"Public speaking challlenge"

As you all know the Public Speaking Challenge is just weeks away. Are you ready to engage yourself in this end of the year event? I hope that you all are. Now you can finally brag about the things that you did at your worksite and the cool and exciting people that you were able to meet. You will be surrounded by a various group of community members including your friends, mentor(s), program coordinators, and judges. All theses people will be there to support you and hear how you progressed throughout the year.

Don’t be nervous, just practice, practice, practice! The more you practice the better presenter you become. The PowerPoint presentation will consist of many different prizes including a $100 bonus for a highly scored presentation. Even though the program is about to end for us, you can still use what you have learned and apply it to your everyday world. Beginning this program, most of us only expected a job and a paycheck. But after experiencing what we’ve experienced in the world of work, we can better understand and expect what we want out of life.

UA has helped taught us about networking, with these presentations we can pass it on to someone else. Practice makes perfect!!

What rating would you expect to get on your presentation?
How prepared do you think you are?
What are some things that would make your presentation more appealing?

"Weather vs. Professionalism"

It’s hot and you want to stay professional and be cool at the same time. How do you do that? I know that this is a challenge for many but it can be done. Don’t think about the heat, concentrate on making a good impression by the way you dress and carry yourself. Here are some heat friendly ways in which we can apply this to our everyday work wear.

For the ladies you could put on a nice knee length skirt and a tank top. Some of us are not fortunate to get rides so we have to catch the Metro. You could where your tank tops walking to work and have a little sweater in your bag or purse to put on when you’re working in the office. For the shoes you could where nice flat shoes or nice pair of sandals that you can be comfortable in and look professional at the same time.

For the Fella’s it’s all about less dress. If it’s a hundred degrees outside, you don’t want to come to work with a full suit on. You could simply where a button up shirt, short sleeves and some nice cool slacks. Light colors matter. Try to wear light colored slacks and not black because black carries heat. The office is always cold so you don’t have to worry about being hot in the workplace only going to and from work.

- How do you survive with heat?
- Do you think there should be less pressure for interns to dress up?
- Do you feel that the same rule applies to everyone?

"School Takeover"

I think Mayor Fenty taking over the DC public schools is a great idea. Maybe we could actually get better teachers, newer books, safer and cleaner environments. This would also eliminate the teachers who are not actually doing their jobs. We need teachers who would come to work to teach and not come to make friends with the students. Having Mayor Fenty in the office to make sure students receive good teachers would not only help the school system but it would also help change the learning environment. Here are some links to different articles where Mayor Fenty talks about the new DCPS chancellor and more in depth information on the takeover.

Links:

1. 20 Questions to Ask the New School Chief
2. An Even Bigger School Bureaucracy
3. D.C. Schools Investigation
4. Longtime D.C. School Woes Eclipsed Board's Triumphs

Questions:

1. What do you think of Mayor Fenty’s choice for the new chancellor, Michelle Rhee?
2. What type of impact do you think this will make on students?
3. Do you think teachers should start getting full background checks before they are allowed to teach?
4. Do you think Rhee will last?
5. Do you think Mayor Fenty should have told Superintendent Clifford B. Janey in person first and before announcing the takeover to the public?

"Is Technology really the Future"

The way technology affects metro can totally put a turn on the future. For an example with metro you find more inconvience while riding a bus or a train today than ever. No one ever knows what the cause of breakdowns is and delays; all they do is keep apologizing to customers who ride them. We hear them apologizing but we never see anything being done about the situation. The ones who operate these machines know that it has also caused problems in their work performance.

They claim that they are using the money to enhance new technologies to make it better but it seem as if it’s only getting worse. I think they are just using that money and putting it into the pockets of the workers that operate the machines. What they need to be doing is using that money to get new machinery instead of holding on to the old ones. The buses and trains can only hold up for so long. It seem like there are more problems happening more so now than it did ten years ago. The more you use them the less accurate it becomes over time.

We are always paying for more smart trips but trains are steadily coming to the station late. Metro is something that we need in order to travel from place to place but how can we depend on the metro when it’s always breaking down. Riders are not being able to rely on the train and the bus to get to their destination on time. This issue just by pass because their always money involved in the situation and they say getting the necessary money takes time.

Do you as a customer riding metro trust that technology is really the future?
Would you be more cautious when you use or ride these new technologies that they are making so rapidly today?

"Prom is Over time for Graduation"

High School Graduation could be a scary feeling and it also could be a good feeling. It all depends on the plan that you have after graduation once all the celebration is over. What fits you - college, trade school, join the army, or work? No matter what you decide to do, you have to have a strategy. No one can plan your goals for you; other people can encourage you to do a certain thing after high school but it’s up to you if you go through to choose your own desire. I challenge all of the seniors and upcoming seniors for the year 2008, how would you make sure after graduation you pursue positive changes for the rest of your life.

Some think that since they’ve graduated from high school everything is all said and done with. The road only gets tougher and tougher and it’s up to you to stay on the right path. Many people probably doubted your ability to graduate but you successfully succeeded in that area. Now its time to prove the doubters wrong again, but this time for the rest of your life. This phase is just the beginning of your life and your future.

If school was challenging for you, maybe college is not for you. But if you are a dedicated person when it comes down to fulfilling different tasks then maybe working would be good for you. No matter what you decide to do, you can still change the world for the better. Graduation is a celebration of you completing high school and moving on into the real world.

What are you going to do next?
What does graduation mean to you and what do you plan to do for the rest of your life?

"Making History"

We all know the honorable Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who participated in the Civil Rights movement when segregation was present. His oldest child Yolanda King died on Tuesday. She was only 51 years old; she died in Santa Monica, California. She was one who used public speaking, plays, and movies to get people to understand that its time to make a change in the world. Just like her father she stood up for the rights of others, and the injustices that are still occruing this day. Yolanda King was a motivational speaker and every where she went she tried to get the message of what her father had been fighting for all his life. Yolanda felt it was her calling to further the goals her father carried during his life. She continued to do so all throughout Mississippi where she grew up at.

How many people would be willing to do something that Dr. King and his daughter Yolanda King has done for the people. The legacy does not have to stop right here. They called for the future to be different and to make the world a better place in every aspect. People that we read about in history books are leaders, but we too can be leaders. What we do for the good could change the world forever and make it more meaningful to live in. This just goes to show that life is precious and we should do something meaningful for the world before it gets too late.

Yolanda King died at an early age but the with time she spent on this earth she made a powerful impact. In conclusion, how many people think that they could walk in her shoes and lead a group of people in a positive way?
How would you inspire change?

" Mario's Story"

Some of the students went to a screening on Friday for workshop. There was a boy by the name of Mario Rocha who was convicted of a murder at the age of 16, but he was innocent bystander who just got caught up in the mix by association. He let the streets and the gangs that he hung around define who he was. Mario never pictured something happening to him like this but it did and although he was innocent he was still held responsible for his actions. It took a lot of time, effort and consistence from the fellow people around him to get his voice heard.

Mario started to get the best attorneys and all the right people that he could possibly get to help him be free. His family always stood by him and they supported him because they knew that he was innocent they just had to make the judge and the victims family realize that he was indeed innocent. Mario has been on trial for over the past ten years and he is currently getting retrial early in the early part of May.

What do you think the outcome of the retrial would lead up to in court?

If you were in Mario’s shoes how you do think that you would have handled this even though you knew you was innocent?

"Shocking News from a Nearby College"

Devastating news came from Virginia Tech College. It was a typical day like no other, everything was the same but this time something was different. A senior by the name of Cho Seung-Hui who attended Virginia University started a massacre. Some witnesses say because of his girlfriend but the truth of the matter was that he had problems within himself that made him react this way on that particular day.

Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 people and injured at least 29 other students and teachers. Cho was the 33rd person after he shot himself in the head. Everyone says he was a smart kid. The ones you least expect can be plotting your death right in front of you and you don’t even know it.

A lot of students feel that it is okay to pick on the less fortunate or the ones who are slow but you never know what they have or are going through. When you get on a person’s bad side you never know what they are capable of until you become the victim. This entire madness just tie into reality, danger is everywhere and you have to be careful of what you say and do to people because you never know what they have in store for you.

Reality check: How do you feel as a senior going off to college, would this change your judgments of going to college, or would it make you more aware of the various things that could happen in college?

What do you think would have prevented Cho Seung-Hui from shooting his fellow peers and professors? (i.e.) friends, change of mind set, psychologist, etc.

"Sanjaya Advances on in the American Idol competition"

If you all watch American Idol, you probably have your own opinion of who should win in this competition. America continues to vote for Sanjaya- are they messing with his head or do they really love him?

Judge Simon Cowell thinks that Sanjaya continuing in the competition is a mistake, but this mistake could excel into a disaster. Sanjaya’s song choices, performances, and hair dos are getting talked about more than the actual competition – but maybe that’s the point of being on American Idol.

I personally think it is time for Sanjaya to get kicked off for his bad vocals. He can’t sing, and he’s too immature for the competition. When the American Idol top two finalists come before the world, I hope that Sanjaya Malakar is not in that category. There are only eight people left, time to make the next cut.

How do you think Sanjaya continuing in the competition affects the ones who can actually sing?