Tag Archives: change

Life After Undergrad: Summertime game plan

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So it is officially May which is also my birthday month! I am excited and nervous to turn 28 but I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for me. This summer while I look for a job I also want to knock some things off my bucket list. I want to plan at least one trip and add some new memories to my scrapbook. I’d love to go back to California, but I also want to see Seattle and other parts of the west coast too. I also recently got my passport and I’d love to put it to use. I have always wanted to see the islands or part of South America.

I have always loved the summertime because it feels so free and so much seems possible. The days are longer and the sun just seems brighter and it makes me want to explore not only my own city but others as well. I think that travel is just as important as education is because some things you can only learn with experience.

Aside from traveling I have my sights set on going on as many interviews as I can. I want to get the experience and a feel for the industry so I can be better versed with the dialogue that employers expect.

Summer is also a great time to try out a new hobby or a new style. Nothing feels better than reinventing yourself and switching things up. You owe it to yourself to feel like your best self and live your best life. It really is true that when you feel good, you do better.

Virtues from Motherhood: Tolerance

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Tolerance. The word has been thrown around a lot these past two weeks in America. Post-election America seems eerily similar to a city that just suffered a massive earthquake, cracked. It is hard to ignore the division right now and even harder to ignore the lack of tolerance and regard for one another. This election was a high voltage one from the start for many reasons but the main undertones seemed racial and gender bias. It was hard to watch and harder to fathom how a country which made such progress on equality issues over the last 8 years could fall into such divide.

Before my eyes I watched friendships dissolve, families draw battle lines and a nation pick sides with what seemed like no middle ground. I couldn’t help but ask myself, what happened to respecting another person’s opinion or agreeing to disagree? I’ve always believed in picking your battles but suddenly every view I’ve ever had seemed like one. People were accusing one another, throwing stones and downright destroying the character of people both stranger and friend. Tolerance I thought to myself, how can people be so intolerant to political views? If that was one lesson to take away from this mess it’s to be tolerant of your fellow human being.

Everyone around you lives a life, carries a burden or hides a scar you know nothing about but that doesn’t mean you can be insensitive to it. In a perfect world everyone would agree, everything would accommodate everyone but the world is not perfect, and neither are we. We can try though, to be more empathetic and more open minded to peoples sexual orientation, life choices, financial status or where they’ve come from because at the end of the day our graves are all the same size. If there is one thing I want to raise my daughter to be it’s tolerant, open minded and observant. If I can’t teach her to open her eyes to all that’s around her I’ve failed her and I’d also be setting someone who can’t empathize with others out into the world.

So this week I ask my readers to open their own eyes, open their hearts and most of all open their minds, because a closed mind is a dark one and dark minds lead to an even darker society. Look at the person next to you in class, on the subway or in line for Chipotle and realize they live a life that may be a complete 180 from your own, and that you’re not any better or any worse than them for it. We live in a vast and beautiful country, but we can’t all live beautifully so long as hate is still allowed to freely roam society. Let’s raise our children, lets teach our fellow human being lets BE the tolerance, the change and the hope we so desperately need to see in this nation today.

Diary of A Former Nomad: My America

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Post-it notes on a white tiled wall

Silent Protest – Union Square NYC — Photo Caption: Samantha Pezzolanti

I had a blog planned for this week. I was going to tell you of my story and how I adjusted to my life being here in America but with everything happening now I don’t think my adjustment period is over. I think it’s just beginning. As a woman of color who came to this country searching for a permanent place of comfort and peace I find myself lost. I have so many questions, I am confused, hurt, angry, numb, and discouraged. I don’t know where I stand in a country which seems to stand against everything I am.

Those of us who wanted a different outcome stand dumbfounded because it seems that in the same week where we turned the clocks back an hour, we turned history back 200 years with preachings of hate and intolerance. It’s been one week since women, immigrants, muslims, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community lives hang in the air. We stand in disbelief that we are once again being forced to fight for rights we marched, cried, and shed blood for. It’s been one week and we cannot adjust to the words. It’s been one week and we cannot adjust to the pain and ignorance. It’s been one week and we are still waiting to wake up and realize it’s only a bad dream– but it’s not and this is now the America we must face. So how do we adjust to this new reality?

I say we don’t. I say we fight. I say we care for each other like we never have before. I say we use our words and craft to stop these radical changes. I say we educate our communities and sign every petition we can. I say we stand by one another. I say we love each other, support each other, and remind one another that together we stand. I say we speak for the rights of each other. I say we tweet, comment, share, and like positivity. I say we be Americans because to be an American once meant to be the best, to be a leader, to be accepting, helpful, and strong. Let’s be that! Let’s not adjust to a hateful country. Let’s accept and grieve this period of our history, but let it be just that; a day in history that did not break us.

I advocate to everyone feeling powerless by this change to speak up. To share your story because no matter what may change, our speech is still a freedom they can never take from us. Remember that I am here for you. I accept and love every single one of you and there is nothing that could change that. Until next Wednesday remember to be kind to each other!

Its Time for A Start

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people protesting with "BLACK LIVES MATTER" signs

In the midst of all the police brutality, alleged police assassinations, Black Lives Matter protests, companies trying to capitalize over Black organizations, people and their protest, and the PokemonGo craze that seems to just be tracking your location and predators, there is a silver lining. We are learning to come together as a people again. We are learning to go back to forums of discussion over social media. We are learning that everything isn’t meant to be poured into the digital database, which may be used against us. Thankfully we are learning. However, there are somethings that we should learn to do and that is to take back our neighborhoods.

As I suggested in previously blogs, YOUR COMMUNITY IS YOUT BUSINESS. And, therefore, you have to maintain and stabilize it. Can you look at your past and present contributions and be proud of your service to your neighborhood or the world?

I teach, mentor, volunteer, and I have founded two non-profit organizations, ‘Vive Entertainment Enterprises Corporation’ & ‘Brooklyn Multi-Service Community Center, Corp.,’ and a company called Brown-Pugh Daughters and Sons LLC. I’ve organized, walked, fundraised, and donated to various groups and causes, including traveling and marching in Washington DC for equality rights and Prop 8. The list will be several pages long. ALL in efforts to make my community (East New York and surrounding areas) and the world (I know you may think it sounds cheesy) a better place.

two women and a man at a tent

I am usually modest and rather not go into details. I never look for praise or profits, I just seek RESULTS. I need everyone reading this post to work towards results as well. No matter which part you play in your community, make POSITIVE efforts and try your best for progressive results. Here is 5 things you can do to improve your neighborhood:

1. Look at the statistics of crime, poverty, etc. in your area.

2. Come up with positive ideas to illuminate or reduce those statistics.

3. Develop a plan to implement at least one of those ideas.

4. Get help and/or advice if needed.

5. Start your plan.

For free assistance with business mentorship contact me via BkMSCC or via my NY Mentor site.

For Start-Up services visit my Fivrr, I also personalize orders not included on the site.

QUESTION TO THE AUDIENCE: How have you impacted change in your neighborhood?

 

I am no longer posting Mondays, Next Week Wednesday fund out The Pros and Cons of Blogging