#9

I make sure to own up to any mistakes I've made and rise above excuse making. If I were to always make excuses I wouldn't be able to get ahead in life, I'd be stuck in the past. I think owning up to your mistakes when you can makes you a better leader who wants to grow as a person. I think we can encourage others to rise above blaming and excuse making by reminding them that mistakes don't mean failure. If you blame others and make excuses, you'll never reach any solutions and work as a team.

I liked that there was an emphasis on listening to others in order to be an ally to them. This article points out that it is very important to keep quiet and listen carefully to the issues of other groups even if you are not a part of that particular group. This can be applied to STARS lead because we are learning how to be leaders for underrepresented students and although we may not share the exact same experiences as them, it's important to be allies with them and listen to what they have to say. I'd say this is a strength of mine because I love listening to other people's stories and figuring out what I can do to help. A weakness would probably be to keep goals realistic. Oftentimes, I want to solve the problems of every oppressed group out there. However, this is not very realistic and it's better to take baby steps to achieve that in the long run.

Students should incorporate some personal experiences into their scholarship applications and talk about what they've learned about themselves and the world around them. Also, it's important to have activities and volunteer work to add to the student's repertoire of involvement. This can benefit the students who are part of the Empowerment Pipeline because they may not consider their personal experiences to be that unique. When in fact, they are! Additionally, scholarships contribute to my vision of social justice because they give an underrespresented group of students a better chance of attending college- whether they be students of color, low-income students, and more. I think it's very important to reach out to those students and give them the oppotunity of "free money" BECAUSE of their unique upbringings, not in spite of them.

#8

I have heard about these issues before and have even seen the entire film. However, I can't deny how impactful it is each time I watch "Waiting for Superman" because seeing how educational inequities affect a family is never something you can get used to. I think if Superman were to rescue these kids he'd get better, motivated teachers in public schools. He'd make sure the students' families were supportive of them being in school and encouraged them to continue their education through college. Many students struggle with finding motivation and inspiration. Oftentimes, they can't find a supportive force neither at home nor at school. If changes were made in the classroom through better teachers and/or improved teaching methods, then I think this could be accomplished. A good way to get parents involved is through parent-teacher interaction. Also, homework assignments that require parent participation might help involve them with their child's schoolwork.

I find myself believing that failure is bad. It takes a lot for me to realize that is only shaping who I am and allowing me to learn from the experience. I hope to improve on this. Throughout life not everything will go picture perfect and I think realizing that will open up a whole new possibility of happiness. This article can be very beneficial if I ever needed to give advice to someone who was feeling sad or stressed. There is a lot of useful information to motivate others. For example, if someone were to say they're not good enough for college I'd tell them that no one ever feels 100% ready for anything and that the only way you'll know is if you try. You don't want to regret not attending college; it provides so many great opportunities to grow!

I think this was a great article to read before our meeting with the empowerment pipeline students. This can really help us all have positive comments to add if faced with students with low self-confidence. Now I know what to say in the case of very different impressions the students might have of college.

A great way to change the unequal distribution of resources is to address how it is being done. Distributing resources based on the socioeconomic status of a region is unfair and this needs to be changed. We can change this by pushing for new policies and, most importantly, by voting for local legislature that agrees with you.  If they are pushing for the same change that you are then it will more likely be done. If you want a certain change, you must vote for it!

#7

I found the meeting activities to be very beneficial. Drawing reminded me of what I value in life and helped me to re-focus on my goals and aspirations. The front cover of my card is a great representation of the good things in my life and it helps me establish some sort of inner peace even if only for that moment when I'm looking at it. I also really appreciated the inside of the card where everyone wrote something about you. I value this because it's always interesting to see what others think of you and all of the comments in my card were positive. I was really grateful for the positive feedback given to me. I think it's important for people to know their impact on one another. Especially the positive impact!

I plan to focus on not comparing myself to others. I think this gives me a sense of despair because I feel like I haven't done enough, thus, belittling my accomplishments. If I were to focus more on my individual goals and accomplishments rather than those of others, I'd be much happier. What makes me happy is reflection. I like to reflect on the good things in my life like my family, my health, and my education and how they all make me a better person. There are so many things I am grateful for and it makes me happy. I definitely want to allow for more reflection/appreciation time for the rest of the semester. I also want to stay away from excessive negative thoughts. The article shows that this only pushes me further and further away from happiness.

The capstone project is a work-in-progress. We talked about incorporating our meetings with the high school students from the empowerment pipeline into the final video. I really like this idea because it will really demonstrate our accomplishments in the STARS program.

I am hanging out at home during spring break! It has been a blast so far. I do nothing related to school all day and I get to enjoy my mom's home-cooked meals. I missed hanging out with my family a lot so I am very appreciative of this break. AND it's right in the middle of midterms for me so it's a huge stress-reliever. I might go visit a friend at NIU this weekend so that should be fun too.

As for summer plans... they are still in the works. My family and I might either go to Mexico or Los Angeles to visit family. Plans or no plans, I'm just excited for summer to come!