Center for Principled Problem Solving

MEN-toring: We are all responsible! by Will Lennon

By: Will Lennon, Jr.

As the buzzer sounded indicating the end of the game, I leaped for joy and began to thank each and every one of my players for their dedication and hard effort. We, the "Glenwood Center" had just won the Greensboro All-Stars City Championship in the 11-13 group, 52 to 45 against our cross town rival, Warnersville Recreation Center. I ran from player to player (imitating the great Jim Valvano after his NC State team had just upset the high flying Houston Cougars) looking for someone to hug and high five. Finally one of my players, Kameron Hairston, smiled at me with so much admiration and said, "I told you we would get it for you, Coach". As I tried to fight back tears I countered, "Yes you did son, yes you did".

You see, it is moments like that why I am so thankful for being a friend; a coach; a mentor.  No amount of money, fame or wealth could ever replace what I saw in that 13 year old eyes. For I did not see pridefulness, egoism, or individuality; I saw "BELIEF". I saw a child who believed in his coaches instructions, his teammates commitment for the cause but most of all, himself. And as I traveled from young man to young man, I saw that same look of accomplishment in each and everyone of their eyes. For me, that look of confidence and self-worth was worth more than any amount of gold.

I say 'for me' because my ideals of leading by example mean to physically become involved with those whom I am serving. In order for young boys to grow up and be morally responsible men they need to see men with a positive discplined character. Anyone can stand in front of young men and talk their ears off about how to be men but living the life that you speak in the presence of these young men speaks louder than words. We are living in a society where today's youth are being raised by social media. What ever the going fad is on Facebook, twitter, insta-gram and who knows what else, that's what today's youth are emphatically stressing to be a part of. Morals and ethics are becoming inferior to "freedom of expression". Now-a-days showing off your underwear, 'politically' being able to questioning authority (parents, teachers etc..) is encouraged and manners (yes/no sir), as my 17 yr old son tells me that his teachers says, is discouraged because it  "makes them feel old". Their ignorance does not allow them to see it as a form of respect. How can we lead the youth when we are allowing them to be equal with us. It's impossible. We, the adults, are failing them monumentally because our youth need positive disciplined leadership from parents rather than parents who try to be their children's best friends.

While I do believe in focus groups as well as one-on-one discussions, too much talk can cause groups to talk themselves right out of action. Enough with all the talking anyway. There is too much college classrooms discussions, city forums (in which many who are affected cannot get to the meetings due to meeting times, work or childcare issues), State of the Unions Addresses etc... but nothing is changing. If we were to spend less time talking to each other who are not affected and get out into our communities and talk with those who are affected then maybe a change could come. This form of organizing does nothing but cause stagnant community action as we wait on lying governmental officials to solve our problems.

Many of my fellow classmates think that we should hold elected officials, school board committees, and police officers more accountable for our social constructs. I am not saying we should not but sometimes we need to sacrifice time and effort to restore harmony to our own communities. While we are fighting school boards, traveling from door to door gaining signatures to oust a crooked politician, our neighborhoods are being ravaged by drug dealers, violence and thefts at the hands of misunderstood youth. We have the ability to make change but we are unwilling to put the time in.  In "Community" by Peter Block he states, "The essence of restorative community building is not economic prosperity, political discourse or the capacity of leadership; it's the citizens willingness to own up to their contributions, to be humble, to choose accountability, and to have faith in their own capacity to make authentic promises to create and alternative future". An alternative future starts with a group of 13 year old basketball players believing in themselves because a 44 year old volunteer coach/mentor, who makes less than $10,000 a year placed the community youths concerns in front of his so that we all can have a better future.

We are all responsible for one another and mentoring is the key. Did you know that, "Youth who meet regularly with their mentors are 46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking", also "Students who meet regularly with their mentors are 52% less likely than their peers to skip a day of school and 37% less likely to skip a class". Those two statements alone which involve education and drugs/alcohol are critical in creating a more productive future for us all. It has been documented that children between 9 and 15 are commonly at important turning points in their lives. It is during this time that they may permanently turn off from serious engagement in school life and turn to a variety of risky behaviors that can limit their chances of reaching productive adulthood. We are all responsible! Scott Holmes, a lawyer from Durham, visited my Restorative Justice class taught by Sherri Giles. To compound the importance of mentoring, coaching, and summer-camp volunteering, take a look at these stats that he compiled from an arrest report for the week of April 8th in Durham:  

• Sixty seven people age nineteen or under were charged with crimes in Durham this week. 85% were to people of color. 

• Seventy six people were charged with possession of drugs. Ninety percent of these charges were to people of color. 

A lot of this activity can be avoided if we as a community would just get involved in the lives of today's youth. We can not depend solely on the government, police, school board, etc... We have to take issues into our own hands, and guess what "Championships" are and added incentive.

As I calmed down a bit after the game, it dawned on me why I am so passionate about coaching/mentoring. You see 31 years ago, I told my "Glenwood Center" coach we would win for him the same-city title, against the same recreation center-Warnersville, in the same gym where my youth team played that day. As a 13 year old african american kid, who was being raised by a mother who worked three jobs, without a steady father figure in my life; my coaches trusted, hoped and believed in me thus compelling me to believe in myself. Can you guess what the reply was from my coach when I reminded him that we would win the game? Well I believe he said, "Yes you did son, yes you did" as he fought back tears. 

 

1980 Greensboro All-stars City Champs: LtoR Head Coach: Mike Long  Assts. Coaches: Doug, Larry and Don.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Block, P. (2010). Community, the structure of belonging. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Mentor: National mentoring partnership. (2013, April 19). Retrieved from  http://www.mentoring.org/about_mentor/value_of_mentoring/ \

Holmes, S. (2013 , April 18). The school to prison pipeline report [Electronic mailing list message]. Retrieved from https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1

The Scoop: What?s a Mentor and How Do I Get One? - College Planning

Rewriting the Fatherless Story

Drug prevention team wins award

An Emotional Connection to Violence by Khadija Carr

How often must we as community members sit down and hear of casualties within school systems? Violence in educational institutions has become a major issue in our country and many teachers around the United States are trying to put a stop to it. In the media there have been several broadcasts regarding stricter gun controls but perhaps the issue lies deeper than the bearing of arms. Katherine Gustafson’s article Teaching Emotions: A Different Approach to Ending School Violence featured in Yes! Magazine delves deep into the issue and suggests that social and emotional learning could potentially be the key to eliminating or lessening violence.

The environment that is created within school systems seems to have a focus on many key developmental aspects; the importance of sharing, the acquisition of comprehension, the intricacies of multiplication, and the like; paying little attention to the student’s emotional sustenance and communal inclusion, or lack thereof. Recently, the Sandy Hook tragedy has gotten many community members shaken up.  Gustafson asserts that those who demand the most modification of gun controls have barely scratched the surface in investigating how the education system allowed such a troubled individual to silently commit such a callous act in the first place. Former classmate of shooter Adam Stanza, Tracy Dunn, reported to USA Today saying "Maybe if someone had tried to reach out to Adam—maybe he needed a friend—maybe this wouldn’t have happened," Dunn said. "He’s just one kid who slipped through the cracks." Our school systems seem to paint the picture that intelligence and winning carry a greater weight than kindness. School teachers throughout the country are working against this generalized culture by encouraging group work and togetherness while stressing the importance of constructive problem solving.

With the help of The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL, "eight major urban school districts implement[ed] SEL programs across all schools and grade levels as part of the Collaborating District Initiative." Research has been conducted on adolescent behavior to help the team develop the techniques that aid in the student’s understanding and handling of emotions. Students are also taught to empathize with their peers in order to contribute to the ethical, deferential, and accountable atmosphere of the environment of which they are apart. This is an initiative that shows promise and can be used as a model to help promote inclusion as well as accountability for the members of our communities. Maybe soon the ever-popular phrase "Stop The Violence" will be a thing of the past.

 



 

Generating and Inspiring Leaders—Leadership Discourse from California by Henry Roberts

While across our nation, in the great state of California, I attended the Ashoka University Social Entrepreneurship Conference. San Diego University was the college hosting the Exchange of over 600 social entrepreneurs with ideas to change the world. One of the most common topics of conversation was that of leadership. I always knew leadership was essential to changing the world and after attending the conference my schema about making the world a better place was only reinforced. On a more concentrated matter, I partook in a discussion that focused on inspiring young leaders. Not just inspiring leaders, but finding the source where influential and intelligent people discover the passion that drives them to make change. From this dialogue, the focus group I was in coined the term “the encounter”.

“The encounter” referred to a very specific turning point in one’s life that triggered ambition to initiate change. That turning point was never attending a four year college or working day after day at a corporate office. The encounter specifically occurred from real world experiences. It could be anything from a special encounter with a lifelong mentor or an experience that rattles your bones leaving you no choice but to stand up and start implementing structured change in every way possible. I want to be clear here that I am not discouraging college or corporate employment; I am encouraging inserting yourself in real world situations and experiences that help you develop yourself as a leader and as a person. Don’t just sit at home, go on a walk and meet someone that could change your life…or at least give you an opportunity to enter into the next chapter of your life.

Social change is not easy; in fact it is perhaps one of the hardest things to accomplish after years and years of societal reinforcement. That is all the more reason we need even more inspired and ambitious leaders to take the reins of social entrepreneurship and change the world to produce the greatest good. One way to harness all the inspiration we need is by encouraging youth to seek out their own “encounters” and to voluntary change their own lives in ways that will enable them to make an impact on society. Every day I strive to find my own “encounter”, can you find yours?

Organic Cotton Farmers in West Texas Vs. Monsanto by Sol Weiner

The Texas Observer is one of my favorite sources for news from my home state, which that publication lovingly refers to as “the strangest state in the union”. In her article “Seeds of Discontent: A Texas Organic Cotton Farmer takes on Monsanto”, Eva Hershaw profiles LeRhea Pepper, an organic cotton farmer from O’Donnell, Texas, who is fighting Monsanto to keep their patented cotton seed out of organic cotton. In West Texas, cotton is king. According to Hershaw, the Texas Organic Cotton Marketing Cooperative (TOCMC) represents organic cotton farmers in West Texas who, collectively, make up ninety percent of the national organic cotton market.

Monsanto has a corner on the market for bio-engineered cotton. One of their most significant innovations has been cotton that contains a gene that is “round-up ready”, meaning that it is engineered specifically to be sprayed with Monsanto’s Round-Up herbicide. Hershaw quotes the U.S. Department of Agriculture: “In 2012, the [U.S.D.A.] estimated that more than 90 percent of the genetically modified seed planted in Texas contained the Roundup Ready gene—the intellectual property of Monsanto.” Simply put, cotton seed spreads easily, especially on the windy plains of West Texas. Even organic cotton is often contaminated with genetically modified seeds. So what is the significance of this phenomenon? Monsanto, based on intellectual property, can sue farmers growing cotton contaminated with their seed for patent infringement.

Back to LaRhea Pepper, frustrated by the inevitability of contamination from genetically modified cotton seed, she signed onto a lawsuit intended to protect organic farmers in advance from any contamination. Her outspokenness and support for this lawsuit have made her unpopular in her West Texas community, despite her deep roots in the area. In West Texas, any opposition to the promise of biotechnology is often considered treasonous. The economic position of most West Texas cotton farmers means that they often support Monsanto’s promise of increased productivity, and that they are not usually in a position to take on the industry.

I chose to review this article because I am deeply interested in agriculture and environmental justice. For me, this situation is endlessly frustrating. Other than litigation against Monsanto, with which individual citizens have not exactly had the best track record, what other options are left? The U.S. justice system is only one venue for change. Since I am studying community organizing (and doing some organizing, too!), I am left wondering if an approach such as the power model or the information model would be able to give cotton farmers like LaRhea a fighting chance. Has there been any community organizing in West Texas for policy reform or corporate reform?

What would community organizing in West Texas look like? I’m not sure. However, my hypothesis is that being in a rural agricultural area, it would have some very distinct features from food justice and environmental justice organizing in urban areas. Through other classes and projects, I am working to identify what makes community organizing in rural areas (particularly in the South) unique. Can organic farmers successfully protect themselves from Monsanto’s de facto policies of suing for patent infringement? We can only hope...and organize.

 

For more information about a basic definition of the various models of community organizing, including the power model and information model, both of which I mention, see http://comm-org.wisc.edu/cr/crreporta.htm

Picking Sides: A View of Community in the midst of polarized views by Chelsea Yarborough

I would like, if I may, to present a hypothetical situation to you. Say your house is broken into one night. Your belongings are stolen, your home violated and your safety compromised. You may not know how to react, you may feel scared and alone.

Consider that you know who broke into your house, your neighbor who lives three doors down. You took it to the neighborhood watch and showed your case, yet the neighborhood watch dismissed you. You then take the case to the police and when the neighborhood watch catches wind of your intent, you are told that you are "intimidating" your burgular and that you risk being evicted from your neighborhood. This, essentially, is what happened to a rape victim at UNC-Chapel Hill, Landen Gambill.

Jezebel posted an article explaining that last month, Landen and 64 other unnamed sexual assault victims are alleging that the assistant dean of students was pressured into underreporting sexual assault cases and violating the rights of the victims. In Landen's case especially, she is being punished by the Office of Student Conduct for "intimidating" her rapist by subverting the university's internal system of handling cases and taking her case to the press.

In our class we discuss community in everything that we do. In instances like this, the health of a community is at stake. How can we ensure that a safe space is being created for all members of our community? And conversely, how can we make sure that our community members who have been hurt seek the justice they deserve? If one is not being served through the internal protocol that is provided by our community members, do we have the right to air our dirty laundry in public?

I think that in order to ensure the health of this community, there needs to be a focus on healing who has been hurt. When one of our community members is hurt, we all hurt. It is not a singular pain. It ripples, creating chain reactions, spreading hurt further and further. There needs to be a environment that is conducive to making every member feel safe, not only to speak out but to dispute a claim. Once we feel safe opening a dialogue, we can then move into fixing what has been hurt in the greater community. The issue has been polarized now; you are either on one side or the other. But before we decide to stand with one side or the other, we need to analyze this situation more deeply and look at its effects on the greater community. By healing the relationship between community members, the community can begin to be healed as well.

 

What can we learn from raising rates of A.D.H.D. Diagnoses? by Julia Draper

New figures in from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) reveal shocking rises in rates of A.D.H.D. (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) diagnoses. We have reached an all-time high of 6.4 million children from ages 4 through 17 labeled “A.D.H.D.” This is a 53 percent rise in the past decade. Additionally, about two thirds of these children are prescribed stimulants to aid them in coping with their “chemical imbalance.” Better yet, the American Psychiatric Association soon plans to alter the definition of A.D.H.D. to allow more people to receive the diagnosis and treatment. 

A.D.H.D. is described by most experts as “resulting from abnormal chemical levels in the brain that impair a person’s impulse control and attention skills.” Treatment of this has helped many children with A.D.H.D. escape trends of dropping out of school and developing comorbid issues. However, millions of children may be taking medication merely to calm behavior or to do better in school. Apparently, the disorder has no definitive test. It is determined only by physicians who speaking extensively with patients, parents, and teachers. This is a subjective process that is rushed or skipped altogether in the interest of time and pressure from parents. Parents put large amounts of pressure on physicians to prescribe medication to “help” with their children’s troublesome behavior and slipping grades. This is no surprise, considering the fear-inducing advertisements disseminated by pharmaceutical companies, sporting tag lines like “I want to do all I can to help him succeed” from the faces of concerned mothers. According to Dr. Jerome Groopman, professor at Harvard Medical school, “There’s a tremendous push where if the kid’s behavior is thought to be quote-unquote abnormal — if they’re not sitting quietly at their desk — that’s pathological, instead of just childhood.”

In his book, Community, Peter Block explains the power of asking the right questions, and changing the context of a conversation. It’s hard to look at these statistics without asking questions, wondering if we really have more prevalent rates of A.D.H.D or if doctors are just more ready to diagnose and prescribe. It’s important to take a look into these answers with a different lens. Instead of framing the conversation with words like  “abnormal,” “imbalance,” “fear,” “disease,” why are we not seeing these children as unique, creative, and energized? We are so quick to prescribe medication, but are we looking at the long-term implications of this? Why might these trends be appearing? Is it possible that we expect unnatural amounts of calm and concentrated behavior from our children? Does quick diagnosis and “treatment” really empower the patient or can it create unhealthy drug dependencies and an over-reliance on others to create solutions for our personal health? Do these raising rates say something about our culture, or at least or healthcare system as a whole? Can the fact that this rise in usage of stimulants seems to parallel to the rising usage of pain medications and antibiotics in adults give us helpful hints for how to proceed in the future? What is the big picture? These are all questions, imperative to understanding this issue at its core, and thus ethically solving it.

Source:

“A.D.H.D. Seen in 11% of U.S. Children as Diagnoses Rise” 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/health/more-diagnoses-of-hyperactivity-causing-concern.html?ref=health

Future Health Professionals: The Early College at Guilford HOSA Club

Times are changing quickly. A Forbes study concluded that two-thirds of doctors in America expect the quality of healthcare to decline.  With the recent horde of healthcare reforms and insurance complications, many healthcare providers worry for the future of patient care.

Considering the need of the hour, the Health Occupational Students of America (HOSA) organization strives to ensure a qualified work force for tomorrow’s health care industry. The Early College at Guilford HOSA chapter (ECG HOSA) is one of the organization’s 3,200 chapters across the nation.

Each year, the State Leadership Conference is ECG HOSA’s most-anticipated event. The conference inspires club members to explore specific elements of the healthcare system, including Forensic Medicine, Clinical Nursing, Biotechnology, and Medical Photography.

Rooted in a high school of only 200 total students, ECG HOSA faced a shortage of funding sources. A daunting $800.00 state registration fee threatened to bring progress to a standstill.  Through a timely partnership with the Center of Principled Problem Solving (CPPS), ECG HOSA received a grant to sponsor 16 competitors to attend the 2013 State Conference. Held at the Joseph Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, NC, the 36^th annual State Leader Conference began on of April 11^th and culminated on the 14^th.  

Competitors arrived at their events, dressed in business attire and ready to demonstrate newly acquired knowledge of a host of other medical specialties. 

Through the course of one action-packed weekend, ECG HOSA students would be involved in everything from mock trauma surgeries to eye refraction demonstrations to nail-biting Medical Spelling bees.

For many, participating in the State Conference was the exciting first milestone in their HOSA "careers." These club members described their experiences as "enlightening," "nerve-racking, but rewarding," and even "life-changing." 

For other veteran members of the club, the State Conference was the capstone in a memorable journey with HOSA. Senior students like Matthew O'Neill (Treasurer) and Colin Hayton (Parliamentarian) still reflect upon their experiences and hope to found HOSA chapters at their undergraduate schools.

While the conference was an enriching experience for each and every competitor, it was beyond rewarding for a few privileged students. 7 HOSA club members were distinguished at the Grand Awards Session as finalists in their events. Even more exciting, three students (Danielle de Preez, Matthew O'Neill, and Rishab Revankar) will represent ECG HOSA at the National Leadership Conference in Nashville, TN. 

With an exciting year behind them and plenty more to come, ECG HOSA has demonstrated the initiative to lead the healthcare community in the not-so-distant future.

Thoughts on the Importance of Public Education by Ali Haridopolos

Brazilian education theorist Paulo Freire writes about the action and reflection praxis.  Through the process of reflection and action, Freire explains, liberation happens. I feel this accurately describes how I have been feeling this academic year. My community in high school, though it still exists when I return home, feels like a different life. This distance has allowed me to begin reflecting upon my analysis and what has influenced it. Accepting Guilford as my community now has encouraged me to act, as I have come to care about it in a deeper way.

Guilford invited Geoffrey Canada to speak for the Bryan Series on the 10^th of February. Though Canada touched on a number of topics, what resonated with me was when he spoke about his football coach’s influence on him growing up. Canada explained that his coach was someone who he felt had faith in him. Reflecting on what has modeled me most, what comes to mind are my mentors; people who took the time to engage with me in a meaningful way. 

Of course, in many ways this is a product of my privilege. I move through the world as a white female. I can look around and see people who look like me doing important things. Through grade school, my race probably influenced how teachers spoke to me.

I grew up on the Upper West Side of New York and went to a public high school that was exempt from taking the statewide exams. The school was characterized as an alternative and progressive public school that encouraged critical thinking. However when a group of students, community members, teachers and education organizers came together to critic the selective admissions policy, our administration reacted with hostility.  Our principal threatened students with suspension, threatened to call universities that seniors had been accepted to and harassed family members. I had been in the vice principal’s advisory group, but was asked to leave when he found out about my involvement in organizing. It was through this experience of organizing in my high school that I met adults who became my most influential mentors. They challenged my analysis, supported me when our administration was particularly hostile and encouraged me to not doubt myself.

These mentors had a deep faith in public education; something they do not share with Geoffrey Canada. They believe public education as the potential to be a great equalizer, however because of their intimate experience with the NYC school system they are under no disillusions about its problems. Hearing Canada speak this weekend reminded me of the importance of a public education. Not once did Canada speak about his school’s curriculum. Not once did he explain his educational pedagogy, philosophy or the importance of critical thinking. Canada has the ‘luxury’ of being able to fire ‘bad’ teachers, but what kind of a climate is created in a school where teachers are not unionized? Stan Druckenmiller, the chairman of Canada’s Board of Trustees is a hedge-fund manager. Gary D. Cohn is the President and COO of investment banking and securities firm Goldman Sachs. Have we forgotten who caused the economic crisis of 2008? Why should these same people be trusted to run a school?

Last September the Chicago Teachers’ Union went on strike. In the most recent issue of Rethinking Schools an article entitled “New Teachers’ Union Movement in the Making” described how the strike of last fall was a turning point for union organizing. The article detailed that politicians of both parties in Chicago are for “the marketization and privatization of public schools; pockets of “success” valued over educational justice; teaching discounted as a profession; compliance trumping professional responsibility; free market competition as the arbiter of all; and test-centric, data-driven regimens that crush student-centered quality teaching and learning.” What made the strike in Chicago so successful was the organic community involvement the teachers had. Activists from the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE) intentionally reached out to parents and community leaders, listening to what they felt issues in education were. It was because of these relationships that the strike was larger than the teachers union, it was about community justice. The strike last September was also not afraid to make bold demands. They identified institutional racism as the root of school inequality, demanded the end of the “educational apartheid” and that the “whole child be educated, demanding more art, music, and physical education teachers.” The need for brave, sustainable and all-encompassing education organizing is urgent. The strike in Chicago offers many lessons.

The private sector is encroaching on public services. Water, health care, prisons, and energy have all been privatized. Canada claims his reasoning for not allowing his teachers to unionize is so he can fire bad ones. However, is this rhetoric isolated from the anti-union politics in Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan, Florida and Tennessee? Laws to curb collective bargaining, end seniority and limit tenure are popping up throughout the country. In a country where the wealth gap is wider than ever, the role of unions as an advocate for working people is essential. Conservative Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Democrat Chicago Major Rahm Emmanuel are politically identical when it comes to educational reforms. The conservative versus liberal discourse does not have a place the educational movement. Like in Chicago, there needs to be organizing against applying the free market system to children’s education in a way that can bring communities together in a meaningful fashion. I do not claim the public education system is perfect, but it is what we pay taxes for.

 

 

http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/27_02/edit272.shtml

Surviving Violence, Trauma, and Loss through Creating New Discourses for Women's Empowerment! by Bianca Harvey

I was honored to have the privilege to attend along with several other classmates, this year's South Eastern Women's Studies Association (SEWSA) conference at UNCG.  The overarching theme of the weekend-long conference was Outrage! Discources, Practices, and Politics of Protest and Social Transformation.  I attended both required sessions on Friday, the opening day of the conference: 4/18/2013.  My first panel of choice was titled "Creating New Discourses for Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking" led by various authors, associate professors, and social work professionals.  The main take home message from this session, I interpreted was the often male dominated practices of sexual assault, female parter violence (domestic violence), and human trafficking serve as a perpetuating system of oppression that maintains women in a certain capacity within societal boundaries. Deanna Stoker, one of the guest panelist spoke specifically on the topic of Domestic Minor Sex Trafficking: Avoiding the Trap of Rescue and Redemption. From her presentation in particular, I learned some striking evidence about rape myths, such as the alarming high rate of 1 in 4 women that have experienced some form of physical/sexual violence in their lifetimes.  She also emphasized the importance of "consensual sex" among adolescent victims of sexual abuse/assault.  She stated that it is not inherently about the word "No", but rather about the absence of "yes" that equates to nonconsensual or forced sexual activities between two parties.

I agree with Deanna that in order for a more equal and just society for all, we must seek change in the Human Rights sector of public discourse presented to youth, children, and adults regarding sexuality, rape, abnormal behavior, consent, and support networks for unexpected crisises.  This topic closely relates to Gender and Sociology of the Body as it intersects with embodiment, violence, oppression, and sexuality.  One aspect that also stood out to me from her presentation was the resistance of the survivors they encountered within their agency from being depicted as being "saved" by a heroic figure from their trafficker. Thus, the girls that are forced into sex slavery are often expected to praise the sex trafficker or be thankful that they have been saved from immense poverty in their homeland situations in most cases. This reminds me of the story of Jessica Lynch from the US Military who was used by the media to appear as a "heroine of war".  It perpetuates the stereotype that females are weak, feebleminded, dependent of male assistance, and irrational.

The second session I attended on Friday afternoon was titled Violence, Trauma, Memory, and Recovery.  As my undergraduate career is nearing its end, I am preparing to pursue my MSW with a concentration on Substance Abuse and Domestic Violence within families and communities.  Therefore, this session really spoke to my career goals and the passion I have for serving this population of society.  In a round table discussion, we debated the effectiveness of domestic violence shelters and their security tactics from outside perpetrators gaining access to clients and entry to the establishment.  We also touched on the subject of racial trauma and how the "black" sinlge mother is stigmatized in society.  Presentor, Winsora Blanford gave a personal account of three minority women's lives and struggles whom she had documented for quite some time and found noteworthy evidence of racial trauma and oppression as a frequent occurrence within their daily lives as a result of their double minority status as minority women within society.  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this conference and will definitely consider returning in the future! 

Finding Your Place in the Universe by Khadija Carr

     In the fall I attended the Sullivan Foundation's Social Entrepreneurship Retreat held at the Kanuga Conference Center. Initially, I felt a bit mediocre compared to the other "changemakers" but as my stay progressed I realized that the difference between me and those future business leaders of America is that I had yet to create a personal story through passion. The problem that continued to stir in me was this terrible fear of rejection. As an Ethics of Capitalism scholar, I was informed about the Ashoka U Exchange. Yes! The Ashoka U Exchange, one of the biggest social entrepreneurship retreats in the country, and I would be among the 600 trying to make the world a better place.

     Soon enough, February 21^st was here and I was headed to the airport. Destination, San Diego, California. 30,000 ft. in the air, there was no turning back. I made a declaration; I was no longer going to wait for anyone to ask my passion. I had done myself a huge disservice by shutting out others from my growth. Though I had ideas of how to make social justice a reality, I still had questions. "What’s a good society?" "Who am I in that society?" "Do I have what I need, if not how will I get it?" This weekend was going to be perfect because these very questions would be answered, in a few hours I would be surrounded by a community of innovators and changemakers deeply invested in the potential and values of social impact. I closed my eyes and began to dream; I was soon to be enticed by an even bigger journey.

     Four hours and a stiff neck later I was waking up to the turbulence of our landing. Walking in the direction of the breezy air, a sense of hope engulfed my clouded mind. At the hotel we were given our nametags and itineraries. Tomorrow I would be attending a TEDx  event, an opportunity of a lifetime. Once there I began to think about my life and the impact I would soon have on the lives of others. Speaker Alex Bernadotte’s talk resonated the most with me.

     Bernadotte is the founder and CEO of Beyond 12. She focused her talk on education and the idea that zip code and level of education that one’s parents have should not dictate or be an indication of where children will end up in the world. In today’s corrupt society, many often fall victim to everyday pressures. This system seems to be so broken that many college eligible students are often not college ready, thus leading to their demise. Alex Bernadotte learned first hand the importance of an education and its ability to break the cycle of poverty. Because of her experience, she works hard to increase the number of low-income students who graduate from college.

     Bernadotte and the other speakers truly helped me answer some of the questions I posed before. A good society is one where everyone’s voice is heard equally. The needs of every individual are met. Access is not for the elite. Though I am one person, I am starting to believe that "[I am] the universe, expressing [myself] as a human for a little while," I have finally come to understand my purpose…service. What’s yours?