Nov. 2009

November 24th 2009 We had two guest speakers with two different high school experiences. Cynthia Renderos and Manny Ruiz are both graduates from college who came back to high school to tell us what we need to do or what we should be doing to get to college. Manny Ruiz went to high school in Los Angeles and then at Wheaton High School in Maryland. While in high school in L.A., Manny was a bad boy. He did not go to school at all like a normal student ought to be going to school. If he didn't even go to school, what were the chances that he thought of community service, extracurricular activities? NONE. In 9th grade, Manny was absent from school for 40 days...imagine. But that all changed for Manny when he moved to Maryland. Cynthia Renderos went to T.C Williams High School. While in high school, Cynthia was the opposite of Manny. She had a GPA of 4.05, and she participated in extracurricular activities. She was in ESOL classes when she was young and then the school realized she had a reading disability of seeing letters and numbers backwards but it was taken care of. Though Manny and Cynthia had opposite character traits in high school, they both have something in common. They both GRADUATED from high school and went to college and graduated from the University of Maryland. If you haven't been the best the whole time in high school, take it from Manny and change NOW. Do not wait till senior year and if you have been doing well the whole time, do not quit. It's never too early to start participating in extracurricular activities. It's never too early to stop skipping and if you didn't start yet, don't please. a GPA is not everything but that doesn't mean you shouldn't have a good GPA
November 19, 2009 We didn't have a guest speaker so we played a game. The game was about two groups of people from two different cultures. The aim of the game was to show that people behave differently because of where the come from. What you think is weird is something interesting to someone else. What you think is rude is nice to someone else--it's just like food, I don't like American food but Americans say the food is delicious while I say Cameroon food is delicious. I learned is to always be myself and be proud of where I come from and my culture. Be yourself everywhere you go and you'll find someone like you or someone who will like you for who you are.
November 14, 2009 We went to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. Food and drinks were brought to us for free and even our train ticket was bought for us. We had a lot of fun, took a lot of pictures and some of us walked about half of the zoo. We saw horses, elephants and all the animals. The zoo is free, you just need to find your way there and since I am in the club, I did not have to pay for a ticket or food. We are sure glad we're in the Libety's Promise Club.
November 12, 2009 Why is November 12th a day for the members of Liberty's Promise Alexandria to remember? Because we went to the Alexandria Courthouse. Why do we have to remember it? I'll tell you in a minute. Since we are teens, we stayed in the Juvenile side of the court. We met Judge Uley Damiani, Probation Officer Rolando Welch, and Sherriff Audrey Eskridge. Judge Damiani has been a judge for a year and she deals with Juvenile cases. Based on evidence, proof and the law, she decides your punishment if there is one. Probation Officer Rolando Welch supervises juveniles placed on probation. He told us just like everybody has said, --Education is the key to success. If you're going to be successful, you need education. In this hard economy, you might want to be successful. Take everything you do in school serious, stay away from gangs, do homework, participate in school activites and clubs, volunteer, stay after school for extra help. A minute wasted of your life cannot be taken back. Once it's gone, it's gone. Remember I promised to tell you why we the members of Liberty's Promise Alexandria have to remember November 12 2009. Well, I kept my promises. The reason we have to remember that day is because we went to the courthouse. Sheriff Audrey Eskridge gave us a tour. She showed us where youth get locked up for being bad, not going to school, drinking and doing drugs. She actually let us go in one of the cells and she closed the door hard. It stinks in that cell. In your house you eat whenever you want, drink whatever and whenever you want, but here you eat three times for the whole day. Sheriff Eskridge said, "Breakfast at 7am, lunch at 11am [imagine eating lunch at 11 am], dinner at 6pm and that is it for the rest of the day". If you do not like the food then that's your problem. After the tour was over, about 95% of us pledged out loud to never do anything that would get us in any kind of cell like that. Others may have pledged in their minds. We the members of Liberty's Promise Alexandria will always remember this day before skipping school, drinking, doing drugs, talking back at teachers, going late to class/school because we don't want to go to the juvenile cell.
November 5, 2009 We had two guest speakers. Sharmila Khushalani from Women Empowered International (the Home For Immigrant Women Artists). If you are a woman, an artist, an immigrant and you want to show what you've got, email Sharmila or call her. You can also contact her if you just want to be a volunteer. You can learn from volunteering. Our secound guest speaker was E-hab Abasaeed. He spoke to us about owning his own business. He owns a recording studio and makes music videos and other things. He started just making songs and knocking on people's doors to sell his music. Now he even works with Wale and others. We asked a lot of questions and watched one of his videos on Youtube. It was fun meeting them. And before leaving, we ate pizza and drank to the fullest.
November 3, 2009 What is Financial Literacy? Financial Literacy is when you know how to spend or manage your money wisely. What is a savings account? what is a checking account? How is a checking account different from a savings account? Who can have a savings or a checking account? Okay, why is everything that I am talking about related to the bank? Because our guest speaker, Steven Blanco came and spoke to us about financial literacy, saving accounts, checking accounts, etc. Steven Blanco works at Virginia Commerce Bank and he came to tell us how important it is to save money. He has been working in banking for eight years and six months. He is the Assistant Vice President of Virginia Commerce Bank and he is the manager of his branch. It was fun meeting Steven Blanco and learning all the above and more. If you want the answers to the above or anything else related to the bank, you can always contact Steven Blanco @ 703-360-5720 or via email @ sblanco@vcbonline.com Oh ya, we also ate pizza. Thanks to the supplier!