Focusing the Lasers

Some people may come to Chabot due to the location. Smack dab in the middle of suburbia it's location offers a variety of unnoticed advantages. Grocery stores, the city mall, and even a hospital are all among the same street. Some people may come here just because it was closest community college to their High School. I would most likely be grouped with these people. When I first enrolled in Chabot, I had no real goal I was working towards. I had no intentions of graduating with a certain degree or what even my major would be. I just knew it was close and I could save money getting the same thing my friends would be getting from their state schools at a lower cost and at an advantage of how close it was to anywhere I usually am. From my house to Chabot with the ninety two freeway working in my favor I can get to campus in literally four minutes. Due to the fact that I had no real purpose when I enrolled at Chabot, I would consider myself a wanderer/seeker. Not knowing where I want to go with my education may sound like a negative thing to an older generation, but coming here I've seen it's actually better for my situation. With the ability of taking general ed classes, I can also take classes I've had an interest in or always wanted to learn more about. That way if anything did spark a fire of passion in me, I can go forward and continue taking classes on that. At this point in my life, as a working 20 year old, I have the ability to dabble in things I have interests in now before I get into my adult years and have commitments I'm not passionate about.

A lot of people go straight into working right after graduating from High School. With no plans for furthering their education, they're only focused on gaining money and not knowledge or skills. They are placed straight into the adulthood that comes with having a full time job. As a seeker/wanderer, I am very confident about my status as a student. I may not be taking many classes at once, but I am more positive about my grade outcomes that way. With fewer classes I don't stress over things as often, and also having time to work and still have time for personal hobbies. Even though I may be moving a bit slower than most students at Chabot go, I see it as a positive thing that will benefit me in the long run. With taking fewer classes, along with classes I don't need but have an interest in, I'm buying myself time of what I want to commit myself to for sure in life.

I don't have any problem with the pace I'm going at with Chabot. As long as I continue taking general ed classes along with a class I personally want to take, I'm extremely satisfied with my pace. I may not have as much on my plate as other students, but with this approach I can actually like and enjoy what I do in life when I'm sure of what I decide on dedicating my life to. I may be privileged with the fact that my mother doesn't mind me freeloading off of her since I'm her one and only child, so that definitely is a factor in my situation as a Chabot student. Many students are forced to pay rent and other bills even if they are staying with their parents, but I do acknowledge how lucky I am to be able to explore my options at this early stage in my life without having any obligations.

Success

Being able to accomplish one of your personal goals can be one of the most accomplishing things in life. To be able to see the reality of something you've never thought possible by yourself is what is pure happiness. Setting materialistic desires aside, it's what people strive for in life. Self fulfillment is what makes them truly happy with themselves and who they are as a person. Successful people have the characteristics other people are too lazy to work for. To be successful in life you need to be determined, have a passion for what you're doing, and need to have a hunger for knowledge. In all three novels we've read in this class each had a successful main character. They may not seem all seem like a success story, but they are in their own way. In Bread Givers, Sara may have just accomplished the simple act of graduating college, but it was the way she got there was her success. In The Laramie Project, Matthew Sheppard may have had a terrible thing have done to him, but he was a success story because of what happened to him. He died not pretending to be something he was not. Just by him being himself, and the acts done to him, others saw and recognized the prejudice that shouldn't be done to anyone else. In Into the Wild, Chris McCandless was also a success by dying the way he truly wanted to live. He broke away from society to follow his passion and what he really wanted to do with his life.

Not letting anyone's opinions about following your passion and what you're doing with your life is a big part of success. If every time someone who was close to you voiced their opinion that they didn't approve of your passion in life or how you planned on accomplishing it, you would never be able to accomplish your goals or be who you truly wanted. If every time an obstacle was in your way from whatever your goal may be, the undetermined person would let it stop them and never be happy, but the determined person would find a way around it and overcome what's in their way. In the novel, Bread Givers, the main character Sara, never lets her oppressive father get in her way of making a better future for herself. Even if it meant leaving her home and family and relying solely on herself, she pushed herself to college and through all the obstacles that come with putting yourself through college. Determination is what made Sara never stop continuing her journey until she saw her goal become her reality. Just as Chris McCandless, never let his parent's opinion even enter his mind and have an effect on his actions towards completing his plan. He never let caring what they thought be an option and went forth with his journey as if they didn't exist.

What is the element that pushes a person to keep going? Not the actual act of determination, but something more. The hunger inside of a person to chase the pursuit just purely for the joy it brings them. What keeps you going and brings you happiness when everything else in the world fails. In the novel, Into the Wild, Chris McCandless leaves everything from his former life behind and decides to live off solely the earth and himself. Most people wouldn't dare to think about giving away their life savings or abandoning their car, but to Chris it meant something else. To Chris, stripping himself away from all of these materialistic possessions meant he was one step closer to following his passion. Every time he let go of one more thing that crutched his life of living this self reliant life on the road, it made him a tiny bit happier knowing he was on his way. As he writes in his journal, "Malnutrition and the road have taken their toll on his body. Over 25 pounds lost. But the spirit is soaring." Chris knows that he's losing weight in an unhealthy manner, but the journey he's gone through to get to that point in his life is the desire and passion driving him to keep taking his journey a step further.

 Most unsuccessful people lack the ability to be optimistic and open minded. They can't go far in the world thinking everything only has one side of it. If they're close minded then most likely it's also common that they aren't keen to learning new things or have an ever going hunger for knowledge. Successful people are always open minded when it came to new subjects, asking questions to learn everything possible is a key sign of a successful person. They apply and take advantage of what they've learned to their life. McCandless was this way exactly. It's said he was always reading and constantly keeping his brain active, with nature or hunting books learning more and more about his surroundings or what would possibly come across his path. "He was smart. He'd figured out how to paddle a canoe down to Mexico, how to hop freight trains, how to score a bed at inner-city missions. He figured all of that out on his own, and I felt sure he'd figure out Alaska too." What made McCandless successful was his eagerness to learning and attaining more knowledge about everything. Every situation he got himself into, he was able to pull himself out of just by his wits. When he was in jail for border crossing by immigration authoritites, even without an ID he was able to concoct a story to get out of. McCandless knew that knowledge was everything and the key that made him successful was his constant hunger for knowledge and never settle for just one answer.


What helps you succeed in your community?

The people who who grow up with have a lot to do with how your raised and how you see the world. Their morals and standards of living will eventually become embedded on to you subconsciously. Bringing up the concept of Nature vs. Nurture. Is someone born a certain way, or is it the people bringing you up placing ideas and beliefs in your head. The people that surround you the beginning years of your life can either make or break you. A supportive family can help you succeed at almost anything. They'd fund your dreams, or support ideas that they wouldn't see suitable for themselves, but give you the support you need because they want to see you succeed and prosper at what makes you happy. In the Laramie Project, even though Matthew was a homosexual, it didn't stop his parents from financially supporting him through college and make the family funds available to him unlike some parents who would cut Matthew off for living a lifestyle different from theirs. A supportive family is one of the most key elements that help someone succeed. With a whole family behind your decisions and choices there is an unlimited amount of possibilities. If funds were an issue, it wouldn't be because your family would find a way to make it not a problem. Any issue that comes in your way wouldn't be an obstacle with a whole unit of people behind you finding ways to help you succeed.

What if you grew up in an environment where people were constantly putting your ideas down and making you feel as an outsider. As a child growing up in that kind of environment, it can only hinder the potential your capable of throughout your life. Without the people bringing you up supporting what ideas pop in your head, your bound to fail at trying to follow your passion. Growing up with an unsupportive family is exactly what prevents success. With no back bone to support your plans every step of following your passion seems like a milestone. Without a strong will and confidence within yourself, seeing your passion become your reality only seems impossible coming from an unsupportive family. With an unsupportive family, you have no help or "get out of jail free" cards when you get in a harsh situation. The only way to succeed at what you want to do in life with an unsupportive family is to go out and do what you want to do with the expectation of being self reliant in the world. Just as Chris McCandles did in Into the Wild, he went out into the world expecting the help of no one and relying on himself and his acquired knowledge to get him out of any situation. He knew his family wouldn't have supported the idea of giving away his savings or burning his money because of their morals and beliefs and that had to to with their standard of living. Chris didn't even bother telling them his plans of going to Alaska and living off the land the whole way there because he knew he could do it himself and his family would have only become a nuisance to his success.

Being able to fund whatever desire that comes to your head is one of the biggest privileges a person can have. To have the world at your finger tips with the ease of your wallet. Any thing can be made possible when you can buy anything that will aid you in your journey of following your passion. When money isn't an issue, following whatever desire you have for your life just seems that much easier on your way to success. In the Laramie Project, Matthew was a successful student in college and didn't have to struggle for money his whole life. He never knew the life of the underprivileged who had to work their blood, sweat and tears of having to pay for your own education as Sara did in Bread Givers. When money isn't an issue, you an get a lot done a lot faster than it would take you if you didn't have money, thus getting to your goals faster.

Not being able to fund your success can also be a major factor in being unsuccessful with whatever your trying to accomplish. Having no financial support your whole life may seem like a negative factor when trying to work towards a goal, but with an optimistic personality it may seem like quite the opposite. Not having money may just seem like another obstacle fueled by your passion to keep going further. Just as in the novel Bread Givers, Sara, isolates herself from her family, and puts herself through college with the money she earned while going to school. If you're that motivated to complete your goal and follow your desire, the lack of money available to you could only want to make you work harder for the overall gratification when you've finally completed your vision. Making it to the top from starting from the bottom and knowing what kind of financial situation you started in only gives you more satisfaction with yourself when you've reached your goal. Nothing can buy the kind of satisfaction you get when you climb your way to the top starting out from nothing.

guy in red shoes

Not everyone in society grows up with the same privileges as others have. Most people might see it as a disadvantage, not having the resources that would make you go after your passion in life a bit easier. But others see it the other way around. The lack of privileges you grow up with could also aid you in the long run and help you strive harder than ever before to chase your passions. The young man known as "the guy in red shoes",  Jeff Bliss, a high school student, was extremely set on getting every single advantage out of his education as possible. Having dropped out of high school for a year and then deciding to return he was eager to put every step forward towards getting an education and making something with his future. "What i soon realized was without that education i'm not gonna make any step forward toward my future",  says Bliss in an interview. His lack of privileges made him want to work harder for what those with privileges don't have to work for.  Knowing what he needs to succeed with as an adult, Bliss was extremely unsatisfied with the lack of effort the teacher was putting into by not just doing her job, but not truly caring what kinds of ideas and concepts are in her students minds about the subject taught. With a teacher with no passion for her job, Bliss was disappointed in the lack of effort his teacher was putting into interacting and getting involved with her students which was no help to students like Jeff who don't want to get cheated out of their education with teachers who don't probe their students' minds. "When i had dropped out and decided to come back i was determined to do better for myself, and build that future because before i had dropped out i didn't have a dream, i didn't have a vision from 5-10 years from now, and when i think of that i think of how many other students out there in this country are faced with the same thing. And that's one of the key points is it's not just my education it's OUR education, and if we embrace this we can make a positive change. But if we just wanna push this to the side, i expect to put the same problems again and again." Bliss knows exactly what the outcome is to teachers like this, and the stand he created was not just for his own purposes, but for the bigger picture. Bliss knows that not every student comes from a household that can provide the privileges that allow people to go after their passions, and that's exactly what he's standing for.

Video response relating to andrade video

(kinda random/funny/weird/idk video to relate)

Students need to work for their grade, they shouldn't feel entitled to what they think they've earned by juggling all their other personal problems on the side. They should be able to put aside whatever else is happening in their life, and be able to clear their mind just for the time being in the classroom. So that the classroom can be a sort of escape from the harsh realities of the outside world, and they can broaden their mind without all of the outside pressures just for a moment. Thus the classroom becoming a doorway to their success.

Also, the teacher and student can't prosper unless both put in the same amount of effort. The teacher isn't showing up everyday for nothing. The student needs to set whatever else is going on in their lives aside and apply themselves to the fullest to fully be able to grasp the concepts being taught. Students need to set aside time away from their social life to study and make sure they're actually learning the material, instead of just blindlessly reading it just to finish an assignment. If a student was only half paying attention the whole year, they will surely be flabbergasted on the final due to the fact that they weren't mentally there during class time.  

Andrade video response

The andrade video was very moving because it gave the perspective of the teacher's point of view. Something us students, never really get into the mindset of. Not only was the Jeff Duncan-Andrade's point of view an aspect, the fact that this particular teacher taught in such an area so concentrated with gang violence and was still able to adapt as a teacher and deliver his students the education they deserved."His research interests and publications span the areas of urban schooling and curriculum change, urban teacher development and retention, critical pedagogy, and cultural and ethnic studies."Not only did he go above and beyond to learn the requirements of becoming an average high school teacher, he studied a span of subjects that very well have to do with the students he planned on teaching. Studying subjects like cultural and ethnic studies, and urban teacher development and retention would help any teacher understand their students on a deeper level, and thus developing their own skills as a teacher by learning techniques for every kind of unique individual learner who crosses their path. If every teacher acknowledged their surroundings, and environment they'd realize what kind of students they're teaching and different ways to approach learning techniques just as the andrade video displayed.

Studying those kinds of subjects not only broadens the teacher's perspective, it also let's the student become more comfortable with the fact that they know that this person trying to tell them what they need to do in order to succeed knows where they're coming from and what they're going through the rest of the time that they're not at school. "Students have to feel like they're at home so if they wanna be comfortablethey gotta get comfortable with the teacher. We kinda have to know about the teacher and we gotta feel like the teacher is real, like he or she really truly wants to help us." If other teachers took classes or studied about different subjects that applied to their students such as social media, or classes on the ever growing technology our younger generation grows so easily to adapt, they'd be able to relate to us students continuously on growing levels. Helping them as a teacher and also producing a better outcome overall by producing more successful students.

What other teaching techniques are there that can help prosper students who live in similar environments?

How could they change the students for the long run and not just for grade purposes?

Why don't students take towards these kinds of techniques?

What makes going to college difficult for me (HW for july 17th)

While going to community college can be very beneficial in the long run for any student, saving money and giving yourself to explore different fields of study to be sure of what you really want to do in the long run. However, there are a few obstacles for the average community college student. The main reason students chose to go to a junior college first is due to their own lifestyles that interfere from them going to a University right off the bat. One of those obstacles being money. Many students come from families that aren't financially stable enough to support a nonworking college student, so they have to find work while also attending school. "However, because you have 15 credit hours on your college schedule, for instance, doesn’t mean that you can forget the extra study time or down time that you need to be academically successful." Finding the balance between squeezing in enough hours to comfortably be able to buy your books while also being able to buy yourself necessities is one of the hardships I personally undergo while attending college myself. Not all jobs are flexible with their work hours so trying to find classes that fit in with my work schedule is always an issue. 

From the moment we wake up, a working college student's day is already planned for them on a timed schedule. They have classes at a certain time, and have to be at work for a duration of the day at another time. All within the same twelve hours, and on top of that after their classes are over and their workday is done, exhausted and tired they drag themselves home only to have more work piled on from school. Another issue I have with college that I'm sure many other working students have is having the time to actually sit down and do the work assigned. At the end of the day, you're so worn out from going every which way to complete what you need to do for that day, by the time you get home your brain has no more extra energy to expel and that's what gets (some) students behind in their classes. "Most college classes require 2 - 3 hours of homework for every hour of class time." Many teachers, assign chapters upon chapters and review questions after class to be done the next day or next class session and not every student has time that particular day to do it. They may be stuck with a fixed schedule that restricts them to only be able to work on days they go to school which puts more stress on not only not having time for homework but not having time to study and actually grasp the concepts. 






"While there are some scholarship programs that may allow students to maintain a minimum of a 2.5, this is somewhat rare, and 3.0 or higher is the general rule." As long as you show it through your grades that you are serious about your education and are willing to put in the work, finding a scholarship shouldn't be that hard.
Financial troubles could very well be the most common problem for college students today. With so many jobs demanding you to be there for a full eight hours at a time, it's hard to make the money that you need to take the classes you don't have time for. One solution for being able to finance your college education would be to look for a scholarship. There are scholarships for any kind of reason imaginable.

It seems like there are never enough hours in one day for anyone. Especially when you're a college student with a part time job. Not only do you have to set aside hours you could be working for classes, but you also have to set aside time to actually study the material so you know what you're paying for during class time. A great way to organize your time as a working college student would first be to start with what type of job you want to have. "For college students, locating flexible work options means searching in more unique places" Many jobs that work well with part time students schedules are usually ones that are unconventional and aren't usually thought of at first when looking for a job. College campuses usually have programs where they hire tutors, and the advantage of that is that they work exactly around when it's convenient for you since they know your academic schedule. Generally, you need a G.P.A in good standing, but if you're on the lower end of GPA's you could also look into your local elementary school or middle school and see if they need tutors. Once you've opened your eyes to the different kinds of jobs the world has to offer besides the set 9-5 typical american job your options will open up immensely. 

Passion Project/ Relationship between Passion and Privilege

The video, The Passion Project, spoke to me because it opened my eyes on the perspective of what the classroom should also be for the teacher. Not only is it their job to teach and make sure we understand the concept, but for themselves to also be learning at the same time. Their job is to also learn new ways of teaching but also new ways to make sure the student is involved in what they’re learning. Not only to grasp the concepts they’re learning, but to teach that having a passion about something is also important."The teacher's job is instilling passion and I've had several teacher's who've done that, it's constant communication with students and constant reassurance." It doesn’t necessarily have to be something that turns into a career, as long as there’s something in your life that sparks a fire within yourself and keeps you going and keep striving yourself to learn more and never settling for just one answer. 

Another perspective that opened up to me while watching The Passion Project was the fact that not only does the teacher have a job of teaching us written material, they have the job of creating this sort of environment where we feel comfortable enough to broadcast our thoughts to others and gain insight from our peers. Teacher's have to be able to make the classroom a place where student's minds can grow with new ideas always coming in with multiple different solutions or additions to those ideas. "In a classroom it's like a home that people can be their self and let their thoughts and things out to other people without being judged." Students would never be able to strive if they didn't feel comfortable in their classroom enough to speak their mind and voice their opinions. If they were afraid to say what they were feeling that would result in an environment for the classroom where the feel is just tense and wouldn't encourage any student to continue coming to class. Teachers also encourage this type of atmosphere in the classroom with group discussions and "fishbowl" type of teaching techniques. "Allowing students to teach each other, grow solidarity, trust and comfort between each other allows for now to rid themselves of their time consuming ego and rather spend time paying attention to the different worlds around them. We find that when you're surrounded by others exploring and expressing you can't help but explore and express your own self, triggering the mirror neurons." In a classroom where others are expressing their own ideas and opinions, students naturally want to voice theirs. Their opinion might be almost similar but completely different when it comes to one aspect of the subject but with new opinions always being thrown out in the discussion, the learning never stops.

What is the relationship between passion and privilege?

The relationship that comes with passion and privilege isn’t necessarily so easy to see at times, but makes complete sense when acknowledged. Middle class Americans are so concerned now a days with making sure they’re children are set financially for life, they forget that they have their own interest for their life. Those interests they first show signs of passion should be harvested and cultivated as children to create happier people as adults. Too bad in society today, the only people that can truely devote as much time as they want to into their personal passionate hobbies are those who are born into already well off families. When children are born into families that don’t have to  worry about their child struggling as an adult solely on the money they’d be earning, parent’s are more likely to sign them up for sports or music programs to find something their child shows interest in. Which explains why private schools have more enriched extracurricular programs than public schools. Public schools aim to send their students out into the world with all the knowledge in the world to get them the best job and earn them the most that they possibly can. While private schools do focus on academics, but also are extremely more well rounded when it comes to subjects that aren’t textbook smart. The privilege that comes with being born within a well off wealthy family is that there’s no fear their child will struggle for money as an adult if they follow their passion. They can also fall back on their family’s wealth and do as they please. Unlike average middle class Americans who have to stress getting an education that will ensure their children will get a job that is guaranteed to bring them in some sort of money to survive, and just survive, not a job that will fill their creative urges and finances at the same time.