be something about it. However i did find some interviews of people talking about what the events really meant to them. However i did not find anything about the protesters. I wanted to know, who these people were, and what kind of message were they trying to convey. Obviously they disapprove of the community but i wanted to know why. Religion? A gay person was mean to them? Or because someone told them not to like gay people and that is just all they know. I also wanted to know what they were trying to achieve with the protest. Why would they think that screaming hateful, hurtful, disrespectful words would do. What i learned in my life is that, that method does not work. SO yeah i wish there would have been more information on this cause it would have been great for my project as well as I would like to know the answer for myself.

So for my project i wanted to talk about the discrimination and their effects on the LGBT community. When people say or hear the word discrimination they probably are talking about race but discrimination can happen to many other people. Even though my project was still quite broad I still found some gaps where i could could not find any information on.

[brancheshappen-blog]

what to discuss

I think we have talked about many important thing in our class this year, and it is great to see that mostly everyone is listening and contributing cause what we are talking about is important. I think that maybe could talk about jobs. Jobs as in how to get one, what kind of jobs, and our future jobs, and why it is important to have one.

I know from my own personal experience that getting a job is not as easy as it seems. I see all of these help wanted signs all over town and i apply to almost all of them and yet I still do not have a job. I have had a couple interviews here and there but never got the job, but most of the time I do not even get a call back. Those same places still have wanted signs, so maybe i was not what they were looking for. But how could i be the one they are looking for. Do i need more experience, do i not have the correct experience, what is it?

Today i feel there is a bigger need to have a job. Not only a job that is there for spending money but a job to get you through life. School is really expensive now and all of these classes need books and those books are also expensive. Speaking for myself, it is not easy paying for all of this without a job. I had a teacher who had the nerve to tell me that people my age should not have a job. They say that this is the age to have fun and to enjoy ourselves before we have to spend the rest of our lives working. But what they don’t understand is that we are living in a world where you need to have a job, a source of income. They want me not to work but at the same time pay for their 100 dollar textbook. That is just not possible. They were older and i am guessing that life was easier and cheaper when they were my age. They clearly do not understand what life is like now or can not think that everyone is not privileged enough to pay for things and not have a job.

We are in college. Hopefully this is our last time going to school and we leave her getting a career that will give us enough money where we can live a nice life. But no one ever teaches us how to get a job or how to look for one.

[brancheshappen-blog]

2016 Election: LGBT Community

This year's election is a very important one and I am glad this is my first time voting because every vote counts this time. So many things need to be changed and so many topics need to be discussed. I think the most important thing to talk about is equality. There seems to be a lot of division in this country and it has been really showing through these last couple years, and maybe that has to do with me just starting to come of age and acknowledge these issues. It is not a question that everyone person that lives in the United States is equal, but many people seem to think that it is about them and those type of people really starting to show themselves this election.

Personally I think what needs to be discussed more is the issues the LGBT community faces. This community has been shitted on for years and was practically made to go into hiding. It once was considered a mental illness to be gay and people were put in Asylums because of who they are. Since the Stonewall riots in 1969 the LGBT community has been fighting for equal rights. There's no reason for them to be beaten, kick out of stores, or worst be killed. With the recent pass of Marriage equality people have been trying to fight that and put the gay community back into hiding. In this election we have a candidate that will do exactly that.

Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence, former governor of Indiana, has done despicable things in the past couple years to this community. He has said it is wrong to be gay and that it is unnatural. He passes a discriminatory law that lets business owners refuse business to people in the community. Even a law that takes away funding towards HIV and Aids medicine and uses that money for conversion therapy. This man hates gays and if Trump wins the election we’ll have the biggest Bigot in charge.

What makes it worse is that the LGBT community or what Pence has done to them was never discussed during the 1 and only Vice president debate. Pence may have not answered any questions but he had a calm attitude which made people like him. If he would have been exposed for what he has done it would have ruined him. But terribly it was never brought up so the majority of our country has no idea what evil things he has done.

[threadbanger]

Want to win a ThreadBanger Box? Of course you do! (This is for US residents only, sorry foreign friends) Winners will be announced on October 12th. #whatsinthebox

[finessinandwriting-blog]

I GOT ROBBED!!

It all started May 1, 2016, the day everything went south. I was so excited that my first year of college was finished. My friends and I decided to leave our stuff in storage, so we packed our stuff up and put it in the truck. Our first dilemma was finding someone 21 and over to drive the truck. Being in college, that shouldn’t be hard right? Guess again. Since everyone on the campus was moving and needed a driver we were a bit late in assigning one. But we made the best out of it and found someone to drive the truck.

We are now on our way to the storage place, our things packed in the back of the truck alongside us.  As we approach, I see the sign of the storage company in which we thought we made a good choice in choosing because we spent days looking for it. We get the big carts and take the big stuff out the truck first, such as our huge trunks and containers of shoes and clothing. Then we take everything else out and neatly pack our storage space so that everything fits and no damage will be done over the summer. As usual, there was someone who needed to put other stuff in the room so she went there to find that some of her things were missing (a pair of boots). We paid it no mind and reassured her that all the things were in there.

Now that storage is done we anxiously waited to go home and start enjoying our summer. Fast forward, summer is over and we are now back to school. We greet each other with hugs and smiles, and excitement. Although we kept in touch over the summer a lot it feels good to be in the presence of each other. Now I am ready to see my room and fill my empty room, with all my things that I bought from home and of course what I put in storage! 

We all gather up and head over to the storage place in excitement to move in and finally get started on our new semester. We finally get to the place open up our space and notice that it looks a little lesser than what we actually packed but we brush it off and start looking for the girl’s boots. As we’re moving things around we came to the conclusion that the boots really aren’t there. We start moving more things around and notice that our 3 big trunks are gone?!?! So as we keep moving things out there are more things that were in the storage room that isn’t in there anymore.

This story is still ongoing so this is where I’ll say to be continued….

[brancheshappen-blog]

First of all the music from your blog scared me I had no idea where it was coming from. Second, how shitty for this to happen! You never really think something like this would happen to you and then it does and its just the worst. I hope nothing crazy important was stolen or was expensive. Also I hope that the storage place is doing something about it. I do not know the polices of this place but hopefully something will be done about it.

[emelda-faiith-blog]

Growing up sucks..until you finally get there

I remember happiness. Happiness was waking up to mom yelling at dad because she was late for work, it was mom singing one Sunday after the other because we didn’t make it to church.  Happiness was grandma sitting on her bed humming with one foot under the other, it was sharing a room with my sister and having a step dad who loved you like his very own, until one day grandma dies, mom is diagnosed with breast cancer, sister moved away and you’re forced to grow up.

I was 14 years old when my mom got diagnosed with breast cancer, my dad was a firefighter so it was me and my mom most nights. My dad was always there whenever he could be. I remember the day she told us and by us I mean my dad and I because everyone else was gone. I felt sick all day but I didn’t cry. The days went by and my entire family was informed and still no tears until the day my mom left for her first chemo session. I thought that would be the last time I saw her but it wasn’t. There were many sleepless nights during that time. There was one night in particular when I had to stay up with my mom all night because she was in so much pain. Her pain was my pain. I had a final that following morning, I failed because I fell asleep. I never blamed my mom for what had happened, I blamed myself for not being able to help her, not being able to take away her pain.

There are many nights I sit awake thinking about that dark time in our lives, missing out on my childhood, thinking about if only things were different, the truth is, I don’t think I would change much. I do wish my mom never had to go through what she did, but it made us who we are today. I think of my mom as my inspiration. Back then, I thought the idea of growing up was scary now I just sit back and think about how far we’ve come.

I remember thinking and feeling like I would lose my entire family to this monster but here we are 4 years later. Mom is still yelling at dad, dad still loves us and sister and I have never been closer. Growing up sucks, but when you get there, after you’ve been through it all, it’s not that bad

[brancheshappen-blog]

I am deeply sorry for what you and your family had to go through. I had to go through this as well with one of my friends when I was younger. At that time i was really young and  I did not really understand what was happening I just knew it wasn't right. But you are right. Sometimes you have to fight and all that fighting and struggling will definitely be worth it one day.Glad to hear that everything has turned out right for you and that this time in your life has made you a better you and no one can take that away.

[electronicnerdbear-blog]

I know the topic of Politics usual don’t interest anyone but to me I have noticed that politics have been starting change the aspects of every topic like sports, entertainment and even social media. Being that the Election is in November these two candidates have really made a great impact on other issues that no matter what it goes back to these two candidates especially trump. Recently there have been a numerous amount of African Americans being brutally killed by Caucasian Police officers, usually in the black community this is not a surprise because these types of events have been going on for years but know social media has a grip on the issue and has introducing the world to the racism in America. Now it’s a bit of a surprise to America being that these killings are being recorded and shown live. Even being that these events are recorded still the officers that are involved with the killing are not being sent to prison being sent on a paid leave absence. A topic like this always leads back to Politics being that one of the candidates for the upcoming election Donald Trump have been showing America what racism really is, Even on social media trump rallies are being recorded seeing a group of people attacking minority groups verbally and physically. With these types of racism unfolding in America Bigger names in sports are taking a stand to stop violence such as Colin Kaepernick Kneeling down why the national anthem plays but even an event like this racism seems to creep up because some Caucasian men and women are calling acts like this as ungrateful and I would see these kinds of stuff on social media many people are saying racial comments and attacking athletes that take these stands for their community. This all goes back to politics with Trump revealing what living in America is like, being an immigrant from another country I don’t feel a sense of comfort when I see Trump says what he says at his rallies that immigrants are the cause for the “bringing down” of America and that once they are gone or under control America will be great again. Comments like these and events like this influence and plays a big part in sports, entertainment and social media, also shows the generation that spends more time on social media what the true America is.

[brancheshappen-blog]

I love everything that you have said. I think this election is crazy in many ways then one. It has shown how disgusting and racist our country/ the world still is. I am scared of police brutality. I can not see why i should not because what is going on is terrible and should not happen to anyone. I do not understand at all how all these police officers are getting away with what they are doing. There is footage of the committing the worst crime when the victim did nothing to deserve it and yet these officers go free. It boggles my mind that the world we live in is like this. Our entire justice system needs to look at the facts and wake up. Laws are made to keep people from doing bad things and the last time I checked, Cops are people too. 

[ceyonce123-blog]

Dancing with the stars (Buff State Edition)

Last year around April, one of my roommates was a part of a pageant called MISS PHAT. “PHAT stands for pretty, hot, and, thick and helped plus sized woman feel more beautiful and confident about their size. One of the requirements for this show was to have a talent portion. She knew I had a history of dancing and had took a dance course that prior semester. Being the generous friend that I am, I put together a whole choreographed routine and taught her and my other roommate the dance.

Being that we are in college, class, workouts, homework, and studying took up a lot of time. That left me with little time to teach her the dance, and still have her execute it well!

The first song we danced to was “Dj Taj, Work”. This song is has an upbeat, fast tempo that’s guaranteed to get the crowd hype. The next song was “Drop, Kotch part two. It’s a reggae song by RDX which can also start a party. Finally, the last song was “Watch out for the Big Girls”. It’s also a jersey song. I chose Watch out for the big girls because it being a PHAT competition, it went with the theme.

I tried to meet up with her at least 4 times a week. We met before class, during our break, after class, and once before going to bed. The practices paid off in the long run because when we first started I was afraid that my roommate would embarrass herself on stage. You could tell it was her first time learning a choreographed dance because she forgot the routine a lot of the time. I even had to change a couple of the steps because the moves were too difficult to perform. Towards the end, she looked like a completely different dancer. Her timing skills for the steps were correct, the moves were precise, and she even added a little of her own style.

           It was the morning of the pageant and my roommate was as nervous as a teenage girl on her first date. I reassured her everything would be find but little did I know, that statement was going to bite me on the ass. It was mandatory for her to come in with her dance perfect, music ready and mixed, and for the whole talent portion to run smoothly. It was our turn to go up for our run- through so we approached the stage. At the end she was a bit tired but she knew the moves and was happy.

The show came and butterflies were now dancing in her stomach. I practiced the dance a few more times with her to make sure she remembered it. She forgot a few times but the more times we ran through it, the more she knew it. It was now 8:16 and they were calling her name to approach for her talent portion. We were now on stage, the moment we all were waiting for had finally arrived. As we started our dance, we learned it was a different mix with a different set of time frames. It was not until we heard the mix that we realized something was wrong. For the first dance our moves were not in sync because not everyone was used to that mix. Luckily the last two songs were slightly easier to hear the different times and were easier to catch on.

Even though the mix was messed up, I enjoyed assisting her for a pageant that meant a lot to her. It meant a lot that she chose me to help her compete.

  ����e:5

[brancheshappen-blog]

First of all I had no idea of this. I did not know our school had these types of events. If I did i would have loved to go and make a fun night out of it. I personally did not know these songs so i just went and looked them up and while listening to them I 100% was thinking how dancing to these songs would SLAY the competition. I really wish i could have seen it cause I bet it was amazing! You guys were very dedicated and it seems like you guys really wanted to do well which probably felt really good and help her get through all the training. 

[brancheshappen-blog]

Visiting my 100 year old Great Grandmother

Last summer I flew to California to visit my Great Grandmother. She lives up in San Jose which is not a far drive from San Francisco. This trip was to spend time with her because she is 100 years old. But after arriving we realized she did not care that we were there and that we were just intruding on her shows. Since San Francisco was not too far away we might as well go.

My aunt was the one who was taking me everywhere around the city. Which was amazing because she actually used to live there when she first moved out of her house so she remembered what's good about this place and where all the hidden gems there were. She took me to amazing restaurants. My favorite place she took me though was to this small town called Carmel. It is a small beach town with cute little shops and restaurants and a beautiful beach with warm waters. While sitting on the beach seals and dolphins were just coming up to us, swimming around and it was just an amazingly unique experience.

As much as I hate being a tourist, I knew that we had to go to San Francisco and just completely, full on be tourists. You know like see the seals, walk the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and sight see the amazing city. While there I learned that this is a perfect place to live. Being right on the water there was always this cool breeze that cooled you down from the hot sun. The building, that were architecturally amazing, were tall and provided some much needed shade. The houses and neighborhoods were so pleasing to my eyes and could not get enough of them.The whole city had this amazing vibe and I was living for it.

After visiting San Francisco I am really considering making a move to live there. I know that it is extremely expensive but I think i still want to try and go for it. I am really trying to learn Spanish and am hoping that that could help me find a job out there. Not sure if it will actually happen but i am not forgetting it. One day i will be back to San Francisco and I will either be moving there or just visiting to have a good time.

[brancheshappen-blog]

Views from the hike 

[brancheshappen-blog]

The Hike to 16000 ft

So, I recently went on a volunteer trip to the South American country of Peru and while there we need all sorts of different activities. On this one day we all slept over in a small farming village at about 12,000ft above sea level. We decided to take a hike in the morning a see the sunrise over the Andes mountains. We had to start our hike at 4 o'clock in the morning if we wanted to see the sunrise. The locals said it would take about an hour and a half to make it up the mountain. All 100% of us volunteers were up and ready to go at 4am. With headlamps, torches and some snacks at the ready we set off in the dark. Now from the start our leader Yeiber, instilled in everyone that today’s hike is everyone’s own personal journey. It was not about making it up the top, it was about pushing yourself and finding your own moment on the mountain…one of the most beautiful places many of us have ever been. We were off, and the group naturally fell into several groups of people going at different paces. The hike was way harder than what we all expected. Starting at 12000ft it was only up from there. The walk helped keep us warm in the very chilly temperatures up here. The views as we were going up the mountain were breath taking. You could see miles off into the distance. You could see the snow caped mountains, all the valleys, and all of the local Peruvian farms scatterd all over the enormous mountain range. Our destination was the mountain lake which was a mere 15,000ft. All of us made it to this amazing lake at the top of the hill, but for some, including myself, were not done. There was still more to the mountain and I was determined to make it to the top. I was hurting and people were turning around but I needed to get to the top. Finally after another half hour of climbing myself along with some other volunteers made it to the top. Here we were at a whopping 16000 ft above sea level. We couldn't breath, our legs were hurting, it took us over 3 hours, and we missed the sunrise but I get to say I made it all the way up to the top of the mountain. But what goes up, must come down…it was far easier coming down and much quicker, however I’m certain most peoples knees and muscles have seen better days after this mornings efforts. I couldn't wait to get back down to the village and eat breakfast.