My Inspiration

In small and large ways, we are all inspired. We draw our inspiration from people, pictures, art, music, behavior, nature, etc. Consider something that inspires you and write a blog post of 300-350 words about it. Here are some things you may touch on:

• Describe the source of your inspiration- be specific and detailed.
• What feelings or emotions do you experience?
• Are you alone or do you share this inspiration with others? Are you aware of others having an alternate reaction to your source of inspiration?
• Forecast how long you think this inspiration will last- does it inspire you in the moment or something that you will derive inspiration from for the years to come?

The source of my inspiration is struggle. When I say struggle, I mean the struggle that my family that my family and I has endured. The same struggle that I will not allow my daughter to come in contact with. All through my life I have had to watch my mother do things and work jobs that she didn’t want to, In order to make ends meet. Sometimes we went without because all she enough money for was the rent and sometimes she could not come up with that. The struggle had gotten so bad that we had to move from where we were staying. We stayed in motels and shelters because she had lost her job and that was our only option. She finally found a low end job that allowed us the opportunity to gain housing once again but still the struggling came with it. Which meant some days going without food, having to eat leftovers for days? This is pushes me to do better because never in a million years would I want my daughter to live the life I was deprived to. The struggle that inspires me also inspires my little brother big brother and my mother. As a family we strive to make our future brighter than our past. Today we are not struggling like we once were but we are not where we need to be in life, so that does not change that fact this will forever be my inspiration. Through life as I am trying to accomplish all my goals the things that I have been through will always push me forward. I even believe that once get to where I am trying to go I will still hold on to this inspiration. I have many other inspirations but this one here drives me the most.   

Module 1

What are some of the things you learned about yourself as a student or a professional in Module I? Did you surprise yourself in any way? Were you proud of yourself? Were you at all disappointed in yourself? Why?

Some of the things I learned  about myself in module 1 are how to be a team player, we did a lot of group activities the made me enjoy working with other regardless of our differences. I learned how to code switch and be more professional. I also learned some study habits that I never had before. I really surprised myself big time, I received two awards for module 1 that I most definitely did not expect to get. I am so proud of myself; words cannot explain the joy I feel. It feels good to know I accomplished something in such a little time. With all that I am still disappointment with my points because I know I can do better as far as making it to school on time every day, which is something I plan on changing for the remainder of my time here at Year Up.

My neighborhood

To what extent does a person’s neighborhood shape who she or he is?

 I am who I am because of the neighborhood I lived in. I grew up in a neighborhood called Alice Griffith (Double Rock). It is a community located by the 49ers stadium. Some will say it is on the south side of the Bay View Hunters point. Double Rock is now a gated community that they’re planning on tearing down and remolding in the near future. It was not always gated so I feel like we came along way, just to find out that was only the beginning of all the changes to come. It hurts me to know that one day everything is going to be different. You see everybody is like family; we seem to have this togetherness that most communities do not understand. Growing up there was one of the best things that could have ever happen to me. It made me strong, stronger than most people my age in some sense. At 24 years old I have some really tough skin because of some the things that I have seen or encountered. It installed a smarts in me that most young women do not obtain. It also showed me what I didn’t want to become or where I would never want my daughter grow up. They say you have to know where you are from to know where you are going, so that’s y I appreciate my neighborhood. Without it there is no telling where I would be, probably somewhere lost. For most of my life I isolated myself from the rest of the world only caring about what went on behind them gates, which now has turned me into a woman that is fascinated with traveling. My dream is to see the world from every angle and do all the things other cultures have to offer. I have seen people lose their lives, end up in jail or fall victim to drugs, those things showed me so much and what path I was never going to follow. This is only a small introduction to the small world that made me who I am called Double Rock.

The Poverty Business

The companies that profit from low-wage earners are exacerbating the opportunity divide by keeping them in debt. They portray the image that they're out to help the low income people but in actuality they are not. I have been a victim of this scandal. My situation is not nearly as big of a deal as some of the people I have read about in the article but that does not change the fact that it has happened to me. I recently got myself into a contract with sprint under the impression that I was going to be paying one price for my monthly bill and it turns out that there were other fees and taxes that were written in the fine print that I knew nothing about. Yes I know that it is very much so my fault for not reading every little detail before I signed my life over but as I am asking questions trying to get all the details the total amount I would be paying they forgot to mention what I later found out once I receive my first bill. I called sprint to get some clarification and they showed me nothing but absolute disrespect, saying I should have read before signing. All the kindness and respect I received before they got me to sign went right out the door. There was no need to give me an explanation because for the next two years they would have me on leash. If I wanted to break out the contract, I would have to pay two hundred and fifty dollars that I didn’t have. Long story short, the companies that profit from us (as in the low wage earners) exacerbate us by overcharging us for the things we want but cannot afford. Making it seem as if we are getting a deal, when we are paying much more than the item would cost if we paid up front. Instead of financing and paying all those interest rates, they put the main information in fine print knowing most folks are so excited to get what we normally could not afford.

What motivates me?

I was picking through my brain sorting my thoughts trying to figure out what motivates me. Then I realized I didn't need to dig. I knew exactly what my motivation was. It's my daughter first and foremost. Everything I do, I do it for her. Secondly my family motivates me I do not know where I would be without them. And last but not least my circumstances and background is a big motivation without it I wouldn't be who I am today.

When I say that my daughter is  my motivation I think of so many reasons why. I'm limited on how much I could write so I will keep it simple. She motivates me because she is my world and I want so many things for her. I want her to have a life that I wasn't fortunate enough to have. I want her to be better than me,so that means I have to set the bar high so she will know how far she has to reach. She makes me a better me so she can be a better her.

My family, circumstances, and background motivates me in a different way than my daughter. My family supports me, inspire me and make sure I'm doing my best and never giving up. They make me smile when I'm down, always lets me know I could do it. My circumstances and background shaped me and made me who I am. It shows me where I never want to be again. So with that said I take my motivations and strive to be a better me.

High School

When I was in high School I attended two different schools, one called ISA (international studies academy) and the other one is youth chance high school. I decided to share my experience about Isa for some strange reason I grew to love that school even though I was barely there. Isa was a really diverse school there was people from all different types of back grounds and everybody got along really well. The atmosphere was really laid back the hallways was quiet during class and loud during break. The school itself was clean, well-kept and up to date. It wasn’t one of those schools with a whole bunch of scribble scrabble writing on the walls. We had a small lunchroom with a big yard. The teachers were very nice and seemed to always care about our education. When I started doing bad in school there was always a teacher there that seemed to care enough to reach out to me, where as some schools had teacher who could careless whether you was there or not. The students there seemed to be very well rounded, friendly, and eager to learn. I never really took the time out to befriend anyone because I always had my own circle of friends outside of school.

The Way I Talk....

When thinking about the way I speak the first 2 things that comes to my mind would have to be slang and Ebonics. I speak that way because that’s the way I am most comfortable speaking. I grew up in an environment where everybody spoke this way, people didn’t use proper or should I say formal language and/or English and if someone did they were considered things like square, nerd, stuck up and etc. Although it wasn’t very often that I heard people speak in this language, when I did I thought those things about them too. I would think that that person thought they were better than me for some reason so I stayed away from these types of people and kept to ma kind. Almost every word that I/we (we as in the people I grew up with) use I/we turned to our own language. I’ve always used words like shoulda instead should have or cant instead of cannot. I guess the reason is because I am a fast talker and I like to shorten things down as much as I possibly can. I use to be on public transportation talking and would see people looking at me like I was from another planet because of the way we spoke. I hate to be judged so I would give out mean looks with hopes that they would understand that that’s just the way that I expressed myself. I am learning now that formal English is the American way.