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[dsoles05-blog]

Views of Blogging

When I first started this semester I was pretty nervous when I read in the syllabus that I would need to complete a blog each week. I was nervous because I never blogged anything in my life, well at least I thought I haven’t. After composing blogs every week this semester, I realized how easy it is to blog when you know your audience. When I know my audience it makes it easier for me to word my blogs. I felt comfortable being able to discuss topics that I felt was a concern and to be able to speak freely in my blogs with no judgement. Blogging also made it easier for me to type and follow word count guidelines. I never really knew how easy it can be to come up with 400 words on a topic and now when I come across papers that need 1,000 plus words and it’s takes much less time now for me to come up with things to write about because I feel blogging gave me that practice. I can honestly say that I love what blogging has taught me and I believe it helped make me a better writer. I do know that after this semester it will be very difficult to keep up with the routine of typing so I would come up with some ways to help myself become an even better writer without using the blogs. If every professor required students to blog, I feel it would help students be able to compose essays and term papers better because they have been composing topics all semester. Blogging also helped with getting my mind to think. I have been able to think outside the box on certain things. Reading some of the others blogs, it gave me an idea of how others feel on the same issue but have completely different views that I have or someone else. I am happy that the blogs was able to help be have structure in my writings and to gain more confidence in writing as a whole. After blogging it has made a difference in my education because I have more confidence in writing papers for other classes that I'll have in the future. Thank you :)

[dsoles05-blog]

A Class Divided

After watching A Class Divided, I found it amazing the concern from one teacher, the racism and prejudice many African Americans were facing. Racism is something that is taught and the way a person treats someone starts with how parents raise their children. I believe that the exercise that was used on the third graders was a great example because they can absorb the feeling of what being treated different feels like and this would be an exercise that they can always remember and use as wisdom in their coming years. I believe exercises like this should be implemented in systems because not every child is taught love at home. People tend to treat others based off of how they may have been treated in their life or even their parents telling them who to hate. When a parent acts disrespect and ignorant towards someone of a different race in front of their children, then the children will feel as if that is how they’re supposed to treat people of these different races. I also thought using this exercise with adults was a good way of showing the awareness of discrimination. It showed them a glimpse of how it is to get treated differently from someone else for no apparent reason. Even though, they could never truly experience the extreme of discrimination, it gives an insight of how people of different backgrounds may feel. No one wants to be talked about, no one wants to not get an opportunity just because they look different. It’s hard to believe that this documentary of A Class Divided was filmed in 1985 and here it is 2016 and things like this is still an issue. Why are the races so divided? It’s almost as if history is repeating itself, or did it ever really change to begin with? Watching this video made me have more of an understanding of why we may still have these issues with discrimination because we’re not teaching these things in schools, maybe people need to be reeducated. It’s sad that we do have to teach these things to adults but the adults have to help teach the upcoming youth. There should be a trial and error period with several schools to see if this study can actually make a difference. Everyone wants to be treated no differently from any other person. These things are things that are capable of being taught no matter the age group.

[dsoles05-blog]

Caitlyn Jenner

One of the many topics that continues to surface the media is the birth of Caitlyn Jenner. For those of you who don’t know who that is, Caitlyn Jenner was formally Bruce Jenner who was a Gold medalist Olympian who was married to Kris Jenner (the Kardashians mother). He within the last year announced that he was going to become a woman because that is what made him feel comfortable. Bruce also admitted that he has been having these feelings since he was a child. My issue is, why did he wait all of these years to decide that he wants to make these changes? Bruce Jenner has had several wives and has 4 children, 2 of them being females. I feel that it was a selfish decision on his behalf to make these decisions without considering how his children would have felt. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against trans-genders but I don’t like how the media is making a big deal about how Bruce came out about it and now he’s considered brave and courageous and was also given the “Woman of the Year” award as well. I find it highly disrespectful to women who for one have been women all of their lives, women who have experienced child birth, fighting breast cancer, women who have been victims to domestic violence and even raped. These are the kinds of women who truly deserved that award, not a man who felt all of a sudden he was ready to become a woman and now he’s all of these heroic things. Sometimes I wonder if it was all for publicity or if he truly felt his way. Counseling could have also been an option to help evaluate himself. Another thing that also makes me question this is the fact that Bruce Jenner practically lived with women for a very long time, why didn’t anyone in the Kardashian-Jenner household notice any unusual behavior? There was an interview with Caitlyn (Bruce) where he admitted to stealing some of his wife’s and even Kim Kardashian’s clothing. I just find it odd that over the past 30 plus years he was able to pull off this secret. As I said before I have nothing against trans-gender but I do feel that these decisions should be carefully discussed with the families and especially their children if they have any. Also the media needs to also acknowledge those who have already made these tough decisions and not just brush it under the rug because they are not celebrities and to also give acknowledgement to the actual women who have been fighting the fight of being a woman from the very beginning.

[dsoles05-blog]

Police Brutality Blog 8

A topic that I feel is an important issue during this year’s presidential campaign is police brutality. For some people, this doesn’t seem like an issue unless you can actually relate to it. I feel that this is an important issue because there are many police in today’s society that are abusing the badge. The candidates for the campaign needs to show that these are situations that needs to be addressed. Why is there so many people (mostly black), unarmed at that being gunned down because a police officer fears for their life and the police are armed? Something just doesn’t seem to add up. Over the last few years there have been so many controversial deaths that are just being swept under the rug and these issues needs some sort of justice. When a candidate addresses the issues, it will show more importance to these issues and it will also show to the victimized family members that they have not been forgotten. The people should want a president that would be able to show some sort of compassion when these issues are brought up over the media, and not just for one day just to address it and then never revisit the problem. There are many cases that have just been left in the dark, especially the most recent incident with Sandra Bland who was found dead mysteriously in her jail cell. There needs to be a better justice system and America has to realize this importance. It seems as if the justice system is becoming more and more unjust. There are lives being taken, innocent lives and some lives of our youth are being taken as well. The citizens must be able to trust out own government and have trust in our justice system. I personally feel that our justice system can be a lot better and there needs to be many changes on how they investigate and look into many of these cases. There are just way too many cases on the media where it’s just showing the police has shot and killed another innocent person and that alone should be looked at as an issue? To some, this is looked at modern KKK and that’s a scary feeling, the feeling of the police, the people that are supposed to protect and serve are the ones doing the killing right in their badge. I do hope the citizens and also the candidates of this year’s election can see the significance of this topic and will soon address some changes within our justice system. Specially to bring closure to all of the families affected.

[dsoles05-blog]

Global Warming

Global warming, a subject that seems to scare half of America when those words are said. Why is that? When Leonardo DiCaprio brought up the importance on how real global warming is during his acceptance speech at the Oscars it made me not only realize that most of America was going to be pissed off but to know that someone else also realizes the severity of this crises and that there needs to be actions taken. To educate those who is unfamiliar on what global warming is, it is the term used to describe a gradual increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere and its oceans, a change that is believed to be permanently changing the Earth’s climate. Climate change is the greatest environmental threat in this time period. This means that our health, communities, economy and national security are now endangered. How do you explain the severe droughts in some parts of the country, the many hurricanes, floods, raging storms etc? There was an article I read that there was snow in Egypt... snow! That alone tells me that there is something going on with Earth’s climate. The climate of the Earth is a huge factor in how we get most of our resources... which is planting. Farmers are going to continue to struggle with the production of their crops. Without the proper climate, plants will continue to die and not grow appropriately. The Earth is overheating and glaciers are melting faster and faster in the artic. The rise of oceans is increasing which also means that our boarder states such as Florida, California, Texas and even New York City are getting smaller by the year! There are ways to help prevent the rapid heating of the Earth and the biggest suggestion I feel is solar power, which will work from the radiation of the sun. This can take away from the nuclear energy that is currently being used and coal and gas. Believe it or not, gas heats the earth. Although it may be a bit pricey but making a transition to only using electric cars will be beneficial due to the less production of gas. Maybe these could be some of the reasons that no one wants to talk about this, or maybe just the government. Making drastic changes to the world like that will only hurt the pockets of these big businesses and sadly the well-being of the world doesn’t matter. It would have to be some huge world crises to go on for anyone to actually take a stand on this. I’ve personally have been following the global warming movement for about 10 years now and within those 10 years it really has been a serious change and its happening fast. I do hope that whoever the next president will be (Not Trump), I hope that they will push the rest of the nation and hopefully the world to be more open to this crisis and actually begin taking steps towards making a difference.

[dsoles05-blog]

Legalization of Marijuana

One of the subjects that continues to surface the media is the legalization of marijuana. I personally feel that it should be legal. No not for me to use it willingly, but it can become a huge business in the United States. Legalizing marijuana would generate $8.7 billion in federal and state tax revenue per year. So I ask why not legalize it? There are more deaths in the U.S. caused by alcohol from drunk drivers and alcohol poisoning and tobacco users are dying from lung cancer, throat cancer etc. To me, I feel it is a safer drug. In some countries, Marijuana isn’t even looked at as a drug at all! A person would have to smoke almost 1,500 pounds of marijuana within 15 minutes in order for someone to die of an overdose, and that’s a lot of weed! Jails would be less crowded if there weren’t so many people going to jail for things as small as weed. A life sentence in prison without parole was given for trying to sell $10 worth of marijuana to an undercover officer and honestly that’s mind-boggling. A life sentence?? How can someone serve more time in prison for selling $10 worth of weed to an officer than someone who is in prison for actually committing real crimes like murder, rape, child molestation, I mean, I can go on and on. Sometimes I just don’t understand our justice system. The government should use the legalization of marijuana to help reduce some of the debts that America has occurred over the years. This business can be very beneficial. Legal marijuana was the fastest growing industry in 2015 and it can continue to grow. If tobacco and alcohol businesses can be legal to sell and its PROVEN that it caused several deaths, then what’s the big deal with marijuana? Maybe there’s something that I’m missing for this subject to be such a huge debate. Just imagine, that the over 800 arrests that are being made each year due to the possession of marijuana can be cut in half or just cut for good if it would just be legal. Marijuana has been legal in Alaska since 1975 and it is still legal today, and if you ask me I don’t hear about too many crimes or deaths going on over there. My point is, why legalize something that causes no extreme harm to someone that tobacco and alcohol isn’t already doing? And why have so many prisons over crowded because of marijuana possession? I believe there are things that are more important going on than to worry about who’s smoking marijuana. Hey, George Washington grew marijuana on his farm so it couldn’t have been that bad.

[dsoles05-blog]

This is Me :)

Who am I? I’m Darylynn also known as Dee. This is just a little insight of myself. I have a 5-year-old son and his name is De’Mere. I adore him so much and he’s the biggest reason why I am back in school. I want to be able to lead by example and I want my son to be able to be proud of me. I been out of school for about 6 years now and I’m not going to lie, it was not easy coming back. I just felt like I was getting old so fast and I’m not where I want to be in life. Sometimes I still don’t know what I want to do with myself but what I do know is that I want to be successful and happy. That doesn’t necessarily mean I want to live in a huge mansion making 100K a year (even though that’ll be nice) but to be financially stable and living comfortably. I want to have the satisfaction of waking up every morning knowing that everything is ok and that me and De’Mere have no worries. Being able to provide for your child feels great and I want to always be able to provide for him. I come from a family that values education and believes that going to school and obtaining tons of degrees is the way life is supposed to be. At first I was against it. I always tried to take the easy way out and try to find jobs that would pay me a reasonable amount of money with just my Associate’s degree. Sadly, many places today only look at that degree as a high school diploma. I found myself stuck, especially seeing those who I graduated high school with obtaining higher positions but the difference is they pursued their education. Most importantly, they’re not working two jobs to make ends meet. I realized that in order to give my son the life I always wanted to have, I need to go to school. Here I am, trying to make something of myself and trying to be “someone”. I strive and make most of my decisions based on the thoughts of my child. One thing about being a parent is that I always have to consider someone else. Everything I do and every decision I make I always have to consider the outcome of my son. Going back to school has actually made me feel better about life. I’ve been so happy! Just the thought of knowing that I’m on the path to something great makes me have an even greater purpose. And to know it’s for the better for me and De’Mere makes my journey that much better.

[ultralordoct]

I agree with you whole heartedly. I also strive to be financially stable so that I too can take of my family. I think that when your son grows up he will appreciate the sacrifices that you’ve made for him. He will be able to go to school and tell his friends that his mother went to college and now has he own business or something. There may be times when you’ll feel overwhelmed but all you have to do is think of your son and you’ll get through it.

[dsoles05-blog]

Thanks for being in agreeance with me! Life can be a bit difficult when you put so many things on your shoulder to carry just to make the lives better of others. People like that have hearts and you are one of those people because you are also providing for a family. I do pray that my son will grow up and be proud of me, that’s one of my main goals because it tells me that everything that I did was right. I want him to be able to say to me “Mom, I am proud of you”. When that day comes it would mean the world to me. Everything I’m doing now is for that day. It does get overwhelming and you’re right, when I look at him, it makes the grind that much more worth it.

:p>

[dsoles05-blog]

This is Me :)

Who am I? I’m Darylynn also known as Dee. This is just a little insight of myself. I have a 5-year-old son and his name is De’Mere. I adore him so much and he’s the biggest reason why I am back in school. I want to be able to lead by example and I want my son to be able to be proud of me. I been out of school for about 6 years now and I’m not going to lie, it was not easy coming back. I just felt like I was getting old so fast and I’m not where I want to be in life. Sometimes I still don’t know what I want to do with myself but what I do know is that I want to be successful and happy. That doesn’t necessarily mean I want to live in a huge mansion making 100K a year (even though that’ll be nice) but to be financially stable and living comfortably. I want to have the satisfaction of waking up every morning knowing that everything is ok and that me and De’Mere have no worries. Being able to provide for your child feels great and I want to always be able to provide for him. I come from a family that values education and believes that going to school and obtaining tons of degrees is the way life is supposed to be. At first I was against it. I always tried to take the easy way out and try to find jobs that would pay me a reasonable amount of money with just my Associate’s degree. Sadly, many places today only look at that degree as a high school diploma. I found myself stuck, especially seeing those who I graduated high school with obtaining higher positions but the difference is they pursued their education. Most importantly, they’re not working two jobs to make ends meet. I realized that in order to give my son the life I always wanted to have, I need to go to school. Here I am, trying to make something of myself and trying to be “someone”. I strive and make most of my decisions based on the thoughts of my child. One thing about being a parent is that I always have to consider someone else. Everything I do and every decision I make I always have to consider the outcome of my son. Going back to school has actually made me feel better about life. I’ve been so happy! Just the thought of knowing that I’m on the path to something great makes me have an even greater purpose. And to know it’s for the better for me and De’Mere makes my journey that much better.

[cooltyannatumbles-blog]

One thing that makes me love this post is the passion you have for your son. It’s clear how much you love him. I love how you explain that fact that you want to succeed in order to ensure that he will be okay. I also love his name. I think it’s absolutely adorable. It is very rare for people to have kids and go back to school. Some think it’s almost impossible. Going to school and raising a child must be the most tiring and frustrating things in the world. DON’T give up. De’mere will benefit greatly from your choices. 

[dsoles05-blog]

Thank you for liking his name! I actually didn’t agree on his name until a month before he was born lol. When I wrote this blog it wasn’t difficult because these were honest facts on the insight of my life. It was easy to recognize that my son is my world. Trust me it was not easy going back to school but the last thing I wanted to be looked at was being another statistic without an education and it’s bad enough that I’m already a single mother. I didn’t want to be that person people talk about when they say “You’re never going back after you have a baby” and that pushed me even more because at that point, I had something to prove. I do hope he will benefit from my choices and I promise that I won’t give up!

[dsoles05-blog]

This is Me :)

Who am I? I’m Darylynn also known as Dee. This is just a little insight of myself. I have a 5-year-old son and his name is De’Mere. I adore him so much and he’s the biggest reason why I am back in school. I want to be able to lead by example and I want my son to be able to be proud of me. I been out of school for about 6 years now and I’m not going to lie, it was not easy coming back. I just felt like I was getting old so fast and I’m not where I want to be in life. Sometimes I still don’t know what I want to do with myself but what I do know is that I want to be successful and happy. That doesn’t necessarily mean I want to live in a huge mansion making 100K a year (even though that’ll be nice) but to be financially stable and living comfortably. I want to have the satisfaction of waking up every morning knowing that everything is ok and that me and De’Mere have no worries. Being able to provide for your child feels great and I want to always be able to provide for him. I come from a family that values education and believes that going to school and obtaining tons of degrees is the way life is supposed to be. At first I was against it. I always tried to take the easy way out and try to find jobs that would pay me a reasonable amount of money with just my Associate’s degree. Sadly, many places today only look at that degree as a high school diploma. I found myself stuck, especially seeing those who I graduated high school with obtaining higher positions but the difference is they pursued their education. Most importantly, they’re not working two jobs to make ends meet. I realized that in order to give my son the life I always wanted to have, I need to go to school. Here I am, trying to make something of myself and trying to be “someone”. I strive and make most of my decisions based on the thoughts of my child. One thing about being a parent is that I always have to consider someone else. Everything I do and every decision I make I always have to consider the outcome of my son. Going back to school has actually made me feel better about life. I’ve been so happy! Just the thought of knowing that I’m on the path to something great makes me have an even greater purpose. And to know it’s for the better for me and De’Mere makes my journey that much better.

[zayneethedweeb-blog]

I feel like this blog is very moving. The fact that the writer worked so hard to get back to college especially for her son is really amazing. My parents had my sister while in college, dropped out, and they never got the education that they wanted. Sometimes I wish that they went through that milestone and tried to work out through college. But this blog writer is doing what my parents could not. I feel like the writer will leave an impact on her son on how hard working she is that he will follow in her footsteps and overcome any obstacles no matter how difficult. I hope the author of this blog never gives up and continues to strive for the better, especially when her son looks up to her and makes an impact on her life so much.

[the-writeofways]

Damn. This was really moving. You used your son to help identify you, which I find beautiful. You write like you are speaking. That keeps me, as one of your readers, very in tuned. It is as if you’re just telling a story. It was fluent. You could have paragraphed more, which, in my opinion, helps low-attention-spanned-college-students, who are only doing this because it is mandated, stay very in tune with what you’re saying. When people see walls of text, they normally see it as a chore. However, that is only a first glace opinion. One someone begins to read this, the pathos sucks them in like a literary vortex.

[dsoles05-blog]

Thank you for complementing the pathos in my blog! I’m new to the logic of it, so for you to say that it sucks them in like a vortex put a smile on my face! I appreciate that you find my blog moving because I was just speaking my honest truths of my life. You noticed that I used my son to identify myself and some people wouldn’t even notice. I didn’t know who I was or going to become in life if it wasn’t for De’Mere. I appreciate him so much for giving me the opportunity to even find myself. Thank you for being able to tune in!

���

[dsoles05-blog]

This is Me :)

Who am I? I’m Darylynn also known as Dee. This is just a little insight of myself. I have a 5-year-old son and his name is De’Mere. I adore him so much and he’s the biggest reason why I am back in school. I want to be able to lead by example and I want my son to be able to be proud of me. I been out of school for about 6 years now and I’m not going to lie, it was not easy coming back. I just felt like I was getting old so fast and I’m not where I want to be in life. Sometimes I still don’t know what I want to do with myself but what I do know is that I want to be successful and happy. That doesn’t necessarily mean I want to live in a huge mansion making 100K a year (even though that’ll be nice) but to be financially stable and living comfortably. I want to have the satisfaction of waking up every morning knowing that everything is ok and that me and De’Mere have no worries. Being able to provide for your child feels great and I want to always be able to provide for him. I come from a family that values education and believes that going to school and obtaining tons of degrees is the way life is supposed to be. At first I was against it. I always tried to take the easy way out and try to find jobs that would pay me a reasonable amount of money with just my Associate’s degree. Sadly, many places today only look at that degree as a high school diploma. I found myself stuck, especially seeing those who I graduated high school with obtaining higher positions but the difference is they pursued their education. Most importantly, they’re not working two jobs to make ends meet. I realized that in order to give my son the life I always wanted to have, I need to go to school. Here I am, trying to make something of myself and trying to be “someone”. I strive and make most of my decisions based on the thoughts of my child. One thing about being a parent is that I always have to consider someone else. Everything I do and every decision I make I always have to consider the outcome of my son. Going back to school has actually made me feel better about life. I’ve been so happy! Just the thought of knowing that I’m on the path to something great makes me have an even greater purpose. And to know it’s for the better for me and De’Mere makes my journey that much better.

[zayneethedweeb-blog]

I feel like this blog is very moving. The fact that the writer worked so hard to get back to college especially for her son is really amazing. My parents had my sister while in college, dropped out, and they never got the education that they wanted. Sometimes I wish that they went through that milestone and tried to work out through college. But this blog writer is doing what my parents could not. I feel like the writer will leave an impact on her son on how hard working she is that he will follow in her footsteps and overcome any obstacles no matter how difficult. I hope the author of this blog never gives up and continues to strive for the better, especially when her son looks up to her and makes an impact on her life so much.

[dsoles05-blog]

First off, I would like to say thank you for your encouraging words. It means a lot especially when, believe it or not, I don’t hear these words a lot. It means a lot when someone who barely knows you can give you motivating words to help push and help that person want more. I’m definitely doing all that I can to make sure that I can provide that comfortable life for me and my son in the end. I know that this road won’t be easy but reading your positive feedback gives me that reassurance that I’m doing the right thing.

�3�9�7

[mona419-blog]

Who I am

I am a very down to earth girl. I’m friendly, motivated, determined and I’d say one of a kind. I graduated high school in 2009 and started a business on 2013. I decided to go back to school this year. I felt like it was now or never. My major is Childhood Education. I have four beautiful children and I’m engaged. Anyone who knows me would say I’m very family orientated. My life revolves around my children. I had them young so I grew up quickly. I had my first son on May 16th, 2008. I had my second son on July 10th, 2009. My one and only daughter was born a year later on June 10th, 2010. I gave birth to my youngest son on June 23rd, 2014. I’m very busy but I wouldn’t trade my kids for anything. I met my boyfriend back in 2007 and we’ve been together ever since. We are getting married on May 21st and I’m super excited about it. If I’m not on mommy duty I’m working from home, which is very convenient for me. I am a collections specialist and I collect on past due bills. I decided to go back to school because I plan to become a teacher. My major is Childhood Education. I always wanted to be a teacher. I believe I came to that conclusion one day as I played in my room. Its kind of weird because I remember this like it was yesterday. I was playing in my room. I had to be about six or seven. I didn’t have anyone to play with so I lined up my teddy bears and dolls. I began teaching them like they were students. My grandma was watching me the whole time. When I finally noticed her I ran and hid under my cover. I was so embarrassed. I remember her telling me “you’re going to be a teacher one day.” She still remembers this as well. So when I told her I was going back to school and my major was Childhood Education she said “I knew that.” Overall I’m just me. I love my life and everything I’ve been blessed with. Even at times when I feel like things are coming down on me I know it’s all lessons. Things I go through make me a better me, a better mom and a better person in general. Life isn’t easy but but it’s definitely worth it.

[dsoles05-blog]

I commend you Mona for taking the step in going back to school!. I can relate to you because I also graduated high school in 2009 and I became a mother to a wonderful son in 2010 so I know what its like to make sacrifices for your kids. You want to do everything in your power to be successful and you want to be a role model for them, you want your children to be able to look up to you. As time goes by you almost feel like time is just passing you by and I get it. That’s one of the main reasons why I decided to go back to school this year and I’ve had finished my associates 6 years ago. Keep pushing Mona because you are going to become that teacher. Your children are you biggest cheerleaders!

[kitianac-blog]

This is my mom and I on the day of prom, we look so happy right? This was probably a nightmare in disguised. This had been my third high school, and I wasn’t excited for “senior activities” because I wasn’t with who I had originally embarked on my high school journey with. I didn’t want to go to prom but being that my mother got pregnant with me her senior year, she never got the chance to go to hers. So to please her I went and I let her handle EVERYTHING. My mom was supposed to do my hair the night before but of course with her procrastination it didn’t get done until three in the afternoon, the day of prom. Prom started at seven. My hair still wasn’t curled, my makeup wasn’t done, my nails weren’t done, and I didn’t have my dress nor shoes. While doing my hair and nails, my mother was supposed to get my shoes from the mall and she forgot. Now it’s seven o’clock and were driving from Brooklyn to Long Island to pick up this dress which my dress maker messed up two days before my prom. My dress maker was a rude, and a prick. I didn’t even like my dress to be totally honest. Two days prior she asked me which color Teal or the color you see above, I’m not much of a girly girl so the darker the better in my eyes. Guess which color she decided to do my dress? Teal, regardless of the fact I specifically asked her for NAVY! Upset, I told her she had to do it over and she had to make a dress that originally took weeks to make in two days, boy was she mad but it was her fault. After picking up my dress, and going back home the time now was around eight maybe seven forty-five. When I finally arrive back to my house, I was surprised. My date was standing there fully dressed, with our family and friends and I hadn’t even showered yet. I ran upstairs to get my makeup done, I had to shower but my hair and makeup were done so, my mother such in “mom mode “she offered to bathe me, that annoyed me . Now I’m dressed and ready to go, my mother wants to me to take millions of pictures with everyone. I got so frustrated I just left. I told my date I was leaving picked my bag up, stormed out and in an attempt to walk down the stairs, my heel got caught in my dress and I went tumbling down around maybe 5 steps, everyone heard it I still got up and made my way to prom.

[dsoles05-blog]

One thing about you Kiti, you do whatever it takes to get the job done even if it meant sacrificing your own satisfaction. You went to your prom to satisfy your mom and even with all of the walls you ran into on that day you still made EVERYTHING happen whether you see it or not. You still managed have your head held high to make sure you still got through the rest of your night successfully. That takes a lot because most people, including myself, would have gave up trying to make the attempt to get to prom. It wouldn’t have been worth it to me but for you it was worth it. I admire your determination.

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Bullying Sucks

A few years ago, when I was in fourth grade my mother had decided to send me to a boarding school. This decision was made to make me a more independent child and more responsible. The boarding school I attended was Good Shepherd International School in Ooty, a small hill station in South India. My first day at the boarding school wasn’t as pleasant as I thought it would be since I was going to be away from my parents and at that age it wasn’t something I was prepared for. As soon as my parents left, I didn’t quit realize the distance but as soon as I went for my first meal and ate a meal from the school, I realized that everything has changed. I started missing my parents to an extent where I cried myself to sleep at night. I hated them for doing this to me. To me, this decision taken by them wasn’t appreciated. It was rather a prison to me because I had no friends; no one to let my feelings out to or even have a conversation with. Then, things got worse. The bullying began the first day of my classes. As soon as I walked into my class a dictionary was resting on top of the door and as I opened the door, the dictionary feel on my head and all the students in the class started laughing at me. This obviously made me embarrassed and gave rise to anger. Being a new student I didn’t know what to do, so I just let it slide. We all know anger doesn’t go away, it stays with us and every time we think about the situation it flares up. My anger was the same, it didn’t seem to vanish but every time I thought about the situation it would just change my mood. Bullying influenced me to get stronger mentally and physically and to also stand up for myself. I got back at all of the kids who bullied me. I made the all the kids in my grade turn on them, probably was not the best way to handle that situation but bullying made me so angry. After fulfilling my plans to get back at those who wronged me I learned to stand strong, to speak up and defend myself. I no longer allow anyone to bully me or disrespect me.

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Bullying is not an easy subject especially if you have been a victim to being bullied. Bullying has always been a strong topic for me because I am beyond against it. No one has a clue of what someone is going through and to just mess with a person just because really angers me. I feel exactly where the author is coming from because I also was a victim of bullying when I was growing up as well. I didn’t go to the extent of retaliating because it just wasn’t in me but I did however begin to stand up for myself. I began to say things that needed to be said instead of remaining quiet like I would normally. I’m glad the author was able to find that strength to not allow himself to be treated that way because no one deserves it and it’s not cool.

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The Time Crown Fried Chicken was Destroyed

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After reading the author’s blog, I would be interested in reading more blogs. I felt as if the author was talking directly to me, telling me a story about a situation that happened and him and family members. I can relate to the author because these are everyday things that happen with themselves and family that people don’t mention often. I also felt that the author definitely has a sense of humor which brings more people interested in the blogs. I love writings that brings humor. The fact that I can read and laugh about it in a positive way is great. I felt like I got an insight of who the writer is, which is very straight forward and “down to earth” and comedic.

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Jack Johnson

There are many significant people in the African American culture. February is dedicated to acknowledge all of those who contributed in African American history. So many African Americans dedicated their lives and fought so we can have this month to acknowledge their purpose.

John Arthur “Jack” Johnson also known as the Galveston Giant was born March 31, 1878 was the first African American heavyweight champion in the United States during the climax of the Jim Crow era. Jack Johnson made his first appearance as a professional boxer on November 1, 1898 in Galveston, Texas when he knocked out Charles Brooks in the second round of a fifteen round fight. Johnson found his love for boxing when he was working for a painter who had a passion for boxing. Johnson had his “Fight of the Century” in 1910, when he went up against former heavyweight champion James Jefferies. The fight took place July 4, 1910 in front of 20,000 people. By the 15th round, after Jefferies had been knocked down twice for the first time in his career. Jefferies corner threw in the towel purposely to end the fight to prevent himself from having a knockout on his record.

Johnson also had controversy during his career. On October 18, 1912, Johnson was arrested due to his relationship with Lucille Cameron had violated the Mann Act which was against transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes. Mainly because Lucille, was an alleged prostitute and Johnson was black. Another alleged prostitute, Belle Schreiber, who he was also involved with in 1909 and 1910 had testified against him. The courtroom of Kennesaw Mountain Landis, Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury in June of 1913 even though the incidents that were used to convict Johnson were before the Mann Act was even in place.

Johnson eventually skipped his bail and left the country where he reunited with Lucille in Montreal in June before they both went fleeing to France. Johnson also posed as a member of a black baseball team and him and Lucille lived in Europe for the next seven years and later traveled to South America and Mexico. Johnson did eventually return to the United States on June 20, 1920 and surrendered himself to the Federal agents the Mexico border and was sent to the U.S. Penitentiary, Leavenworth to serve his sentence. He was later released July 9, 1921.

Jack Johnson was later inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954. In Johnson’s career, he had 114 fights, winning 80 of those fights and a total of 45 knockouts. Jack will be known as the most famous and notorious African American on Earth.

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This is Me :)

Who am I? I’m Darylynn also known as Dee. This is just a little insight of myself. I have a 5-year-old son and his name is De’Mere. I adore him so much and he’s the biggest reason why I am back in school. I want to be able to lead by example and I want my son to be able to be proud of me. I been out of school for about 6 years now and I’m not going to lie, it was not easy coming back. I just felt like I was getting old so fast and I’m not where I want to be in life. Sometimes I still don’t know what I want to do with myself but what I do know is that I want to be successful and happy. That doesn’t necessarily mean I want to live in a huge mansion making 100K a year (even though that’ll be nice) but to be financially stable and living comfortably. I want to have the satisfaction of waking up every morning knowing that everything is ok and that me and De’Mere have no worries. Being able to provide for your child feels great and I want to always be able to provide for him. I come from a family that values education and believes that going to school and obtaining tons of degrees is the way life is supposed to be. At first I was against it. I always tried to take the easy way out and try to find jobs that would pay me a reasonable amount of money with just my Associate’s degree. Sadly, many places today only look at that degree as a high school diploma. I found myself stuck, especially seeing those who I graduated high school with obtaining higher positions but the difference is they pursued their education. Most importantly, they’re not working two jobs to make ends meet. I realized that in order to give my son the life I always wanted to have, I need to go to school. Here I am, trying to make something of myself and trying to be “someone”. I strive and make most of my decisions based on the thoughts of my child. One thing about being a parent is that I always have to consider someone else. Everything I do and every decision I make I always have to consider the outcome of my son. Going back to school has actually made me feel better about life. I’ve been so happy! Just the thought of knowing that I’m on the path to something great makes me have an even greater purpose. And to know it’s for the better for me and De’Mere makes my journey that much better.