International Week

I had visited the Capoeira class and the human rights festival. I have seen videos of capoeira before, so I thought it would be really cool to see it done in person. I was expecting a whole lot more people to have been there than there was but it is noce to see that the class is willing to continue with so few members. If I would have known the class was going to be so small I would have came prepared to join in. I wish I would have had the proper attire to try capoeria out. I am thinking about trying it out sometime in the near future because even though I only saw the basics being taught it looked very fun.

At the human rights festival I learned a lot about different organizations. I have to say when I first arrived my first thoughts were that's it. I honestly do not know what I was expecting but I guess I thought it would have been more active than what it was. When you walked up to the table representatives from the groups spoke to you but some just sat there and waited for something to be said to them. The organization I liked the most was Educacion Para Nuestro Futuro. They are a locally based organization reaching out to the Latino community. It gives an outlet to the Latino community showing that there is a life out their for these students. I really liked the idea of having a college sophomore working with a sophomore in high school. The college student will be the mentor to the high school student and will work with them all the way up into college. I feel it is a positive learning experience for both ends of the spectrum. On one end you have the mentor who knows that they have made a difference in somebody's life and showed the student that there is more to life if you just believe and have faith. Then on the other end of the spectrum you have the student who will hopefully continue to grow and become a mentor themselves and spread the light that someone once shown on them. Then on both ends both set of students have been in the system but are still kind of new to the school system so this gives more room to grow and learn new things with each other. I learned at the event as well that the organization is willing to take students that have graduated to mentor to students as well. The girl mentioned that there are classes available through them where they teach non-native spanish speakers, spanish to help better connect with the students.  I am going to look more into this organization and possibly consider doing some work with them. Even if I am not a mentor just being able to be apart of something so empowering to less fortune students would be amazing.

Tipping Point Video

This video was to represent the corruption that goes on in the world around us. I was shocked to find out the thing that I had.

The Alchemist

       I.            Connect the Dots

    II.            The lesson I will be doing is a reflective activity. I will start off with what the students did or did not like about the book. Then I will ask questions of how this book relates to the secret, other readings from the semester, cultural leadership, what parts of the book they could relate to, and what they can take away from the book. At the end I would have everyone draw a picture expressing their personal legend and have them share what their picture/personal legend is and have they or haven’t they been able to reach their personal legend. Basically be able to connect the book to the semester as a whole and their personal life

 III.            The learning purpose of this activity is to reflect and be able to relate/connect the book to things we have learned during this semester and their personal life. One of the main things is relating things we have learned this semester to the book. I want to see if anyone can pick out particular phrases or parts of the book to support their answers.  Throughout the book the phrase “When a person really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream” came up repeatedly and it made me think of the secret because when you give off that positive energy and do right, things will fall into place they way you want them to. Yes, there will be bumps in the road, but if we continue to strive things will work out for the better.

 IV.            I feel we all have certain personal legends we want to pursue but we all have things we feel hold us back. I also believe that we all may have more than one personal legend. My number one personal legend is to finish college and do what I love which is to work with children. Another one of my personal goals is to study abroad/travel the world. I feel that I let my doubts about money and time get in the way of what I really want to do in life. I always tell myself when I finish this or that I will make plans to do it, but somehow I always find a way to put it off longer. In the book the shepherd was told by his family he needed to become a priest, but knew that wasn’t the life for him. The shepherd shows us how to be a leader in the aspect to stick by what you believe in and he shows us we can survive no matter what condition we may be in. That there are people out there to help you and support you.

Maya Angelou Master Class

I love Maya Angelou. Her poems are so amazing. My favorite one  is alone. One point in my life I was going through a very dark depression and once reading it I knew I would never make it if I continued on alone. Once I sought out the help I no longer felt alone. I felt there was a purpose for me in this world. I cannot believe that since reading that poem a couple years ago and watching this video of her I cannot believe I haven't read any of her books or that some of her books aren't used more often in the school systems. Well at least where I went to school. What I got out of this video was that you need to just be who you are, teach what you learn, and to love.

Maya mentions that she keeps her rainbows in the clouds because she brings along everyone that has ever been nice to her when she directs a movie, goes on stage, or teaches a class. I found that to be so powerful because not many people, if any do that. Maya knows the secret; to always keep that positive energy going. She says what you learn is what you teach. She is consistently doing this everyday of her life, she is a living example of what can come out of the littlest of things. I resonated with the part of preparing yourself to be the rainbow in someone else's  cloud. I want to be that rainbow in someone else's cloud. I know how it to have those few special people to be the rainbow to my cloud and have made me who I am today.We all need to start using our energy constructively rather than destructively. The world would be so much better off if we didn't have half the crap going on as we do. I really liked when she had said I am a human being, nothing human can be alien to me. She is expressing that she is still learning how to do this, but knows she needs to except things and people for how they are and not judge them. I struggle with this a lot. I tend to judge people all the time before I even get to know this. Most of the time if I have a bad vibe I will give whatever it is a chance and sometimes I was wrong about my feelings and other times I was right. But I know I have to try before I deny.

The most powerful part of this video to me was about her grandma and love. Her grandma took her in with no shame and never judged Maya or forced Maya to do anything she did not want to. Her grandma helped her in to the strong, loving, caring person she is today. Love liberates. It gives me chills when saying it. It all ties in together; the law of attraction, messages in the water, and love, if we connect them all we can create something so powerful as of right now its unimaginable the possibilities this world could have. Maya knew she had to take care of her dying grandma she owed it to her. Maya was told her grandma had three weeks to live and ended up living on for a year was amazing. It was the positive energy the two gave each other that kept her grandma going. I cried at the part when she told her grandma if you need permission to leave I liberate you. Maya went home and knew she needed to go back and when she went back her grandma had passed. Most people when someone so close to them is dying they beg them not to go, that they need them to stay a little while longer. So, for Maya to be able to not selfishly hold onto her grandma and tell her grandma it was okay that moved on was deep. That was a true liberating love.

What the Bleep Do We Know?; Messages in Water; The Secret

All of theses videos made me truly think about the things that go on around me. In the video what the bleep do we know, it made me question what did I really know. One of the first things that caught my attention was when the narrator said have you looked through the eyes of the observer. I know I have tried doing this a couple times, but I always result to negative thoughts. Like why are they looking at me like that or do they have a starring problem. The next thing that struck me was when the one lady said that the upcoming generations are not appreciating the power of thought. It is so true the younger generations now just want to be told what needs to be done or have everything served to them without having to do anything themselves. We all need to as the video mentioned to dig deeper. That each and everyone of us has the potential its just how willing are we to go those extra few miles. Lastly was the part about not to be in the know but to be in the mystery. There was just something about that part that struck me. How we all subconsciously just conform to everything around us. We adjust to the usual and whats comfortable. I know I am guilty of this. There are a lot of things that bother me when it's changed. I think it also in part that I am OCD so it makes it harder sometimes for me to make a change because deep down it eats away at me to stray away from the norm. For example at work the area I work in made changes while I was gone so when I came back I broke down because the change was so different than what I was used to and comfortable. I eventually was able to get used to it but it took a couple months to get used to. Another thing I struggle with is the arrangement of things on a table. I cannot stand it when things are out of place. But, with the help of me family and friends my compulsions have lessened but something I am still working on to get better.

I really liked the water video. It was hard to believe at first that thoughts, words, and music had an effect on the water. Then when the statement was made imagine what thoughts can do to water, imagine what thoughts can do to us. I think this ties in with the law of attraction because its those positive thoughts that make us better.  When we have those negative thoughts and energy it will only continue to bring on those negative things. All throughout the messages in the water and the secret I kept thinking about how negative I think on a regular basis. I am always worried and stressed out over bills, schoolwork, and life in general. It was so crazy to think how much easier it was to think up the negatives than the positive. It makes me wonder why is the negative so easy to make happen than the positive? Why are the better things in life so much harder to achieve? I guess that is part of the secret, you have to know how to make it the other way around; where it is easier to get the positive than the negative.

BusBoys & Poets

This place was so nice. The area in general was beautiful. I had told my family and friends they had to go to BusBoys & Poets one time. The atmoshpere, food, and poets were all something to enjoy. I really enjoyed Toby's poem on family legacy. I think all the time when I start my own family they will know that I did do something with my life and I am leaving behind a furture legacy. Hopefully my kids will do bigger and greater things than I have. I look at my family situation now and I have created the legacy no one before has done before. Which was to finish high school and go start into college and continue to go. Others in my family have finished high school but never went to college, others had started college and dropped out, and some of the older generations in my families have sought out to get their college degrees. I do not say I like Toby's the best because she is the teacher but because hers was the most touching. You need each upcoming generation to be better than the one before. I'm not saying it needs to be a competition either but we need more genreations to care more and create legacies.

The things I did not like were the two men towards the end and some of the things the host had said. The one man that was telling his so called not happening to me it's just made up story was funny but him consistently repeating its just a story wasn't needed. We got it the first time no need to keep repeating yourself. Then when he did his second poem which invovled cars. I honestly tuned him out. Not that I do not like cars it was just his presentation was off to me. Then the last man to go all his stomping, clear his throat, adjusting his pants, and faces really bothered me for some reason. He was being extra for no reason. When he first came up on stage I thought he was about to flow, but the only thing that was flowing to me was ignorance. Then the host she was funny and had good pieces that she shared, but part of me at times felt like I was at a comedy show not a poetry open mic. Another student and I had said to each other that we had both been scared to use the restroom because we were afraid we were going to be called out in front of everyone. Then low and behold another person got up a couple minutes after us and it happened to be the end of the show was called out in front of everyone. I just thought to myself I could have been that person if I had waited a little longer to use the restroom. But, overall I had really enjoyed myself and would definitely go again in the near future.

Tipping Point

Tipping Point: Law of the Few

            Malcolm Gladwell describes the Law of the Few as being an epidemic that is spread like a disease or socially “the success of any kind of social epidemic is dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of gifts” (Gladwell, 33). So, it only takes a few to spread something into an epidemic. He started his examples of the Law of the Few with the Hush Puppies shoe. It was just a few people trying to be different from everyone else and surprisingly started a new social epidemic. My father actually owned two pairs of Hush Puppies; he wore them only when he went out. Gladwell mentions in chapter one, “In this case, it’s not sexual appetites that set them apart. It’s things like how sociable they are, or how energetic or knowledgeable or influential among their peers” (Gladwell, 21). Back to the Hush Puppies example, it said that the small group of people were just trying to be different and not start a fashion trend, but to me in some ways I feel they were trying to make a fashion statement. In the example it said these people were wearing them to the clubs and walking the streets in them, so to me it’s like they were sporting the shoes to say hey look at me I have something that you don’t. I could be wrong and those people were just trying to wear something other than what everyone else was. I also thought about did those certain people stop wearing those shoes because everyone else was wearing them or did they continue to wear them. I remember in high school all the girls had Louis Vuitton and Coach Purses. So, to be different I got a Kathy Van Zeeland purse and literally a week later I saw two girls with the same exact one I had and them about five or six girls with the name brand. Then, by the end of the year a large number of girls had the name brand. I had one girl tell me that because of me I started a trend. So, in some ways I feel like I was the few that started the Hush Puppies trend, of course it was a worldwide trend but big enough to have a lot of girls in high school to own one.

            The example that he used about how some diseases spread like wildfire was shocking. How fast things spread through communities was mind blowing. It said that the spring/summer seasons were prime time for the disease to because everyone is out and about at the clubs and bars. This made me think of how during the winter time is when a lot of babies are conceived. It was disturbing and gross because if you think about everyone is ultimately connected somehow. Gladwell explains how connectors help contribute to the Law of the Few. It is crazy how in some way we are all connected. I met through my boyfriend through my next door neighbor who was dating his cousin. I know have so many other connections to different people and its weird sometimes how connected people really are and we don’t even know it, until we piece the puzzle together.  It is through connectors, mavens, and salesmen the Law of the Few is spread.

            The section on mavens had me laughing because I was like this section completely describes me. I always have to research things and try to gain as much knowledge on things, places, and people before I go to/meet them. I had researched all about Rutgers and asked people about Newark before we went there. I had heard things like its rough place to be in, be careful don’t trust anyone, etc. So, as soon as I got to Enterprise (not going to lie) I was one of those people spreading the so called knowledge I had obtained over the past week. Then the part about finding the best deals really resonated with me because I know I am that person. Before going to a restaurant, club, bar, amusement park, hotel, etc. I am always trying to find the best deal; where can I spend the least money. I know I always have coupons or look online to see if there are specials that I can take advantage of. I am always telling people about the things I find, because I feel everyone needs to know about deals that can benefit everyone. Then a salesman, I know I used to be one when I worked at Puma. I mainly worked in the shoe department and I never went a shift without having sold a pair of shoes. I did and said whatever I could to get people to buy shoes. I’m not proud of lying to people sometimes, but my mentality was it was about the sales; I need to stand out from the rest of my coworkers. I did not want to be another employee, I wanted people to know I strived for the best and it showed because I got two raises within a year for my high percentage in sales. It felt good to know that I was important, that I was contributing to our store doing well.

            The whole concept of the Law of the Few is that it doesn’t take much for something to spread. It is all about how well you can spread something into an epidemic. The only thing I do not stand by with that statement is the spreading of sexually transmitted diseases. So, we as leaders, citizens, and communities we need to stop living in the cycle of cynicism and be the ones that start the Law of the Few with our messages, hopes, dreams, and visions.