#6

After reading the article, “Why we find it hard to meditate”, I was not surprised by the things that were said about why people don’t meditate. Until recently, I found it very hard to meditate, but now that I found a method that relaxes me and helps me overcome troublesome thoughts. The one thing that I hear frequently, as the article points out, is “oh I don’t have to time to exercise or meditate”. I believe people do that in a self-destructive way; meaning that they make a mountain out of a molehill, there are 24 hours in a day you spend at the very least 14 of them awake. Ten minutes to meditate is a very small chunk of time that time. It’s like taking a shower: it’s relaxing, refreshing, and necessary and takes 10-30 minutes of your time. I personally like to use guided meditation (using an app on my phone), as if it were a coach that helps me clear my mind and sharpen my awareness. It helps with studying and focusing on important tasks.

My guide tells me the following. It tells me to sit in a firm chair and close my eyes, become aware of your breathe without altering it, then drawing attention to the body, how the floor feels, if your hands are clenched, how the clothes on your back feel; I loosen my body then I tense all the muscles in the body and relax them and I repeat once. I roll my shoulder back slowly and then forward slowly, then I move my head bring, moving my right ear to the right sholder and the left to the left shoulder. I am instructed to become aware of the sounds of my environment, without analyzing them. I then countdown my breaths as if the air were coming from each nostril alternatively, but without changing my breathe at all like this, “in right 25, out left 24, in left 23, out right 22”. I then maintain my stillness and breathe for a few more second and bring my attention to the body again. Afterwards, I bring my awareness to the environment. Finally, I reawaken the body by stretching slowly (eyes closed) and wiggling my fingers and toes, then I end by opening my eyes. This guided meditation only takes me about 7 minutes.

This pendulum of life is quite accurate. The way I interpret this, with regards to success, is with “no pain no gain.” Without the struggles, the bad times of life, there wouldn’t be good times. These cycles of life are essential because they present us with new obstacles that we overcome and get strengthened by. Often I experience struggles that made me realize things about my life. For me, high school was quite a struggle, especially emotionally, because my self-esteem issues and the desire to learn more without the problems high school had. Eventually, I graduated and now I am attending college and have made many friendships and have developed myself, spiritually, mentally and socially.

In life, I try to maintain balance by makings sure my priorities are established and that I focus on the task at hand. Work and school are the most important things to focus on because they are necessary for obtaining a career; however, engaging in fun and interesting activities, throughout life, alleviates the stress of the “Real World’s” demands. I’ve learned this semester that one must take care of his/her self before they can excel and help others. This semester intend to emphasize that a little more because letting go and goofing off helps you cope with a demanding tasks. Through my life, I desire to never stop dreaming and to look positively.

“You learn that time isn’t something you can turn back, therefore you must plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers” -William Shakespeare.

I believe the quote above is similar to that of Dubois. We can’t keep waiting for tomorrow to give us happiness, instead we must cope with and enjoy every living second of our lives because each of us only has one that will eventually end. I think people should have goals and ambitions, but sometimes it’s good to live life and enjoy the time you have and make the best of bad situations. To make things better you can’t expect it to become better with time, you must make it better through time, otherwise you will watch your life pass you by idly. I like to think about the things I have to do in the near future or the present and the rest I write for a reminder because if you keep worry about things that will not happen for a while and you keep heightening your expectations of the future without thinking about the present, you will be disappointed in the end.

#5 Education in Chicago Public Schools (CPS)

17% of 8th graders in CPS read proficiently, 15% of 8th graders in CPS do math proficiently. I will never accept this lack of educational structure that has afflicted so many students in Chicago's various communities. The video "Explaining the Inequalities in Education in Chicago" brought back memories of when I was in 8th grade with an amazing teacher that actually cared about our well being and academic performance. During eighth grade we were granted extended school hours, exclusively for us, so that our graduating class would raise our standards and succeed in high school.

My teacher sacrificed her time in order to ensure that we would do well in our PLAN exams. Because of her maternal and authoritative yet supportive attitude towards us we were all able to graduate and go on to attend high school. In a public elementary school in CPS that was and still is on probation after steadily declining test scores and academic performance, we were still able to maintain hope. All of us have pursued optimistic and ambitious goals and stayed out of trouble. Unfortunately, as the video says, many students are not given sufficient attention because teachers have to deal with so much and are overworked and underpaid. Clearly, politicians in Chicago have hardly address issues such as these and instead, as Rahm Emmanuel intends, fund Charter schools.

The poem,"Louder Than a Bomb: High School Training Ground" written by Malcolm X. London, truly exposes the reality and failures of Chicago's public education system. London obviously recognizes the various unjustifiable issues in CPS. There were a few lines that stood out to me in his poem. "...I open the doors to a building dedicated to building, yet only breaks me down." I feel that CPS like other inner-city public schools does not empower students to pursue academic goals, instead it impedes them. Sometimes school to students is just,"my parents are making me" or "this is bull I just want to get out and get enough points to pass." Speaking from experience, high school is hard but high school in CPS is harder. CPS school are not the best suited environment for motivating students. Austerity only goes so far to control students and to a certain point causes retaliation.

Although I have faced challenges and seen other sadly go into oblivion because of their disconnection with academics, I still managed to graduate and attend college. My biggest motivators are my parents and in a way the community. Even though CPS has its various faults, one thing that I admire about it is that they require service learning hours in which students are involved with the community. Doing venerable deeds in communities that you care about helps students create self-esteem and a sense of responsibly, social and academically. In the video "How Bad Do You Want It (Success)", the speakers illustrates that success must be as important as the air you breathe. It should be your number one priority in life. It is this type of resolve that pushes us to exceed standards in school.

If policies were harmonious with Chicago and education, instead of harmful, so many obstacles of the city like gentrification and segregation would gradually improve. People with educations tend to have better futures and have more opportunities to lead better lives. Chicago is such a large mesh of cultures and backgrounds, but they are oppressed. "My high school is Chicago; diverse and segregated." London brings up a good point that in the education system, children are left behind, while other continue to do better with disregard of those who struggle in class. This division between honors and regulars does create some resentment in reaction to inferiority. Public school system such as Chicago's enters a vicious cycle where students are suspended because they behave badly, which makes them become less motivated in school, because schools want to weed out these students to get more funding, but leaves students with bad grades. In turn, these "bad" students become criminals because they are ostracized and neglected which makes them lose touch with opportunities that could have been a result of a high school diploma.
 
Working with Amundsen High School is a great opportunity for us college students to motivate students to get that diploma and attend college with a changing world. I knew students who attended Amundsen and they have experienced similar challenges the Von Steuben has also faced. I hope to make an impact on these students to let them know that with all the social, economic, and cultural impediments in the city and its education system, graduating is very doable and obtainable.

#4 Education Inequalities

As part of CPS (Chicago Public School) I have witnessed some of the "School-To-Prison Pipeline" of many students. The zero-tolerance policy had been implemented in my school, thus causing the suspensions and expulsions of many of my fellow students. It makes no sense to expel a student because he has broken a rule or violated a code of student conduct. Expulsion and suspension only discourage students to stay in school and sometimes creates a spiteful relationship between the school and the student who has been "disciplined". Suspension is like a break from school. Many students are unmotivated to do well and suspension and expulsion reinforces this lack of motivation. What administrators fail to see is that these students are troubled and need to be helped and rehabilitated. This "discipline" marks a student as destined to fail and perhaps go into the juvenile justice system.
These disciplinary actions have gotten stricter as time goes on. For example, at my high school, if you were caught using your cell phone and the administration were to find out about it, they would give you detention and expel you for three days. Many students have been suspended, expelled or even arrested on the basis of many offenses.
In my junior year of high school, I joined Peer Jury at the police precinct. Our goal was to rehabilitate students with criminal records or who have violated student conduct and prevent them from entering the juvenile system. As peer jurors we would assign students sentences that would get them involved the community and would help them control their emotions. They would be given community service hours to complete as well as session with anger management mentors. Programs like these should be implemented in schools to prevent students from becoming delinquents.
The video Black Males, Black Dreams made me realize that the education system is even worse than I realized. The fact that the government is more inclined to throw troubled youth into the juvenile system, and eventually prison, than to fund education for these youth. A neighborhood in New York City, with a predominantly African-American population, funds $42,000, in taxpayer money, per inmate in jail and funds $9,000 per student in school . Legislation does not put enough emphasis on the importance of education.As a graduated CPS student who attends college, I don't feel as prepared as suburbans schools who have adequate funding for the success of academics. Additionally, to add the the pressure, the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emmanuel, has cut funds for CPS and is investing in Charter School. These charter schools supposedly  perform better than public school; however, although not well funded, the top-performing schools are public and they include schools like Lane Tech and Northside who have average ACT scores of 28. Furthermore, Charter School are not entirely publicly funded so there rights and benefits of instructors are at risks because they don't recognize unions and do not ensure employment. Meanwhile, in CPS instructors with tenure lost their positions and were labelled, DNH (do not hire), throughout all public schools. The apathy of city and federal government officials is definitely felt in the public school system.
I intend to notify students, faculty, and guardians about these shifts in budgeting and firings. I intend to be an resource to students to allow them to graduate on time and attend college. Especially with neighborhood schools that are the main funnels for School-To-Prison Pipelines. These schools have the worst academic reputations and lack essential resources for students, many don't even get their high school diploma.
With the Empowerment Pipeline I want to listen carefully to students' situations in order to cater to their needs and wants. Hopefully, through this project I can improve in my communications skill to motivate students while building their confidence and my hope in them.
Hosting students from Tilden High School is a great opportunity for these students to get a feel for the expectations of college. I'm glad to have the chance to help inner-city youth think about college and further their education to have career and successful futures. I hope they grow from my advice and suggestions, especially since I have gone through CPS.

#3

 “What we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.” – John Ruskin

            The reason they are called social movements is because they involve action. I’ve noticed that when you tell a person something or give that person advice and might hear what you say; however, that doesn’t mean he/she will remember or even listen to what you have to say. Conversely, doing something sets an example that people follow and these actions can give out a message about the kind of person someone is. For example, if you’re on a date with someone, would they believe that you are humorous person if you just say, “I’m really funny”? No, you show your date that you are funny by cracking a joke or telling a story. Being an exemplary person is an important in leadership because it not only motivates people to do things, but also shows them how to do them.

            Social justice is striving and achieving the rights of human rights which mean treating people of all social classes, races, creeds, ages, genders, sexual orientations etc. with the same respect in the eyes of society and the eyes of the law. It seeks the end or elimination of oppression. People who lead others in social justice must serve them. This service assumes the responsibility of gaining equality for an oppressed group of people. I believe servant leadership is leadership in its purest form because it includes the voice and opinions of others and usually results in something everyone is satisfied with. Telling peoples what to do without consulting them or asking them what they want is an authoritarian role such as a boss or, further than that, a dictator.

            When I lead I try to incorporate people’s opinions and suggestions as much as possible. In high school I was president of a youth group at the YMCA that helped fulfill the service learning requirements of high school student. Often I would listen to what ideas they had for things such as fundraisers, and community service. In the end, each of our projects turned out to be quite enjoyable.

            Although I am confident in ability to listen and include, I do believe that I have to improve in my skills as a servant leader. I believe that obtain the ability to anticipate when it comes to certain situations and also to see what future consequences can emerge.

            My dream job is to be a politician or start a lucrative foundation for education. This notion of the future is very terrifying. Come from Chicago, I was part of CPS (Chicago Public Schools), which has many budgeting problems and lack of resources that give graduating students a competitive edge in college. Additionally, many students, about 50%, don’t obtain their high school diploma. With my foundation, I would fund all schools in need to ensure that all students obtain their High School diploma.

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