College Education, Not the Great Equalizer but Divider? Widening the Gap

Yesterday, I read an education article in the New York Times that was published December 22, 2012 about three Hispanic young women and best friends from Galveston, Texas who have been struggling in college due to lack of financial means (even though they had prep thought Upward Bound). It's been circulating very fast. But I of course can't let the harsh truths of this article go by without putting my two cents in. I mean this blog is about being a minority in college, right?! I know all about that. lol First of all, reading that article frightened me a little. I did not realize that college has been widening the gap of the rich and poor.
Here's the link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/education/poor-students-struggle-as-class-plays-a-greater-role-in-success.html?pagewanted=all
Second, I absolutely positively cannot stand is the sensationalism writers feel they need to add and therefore perpetuate a bad situation by adding terribly corny, sarcastic (not funny) humor. One sentence talked about how one of the girls came home with As, Bs, Cs, and Ds on her report card "looking like alphabet soup." Really? Is that anything to joke about?
Third, this is somewhat scary because my line of work outside of college! ScholarCHIPS is all about breaking the cycle of poverty in low-income, at risk youth by encouraging and funding them to go to college and finish. As a person who's life is dedicated to this cause, I am not happy to hear that college is only securing the rich's position in society and putting the poor further behind.
Fourth, what makes me even more upset is that many people who left comments on the article directly and on other sites blame the girls, Angelica, mainly for not reaching out to the financial aid office, etc. As a college student myself, I am constantly checking in with the Bursar's office and the Financial Planning office to ensure that all is well with my scholarships/tuition, but they also ALWAYS send me an updated agreement letter anytime a new scholarship comes in for me. (In addition to make sure I get the financial assistance I need, every year my grandmother sits up December 31st and submits my updated FAFSA form on JAN. 1ST)
  Anytime something changes, or something looks strange they email me...but I'm sure if they don't know your face or have a relationship with you at a large college, they probably aren't likely to make the extra effort to email you...but to assume her household income had increased so drastically without asking any questions to verify is just flat out wrong! But the article also makes a point I agree with and can relate to...that often low-income students, especially with parents who don't understand anything about college and financial aid don't feel as though the office will respond to them. This is the terrible mistake Angelica made.
Lastly, another point I can relate to from the article was that the young women were heavily relying on their boyfriends to help support them because their fathers weren't there. I can relate to this because I have a boyfriend (who is from Jamaica and only recently received his permanent residency) and my father is not in my life and is by no means equipped to financially support me in school. I am so blessed that I am at school on all scholarships and I have additional monies, so I do not have to rely my boyfriend or anyone heavily for financial support...But in my personal life in college, I would never ask my boyfriend to co-sign on a $40,000 loan, or any lon...especially since we are not 100% sure that going to get married right out of college and this is the huge mistake another young lady in the article made, but what I DO UNDERSTAND like most don't is that these young women 1) went to an underperforming high-school (though they were at the top of their class, 2) they are FIRST generation college students so you can imagine the level of support their families were able to give, 3) they are middle class making barely over $30,000 and 4) they did not have fathers to tell them not to make these kinds of decisions with men in college so early. So while people are scolding over comments, what may seem to come as common sense to you all, is unheard of to these young girls walking into unknown territory.
Latinos are very family oriented and many get married early, so no one can look down on these girls for these decisions...but in the United States in order to make it out of the slums and the living on paycheck-to-paycheck, you can't do the same things your parents did. Pursuing the American Dream as a low/middle class minority often includes sacrificing marriage and children for a later age and working twice as hard to both acquire scholarships and work to pay for tuition, books, food, and other essentials.
My advice to minorities going to college....Please please do not let this article discourage you. Do not be afraid to pursue what seems as the unreachable and obtain the unthinkable...BUT BE SMART. Create bridges and build relationships. I have strong relationships to people in the Admissions department, the Bursar's office, the Registrar's office and the Financial planning office. When you do not have money and parents to vouch for you...YOU MUST CREATE RELATIONSHIPS. No exceptions! It's the reality. You need people to watch out for you and have your best interest at heart...when that happens, professors will write you strong recommendations, suggest scholarships, introduce you to people, etc.
I hope you appreciate this coming from my perspective as I can totally relate to these girls. If you desire anymore advice on making it through college as a minority student, please do not hesitate to reach out to me...you can comment below (if it doesn't allow you, comment anonymously and put your email/number) or contact me at yasminearrington@yahoo.com.  Remember...THE TASSLE IS WORTH THE HASSEL!

Social Media is Here...and it's here TO STAY (Video)

Need I say more! This brief video will show you how fast social media is growing and changing EVERYTHING about how we consume! The whole statistic about 95% of parents are "friends" with their children on Facebook is hilarious! HEY GRANDMA! And people in other countries have named their children Facebook and Twitter...Wow, just watch :)

Cops Forced to be Bad Guys

Wow! It never ceases to amaze me...just when I think I've seen, heard and tackled it all I hear about this. So did you know that the NYPD, the New York Police Department is rather corrupt? They have what's called a "Stop-and Frisk" policy, which is basically a quota police officers must meet up to. Police officers are mandated....no, coerced to stop and search "suspicious-looking" men, particularly young Hispanic and black men. If a police officer wants to move up in rank he must increase his numbers/reports of how many he has frisked. If a young man starts throwing profanity or punches that's justification to arrest them. How sad is this? What in the world?! Watching this short documentary will blow your mind. A young man was tired of being pulled over and harassed by police and was smart enough to record it. And they say the youth of today don't have any significant battles to fight...oh yes we do!
The recording piece has a bit of profanity in it, but you should definitely watch. The new released movie with Robert De Niro and 50 cent called Freelancers Hollywood sensationalizes this truth of corrupt NYPD. It's my belief that this is happening everywhere not just in New York. This is not simply about getting drugs off the streets, but a whole lot more going unsaid. uh huh...

Revolutionary Sunglasses, My DMC Project

I created this magazine ad and website design in photoshop. I created mindreading glasses, these are not a real invention (that i know of)...but they could be! Do you need someone to create a poster design...? Hit me up!

TODAY, Spokenword: YazzieSpeaks the Truth

US Football Kills 22yrold Girlfriend and Commits Suicide

 Pro football player, Jovan Belcher, who played for the Kansas City Chiefs reportedly shot his girlfriend this past Saturday, December 1, 2012 and then proceeded to Arrowhead Stadium and shot himself in front of his coach and general manager. This is a terribly tragic state of affairs. My first thought as I'm sure yours may have been after hearing the news is 'why would he do such as thing?' I've been hearing a lot of reports over the past few years about a family member killing their families and then proceeding to kill themselves...one must raise the question, what is going on? Of course we do not live in a perfect world...there are many with mental disabilities and impairments, but this cannot be the explanation for all the insanity or homicides and suicides...is it the economy? 

I don't know and this family is in my prayers, but I just want to let you now that no situation is too bad to take your own life...there's no bouncing back or redeeming from that...All these poor young kids who made one mistake...post inappropriate pictures of themselves, their friends or peers spread it thinking it's funny and then taking their own lives from the embarrassment. Granted some things, if exposed, may taint our entire careers and lives, but as the black church says...it ain't over til it's over! and that's a worldly truth too! Keepyourheadup! You're beautiful! never give up and don't take someone else's life...that's not your call. THE WORLD NEEDS A SERIOUS HEALING! 

http://www.kens5.com/news/national/181677851.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/05/cheryl-shepherd-jovan-belcher-mother_n_2245492.html

Petitions to Secede From the U.S., And Where Are Yall Going?

JUST STOP IT! I cannot emphasis this enough. Why in the world is it almost 2013...TWO THOUSAND AND THIRTEEN and we have people putting in petitions to secede (meaning completely remove themselves and possibly give up their citizenship) from the United States. My Public Opinion Professor points out that America hasn't been this divided like this since the Civil War...The Civil War! when the North was fighting to free black slaves who had been DRAGGED TO AMERICA in the first place....nah uh., your ancestors' ancestors' ancestors dragged US here and now you are trying to secede? AND WHERE YALL GOING...I presume not Africa and not Mexico! lol Now whoever came up with the term "post-racial" society...let me find them and slap them. I'm truly disgusted by the meanness, no scratch that, the flat out cruelty from racist Americans. You act like you are going to die because a black president is in office....it hasn't even been three whole months and you're crying bloody murder.
But all anger and jokes aside I get it...Southern Americans are trying to prove a point. Honestly the hostility is only coming from a small group of Americans...I just heard on the radio too, thanks to women, young people and minorities coming out in groves to the polls President Obama is in office. My professor, Jason Husser (political analyst) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Husser in this article: http://www.elon.edu/e-net/Note.aspx?id=963560  makes a legitimate point making petitions to secede goes way beyond what meets the eye:

He says, "I’m a Southerner descended from slave holders and Confederate soldiers. I’ve often heard arguments that Confederate flags and sentiments expressed by petitions like these honor our heritage. What they actually do is glorify the worst parts of our history and neglect the best." 

And they say the young people of today don't have a war to fight, UUMM CLEARLY WE DO! Texas alone rallied up 100,000 signatures. I seriously need to get on tv with this and just let everyone know how silly they're getting...I'm going to pray for this country and people blinded by color. Yeah...Yall go ahead and convince all the old farts that've been sitting on capitol hill for 1, 000 years with their filibusters and bill riders to secede to so we can get some REAL things done for a change! Yes, I said it. I'm truly, truly disappointed. Money and power are worldly and they don't last always, so keep on your high horse...The world is yours right? Remember you brought us here! You don't think I noticed that you've got black slaves pulling a buggy on the Wells Fargo bank card...

Kid President, Hilarious

I'M not in a party...I AM THE PARTY! Everywhere I go it's a party :) This kid is HILARIOUS! I see "comedian" all in his future :) Precious Innocence BE...MORE...AWESOME

How Far is Too Far? Christian Dating Sites?

Sooo...I was in the gym today and I see an advertisement for a Christian dating site...something like Christian Mingle. And I was like, something is not right with this picture. I remember seeing those inappropriate  but oh so funny late night commercials for secular dating hotlines, not matter how "religious" or "Christian"you try to make it, I still see the image of a cute, thin long-haired lady, with a large rack holding a phone, lounging on the couch image in my head. Well, those are for phone dating as opposed to online dating, but still...Is it just me, or is that a little weird? If you are a Christian and you are looking for dates...one I hope you prayed about it and two, you need to go to more church events and bible studies. lol no, seriously, you may disagree...but how far is too far? I think this has gone a little to far and I know Christian dating/mingling sites have been around for a while, but first of all Christians shouldn't be "mingling" like that...that sounds like you are going to a bar to find a one nighter. Yes, I said it. No...you should have higher standards than that and be more patient. Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit and the bible says "He who findeth a wife, findeth a good thing so a woman should not be creating an avatar, trying to find a date online. And second...Christians fellowship! (I know my grandmother will appreciate this one). Third, a Christian dating site emulates that of the secular world. There is supposed to be a notable difference between the secular world's practices and the religious world, and in this case the Christian religion. Anyways, what do you think? I just thought this was a little funny, sad, and confusing all at the same time! Obviously someone's out to make money on desperate Christians who've lost the faith that when the time/season has come, God will send them their date...I mean life mate!

And I KNOWWWW...one of these sites did not just use Psalms 37:4 "Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Really? lol I really don't think God meant for this to mean to delight in the Lord and then proceed to scope out people interpersonally on the internet in belief that this is how God wants and will provide your life mate or a date...whatever. Who is in charge of the airways again?
Now available on your Iphone and Android, so you can date on the go! SMH

Hilarious! Cat on Treadmill. Never...Give...Up

This is the cutest video. :) Look at the cat's face!!!