Graduating Class of 2008 =]

Well, since I didn't go to Alameda yesterday, I guess I'll talk about what I did instead. The reason why I was absent yesterday during the field trip was because Venus assigned Janneth and I to work on the slideshow that will play in graduation. To be honest, I'm kind of stressed out about that. Its really hard, not because of the program, but because of the timing. Yesterday after school I wasn't able to stay and work on it because I had to go get a Marcus A. Foster Scholarship, and today I have to go get the Aztec Scholarship. Plus, Janneth has the laptop so I can't really do anything. The hardest thing that we have to deal with is being "fair." Its very hard to please every single person at the same time. We are trying to make everything very fair by making sure that EFVERYONE comes out in the slideshow, but some people didn't attend certain field trips, and some didn't give us pictures. We are aware that the majority of the pictures that were take in Yosemite were by Mr. Thomas but he is actually in Yosemite the whole weekend, so we can't get those pictures. Also, we were suppoused to finish the video today so that we wouldn't be so stressed ou, but I feel like its a little bit too late for that. I also feel like we have to do this, because nobody else would have taken the time and effort to complete this. Its also complicated because we want it to be great, since it will be shown in graduation, which is very important and also very special. I want it to be a very memorable video, but because of the time i don't know if we will be able to achieve that. So in advance I say, we did all we could.
Besides that slideshow, I am very excited to be graduating, because I am getting closer and closer to when I have to start college. Although I know that the transition from high school to college will not be easy, I also see it as very exciting and another great experience. I really can't wait to have to be independent, meet new people, and start my path in higher education. I feel like I'm ready for college, because of everything that I've gone through. I know I'm going to be homesick though, because I won't be able to go back home as often as I would like. I will start school on Septermber 22 and the first major vacation is for thanksgiving, which is in November, so I feel like that is very far apart. I feel like I will be leaving everyone I care for in Oakland, and I worry about what would happen when I'm gone. I worry about the things that I will miss. After my parents divorced, for a long time I wasn't able to be there for my siblings, since they were living with my mom, and I feel like I'm leaving thm again. Still, I know that they know how to take care of each other, and I will make it a pririty to stay in contact with them. I always hear my dad tell me " when you go to college, you'll forget about me just like Lino did." He says this because my brother rearly called my dad to even say hello. I know that I won't dissapear like that, because I know how he feels about my brother not calling. My dad will probably get annoyed of how often I'll call home!!!! By gradutaing, I feel like time is really passing by fast. After all, it was four years ago that I came to Life Academy, and it doesn't really feel like that long. There are many memories and great experiences that I have of Life Academy that I will take with me wherever I go. I will never forget all of the great people that I met in this school, and my best friends. Graduation is a very sad time because everyone is creating their own path, and going their own seperate way. Its hard to think that after we graduate we won't see the people we normally see five times a week. Still, I don't feel too sad about it, but when June 10th comes along I know that I'll be sad then! Once we are on the stage at Holy Names University and we see our graduation slideshow, have a couple wise words from adults at Life Academy, and walk the stage, then we'll all be sad and why? Because things will never be like they used to be. The time has come to move on.

My thoughts

I remember that when post session hadn’t even started yet, I was already complaining. I don’t really like to complain, actually I get really annoyed with people that do, but I was mad that I didn’t get my first choice. There was one day that we had to check in with our post session class to get an overview about what it was going to be about. When I was sitting in class, I was more relaxed and calm. I must say that after hearing what the class was going to be about, I really thought it was going to be cool. I didn’t even want to complain anymore, because I did want to participate in WhysUp.
I feel like the reason why I was complaining about this class in the beginning, was because I am already a senior and I wanted to get my first choice. Also, I am not the most “social” person, and interviewing people that are complete strangers is not something that I would enjoy doing. However, during these weeks I feel like I have overcome my fears because sometimes I was put in a group where I had to step up and take the role of a of a leader. The way I overcame that fear was by just telling myself that I had to complete my work in order to get a passing grade so that m college acceptance would no be taken away.
Another thing that I feel showed how positive I was has to o with the Ice Breakers. Even in my senior presentation I say that I don’t enjoy games or activities like that. Throughout these weeks I’ve had to participate in Ice Breakers everyday, and I have not been negative about it. I have participated in those activities and actually enjoyed some of them, like the “red light green light” game. I feel like that is something that I wouldn’t normally have done, but in this class I felt more comfortable.
Because we went to many different places like Walnut Creek, Rockridge, Old Oakland, and much more I was given the opportunity to try different types of food. For example, when we went to Walnut Creek I tried Crepes for the first time. My favorite one was the fruit stuffed one with strawberries and chocolate. I had also tried a turkey one, but it wasn’t as good. Even though I had never heard of Crepes, I was still willing to try new things. When we went to Old Oakland, there was a Farmers Market there, which had many different types of food. A food that I tried was Indian food, which was very good. I don’t really know what it was but it looks like a type of tortilla with different types of food on top. I had never tried that type of food before, but I was willing to try new things, so that I would have a better understanding of their cultural food.
Overall, I feel like I was willing to try anything during this post session. In this class we did things that I have never done before. Even when we went to Lake Merritt for the pedal boats, I did that too even though I felt like I was going to collapse. It was actually very fun. I discovered that sometimes if you’re shy or scared of something, like interviewing people, but you still do it its even better. You are telling yourself in a way that you can do anything you set your mind to and that you really do feel like you accomplished something different. I feel like this has been a great experience even though there were moments that we were all too tired to walk, and what not. I feel like through his class I have become even more confident in talking and presenting to people. Well, it’s a combination of this class and all of the interviews that I had to go through to get scholarships and internships/programs. Finally, I want to add that I am so happy to graduate on Tuesday June 10th! I really can’t wait! Its time for everyone to create their own path =]

Walnut Creek

May 20th, 2008

Yesterday we went to Walnut Creek, and although I had always hear Mr. Dao talk about the “kids at Walnut Creek” I had never visited. I actually didn’t even know where it was located. When we got off Bart, I was very surprised due to the fact that everything looked
so clean and to some extend “perfect.” A perception I had before going to Walnut Creek was that the majority of the population there would be Caucasian. I thought that we would get weird stares from people there, because we are a very diverse group. Walking down the streets there, I felt like I didn’t belong. Several eyes kept looking at us, almost like they were thinking, “Where did they come from? What are they doing here?” I began to think of their perspective and maybe they were simply not used to seeing minorities
in their own community. When Mr. Lee assigned us to do 5 interviews, I honestly didn’t think it was going to be possible. Everyone there seemed to not like us, or feel awkward
just by our presence. I came to realize after going store to store that there was a lot of Caucasians in Walnut Creek. There were some that were friendly and some that were not. Many of them described their community as being very diverse and of course to me it
was the opposite of diverse. The majority of the Latinos that my group and I saw were the ones that were on a construction site. Once in a while we will see different ethnicities, but that was rarely the case. After my visiting at Walnut Creek I feel like it is not a diverse city or at least in comparison to Oakland. The other Latino we saw was the chef at a
restaurant called “Crepes restaurant.”
When we were at that restaurant, several of my group members were talking to the Chef. While that was happening a woman, dropped her baby’s shoes and exaggerating it, she looked at them several times very angry and said “Excuse me!” I thought she was just annoyed by us being there. Since I have lived in Oakland my entire life, I am completely aware of how my community looks and what
not. I can say that there are a lot of differences between Oakland and Walnut Creek. First of all, Walnut Creek was very clean, there was very few garbage in the streets. Another big difference that I saw was that the streets were very nice, they were not destroyed, and worn out like Oakland’s. When we were given time to eat lunch, I realized that there were no liquor stores, therefore there were no people just hanging out in front of stores. The bus at Walnut Creek was FREE and it had good air conditioning, did I mention it was free? The buses in Oakland are definitely not like that. I really can’t think of any
similarities because everything was different in my opinion. The food there was very different. We couldn’t even find a Taco Truck, like the thousand that we have in Oakland. The environment was different, the people, the air, even we acted
different. That was the day that nobody jay walked.

Old Oakland

May 30th

Well, with this class we also visited Old Oakland, but I hadn't written the reflection because I was absent on the day that they did this in class. Anyways, I hadn't even heard of Old Oakland before but I had been there. It is close to downtown Oakland and Broadway. When we got there there was a Farmers Market, which I didn't even know we had in Oakland. My mom lives at Castro Valley, and they had those too. Well they have a Farmers Market there every Friday and I was shocked by that. The buildings in Old Oakland where of course Old, but very cool. They told us that those buildings can't be renovated because they are classics. Anyways, at the Farmers Market they were selling homemade ice cream to necklaces. A lady that we interviewed told us that everything they sold there had to be made my them or homemade as they say. People there were friendly, but of course there were some that just didn't want to get interviewed. When we were walking in Old Oakland, I did feel safe, and probably because of this environment that we were in. Besides that there is also a police station on Broadway which is close by that area.

Another cool thing about the Farmers Market was that they had a huge variety of food. Can you believe that people there were actually giving out crepes? Well, now I know what those are. We also had a lot of other food samples, like indian food, granola, and other good food. Now that I know about the Farmers Market I might go some time! After we were done with out interviews we walked, yes we walked to Lake Merrit to get in the peddle boats. It was fun, but we were very tired and the peddle boats definetly took more energy out of us! Overall it was a great experience, I now know that there is a part in Oakland, called Old Oakland =]

The Castro

Hello People!
Well, yesterday we went to the Castro in San Francisco, which I have never visited before. I didn’t even know that it was close from Mission Street. It is very obvious when you enter the castro area because you get the feel of a different and united community. One thing that stood out for me where the colorful flags that were around that area representing homosexuality in the community. The streets in San Francisco are very different from the ones we have here in Oakland. Some of those differences include the steepness of those streets, which is one of the many reasons why we were exhausted yesterday. There was something different in this area than the other places we have visited, and I feel like maybe it had to do with the fact that most of the stores that are located in that area have been there for many years, so it is like a united community.
One thing that really surprised me was how everywhere you would go you could find those flags, even at a Walgreen’s. For some reason I feel like I assumed that it would be easier to interview people in this area, but I must say that it was the same as all of the other places that we have visited so far. It is not that they were not nice, actually everyone was very polite, but some just didn’t want to get recorder or were too busy. If that was the case, they still wished us good luck with the project and apologies. We did not come across a person that was rude or mean about it. The only case that was kind of close to that was when we went into an adult store without realizing it, of course we had to get out. The guy from the store didn’t kick us out, we knew and wanted to get out. The thing is that once we got out of the store, we tried to see if there was a sign “ 18 or older only” but no sign was visible. It was also hard to tell that it was an adult store because they had a lot of messenger bangs, bracelets, and etc. Well, overall I really enjoyed my visit to the Castro!

Absent

Yesterday I did not come to school, so I was not with my WhysUp people. I heard that they went to Lakeshore, somewhere in Oakland. Well while they were busy taking pictures and probably interviewing people, I was at the hospital. I have a long history of stomach problems, and well lately I had this weird thing. Whenever I eat, I can't do exercise after that. If I do, I get bumps all over my face, like an allergic reaction.
Well my doctor felt that I was allergic to food, which is nonsense in my opinion. I've been eating food for like my whole life, and out of nowhere I can get allergic to it? Well my doctor sent me to the allergies department, and since they didn't have a clue to what I was allergic to, they decided to test me for every time of food. Of course since I only have two arms, like everyone else, they tested 44 types of things, and then I have to do back on the 17th to get tested more stuff. After they tested for food, we found out that I was not allergic to it, and when they tested me for environmental things like animals, grass etc they found that I was allergic to cats, this type of grass and some weird tree.
I didn't know that in order to test for allergies they actually had to provote one, its kind of not that "advance" if you think about it. Everyone mentions how the U.S. has advanced technology and great health care. In my opinion, its a game of guess and check. If you're feeling sick, they first tell you to drink lots of liquids and rest. Then they give you something you could have bought at stores like Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Safeway...etc. But anyways at least I'm not allergic to the foods that I was tested for which were things like almonds and things of that sort.
I still can't believe that I have to carry this injection thing where ever I go, just in case I get a reaction so bad that I can't even breathe. Although that has happened before, I doubt that it would happen again. But yeah, I was laughing when they told me I had to stab myself with the needle. The pharmasits said, " Yeah if you can't read you better start stabbing!" I was cracking up! I wasn't right though, its a hospital, people are sick and what not, but I thought it was funny the way she said it. What did kill my laugh was when she said, " And after you have to call 9-1-1" When she said that, I wasn't laughing, I realized that it was serious and dangerous. It still kind of made my day though.
So yeah, that's about all that happened yesterday. I can't believe how many hours can be spent in that place. I don't really like hospitals and doctors, which is weird because I want to become one!

Rockridge

Yesterday, our class went down to Rockridge, which is surprisingly very close from our school. After all, Rockbridge is IN Oakland. I have never actually heard of this area, so I don’t think that I had a perspective on how it will be. For some reason, the name made me think that it would be somewhat similar to what we experienced at Walnut Creek, but because it is in Oakland, I thought that it wouldn’t necessarily fit into that criteria. When we got off Bart to my surprise Rockridge was very nice. As we walked through College Blvd. we saw many cafes, restaurants, and boutiques. The area seemed pretty calm, everyone that was there seemed to be shopping of dining at one of the many restaurants. The feel of this area, to me, seemed very chill and relaxed, kind of like Berkeley. There were many people riding bikes, and others just talking outside Cole Café.

After visiting Rockridge I realized that there are a lot of differences when I compare it to Fruitvale. Some of the major differences are that Rockridge is cleaner, and a lot of people are riding bikes. At Fruitvale you do see some people riding their bikes around the neighborhood and what not, but not like in Rockridge. Another thing is that the Fruitvale area is closer to more fast food restaurants and liquor stores, and at Rockbridge the only mainstream stores were Trader Joes and Safeway. The priced between both of these places were also very different, which shows how much money people are able and willing to spend on things. When my group and I went inside a boutique to interview a worker there, she was busy talking on the phone, so we were looking at the clothing prices. Can you believe that a women’s plain and simple white t-shirt, can cost up to $133? A store like that would die at Fruitvale because almost no one would buy a shirt that expensive. At Rockbridge I also went into a jewelry store that had very expensive prices. I saw a pearl necklace for $9,800, which is another store that probably wouldn’t survive in the Fruitvale area. At Fruitvale they do have jewelry stores, but not as expensive as those of course.

It is very hard to think of similarities between these two different areas. The only thing that comes to mind is the fact that in both places, it does feel like a small community. There are a lot of things that are accessible. For example they both have a Bart station surrounded by stores and restaurants. Besides that I don’t think it’s the same. At Rockridge it didn’t feel very diverse. There were a lot of whites, and Asians. Rarely did I see Latinos and African Americans.

Overall, what surprised me is that Rockridge is actually IN Oakland when it doesn’t even feel like that. It is completely different, but not so much as Walnut Creek.

Oakland - The Town

Oakland: Dangerous City, Negative Influences, Failure, my home

I was born and raised in East Oakland and even if I could change that fact, I wouldn’t dare to do so. Oakland is known for its bad “rates” but the town is much more than just that.

I remember when I was in 10th grade, a couple of students from my school and I went to Stanford University for a Student Summer Program. Students from all over California came together to discuss how we can become true leaders, improve our public schools and many other topics. We stayed in campus housing for 3 days, therefore we were paired up with another person to share the dorm with. My roommate was an Asian girl from LA. When I introduced myself, she asked me,” So, where are you from?” When I said “Oakland” she looked scared and she asked me, “Do you have a gun with you?” I couldn’t believe she was actually serious. I didn’t take it seriously though, I just laughed at her. By that, she became more frighten, actually.

To some extend it does bother me that people think so badly of Oakland. I have lived here my whole life and I have never been jumped, shot, or served time. Although there are negative things in Oakland, there are also many powerful and positive aspects that make this city very unique. Oakland has made history. Not only has Oakland changed hip hop and rap music, but also it has changed the dictionary. Of course, people that don’t live here only focus and mention the negative things.

Another thing that I hate is the low expectations that people have for the youth in Oakland. I feel like people don’t expect teenagers to do go in school, if any they expect them to fail. People that don’t live in Oakland, and even some that do live here, think that we (teenagers) can’t become a success in life because of where we come from. I am very proud to say that I am proving those people to be very wrong about all of us. I believe that it doesn’t matter where we come from, as long as we have our mind set to our goals. Just because I was raised in Oakland, I don’t feel like that is a disadvantage, or that other people have it better than If anything, Oakland has showed me how powerful we all are, and has giving me a sense of strength and endurance.

I will have to leave Oakland to go to college, but I know I will come back here because there is no place like home. I will come back to my community and prove that anything is possible. I know that there is no place like this. In Oakland we have many cultures and ethnicities that are not seen in other cities or states in the U.S.


To the teeens of Oakland: You shouldn’t fall into believing that what other people say about you is true. Only you know what you are and what you are capable of doing. Prove them to be wrong!

-Danni♥

Chinatown!

There are several times that I have visited Chinatown, but I don’t completely know my way around that area. The perspective that I had on Chinatown before visiting yesterday is that it is a place where the majority of the people are Asians, and that’s pretty much it. To be honest, I never really thought of Chinatown. Although I have passed by there, I haven’t really spent much time around that area. I do know that they have great food, and yummy candy from their own cultural background.

After I visited Chinatown, I don’t think my perspective changed all that much. As we walked by Webster and 9th Street, the majority of the people there were Asians. You could still see different races, though. On our way to Jamba Juice, I saw Whites, Latinos, and other races were rarely seen. We also saw plenty of Asian Restaurants, which I knew Chinatown had, but I didn’t know there were so many!

The major differences that I saw between Fruitvale and Chinatown was that the majority of people in Chinatown were Asian, and in Fruitvale the majority are Latinos. The cultural background of Chinatown is of course very different than Fruitvale. Throughout our day at Chinatown I didn’t see an Ice Cream man, or those fruit stands that you can’t avoid in Fruitvale. The type of food there was also very different than Fruitvale. There were plenty of Asian restaurants and markets. Even the smells from both of these places are very differently. Chinatown smelled like ocean food, and to me Fruitvale didn’t really smell like anything, probably because I am so used to it. Some of the similarities that I saw between Chinatown and Fruitvale were the minorities are the majority in those places, and the culture of them is still alive within Oakland. Another similarity is that they are not the cleanest places in the world, which is probably because both places have similar problems that are not being solved.

Some of the surprises that I had about Chinatown was that they have a “Crepes” Restaurant next to Jamba Juice, and I never knew about those before going to Walnut Creek. I guess if I didn’t go to Walnut Creek, I would have never known what those were. Now, I’ll be able to introduce that type of food to my family and friends. Finding that restaurant at Chinatown was definitely a surprise for me!

It's all part of a Chain

It’s a sunny day in Oakland, the kids are playing and simply having fun. Then, “what is wrong with this picture?” you might ask. First of all, when we were walking down East 14th it was no later than 12pm. Then why aren’t these kids at school? Where are their parents? And should that old mattress be part of this picture?

There is a majority of people that believe that Oakland is a “bad and dangerous” city. However, nobody does anything to improve our community. When I saw those kids at first I did not wonder why they were not in school, that didn’t even cross my mind. Is it because I am so use to seeing this that I become numb to it? In my neighborhood not only are there young children that don’t go to school, but also teenagers that decided to drop out.

When I see this picture I don’t see a group of happy kids, but some of the “negative” aspects of my community. The fact that our youth is not in school exposes them to a different type of life. I ask myself, “ Does this occur because of lack of support within families, and schools?

Now, the old mattress, it shouldn’t even be there in the first place. Trash is something that you see around our communities, why do people throw things in the streets? What comes to my mind is that people just don’t care. If someone is walking down a street in Oakland, and they don’t see a garbage can, they’ll throw it on the street. There’s trash all over the place, if nobody makes the effort to throw things away in the trash can, why should they? At least that’s what I think people believe. What they don’t know is that they could be the person to make a change, so that other people are motivated to keep our community clean.

We can’t blame someone for how our community is. It’s all part of a chain and its time for us to break it.

Fruitvale Village

Today we went down to Fruitvale Village in Oakland to interview people, just like we did on Tuesday but at Walnut Creek. At first, I thought that interviewing people at Fruitvale would be easier than my experiences at Walnut Creek. When we were in Walnut Creek I felt like nobody wanted to get interviewed because they didn’t really care, or they were just being rude to us for being minorities. I thought that at Fruitvale it would be easier because people here look like us and what not, but I was wrong. When we went to interview people in Fruitvale we were still getting rejected. I realized that when we were in Walnut Creek, we were not being rejected because of the fact that we are minorities. Everyone has there own reasons. For me, it was harder to interview people simply because I had difficulties translating English to Spanish correctly.

Although I have lived in this area for my whole life, I finally noticed something. I saw that my definition of diversity was incorrect and it changed. Before, I felt like diversity meant that there were no white people. In other words, if there were no Caucasians around than I would feel like it was very diverse. After coming from Walnut Creek and then going to Fruitvale, I realized that my community is not as diverse as I thought. There were very few Caucasians in my community, the majority was Latino, followed by African Americans, and the rest were rarely seen.

The positive aspects that I saw on Fruitvale was that although not everyone wanted to be interviewed, people here were nicer to us, and it was a little bit more comfortable. Also, there are many more minorities in comparison to how Walnut Creek is, but still Fruitvale could be more equally diverse. Some of the negative aspects of Fruitvale is that people are frightened to be in that area in late afternoon. It is also not the cleanest area.

Overall, I learned that my very own definition of diversity changed after interviewing people at Fruitvale Village.