A question that is asked often of me is how and why am I so different. People ask me this as though I am supposed to fit my entire life experience into a cute little nutshell. So that they can then compare me to their pre-conceived notions of how young black males are supposed to behave...
As my senior year came to its finish, I was faced with a most intimidating situation. Like others of my age and my position, it came time for me to consider how I would move forward with my life, in which of endless options of direction. I was made to consider what meant most to...
I’m waiting for my moment to come, I’m waiting for the movie to begin, I’m waiting for a revelation, I’m waiting for someone to count me in. -Keane Before Global Citizen Year I was waiting for something more… more than just the expected path. Graduate high school, go to college, graduate college, fall in love,...
Earlier today I was sitting the car wondering what on earth I was going to write for my first blog post, what little piece of myself I should toss out there into cyber space, when I opened a packet of dry roasted peanuts. It was a shiny red package the size of a tea bag...
This expression “smile in every picture because that may be the only one people see” is one that came to mind a few weeks ago as I was sitting in the staff room of a YMCA residential camp, a small room with two computers with Windows 95, three dilapidated couches, and an old television that...
When I applied to this program I knew I would be branching far out from what my other friends will be doing this coming year in college. Of course, I was excited to think of all the real world skills I would gain that could never be learned in a classroom. Learning a language by...
My name is Zuleika Lewis. I was raised in Venezuela since I was three months old with my grandparents. My parents died of HIV when I was 6 years old. In 2005 I came to live here in California with my aunt as freshman in High School. At the start of my freshman year, my...
About three weeks ago I sat in the garden of a home nestled in the heart of a tiny French town. My ears buzzed as I struggled to piece together the jumble of words around me. I have enough trouble comprehending when my English speaking friends talk all at once so attempting to understand the...
I think I’m probably not the only one who meets a new group of people and tries to create associations between individuals in this new group and people who I’m already familiar with. For example, I walk into a room where I don’t know anyone and – oh – I haven’t even learned this kid’s...