Community Prewrite

What: Devry Online Learning Community
Why: This community of people are all goal driven. They are all in this community with a purpose of success in passing a particular class.
Who: Different people from all kinds of backgrounds and ages; diverse.
Where: Students are located all over the United Sates
When: Each week we are graded on Discussion Questions we answer, provided by the teacher. This is our opportunity to converse with each other daily.

RIP Module 1

Module one was quite the learning experience, but it went by way too fast. Just as I began finding comfort in my teachers and classmates, I was moved to another section. Looking back at our previous weeks together I discovered a lot about my peers, as well as myself. I’ve always been told I was very smart and wise beyond my years, but never really seen it. Successfully juggling my college classes, Year Up program, and my daily life proved to me otherwise. I have become very organized with my tasks as well as my time. I’m consistent and always strive for perfection. I also gained good studying habits and note taking skills. There are things I still need to work on such as these infractions. I need to improve my attitude towards authority, and respect the importance of the dress code and rules.

A Product of my Environment

I was born and partly raised in Oakland, California and I can honestly say I love my city. Over the years, Oakland inherited a horrible reputation, but when I was younger, it had more life. Growing up of course Oakland had its good and bad. North Oakland, where I'm from, was the nicer side of the city. East Oakland was the liveliest and let's just say don't go to West Oakland if you're not from there. When I was younger I guess I seen the innocence in Oakland. I used to dance and cheer lead for Mosswood Park so I attended all the basketball games and performed at all the community events. I loved the fact that my city was so diverse. Everything wasn't all glitter and gold though, I've witnessed things a little girl should never have to. I've seen racist crimes, robberies, I held my first gun, I even seen my first body in Oakland. Being raised in my city, gunshots aren't new to me anymore. I have bittersweet memories about Oakland but it has lead me to be the woman I am today. I'm street smart. I know the ins and outs, and the dos and don't 's of the game. Oakland has helped form me a thick skin and taught me trust can’t be bought or developed overnight. My city made me tough and I appreciate that because I feel nothing can break me. For my high school years, I lived in Antioch. At first when I moved out there, I hated it, because there was nothing I was used to. There were no black people, there were fat houses everywhere, and I felt like the minority. Nevertheless, over the years I've grown to appreciate living in Antioch. Living out there taught me to be independent and showed me being solo is a good thing. I can honestly say I am a product of my environment. I took the good with the bad and learned from it. I gathered up all of the things I went through and used it as a platform to rise above it all. Guess what, I'm still standing.

The Poverty Business

“I don’t know whether I was more bothered by the ignorance of the customers or by the company taking advantage of the ignorance of the customers.”

-Kehinde Powell

The issues between these companies and individuals are a joint problem and it takes a joint effort to eliminate the problem. None of these companies are making these customers sign any papers. Companies simply advertise the pros of the deal and make everything look sweet. How else would they lure people in? The customers call them specifically for their services not fully understanding what exactly they are asking for. We, as consumers, should be more knowledgeable in what we get ourselves into. If you don’t understand something it is your responsibility to figure it out, especially if you’re the one seeking for services. These companies wouldn’t bloom so well if everyone knew the pros and cons of the deal. This is why middle class citizens are being targeted because of the lack of knowledge. Plus how else would they make money off of interest? They are looking for people who are unable to pay their installments quickly. I believe if people were aware of and fully understand the fine print, then this business wouldn’t be so prosperous. They need our business to stay in business, so why do we keep supporting them while leaving ourselves in debt. These companies purposely include the cons in fine print. I believe the government should step in at this point because it is getting out of hand. Before establishing credit, companies should require a credit or money management class or at least offer it. Credit and money management should start being taught in high school. In high school people start to develop their own financial responsibilities. Once it is taught young, by the time we are older we should be more than familiar with it.

From a Broken Home, But You Can't Call Me Broke!!

"The apple doest fall too far from the tree, explains why you see the Goddess in me."
-Queen B
I am my mother's child, her only child and I was more than enough. Growing up it was only me and my mama. What can I say about my father, the coward was never there. I eventually grew to appreciate his absence because the relationship between my mama and I is strong. I've always felt like she was the father and I was the mother because we had each others back and relied on each other.We've struggled, shed tears, and bloomed together. She is a very strong and independent black woman, her ways rubbed off on me. When I was 14 I made it up in my mind I will not be a burden on my mama, so I started working. It was empowering to earn my own money and do for myself. It also felt good to make her smile and take her out to eat from time to time. My mother is a queen in my eyes and her standard will never be lowered, I owe my life to this woman. Since she had to work a 9-5 I found myself lonely at times. An idle mind is the devil's workshop, and boy did he work on me! But I don't blame my mama for any mistakes I made because she did exceptionally well taking care of. I mean look at me now. If there's one thing I've learned from my mom it's MONEY over EVERYTHING, but in my HEART there's nothing over HER.