Success at Chabot

Success is something that we long for as people. When in school we the students want to be successful and not just because we want to make our friends and family proud but most importantly we want to make ourselves satisfied. Sometimes we can not always be successful in what we do. Sometimes failure comes down on us like a sack of bricks. Success can be rewarding in many ways but I want to talk about success in school. Success in schools can be very tough for some students because of what they go through. Sometimes it is not the students fault but instead it can be the teachers problem of failing the student. The way I look at it we have to look at the situation from both sides. There are many students in school that are either happy to go to school or forced to go to school. Some students just don't care about school but  instead they want to tend school for the parties and friends. We all have our reasons of why we attend school. School can be rough and stressful. We have so many teachers each giving time consuming work which sometimes can be an overload on us the students. We are not perfect but neither are teachers and sometimes we have the attitude of which we are perfect.All we really want to be is successful so that at least we have the feeling of accomplishment. Sometimes we have to ask ourselves what does success truly mean to me?

          I am a student at Chabot Community College and this will be my third year coming up in the fall semester of 2013. For the time I have been on this campus I have observed and studied the behavior of students and teachers as well as myself. What I have found is that there are good teacher and that there are bad teachers. I have also found that there are good students and there are bad students. Between both I understand that blame can not be focused on just one particular side. I am in school from morning till night and come home exhausted from all the work and people I have to put up with. I strive to be successful in school but I realize that success does not come easy and I have to earn it. Usually when a new semester starts and I get homework from new classes I tend to finish it right away because I always have the feeling of being left behind. I can't seem to comprehend why I feel this way but knowing that I can finish my homework early and have the whole day off makes me feel successful. I feel this happens to other students as well who attend a new semester on the first day. As the days go by I get to know a little bit more about my classmates and my teacher. By the 2nd or 3rd week I usually have a general idea of who I am working with and how their behavior is towards the class. I have encountered bad teachers before and I have also encounter bad students. I have always been a good student but when working in a negative environment, I too can be vulnerable steering in the direction of being a bad or lazy student. 

         When a teacher tends to  be non interesting towards the students and because of the way she n teaches I the student can become non interested to work as hard as I should. Sometimes a teacher can be too boring or even too nice. Can you believe that? A teacher being too nice is something that a lot of people would not think of having a nice teacher can corrupt their learning experience. I have noticed that sometimes when a teacher is too passive in class the students will rise and try to take over the classroom or just not pay attention. When a teacher gives a student too many chances to make up their work they can feel like they do not need to do the homework right away because as long as it is finished by the end of the semester then we pass. I have fallen into that category a couple of times myself and I did end up passing. Usually when this happens I become lazy and do not pay attention to what the teacher has to say. I usually end up falling asleep and as long as I got the information at the end of class then I am fine. This does relieve stress on students but it also creates bad habits for those advancing to the next level not understanding the information because their last class they had was to do nothing and get an "easy A". This does not mean that teachers should be very strict and give no breaks on us because that can lead us to fail in school and wanting to drop out.

     I have encountered teachers that have had bad habits with other students such as myself. I have noticed that teachers have bad habits of trying to force so much information in our face that it causes me to stress and others around me. Teachers usually have a method when they teach in class and sometimes when using their method, me as a student will get lost and I know I am not the only one. I know that as students in a class we all learn differently from one another. I have noticed that sometimes when I don't understand something or a fellow classmate of mine does not fully understand something about the lesson we are learning the teacher would ignore us and keep going with their lesson plan leaving me and others to fend for ourselves. As acts like these keep happening in the classroom I soon begin to struggle until I am struggling for the whole semester trying to at least get a C to pass the class. I know when I start doing bad in class because I start to calculate my percentage in the classroom. When teachers tells us we have a quiz or a test tomorrow and begins to teach a new subject because they want to rush and finish the chapter this causes problems for everyone. I feel that if we have a test tomorrow then the teacher should go over with the class a general idea of what will be on the test instead of saying chapters 1-10 will be on the test some information will be there and others wont good luck. That to me makes me think that why do we even have these teachers and who hired these people that are only here for a pay check. All I want is to be successful and I would love to have help from teachers to motivate me and act like you are suppose to care even if you really don't. All we students ask for is some support from the teachers so that we know at least if we fail it was not because of how the teacher taught us but because of our own actions. I would rather know that I have failed on my own actions then having a teacher fail me as a student.

Duncanville Texas Response

          This video of the kid in the red shoes standing up for his right and every kid in that classrooms right to have a good learning experience in school is amazing. He stands up and walks in the middle of the class talking to the teacher saying that she needs to learn how to be a teacher by inspiring the students otherwise we will not learn anything we have been taught in school. He is 18 and was a drop out but he came back to finish his education but how could he feel inspired if the teacher does not care about the students let along say she is just only doing this job for the money. He speaks for not just his classroom but for all classrooms all over the world who have encountered similar situations with their teachers. This kid was interviewed after a fellow classmate had recorded the whole conversation and put this video on viral where even the news caught attention to him. I understand where this kid is coming from and I agree with his statement. I have encountered situations where teachers have admitted that they only teach for the money and usually those are the teachers who do a horrible job. Sometimes the teacher will lose your work and if they lost your work then it becomes your problem the student because now the teacher has no proof that the student has turned in their work. What really makes situations worse for students is that even though we believe that if enough of us come together and tell the principal about the teacher nothing happens to them. The principal who is suppose to be on our side the student simply takes in the information and gives us false hope in thinking that something will be done but instead nothing happens and soon they expect that the information given to the principal will wear off. I feel that in some schools no one is own our side when it comes to teachers. They say they want to help us achieve but when acts such as what has happened to that kid in the red shoes and nothing is done about it makes me think personally if school is worth staying. The reason why some students treat teachers like crap is because we get treated like crap from the teacher which leads to poor performance in academics and low self-esteem. This is one of the reasons we have so many drop outs it’s because no one is there for the student. If we can’t go to a principal or a dean for help then what is the point of having those positions. If they act like they don’t want to be here and do not want to help us even though they say they do then I would rather be home schooled and live off an informal education. I feel that I would not be the only student who has thought of this and some students end up doing this action. When we feel inferior to those of higher authority than us we become on the edge. What is on the edge some people may ask? Well on the edge leads us to do something unthinkable and sometimes we can not control what we may do or say. We need to have teachers respect us before we give respect to them and if one student is having trouble then that teacher needs to approach them to where they feel comfortable. The bottom line of this is we need support because without support where do we belong.

Kid President

           This video about a so called kid president was viewed by millions of people all around the world. This kid has become so popular with his inspirational video that he even met the president of the United States. In this video this kid talks about how the world needs a pep talk. What he means by this is that we need to stop treating life as a game and treat everyone should try to be on the same team. He talks about how we should not give up on our dreams but instead we pursue them. He mentions something about Michael Jordan and he said “if Michael Jordan quite in high school and never made the team. He would have never made space jam.” The point of this quote is too never give up on your dreams because you never know what you may accomplish. Sometimes we may ask ourselves what is our dream and should we try to attempt going for it?

            In this video this kid talks about one day he will be great and he has already done so much. I feel that this kid is already great because of his accomplishments but I admire that he can see himself accomplishing greater things in life. He says “we are made to be awesome”. He wants us to create something that is awesome to the world. To have this kind of inspirational speech coming from a kid who is not even in middle school yet is very empowering. He is so young and yet has so much wisdom to share with us the world. If a little kid can tell us we can be great and to start acting like we should be then I say we can accomplish great things in life. We can follow our dream and it should not matter who says we can’t. This kid says “people are boring and anyone can be boring”. I feel by listening to this kid president we can learn something from him as in to never give up. We have to keep fighting no matter how hard the world may come down on us.

Response to Andrade Video

          The Andrade video talks about roses growing from the concrete. This meaning of course he is discussing society dealing with money, deaths and poverty. In the video he discusses about how in places such as Oakland have issues with homicide and how there is so much of it in the youth. Kids who are in high school and in middle schools dying before graduating is such a miserable thing to happen in a community. Andrade mentions something from Tupac talking about how a rose growing from the concrete having damaged pedals but it is a blessing for the rose to rise from the concrete. When kids are dying in high school before graduating in a certain community it makes other communities not wanting to attend that place especially if the homicides are being broadcasted in the newspaper. This is why Andrade is a teacher who is trying to prevent all of these homicides so that the community can have more roses growing from the concrete. Roses meaning the youth so that they may have guidance and a boost of self-esteem so that they may be directed to the path of success. He also talks about the issue of separation between piedmont and Oakland because of money issues as well as safety. Piedmont separated from Oakland because they felt that their money should be invested in their area only and so that is exactly what they did and became a clean rich town. Andrade talks about how there should not be any separation between piedmont and Oakland because the people in Oakland who can not attend piedmont because of where they live in Oakland and because of low funds it makes the youth feel as if they are in poverty. This can cause issues in the youth which will make them act out. This stirs up problems in the community. Andrade wants to create more jobs for the youth and send more youth to college so that those who are able to make it out in life can be good examples incoming freshman in high school. I feel that Andrade is right when he brings up separation between piedmont and Oakland. There should not be any separation but instead spread the wealth to all schools in the community of Oakland so that students can have a better education. He talks about how teachers should care more about their students and the way they teach so that they may inspire students to succeed in life as well as become prepared. Andrade is right about this issue because not enough teachers care about their students and even if they do they show no emotions towards them which gives the student the idea that the teacher is only in the classroom to get paid and nothing else. Andrade wants the youth in his community to be protected from violence and to succeed. I feel that this should happen for all communities not just Oakland but all. If we all work together as one we can accomplish anything we put our minds too.

How does money have an affect on a person's lifestyle?

Does the location you live in determine how a person will grow up to be in the future?

Does race matter when education is involved?

Chris McCandles passion and our passion

          Passion is something that comes from the heart. With passion there is a dream and goal that we as people strive to be great in what we do best. People all over have their own personal passions that they feel suits them best but sometimes we are too afraid to pursue them. Sometimes are passion may not feel as important to us as we thought it would have. This may be lack of support and/or will power. Others may feel that their passion is so important that they have to leave everything behind and do whatever it takes to meet their standards and go beyond them no matter what obstacles they may encounter later on their path. In the book “In to The Wild” written by John Krakauer, the story line is based off a true story where the main character Christopher Johnson McCandless goes on a journey to Alaska to pursue his passion of living out in the wild by himself with nothing but the clothes on his back and a backpack. He makes a few stops on the way there along with meeting new people. He experiences good and bad experiences along the way and towards the end have determined his own fate.

            Chris McCandless lived with his parents and has a younger sister who was Chris’ only true friend. Chris is a young man who had family issues and was always pushed to go to school and become something his parents wanted but Chris himself did not want. He was also wealthy and had all the money he need during and after college. When Chris was finished with school and got his degree to make his parents proud he found a way out of feeling like a puppet. He cut away his restraints and found a new gateway of happiness for himself by pursuing his passions. Chris’ passion is just like anyone’s passion which is why we can relate. Chris felt that by exploring on his own would give him the freedom he has always wanted. Chris’ actions are a good example of someone who will do anything to pursue his passion. He has left behind all of his materialistic things even his watch so that he could not tell the time of day. He has burned his money away and became a free spirited person. Our passions can relate to Chris’ passion in ways of exploration and just having the thought of trying to attempt in something that could lead to misery or true happiness.

            Like Chris we are all educated in some ways and with our formal knowledge that we have learned in school I believe can not compare to our informal knowledge. To have an informal education you are able to have more of a handle in the world. Street smarts I find to give more of an opportunity to oneself. Chris McCandless went and graduated from a university with good grades and decided to leave everything behind him leaving him with his street smarts. I find that Chris was looking for a good time and every obstacle he has faced was an experience to learn from. He used probably little of what school has taught him and went on to find himself a job where he worked for a while. In his work place he became one of the best employees his work place has ever had. His boss even offered to pay for him to be in school and this was not because of what he learned in school but instead of what he has experienced as well as using knowledge of his own. When he went on his journey to Alaska he had no map but the only map he had truly was to follow his guts and ask for help on the way to get to his destination. Chris was a true dreamer. When Chris had made it to his destination he found himself to be happy in the beginning but towards the end of his journey he had faced many troubles along the way. As the days went by he was running out of food and the animals were nowhere to be found because of the season. Soon his informal education had led him to dead end. He went into the woods and found berries but little did he realize that the berries he had found were not meant for human consumption. These berries had poisoned young Chris and where there was no doctor Chris was dying which later on he did. He followed his passion to an early grave.

            Chris’ story has inspired young wanderers to follow their passion all over the world. People today still would do anything in order to pursue their passions. People want to be happy with what they do and as Chris showed us it does not matter if you are wealthy or pour because if you have the will power and heart then anything can become possible. Yes the roads we may take in life can have some bumps on the way there but if we are truly wanting to find what makes us happy and pursue that happiness then we must be ready to face any consequences that may come across our paths. Harriet Tubman once said “Every great dream begins with a dreamer”. I believe she is right because if we do not have the power to dream then we do not have a passion. We only see ourselves doing what we think we love to do on the outside and not seeing what we really want to do on the outside. Chris was a remodel of what we can do and who we can be. The only question is are we hungry enough to grasp on to opportunity?

College My Thoughts

College is something that a lot of high school students can't wait to attend. Sometimes college is not meant for everyone. There are challenges when in college that a lot of people face due to the pressure of classes. There are grades to worry about and paying money is difficult when you can't get all of your class because the funds to attend college is to much to afford. Most students in college face these problems everyday and I feel that I face these problems as well. I am a student that attends a community college. The problems I face everyday in college are funds, grades, and anxiety because I can't to get a degree so that I may be ready for the "real world". College is a big step from high school because now you have to actually be on top of your game because if you fail a class, then you find yourself paying for a class to take over again. I worry about grades because you can't just skim through and expect other universities to accept you. If you get a D for one of your classes then other colleges look down on that grade. Back in high school a D was passing at least for a diploma. Colleges do have summer courses but again those cost money too. Nothing is free when entering college. Trying to get a good passing grade in college can be difficult. When you have all of these G.E. classes to take and trying to finish them in an amount of 2-3years stress starts pouring down on me. I would stay after class sometimes to get help from teachers and some teachers would be helpful but others would not. If I had difficulties understanding concepts from quizzes I would stay after class and go over the quiz to see what I did wrong and how can I not make the same mistake for the final. Some teachers would help me understand the material better when having a one on one session but sometimes other teachers if they did not understand my question or why do I not understand it they will get flustered and say I am sorry but I can not help you with this question. Thus ruining my self esteem which will eventually make me feel the need to drop out of college.

College is very expensive even when going to a community college. When people have financial aid it becomes a task to pay it off unless you got a fee waiver of some sort. Even when having a fee waiver college can still be a struggle. Some fee waivers only pay for classes but they do not pay for books or any other materials a person may need for class. I have a fee waiver which is known as the bog-c fee waiver. This allows me to attend school because I get all my classes paid for but I need to buy the books on my own. Paying for books is the worst because sometimes these books cost up to paying over 100 dollars for one book. When I have to buy multiple text books for the exact same price it really cuts into my budget. When in class sometimes the teacher will give the class a due date to when we should have our books but sometimes I can not make the due date which leaves me left behind on the material in class. I do not have a lot of money to begin with and I know I am not the only college student who feels this way but some teachers  do not care about what we can and can't afford buy a certain time. They will say if you can't get the book by this time then copy the homework from someone else book. Money is no laughing matter when at college even if it is a community college things can be very rough which causes some anxiety problems.

As a college student I have anxiety issues with trying to get out of my community college so that I may proceed with getting a bachelors degree. Community colleges have always been known for to attend community college for 2 years. Then after two years we must go to a university and stay 4 years to get another degree. Colleges seem to think it takes this much time to get everything done for a degree but they do not understand that it is almost impossible now theses days to get in and out of college in the time given to us. This causes a lot of pressure for me as a student because if I don't feel I can meet with these requirements then I have failed as a college student. This will make me less motivated and not perform so well in other classes. When everyone around you is counting on a person like myself it becomes really sad knowing that it is taking so long to get out. College for me is stressful and I do not want to waist any time being in college but even though I am taking summer courses along with other G.E. classes in the fall and spring for my career choice I am looking at another year or two being in college. This is my third year coming up this year in 2013 fall semester. Time goes by too fast when in college and requires so much focus. When missing a homework assignment in class I feel as if I am a week behind and sometimes I am. Stuck at home and school everyday from morning till night and repeating the same routine facing more and more problems with classes. I came into college excited and proud and I feel miserable and stuck for the rest of my days in the present. I am just looking out the window and imagining freedom and wondering if it really exist.

The difference between Passion and Poverty

        Passion can be considered a goal that could be accomplished or a very interesting hobby that fulfills a persons lifestyle. Passion can be expressive pertaining to ones art and/or love of something that has purpose and meaning. When a person is interested in something they love then they will try to pursue it as a career choice. Harriet Tubman once said "Every great dream begins with a dreamer". This quote meaning that in order to have a passion you have to have a dream. To have passion you have to have the strength, will power, and faith to accomplish their dreams. Passion comes from within and sometimes can be shared to everyone in the community. When people have passions it can be used to create a new experience to show the world. If music and art were someones passion then it can be expressed to the world. Passion can be great but does it take its tole on us as humans? Having passion can be great for ones self but sometimes a persons passion can lead them into poverty.
        Poverty is when a person is left with little money but a lot of struggle. When a person is facing poverty then it can be hard to do careers that you enjoy. Poverty can make a person find a horrible job which might lead them to working in a factory for many hours with little pay. Being in poverty can be rough because it involves a persons survival. When trying to survive in the world you need some income so that you will be able to buy food and beverages. Mother Teresa once said "loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty". Passion is great to have but when a person is facing financial problems then passion starts disappearing slowly. When passions starts to make a person become lonely with no one wanting to do with you then money can be an issue. Passion is like the lottery. There are so many things to choose from that a person might want to be engaged with but if no one is there to support it as well as find the thing you found the most passionate about useful then you will find yourself spiraling down the drain into poverty. This is why when pursuing ones passion you need to put in hard work. Passion is not something that will have people handing you money. If a person wants to be successful and succeed in their passion they must put in the work or they will not have a happy lifestyle.