Engage Her: Activating Women and MultiCultural Communities

All my life I’ve wanted to go to college and graduate, get a good job and be successful. In 8th grade, a couple of students from the local high school pointed out that going to community college for two years and transferring to a university is the best and less costly path to take. It was in that moment that I decided to go to a community college and transfer to a university. Just recently, I discovered that the public university system is making it hard for low income people to transfer to a university, such as a UC or CSU. How are people who want to go to a university, but can’t pay for it, going to broaden their horizons or make strides towards the career that they are interested in?

Only 40 percent of California community college students actually transfer. Many people enroll but don’t go through with showing up and actually taking the classes. But the people who do apply to transfer must go through so much, and now that the state is making such huge budget cuts, they must go through even more.

I just don’t think this is fair. Some people who come from very little, who never got what they wanted for Christmas, who are used to hearing their mom say, “We don’t have enough money this year,” who are barely scraping by to get food or pay for rent, depend on a higher education. Some know how their life is going to turn out and want to change their destiny by going to school, getting a good job, and hoping to not make their children (if they have any) hear the same words they heard.

I think university should be more accessible for even the poorest students in California. Why is our country spending more money on sending troops to Afghanistan when they know we need it for the schools and for the youth of America to get the education they need?

Today is International Women’s Day which celebrates the rights and successes of all women across the globe. It is a day of celebration, reflection and recognition of the great strides women have made in our society but also a time to determine the huge amount of work that remains. While there are more women across the planet that now are receiving an education, participating in government and running their own businesses, we are far from achieving equality in many of those institutions. We need more role models, encourage more women and young girls to seek leadership positions and train the next generation of women to take on decision making and leadership roles. In countries like the United States where the majority of the population are women, we are far from being equally represented in the key institutions i.e. media, corporation and governments that run our society.

As President Barack Obama stated in his recent proclamation of Women’s HIstory Month “As we move forward, we must correct persisting inequalities. Women comprise over 50 percent of our population but hold fewer than 17 percent of our congressional seats. More than half our college students are female, yet when they graduate, their male classmates still receive higher pay on average for the same work. Women also hold disproportionately fewer science and engineering jobs. That is why my Administration launched our Educate to Innovate campaign, which will inspire young people from all backgrounds to drive America to the forefront of science, technology, engineering, and math. By increasing women’s participation in these fields, we will foster a new generation of innovators to follow in the footsteps of the three American women selected as 2009 Nobel Laureates.”

So let us celebrate International Women’s Day but let us keep an eye on the future and the hard work that remains ahead of us to achieving true equality for all women and men.

As a Latina girl, I have lived in the tradition of having a BIG Quinceañera, and it’s just the party I have always dreamed of.  I always imagined it to be in a beautiful hall with all my friends and family there.  This year I am finally turning 15, and I have been doubting whether I should have a Quinceañera or not.  My reasons are that the economy is definitely not the best right now.  I don’t want my mom to work more hours because of me, and have to owe people money just because I want a huge party.  I hate to see my parents struggling because there are times where we really have to dig into the savings to pay the bills that we were able to pay before with just my dad’s paycheck.  I hear my dad saying, “Man!  I don’t know what we’re gonna do next month, I don’t know if we will be able to pay the rent!”  It’s definitely not something I like to hear because I don’t like when they stress out.

There are also times when I really think about what I ask for – if I want new clothes or if I need new shoes, I really think about asking for those things because I wonder if my mom has enough money to pay for them.  My mom is the kind of person that, if I need something or if any of my brothers need something, she will give up something that she needs more just to make us happy.  I don’t like that she’s like that because I feel bad that she will give up her own things.

Even though the economy is very bad right now, my mom is throwing me my party.  I’m not asking for more than she can give because I know that I have to be thankful for whatever she can give me.  I know that my mom is doing her best to make this party for me on her own because my dad can’t spend more money than he actually gets at his job.  I know that even though we are not going to spend thousands of dollars on the party, it will be one of the best days of my life because my family will be there with me.

I think we have to be thankful for all the things we have and don’t take anything for granted because there are some people out there that don’t have jobs or even a place to live right now.  I just hope that we will not be put into that situation because it’s not something anyone would like to go through.  So, I just hope that things get better for us and everyone else out there who is going through the same thing.  :)

President Obama gave his State of the Union address to discuss the highlights, challenges and solutions to our nation’s pressing issues. In his speech he acknowledged the challenges but came up with concrete solutions to address our key concerns. Top of our nation’s priority list is the economy and creating jobs to get Americans back to work. While we face many challenges abroad, our key priority is for us to focus domestically on getting Americans employed, providing funding and tax incentives to help our children get educated so that Americans across the country can become productive, pay their bills, plan for their future and get back on their feet again. We need to all pull together as Americans and support our federal, state and local government efforts to support us and create a stronger nation.

While the economists and other policy types talk about the national unemployment figures still stuck at 10% in December, I think we all know that the number is much higher. There are a lot of reports of people who have been laid off, taken part time work or have fallen off the unemployment rolls because they no longer report they’re looking for work or are not eligible to receive further unemployment benefits. Figures have been put as high as an 18% unemployment rate and in some cities the numbers are much higher based on their local economies. The question is what will it take to get the country into a hiring mode again when people will become gainfully employed and able to pay their mortgages, bills and save for their futures. How can we offer suggestions and ideas on how our government and industries can create programs to create more jobs and to restart the economy? If you have suggestions, we’d like to hear them.

As a high school sophomore, I’m at the point where I’ve started thinking about my future education and where I’m going with my life. I’ve come to realize that I need to start thinking about my priorities because I’d rather think about them now than when senior year hits. By then it’ll be a little too late and things will be rushed. At the time, I’m still unsure what I want to major in and what college I want to attend. Unfortunately, by the time I graduate, which is 2012, it will be extra difficult to attend college. With the economy going down and the price of tuition going up, fewer students will be able to handle the cost. Just this year, some colleges’ tuition went up 32%. Imagine how much it will be in two or three years. By then, the price of a public college will be about the same as a private college.

But other than thinking about my education in a few years, I know I have to maintain good grades now and focus on the present. These are going to be the years colleges will be looking at closely. Being a sophomore, it’s still pretty easy but I know next school year will be a lot more challenging. I’m planning to take as many AP and Honor classes I can and I know that won’t be easy, especially participating in school sports too. I’m also planning to take the spring sociology class that our local community college offers at our school for a head start on college credits, in addition to a summer psychology class at the local community college. I mean, it’s free classes they’re offering and all I have to pay is the cost of the textbook. I’m not going to pass up this opportunity to take classes for free. I know when I graduate, these classes will cost money, so why not take them now? It may seem that I’m thinking about this all too soon, but being in the first generation of college students in my family, it’s never a moment too soon.