I live in a neighborhood where everybody knows everybody, outsiders rarely come around, and when they do they don't last very long. My neighborhood is my community. I have love for them and they have love for me. I love how I'm like the only person going to school and I feel no pressure to change that. Everybody takes pride in my successes and makes me want to do. But you aren't just accepted on day one. It can take months maybe even years before you become "one of us". It's not like an initiation, where you take some test or do sum ridiculous task and get in. It's more along the lines of an interview. I say this because people have to get an idea of what kind of person you are. They have to know if they can trust, if they can rely on you. You have to prove yourself in order to be accepted. Otherwise, you will be exiled or,  even worse, ignored. I've been living in this community for 6 years now. I've seen many people come,and many people go, but I can recall a person more recent. There once was a man named Noah. He was a loud mouthed braggadocios kind of guy who loved to start problems and rarely finished them. One day he messed with the wrong guy and was dipped and kicked into the ground. That was them showing mercy. When he tried it again his punishment was worse.Luckily for him he didn't die, but I haven't seen him around since. This is a pro and con of my community. A violent sense of protection is what is a norm around here. I may not like it, but I have learned to accept it for what it is, necessary.

Step My Game Up

Entering into Module 2, I've been forced to realize the pitfalls in my behavior. I would like to start with the pros and end with the cons. Pros: I'd like to start by saying I have been here and on time everyday since we started our time at Year Up. This is a feat in which I am highly proud of because it stands as a testament to my commitment to this program. Another pro I'd like to point out is how I am participating in class. I raise my hand at least once everyday, and always provide more insight to the topic at hand. I also am a very good team member. I keep in mind that there is a common goal and do all I can to get us there. Also my ability to understand the material is at a high peak. Everything gets soaked in like a sponge.
Cons:
I'd start with my professionalism. I am unprofessional in my speech. I catch myself speaking in language that isn't appropriate for a professional setting and would like to improve on that. I also have a daydreaming problem. I can't stay focused in class for some reason. It's like i have ADD because no matter how hard I try other thoughts pop into my head. I'm not a very good organizer. All my papers are everywhere in my backpack. I need a maid for it. But I think I'll take the time out to put my papers in a binder, simple right?
As long as I can keep focused on the overall goal, I believe my progress will sore for the course of our time here and beyond.

To what extent does a person’s neighborhood shape who she or he is?

I am who I am despite my neighboorhood, yet I am who I am because of it.Please don't let the palm trees and nice coating fool you. These buildings are fairly new, and therefore look it. But the people inside it are crazy. It's weird because where I live most people don't have jobs. Almost everyone sells or does drugs, and the gas station down the street lives in constant fear of being robbed. You'd think that a guy like me who doesn't believe in a criminal lifestyle would have a hard time fiiting in, right? Wrong, the people in my community is just that a community. They fight each other, yet they support each other at the same time. It's like outsiders don't get the same leway as those who been living there for years. The people around there support me, which is weird becausein the places I've lived before it was the opposite. People hated that I was a lot smarter than they were. Their jealousy caused them to discourage instead of encourage my positive outlook on the future ahead of me. I was very much similar to the kids around me, but I always knew there was something different about me. As I got older I became more comfortable with who I was and the people around me became cofortable as well. Your neighborhood is always going to have an affect on who you are. As human beings we are products of our environments. But what I've learned in life is how you look at your environment is more important than the actual environment itself. I've become comfortable with where I am, It's home.

Social Responsibilty

In this so called Republic of a country, we find that capitalistic principles still rule over our country. How can a country that claims to care for the middle class, the little guy, the majority American constantly hypocritically support big business. I say the blame falls on all parties involved. The companies that take advantage of the people, the system that doesn't do anything about it, as well as the people who willing fall in to these traps all hold some accountability for these things continuing to go on. As much as I'd love to put the blame on these money hungry companies', it's hard to put all the blame on them when the customers had an opportunity to read the contract. As much as I'd like to blame the people on agreeing to the contract, the government allowed things like taking advantage of such people legal. So, because all parties were in a legal agreement with each other they are all responsible for allowing things like this to happen. I believe, since the government would never jeopardize their own interest in big business, it is the peoples responsibility in a "democratic society" to enforce change in an unjust system as the one implemented in said document. To ask a big business to have some kind of moral upheaval even in my optimistic mind-state is highly unrealistic. But that doesn't give them the right to take advantage of people who are in situations where the people are in desperate need of the company's product/service, nor should the company give away to people that they are very aware that are incapable of paying them back. It's things like the greed showed in this article that explains why this country had to suffer the recession it faced in 2008 that we are still suffering from today. The sad part about it is that if we lose our money, the government won't do a thing. But, if the big business lose their money then we give it out like it's free candy. All parties involved are responsible, but the government is supposed to be the regulator of these kinds of things, and their negligence proved to serve the most painful blow.