Winter Break 2

As I stated in my last post, I primarily relaxed because when I get back, there will be alot of work ahead of me.  I basically did what I love to do on my freetime like: go to the gym and excercise to unwind and think, draw and paint by hand and begin using my new wacom tablet and play Xbox live.  These activities make me happy and are my form of yoga.

Winter Break

At the start of the break, I relaxed and got everyone significant in my life small gifts.  More or less, I began breaking away years ago from that hype of buying everyone loads of gifts and showing appreciation for one day.  Throughout the year, I gave small trinckets, gifts and showings of appreciation.  Why should we as citizens listen to a bunch people who only want us to shop alot so they make their money and dictate to us on a made up date that probably was not Jesus's real birthdate.

Internship Readiness

The qualities for internship readiness includes at the least professionalism along with organization and time management.  These qualities will allow interns to work under pressure and meet deadlines.  In addition to being self sufficient, when one does not understand something, taking the initiative to do research shows dedication.  How I will demonstrate internship readiness is continue to practice good time mangement, organization and professionalism.  I will work on slant and atleast appear interested.  I need to work alot more on my non verbal que's to appear enthusiastic about what I am doing instead of appearing to have an attitude and giving the wrong message. 

Past Jobs

My best job would be an event assistant; I assist in setting up party tray foods, spirits and other drinks for events.  I walk around and hand out food and drinks, assist with organizing and cleanup in the environment, set up paper plates, forks, spoons, and napkins.  I ask people attending event if they’re hungry or thirsty. What makes the job enjoyable is little effort is required to do the job except set up, clean up and accommodate.  Little to no customer service is required.  I earn $100 bucks every event I work in.  I get free food and drink (wine).  The only thing I hate about it is that I am on call in every other week sometimes consecutive weeks.  The skills that have developed for me was attention to detail and persistence.  What I learned about this workplace experience is I enjoy tasks with detail, little interaction and the same routine.

The worst job I’ve ever had was working at Safeway as a courtesy clerk.  My duties were to collect shopping carts, bag groceries, collect hand baskets, sweep floors, return go-back items and assist customers.    What I hated about the job was there were a lot of task required of a courtesy clerk at only $8.25 an hour.  The courtesy clerks did not get much respect especially from the spoiled customers.  Since I was 17-18 during the time I had this job, I was still adjusting my attitude and maturity and I was easily angered or frustrated with the customers shouting, demands and irritations.  The skills that helped were time management, customer service, and patience.

Occupy and Mural

There is a clear connection between the painting and today.  The similarities like the wealthy getting richer while the poor trudge and struggle to work illustrate an eerie déjà vu.  The buildings being built signify the wealthy/ leaders of the country ignoring the poor and serving their needs as well.  The buildings being constructed signifies wasted resources that could go to services for the less fortunate to access.  Similarly the wasted resources that could go towards helping people who are now protesting, it’s instead squandered on war and foreign conflicts when a severe conflict is arising in domestically.  The guard watching over the horde of sleeping homeless is similar to the police surveying the occupy protesters.  The bank showing the few wealthy people counting their fortunes is a connection to the one percent of the people in this country holding most of the wealth.  The dividers themselves can be an obvious symbol of the opportunity divide itself.  As I look at the mural the depth of field showing light going to dark highlights the glory for the rich but misery for the working and poor.  That simply means while the rich have money they are ignoring the whole problem which is the lack of opportunity while the working see no end in sight to inequality.  The fact that the mural itself was torn down is an indirect signal of rich people denial.  They don’t want to admit they’re wealth is thanks to the rigors of the destitute and poor.

What Inspires Me

The source of my inspiration comes from all the support friends and family have provided throughout my existence.  For instance my grandparents have been second parents along with my mom.  They all have spent time and money investing in my education.  If I were to quit school or say “F” it, I’ll just become homeless at least they don’t have to work or pay for anything”.  That would be giving up and wasting their investment.  While I don’t have the status, money or means to reward them for their support and show my appreciation, the least I could do is continue through school and work or look for work.  That shows I care and appreciate their help from all these years.  In terms of feeling and emotions I don’t really have much concerning this issue except to “Just do it”.  People who have asked me this question ask “Is that all that keeps you going in life”?  Or, “Is there anything else”?  Many see my reason as pessimistic, although I see it as a reason to not give up.  Others think I should have more reasons to drive on in life such as god and religion, have some kids or just in general, a promising future.  It would devastate family and friends if I all of a sudden gave up in life.  The inspiration is permanent because to this day I still get that high support but high expectations to succeed.  I will to succeed to repay them and show their support was taken seriously by me.     

Community Prewrite

Functions- Xbox live serves as a central connection for gamers to interact and play with each other over the net from different locations internationally and worldwide.

Characteristics- It's benefits are: interaction, fun, competition, tournaments offering cash and prizes and networking.

 Members- Most of the community is composed of gamers, hardcore gamers, professional (MLG) gamers and nerds.

Interaction- The community interacts through the use of a microphone/headset, web camera, or text message in chat rooms, messages and party invites.

Central Membership- All gamers are united through addiction and desire to play video games, compete, communicate or achieve the highest points and gamer score.

Member Consent-  All members choose to be member as illustrated through monthly or yearly payments via microsoft points or visa/credit card.

My intake- I enjoy xbox live and have been for five years now.  The games, competition, fun, intensity and smack talk are all too entertaining to miss.  I dislike the feedback system they have in addition to cheaters, hackers and racists (internet tough guys).

Module I Reflection

+
I Completed assignments on time.
Always in class on time.
Practicing professional conduct at all times.
Did a good job on Powerpoint and Excel.
Was perfect/No infractions.
-
I need to work on verbal communication skills.
Work on being more engaged and interactive.
My low attention span and patience.

Neighborhood Influences

My neighborhood has changed slightly a few times growing up.  As a little kid, I grew up in the grimiest part of Oakland, the 60’s and 70’s.  The crime there was rampant all over with carjacking’s, robberies, murders and shootings.  During the early 90’s, Oakland’s crime rate was at an all-time high.  Everyone living there had to be alert and look over their shoulder to make sure they did not become an innocent bystander.   At the time my family did not have very many resources, we couldn’t afford to move to a better area.   The neighborhood was predominately black and Latino with most of the businesses owned by Korean or Vietnamese Americans.  As an influence, it did not affect me majorly except language habits.  It did make me more aware and cautious of my area and what to avoid.  As a quiet child, I did not really associate with any of the kids with more troubled upbringing.  Most of my family also grew up in the poor area of Oakland but were able to break away from the cycle of drugs, violence and prison that plagued our family to succeed and provide for me and the others kids of my generation.  Towards the middle to late 90’s the crime rate calmed down and my family were able to move to a quieter, but still poor area of Oakland called the 20’s or “Dubs”.  The area was predominately black with some Italians, Latinos, and Asian Americans.  As the decade came to a close, most of the blacks in area were selling their property and moving to Antioch, Stockton and Vallejo.  More Asians and Latino’s moved into the properties, but the crime rate in Oakland was yet again rising and reached an all-time high in 2006 at 150 murders.  Still despite the crime and poverty, I did not let that stop me and never will.  I am who I am despite the neighborhood I live in.    

Legal Crooks and Con Artists

The companies profit from low wage earners by luring in desperate and poor people who need the loan or credit card the most.  The people who need money but are not willing to take out a loan or rely on a credit card know what kind of trap the companies’ snare people in.  So, they move on to the poor, desperate and uneducated, the ones who do not know what interest is and those who cannot or will not read the contract.  Usually to people who don’t understand the contract, the offer is good and seemingly harmless.  But if educated on the ways of those companies, they find the transiency rates can be appalling. Once they find out what they have gotten themselves into, they are in a mountain of debt that they can’t or can barely pay off.  The companies that target the unfortunate charge high interest and service fees to keep the poor from ever paying off that debt.  Their main goal is, “how do we keep people in debt”, in other words, if they are able to eventually pay off their debt then the companies have failed somewhere.  Since those in debt cannot pay it off, they are further denied opportunities and privileges like: buying a house, car or even denied employment due to a poor credit history.  This leads to a vicious cycle of not being able to obtain higher jobs that could alleviate them of their debt and hardships thus being stuck in the cycle of debt and or poverty.   Those who hold the responsibility for putting an end to this issue are the government and the corporations, but it’s well known fact they do not care and never will.  People need to wake from this dream world where government and corporations will all of sudden start to care and fix their problems.  People need to find a different solution to fix their problems like be more observant of how other people fell into the cycle of debt and use them as a lesson or learn to read and do research before hand.  I’m pretty sure almost everyone has a family member in debt, so they can learn from them as well.

I Am the Best Man For the Job

As an applicant, I believe I have what it takes to succeed and move forward while being a great asset to the company.  Here are a few things about myself that could provide more information to make your decision.  I was born and grew up in Oakland, California, where I attended and graduated high school at Bishop O’Dowd High school.  After enrolling in California State University East bay in Hayward, California, I majored in illustration with a minor in graphic design.  Today I am still in attendance, trying to earn my bachelor’s while holding down a steady income.  However during the course of my studies, I took a year off to attend Year up, a job skills training program for information technology.  With relatively little job experience and opportunities, training courses and volunteer work was the alternative.  While working a few jobs in retail at Safeway and as a custodian in a convalescent home, I learned what I could and kept building up my experience and resume.  On my off time I usually partake in exercise, artwork consisting of painting and drawing and an interest in computers and how they work.  Thank you for your time and interest in me and hope to hear from you soon.        

Troy Davis executed; supporters cry injustice

On September 21^st 2011, Troy Davis a convicted cop killer was executed for the murder of officer MacPhail back in 1989.  At his execution, several hundred people rallied outside in support, even foreign countries like France were made aware and rallied in support as well http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-09-22/troy-davis-execution-injustice/50516226/1.  For those of you unfamiliar with the story of Troy Davis, he was convicted and executed for the murder of a police officer in Butts County Georgia.  The officer who had been serving as a security guard at a local Burger King eatery witnessed a dispute between Davis and a homeless man over some beer.  Witnesses claim they saw Davis shoot and kill the officer with a 38 pistol.  Although the weapon was never recovered, ballistic evidence linked him to the crime with back up from witness testimonials.  In addition, he had also been linked to an earlier shooting involving him and a friend after leaving a party.  He was then sentenced to death in 1991; however several witnesses came forth and changed their testimonial.  Within twenty something years Troy Davis’s family, friends and supporters composed petitions and rallies urging new evidence and retrials.  Following speculations of an unfair trail, the Supreme Court ordered the District Court of Georgia to consider new evidence that could support Davis’ claim of innocence.  In 2010 following a new hearing, the decision was upheld and execution date set was set for September 21, 2011.  All following appeals and petitions to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant clemency were denied http://www.pak-times.com/2008/09/14/between-life-and-execution-the-troy-davis-story/¹.  Following his execution, supporters were in uproar of his death as many comparisons were made between the Casey Anthony case and Davis’. 

A Day at O'Dowd

The education at O’Dowd was pretty good; it prepared me physically and mentally for college.  The teachers there cared and offered lots of extra help.  Though there was high support, the curriculum was very difficult.  Lots homework was assigned from the different periods we had.  We at least had more than two hours of homework and studying in addition to pop quizzes, tests and rigorous papers.  Some of the high school years were a frustrating experience here depending on how smart and dedicated the student was.  As for the atmosphere, they tried to be lively and original in their humor and events outside of class.  However most of the events and rallies were dry and corny (well to me they were), though I had no clue of how the sports teams were since I only ran cross country and did not follow sports.  The students there were like people you'll meet everyday, either you like them or don't.  Of course like all high school culture, there were segregated groups according to popularity, race and status.  Now taking all this into mind, the experience can be what you make of it.

English Language Influences

Growing up as a kid, I was of course taught proper English by my parents and teachers through grade school.  But after years of constantly being around classmates, friends and other family members who spoke slang, the influences became more prominent.  Unintentionally, I began speaking half English saying “eey” instead of “hey” or “What it do” instead of “Hello, how are you”?  Although teachers and parents would correct me, I thought proper English and grammar was irrelevant.  In addition as a kid I cared a lot of what peers thought, so I figured it would be very strange being the one kid in the classroom who spoke proper English, so it became intentional.  When I turn on black people movies or rap videos, it did not help that all the entertainers also used slang, so naturally, I got used to speaking Ebonics. However, in high school, an instructor showed the class an example of a job interview of an urban kid applying for a job.  In the video the kid tried to be professional as he could, but the bad habits made a few slang words slip out costing him the applied position.  This was a turning point for me as I discovered everything past instructors and my parents told me was the truth.  It was simple, keep the Ebonics for my social life separate and get accustomed to using proper English in the professional world.  Although I practice full English and am developing better habits, some things can be influencing like text message and social network slang/acronyms “Lol”, “Lmao”, “Wut”, “Der”, “Fo” and “Fml”.