Back to School

It’s one of my favorite times of year- the time when kids start going back to school. Schools send home supplies lists telling parents that they need to buy certain notebooks, pens, pencils, crayons, and that ever mandatory box of Kleenex tissues. Parents want to buy the bare minimum generic products, but kids want to buy the bright, new shiny things covered with Hello Kitty or Scooby Doo (when I was a kid, I was madly in love with Lisa Frank stationery like that above- I was even a member of the fan club lol).

And the kids going off to college are just as excited, especially if they’ll be freshmen. They, too are scouring the stores for school supplies, those Godawful extra-long twin bedspreads, and don’t even get me started on those ridiculously expensive textbooks. Had I known then what I know now I would have NEVER bought a textbook. I would have rented them. I didn’t buy any textbooks in grad school, I simply rented them on chegg.com.

And then there are the “kids” like me that are going to law school this fall. The 1Ls are all bright-eyed and bushy tailed, uber excited about the journey that lies ahead. Then there are 2Ls like me who know better. My 1L year was HARD and borderline traumatizing! I NEVER want to go through that again! And still, I have to admit- I’m just as excited as the 1Ls. I actually can’t wait until school starts tomorrow. I’ll be the president of a student organization, and I’ll be participating in one of my school’s clinics where I’ll get hands-on experience helping clients with their legal issues, as opposed to simply reading about them. I’m even slightly excited about Constitutional Law- even though the class really is as boring as it sounds, and the textbook weighs 7 pounds (and unfortunately, I can’t went my textbooks for law school- they’re hard to come by, and I need to be able to highlight & write in my textbooks, something you can’t do if you rent).

I’m mostly excited about the new school year because it’s a fresh start, and I bet that’s why most students get so excited about the new school year. If you did bad last year, you can put that behind you and do better this year. Or maybe you’re switching from a school where nobody liked you or you had a certain reputation. The new school year at a new school allows you to be a brand new you.

Whatever keeps you excited about the new school year, try to hold on to it. I once read somewhere that students tend to do better at the beginning of the school year or semester than they do later in the year or semester. So try to hold on to that “i’m excited about starting school” feeling so as to excel all year round. Bribe yourself with a shiny new pen or something, if it helps.

Great Expectations?

Since we were little girls we’ve been exposed to society’s ideas about how relationships are supposed to be. Disney movies taught us that all we’ve gotta do is scrub some floors, kiss a frog, or sleep for 100 years and prince charming will find us and we’ll live happily ever after. Well, it’s time to wake up.

Disney movies never tell you what happens after the princess finds her man, but I can assure you that even in the land of make believe things aren’t as perfect as they seem. Maybe Cinderella didn’t feel like doing dishes one day. Or maybe Tiana didn’t wanna cook breakfast one morning. And maybe Sleeping Beauty really did just wanna take a nap.

While most of us come to realize that fairy tales are just that- tales, some people hold on to these idealistic views of relationships well into their adulthood. And they’re in for a rude awakening when things don’t go so smoothly.

We’ve been taught to wait for a man that treats us like the royalty Disney movies convinced us we could be. A smart, handsome man that opens doors, pulls out chairs, and does all types of romantic stuff. Men like this exist everywhere. The issue arises where a man might possess 9 out of 10 of the desired traits so a woman won’t give him the time of day.

When do our great expectations become high, and even unreasonable ones? If we accept a man who has most but not all of our wish list does that mean we are settling? In the fairy tales, the men are perfect. But in real life they have flaws- sometimes they lie, sometimes they cheat, sometimes they forget our anniversary, or they leave the toilet seat up. In the greater scheme of things are any of these reasons not to give a man a chance?

I feel we do ourselves a disservice by searching for Mr. Fairy Tale, because we’re already setting ourselves up to fail because he doesn’t exist. And perfection is not what the movies tell us it is. It is what we make it. So next time you think about passing on a man who doesn’t exactly fit into your mold, remember that by doing so you may be passing up a chance to create your own happily ever after.

It’s ‘Cuz I’m Smart, Isn’t It?

I was employed from the time I turned 16 to this past August when I started law school. I figured it would be a welcomed vacation from the retail, office, and financial jobs I’ve held in the past; plus I really wouldn’t have time to work anyways, what with all the excitement that law school brings. But as the funds in my bank account began to dwindle, and the holiday season approached I started to think that maybe it wouldn’t hurt for me to get a job during the break from school. After all, the holiday season is my favorite time of year (or so it was before I had to share the holidays with law school exams), and I really love working at the mall during the holiday season, so that was my first stop. As I walked around the mall, I first stopped at the stores where I used to work, then went to the stores with huge “we’re hiring for the holidays” signs up outside of their doors.

Perhaps this is a little bit of arrogance on my part, but I really did not think it would be this difficult to get a job at the mall during the holidays- especially when as a former work-a-holic poor college student mall rat I worked in almost every store at the mall, from the huge department stores, to the smaller stores. So I require very little training, just tell me when to come in and I’m yours until you don’t need me anymore. And I left on good terms. So why am I still unemployed? Educational Discrimination.

We’ve all seen job postings that ask for applicants with a minimum level of education, such as a high school diploma or a bachelor’s degree, since your salary is supposed to be proportionate to your experience and education. So the “theory” of educational discrimination should be somewhat familiar. However, not a lot of people consider this to be a form of discrimination because people are generally expected to go to college, or at the minimum graduate from high school. And it’s been the common belief that the more education you have the greater your earning potential. Nowadays, we’re seeing a slight shift to the opposite, where some companies are starting to look for people with less education, thus companies are able to pay their employees less to save money. Similar to how many companies try to hire unpaid interns to save on money that they have to spend if they hired an employee for whom benefits would have to be provided. This trend has been growing since the economy took a hit. For example, you’ve got people who were laid off from jobs at which they’ve worked for decades, holding lots of experience, and often times holding graduate degrees who are now forced to take lower level positions to make ends meet. That is, if they’re lucky. I know a man who has a PhD and was laid off. After giving up on applying for jobs similar to the position he held, he began applying for lower level data entry positions. He finally got an interview, but was turned down for the position because his interviewer told him that his “PhD makes him seem intimidating, and the company is not able to provide him with an appropriate salary.”

I’m experiencing the same thing now, and I don’t even have (or want) a PhD. Earlier this year I reapplied to be a part-time sales associate at Bath & Body Works. Everything seemed to be going well until the interview between the manager and I led to her discover my being in grad school, to which she basically said that since I’m working on my MBA I shouldn’t be trying to work at the mall. I can’t help that my former employer paid its employees less than similar companies, and that I wanted to increase my savings account. Shame on me!

Needless to say, I did not get rehired, and I’m finding the same thing is happening to me as I’m applying for holiday jobs at the mall. Whoever said that once you have a Master’s degree you will be able to get any job you want is clearly mistaken. Essentially, I’m being punished for being smart. Or, to be fair, I’m being punished for having a piece of paper that validates my intelligence (since in theory, you don’t have to be smart to get a Master’s degree). And, given the horrible customer service we’ve all received at one point or another, being smart doesn’t seem like it would be a bad thing, but that’s another story. I guess it just bothers me that even with my Master’s I STILL can’t get the jobs I want! So what if it happens to be a simple job at the mall. Regardless of educational background, and barring any criminal backgrounds, if you have the experience necessary to perform a job well you should be able to do it. In my case, I’ve got 7 yrs of retail experience, and I’m not looking to make a million dollars an hour. I can’t think of any other reason why a store with a big fat “we’re hiring for the holidays” sign would, upon reviewing my application that says you can pay me whatever you want and I can pretty much work whenever you need me to come in, day or night; a store where managers have been heard saying “we’ve got so many hours and not enough people to work them so if you want any shift take it it’s yours” would STILL refuse to rehire me. It must be because I’m smart.

Vintage Summer!

After a horrifically cold Winter, and an inconsistently blah Spring, Summer has finally arrived with bells on and I couldn’t be happier! It’s my favorite season- and not only because my birthday is in Summer. I love this season because it’s a season where people are happy and carefree, and most importantly the weather is hot hot hot! People are out and about mingling and having fun in the sun, how could you not love Summer!?

As my younger brother tries to figure out what he will do this summer, I’ve been thinking about the good old days when Summer vacation meant sleeping in everyday and staying up late every night. I miss the good old days when I would spend my Summer at my cousin’s house in New York and we’d have fun doing a whole bunch of nothingness. I miss the days when kids were assigned summer reading that wasn’t optional, or when you could get a vanilla ice cream waffle cone from the ice cream man for $1.

Summer brings back so many childhood memories, so this Summer I’m challenging myself to embark on a vintage Summer adventure. This Summer, I want to try old school things that I’ve never tried before, and maybe even some old school things I haven’t done since I was a kid- things like catching a movie at a drive-in, going to a local fair to ride a ferris wheel, and even buying fruits and vegetables from a farmer’s market. If anything, my vintage adventure will make for great date nights with my boyfriend. Oh what fun there is to be had!

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

It’s been a few short days since I’ve heard anything stupid in the news that is blogworthy until the controversy over Barack Obama’s speech yesterday. As always, it was divided among Democrats and Republicans.

Very rarely do I call people stupid, but those who opposed his speech are. Those who pulled their kids out of school so they wouldn’t hear a speech on education are even dumber. I didn’t have the chance to see the speech live, but I did read the text, and I’m appalled! How dare Obama tell our kids “don’t ever give up on yourself?” Or “If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying?” Or that “you can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job?”

God forbid Obama has “The Audacity of Hope!” Hope that we will become great doctors, lawyers, teachers, and other great contributors to our society. Most students liked his speech. One girl said “he made me think I can do anything I want to.” Others were motivated to study harder.

One guy from Texas said “there are few moments in my life when I’m embarrassed to say I’m from Texas, this is one of them.” Being from Dallas, I totally understand!

The one thing that he said during his speech that stuck with me the most was “we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.”

This is the root of America’s problems (well of the roots anyways). Our schools are the best in the world, hence why we’ve got an influx of international students flocking here to get a great education only to go back to their home country to make it better. We don’t value education as much as people in poor countries do. In some countries, students can’t even afford to go to public school because their families can’t afford the required uniform. We take education for granted in America, and here is a man telling our future to stay in school so we can better compete with foreigners and we’re mad?

One lady said that she did not appreciate Obama’s telling the kids to do well in school and succeed because “it is the parents’ job to be their kids’ role models and to instill these values in them.” I totally agree, but the problem is that most parents aren’t instilling these values in their children. Most children are being raised in single family homes, and a disproportionate number of black children are being raised in fatherless families. For these kids to see an intelligent black man stand there and tell them they are valued and they can achieve anything they put their minds to makes all the difference in breaking the cycle of young black men turning to lives of crime to ultimately wind up dead or incarcerated.

I wouldn’t expect most conservatives and republicans to care about the welfare of black people in America, but I do. Party politics, race, sexism, and all other divisors aside, we need to realize we’re all in this together. We are only as strong as our weakest link and Obama was trying to motivate our youth to study hard and stay in school. Think about it, these children are our future, and they are more concerned with their friends, their clothes, their iPods, their Myspace page, and which Jonas Brother is dating Miley Cyrus this week, than with school, and their idea of a complete sentence is OMGWTFFML and we’re mad that our president is encouraging them to focus on school??? Stupid is as stupid does people!

feel free to check out the text to his speech here: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/09/07/obamas-long-awaited-back-to-school-speech/

Another Year Younger!

So I recently celebrated a “milestone” birthday and the weeks prior to the “big day” consisted of a lot of reflection. I’m nowhere near where I wanted to be in life by this age, and I want to ensure that going forward I live my life to the fullest and experience more things and have a whole bunch of fun doing it. Hence why I chose to ring in my birthday in Las Vegas. This trip was definitely an experience lol. I had fun in Sin City and I intend to keep the party going!

The dork in me created a list of 25 things to do before my next birthday. They range from simple things like taking a cooking class to adventurous things like parasailing in St. Thomas (I’m deathly afraid of heights so this should be interesting). I’ve got a “My Name is Earl” approach to this list, so they don’t have to be done in order, but the goal is to get out there and have fun, something I used to know how to do all too well then lost touch with as I became old(er).

Well I’m determined to make this another younger. Life’s too short to be serious all the time, so if you’re like me and you’ve started to lose your wild and crazy side it’s time to bring it back. I’m not saying you have to go to Vegas, or even make a list of things you want to do, but do whatever you can to make sure you’re living the best life possible. After all, you only get one shot.

Run Your Race

Many people believe that the election of Barack Obama finally ended the race issue in the United States of America, but recent events make it seem like the race hasn’t even started yet. It’s like America’s been training for a race by running on a treadmill- we haven’t gone anywhere. We’re taught to believe that we can accomplish anything we put our minds to regardless of race. We believe in achieving the American Dream; we believe that getting an education, having a family, making a living, owning a house with a white picket fence are some symbols that “you’ve made it”- yet recent events show that racism still lies behind some of life’s Gates.

Unless America whips itself into shape, it will lose this race. We all know that race is a big part of America. The America we know and love today wouldn’t exist if not for the many different cultures that came here (whether involuntary or not). We pride ourselves on being the land of the free, the home of the brave, the land of opportunity, yet so many of our liberties are being stripped away, we’ve become fearful of expressing our beliefs and opinions, and we’re wasting our opportunities to truly be the best nation in the world.

America needs to stop running in place and start running its race. We need to “throw off all that hinders us.” The biggest weight on our shoulders is racism. Some studies show that if not for racism, we would be able to weather this economic storm a little better. While we continued to allow racism to divide us, people in other countries worked together to attain higher levels of education, to better manage their economic situations, to help one another, and some have even been able to take some of our jobs away from us.

There is a Haitian saying that reads “l’union fait la force”- unity makes strength. This saying was so instrumental in its becoming the first Black nation to free itself from slavery that it is featured on the nation’s flag. America needs to be reUNITED with the values on which it was built, and we need to hit the ground running because this race is far from over, and at this pace we’ll surely lose.

What’s the Story Morning Glory?

Hey Everyone,

Thought I’d say a quick hello while I’m bored at work :) Over the years I’ve written a lot of blogs on another website, but kind of stopped and now I’m back so get ready for a lot of randomness! I tend to be very politically incorrect because I like when people say what they really feel. So if I don’t offend you too much, I hope you stick around!

‘Til next time!