The Michelle Wong

Adventures of Dax Adobo

2011-08-06T19:24:00.001-07:00

Haven't been up to too much besides working and saving money for the big move! But we always find the time to walk the Dax and his sidekick Tara - and waste an hour making a video about it.

Summer programs are ending one by one, bringing me a little closer to freedom! You'll be reading about my summer very soon - despite a 300% increase in work load, it still could not be as crazy as last year.

NYC in 16 days!

University Day

2011-04-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

The Mayor's Youth Employment and Education Program's final program wide event of the year offers it's participants an opportunity to explore college life. Each year, we've taken advantage of UC Berkeley's CAL DAY event to showcase the livelihood of the campus community. The ultimate goal was that these participants, at the ages of 14, 15, 16 whose parent's often-times don't have the time or the money to provide that extravagant college road trip that we sometimes take for granted... looking back will associate college with fun and a place they belong.

The project came together in a few quick and easy steps, taking account of the frustrations of University Day's pasts and experimenting with what I'd like to think are minor improvements.

We partnered with UC Berkeley's Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, a community service fraternity that needed to fulfill a youth day service requirement that very weekend. We asked one volunteer from the organization, a real live college student, to accompany each group and answer college-related questions along the way.
After surveying the attendees with their discipline of interest (and entering them into my best friend Microsoft Excel), we sorted and grouped them - each group sat in on a session related to that field of study.
While not in session, groups competed savagely (mostly chaperones, actually) in a Scavenger Hunt that allowed them to experience elements of college life that I deemed most important to me: the college newspaper, finding a part-time job, watching a sports game or playing intramural sports, living in the dorm with roommates, joining an on campus organization, studying abroad, and comparing bookstore prices with the library.
The Scavenger Hunt also included an element of conversation where participants were encouraged to talk to the students around them, asking questions ranging from "what is the most valuable thing you've learned from a professor" to "can we take pictures in your dorm?"

Ultimately, the trip was a huge success! Though the participant's were hot, tired, and grumpy at the end of the day - the photos definitely captured the great time they had. Below are more details, stolen from the blog I posted on www.myeep.org.

Over a hundred MYEEP participants woke up early last Saturday morning crossing the bay to spend a day-in-the-sun at the University of California, Berkeley’s 2011 Cal Day.
Fifteen teams, grouped by their discipline of interest, toured some of the fun activities the campus had to offer:

The group interested in architecture got a chance to watch students at work in the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM) lab open house to learn how computer technology is used in design and architecture and watch a laser cutter in action.

Youth interested in art visited the Archaeological Research Facility and made illustrations of multi-colored, painted rock-art designs, helping paint a rock-art mural while learning how archaeologists record rock-art paintings in the field.

Our aspiring scientists toured UC Berkeley’s state-of-the-art molecular and cell biology labs, participated in the nutrition Olympics where they actively learned about healthy eating from nutrition experts from the Atkins Center for Weight and Health. Youth interested in engineering used mind control to move robots through EEG sensors.

MYEEP’s future business men and women hung out at the Haas School of Business courtyard interviewing representatives of undergraduate business clubs. Our mathematician participants used probability can help answer some perplexing problems like the emperor’s life-or-death proposition, crazy guy on a plane, and the classic Monty Hall problem.

The groups interested in the various humanities disciplines heard about “Life as a Psychology Major” from a panel of students, toured the award-winning campus radio station, and sat in on a lecture exploring solutions to the United States and California’s budgetary crisis.

The teams also competed in a campus-wide scavenger hunt. They searched for the perfect college organizations through the rows of tables and booths that lined the bustling Sproul Plaza and explored options in campus employment and studying abroad. Some groups befriended current students as they made their way into the residence halls to imitate dorm life while others caught the Cal Woman’s Tennis match at Hellman Tennis Center.

After reviewing the fun photos from the scavenger hunt, it has been extremely tough to select the winner. All teams did an amazing job of reaching many of the stops and collecting all the items but a congratulations is in order for Group One who completed the scavenger hunt in style with their extra creative photos! It was definitely a close one!

The winning group receives a sweatshirt from UC Berkeley and will be featured in next years flier! Great job to all the teams and a huge thank you to all the volunteer chaperones and youth leaders who really made the day possible! Check out all the event photos and the winning group’s photos.

It is our hope that youth leave the University Day feeling like they belong on a college campus and want to engage in college life. MYEEP University Day is just one of two annual program-wide field trips. To learn more about our events, check out www.myeep.org/events

Career Day

2011-02-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

The Mayor's Youth Employment and Education Program's offers three program wide event of the year. The first, MYEEP in San Francisco, partners with local businesses to offer participants a glimpse into the working world. A city-wide career day - if you will. We gathered all the youth at a centralized meeting venue - to kick off the event with a program-wide feel and a "look at the magnitude of this event" type show. Then youth went off in small groups, accompanied by a chaperone and youth leader to an assigned host site based on their preference as indicated on a survey.

Now I must preface this story with the warning that the boss gave me the insane goal of reaching out to and securing 80,000 work places in San Francisco to host our kids for a two hour career talk about their work - the number was later reduced to a still ambitious 80! I can attribute the only failure of this event to my literal interpretation of achieving this goal.

Getting people to take a small group of kids into their office to talk about their job for two hours, all on the same day - it just sounds like an impossible task. I mean, what are the chances that people would want to host a career day on our terms? If one wanted to offer a career day at his/her work, he/she would plan their own so they could have it on their terms. So, it's a good thing we started early - three months early. I started with the 30 host sites we had the previous year. I received surprising phone calls of confirmation from companies I'd least expect. I sent out more recruitment materials than I can count and emails from me @jcyc.org unfortunately goes into people's spam boxes now - if not from last summer's worksite effort.

As I began receiving surveys from the participant attendee of their career field of interest, we began to target our host site outreach. Surprisingly, the top choices were Sports and Veterinarians - which left me in a rut with no sports related or veterinary related sites to offer. Since we were very clear that youth who submit their permission slips early would receive their top choices, I did not want to disappoint. I wrote to every local sports team: our beloved World Champion Giants charged us a whopping $250 for a tour and chat with AT&T Park front office staff, the 49'ers are in Santa Clara, and the Warriors never responded... After emailing Cal's entire Athletics Department, they came to our rescue with sports medicine and physical therapists of the golden bear athletes. I searched desperately for a veterinarian which fell into my lap when I discovered from my old high school principal, Dr. H, (who stopped by JCYC after running into my parent's at a function and discovering that I worked there,) that my neighborhood veterinary hospital was family-owned by a JCYC family!

In the end, we secured 60 worksites but a new problem arose of not enough participant attendees. My boss would assure me that this is actually a great problem to have - but it did have its frustrations. First, we began allowing late permission slips so that we could fill the groups from 3-4 to our goal of 6-8 which contradicted our life lesson of respecting deadlines. Second, I was torn by forceful hand of placing youth in their lowest choices - not because their top choice was full, but because we needed to fill the host sites of their lower choices. At the last minute, we partnered with more youth groups to offer the opportunity to the youth served by Mission Graduates and JCYC's Japanese Youth Leaders. The list remained non-finalize-able to the very day before the event, and worksites kept demanding to know who and how many to expect - I was a hot mess!

The final hiccup of the entire event, with the expected exception of flakey youth, was the venue. We reserved the Elks Lodge at the Kensington Park Hotel with the belief that the room would be set up as requested - the Elks did no such thing. We scrambled to set up turning stacked chairs in a locked closet into 30 small + 2 large circles with a balloon to indicate the group number - 100 youth, 300 sandwiches, and 2 reporters from the SF Chronicle to arrive within the next 30 minutes! Fortunately, we have some amazing participants - those arriving early were eager to help and later rewarded for their moxy.

Ultimately, some groups were dispersed on account of a high ratio of no-shows - but each group left for a rousing visit to a worksite. Below, please enjoy the press release I wrote and now stole from the www.myeep.org blog!

Hundreds of youth spent their day off from school supplementing their education gaining insight about the careers that interest them. Over fifty local businesses generously opened their doors to provide a glimpse of their work setting and allowed youth to dig their hands and minds into work representative of those careers.

Over 50 local businesses voluntarily filled the San Francisco Unified School District schedule/budget gap with career guidance, industry insights and a small sample of real-world job tasks and training.

The career day is an annual event put together by the Mayor’s Youth Employment and Education Program and serves the youth from several of the Japanese Community Youth Council’s programs, all focused on providing high school youth with resources for college and career success.

Following a series of projects that asked program participants to consider their career and education goals, each student completed a survey that indicates which industries they want to learn more about.

On February 4, 2011, they gathered at the Elks Lodge to discover what business would host them for a career day visit and departed in smaller groups.

Many local businesses have toyed with the idea of having some sort of career day, but they just did not know where to start. As the largest employer of youth in San Francisco, MYEEP in SF not only gives young people a chance to learn more about careers that aligned with their interests, but also allows local businesses to create their own event for a group that has already expressed interested in that industry.

Additionally, the event’s success is largely attributed to the team of volunteer chaperones. MYEEP’s partnership with several community-based organizations recruits volunteer chaperones that have a background in youth development and can assist with discussion facilitation and reflection.

Here are the organizations that participated in 2011:

Here are some quotes, poems and drawings taken from the youth reflection activity winners:

– Kaythari Phon on Bi-Rite Market & Creamery, MYEEP Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center

– Sean FitzHoward on Arguello Pet Hospital, MYEEP Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center

“What I liked most about this site was that it had many extraordinary things that you don’t see in everyday life such as different sharks, fishes, mammals, and other kinds of animals. Learning about biology will someday make me successful in this type of career.”
- Ivan Yu on Aquarium of the Bay, SF YouthWorks

“Me gusto acariciar a los gatitos. Tambien me asombre bastante cuando mire operando a un gatito me di cuenta de algo que me hizo reflexionar bastante fue: Que ha estas personas realmente les ofrecen carino y si en el futuro me gustaria ayudarlos ya que ellos no recibien ayuda del gobierno. Gracias a MYEEP pude conocer cosas asombrosas.”

English Translation: I liked petting the kittens. I was also was really amazed when I watched them operating on a kitten. I realized something that made me think a lot: these are people who really care. Yes, in the future I would like to help them, since they don’t get help from the government. Thank you MYEEP for allowing me to encounter these marvelous things.

- Zindy Rodas on SPCA San Francisco, MYEEP Jewish Vocational Services

“When I first learned I was going to Salesforce I wasn’t exactly pumped. But when I got into the office I was amazed at how beautiful and lively the office was that alone got me interested. The presenters were AWESOME. They took seemingly boring jobs and broke them down into easily understandable language and made the jobs sound more meaningful.”
- Helen Totterdell on Salesforce, SFYouthWorks

“I got to see how heavy the equipment actually was. I also learned that the total weight of the equipment is like 100+ pounds. Also, the truck carries 750 gallons of water and it costs like $750,000 – $1 million. I liked how the vibe was and that the firefighters were really nice and friendly.”
- Wendy Wong on SF Fire Department, MYEEP Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center

Science for A Day

A day at a science field I feel great

Sitting on a bench writing my reflection

Science is great, wide and broad

So explore the doors that open to you

Science is no limit

You could be sitting in lab writing your research

Or check the cool behavior of mice

You could do this or the things you like

Because the science is in you.

- Soknay Lim on UCSF, MYEEP Vietnamese Youth Development Center

—————————————

Read more about the event in the San Francisco Chronicle here.

Family Cruise along the Mexican Riviera

2011-01-24T11:54:00.000-08:00

The summer of 2009, the Chiu family embarked on a 7-day Royal Caribbean cruise – destinations: Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas. They came back with tales of sliding down waterfalls, dancing with dolphins, and cuddling with lion cubs. I, on the other hand, could not afford to take a week off work if I wanted to pay my rent. I remember my grandmother’s pride and joy puppy, Tara, was in my care for three days when my boss sent my on a 15-hour work day journey around Los Angeles county, bring 700 DVDs here, pick up 1400 DVDs here, drop off 2000 DVDs here, and pick up 200 DVDs here – only to be chewed out the following day because the traffic that prolonged the tasks made it cheaper to have just had all these transactions carried out by mail. It was then I decided: I hated my job, hated being a dependent upon it to make rent, and it was time to move home.

A year later, my other side of the family celebrated our triumphant battle against cancer with the same cruise during the cheapest time of year to sail – January 2011. Despite the plethora of challenges to getting the Wong gang together, we set sail on a mission to experience all the stories we heard, first hand.

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Of course, the excursions offered by the ship were ridiculously over priced and legitimate zip lining services cost arms and legs figuratively. We risked our arms and legs literally by negotiating with shady tour dealers on port securing the lowest bidder. Thus our day of gliding across canyons began on the set of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s film, Predator, supposedly.

We also saw a baby porcupine!

Mazatlan, Mexico

In Mazatlan, most of the family stuck together, sharing a tour van and seeking a cheap massage. For $18 an hour, I single-handedly ruined everyone’s tranquility with my AK-47 full of questions. I needed to learn more about my masseuse - twenty three and beautiful, how different our lives could be… She was actually born in Mazatlan but raised and attended public education in Texas, attained her diploma. Our lives diverge a bit at 18 when she gets married, divorced, then forced to move back home with her parents massaging tourist for $50 USD a week. Who am I to judge, living at home with my parents – I can only wonder why the United States public education system couldn’t prevent her from returning to a “cheap labor” life from which she was born into. She seemed happy though. I left a big(ger) tip, ate a street tamale at the flea market and boy did my stomach pay for it later.

Cabo San Lucas

I love to ride the waves aboard the ship’s tender, especially when entering such a beautifully developed port as Cabo San Lucas! I almost decided on a major career change when I cuddled up against the most adorable creature I’ve ever hugged. I would like to make a point, at some point in my adult life, to spend a week volunteering with baby lion cubs in Africa. This thought also follows a documentary I watched while aboard the ship of a team who cared for a rare species of tigers.

This final day of the cruise most successfully kept our group together. We, then, harassed some dolphins in the marine aquatic center, tapping hastily at the glass for their attention. Uncle Toby got a great shot, see below. The town was clean with tiled roads and clear street signs. We spent most of the day at Happy Endings Bar (great place!) before hunting up and down the main road for the cheapest massage.

Other notes

Before departure, I took some time to chat with our room attendant that I casually and politely said “Hi” and “Bye” to each day. I knew that this international business’s recruitment of crew and staff depends on the desperation of people from third world countries that would be happy to work below the United States standards for minimum wage – I just didn’t know exactly how it worked. I fired question after question to discover this Filipino man from the northern part of the country (like Edward’s family) spends 10 months out of the year at sea and away from his family, working 12 hour days for roughly a thousand dollars a month. They do venture onto land, every so often, but dine several decks below the rest of us because, apparently, some cruise-go-ers would be appalled to dine with the staff that serves them.

Another thing I kept noticing during this trip, the people expected tourist to give them money for every little task person helped us with - tasks that Americans would consider general courteousness or simply expect from most polite passersby. When our taxi pulled up at the Walmart (I know, who goes to Walmart while on vacation?) two young boys hurried to our door to open them, followed by open palms anxiously awaiting a tip. You couldn't so much as take a photo of something without being hounded for a tip: sand castles, rock divers, etc. The one that surprised me most was a man who owned a pet iguana, walking around with it on his shoulder in his shop, who then allowed us to take photographs with it. He said, "no charge, just tip!" This wasn't this man's livelihood, he had a shop selling knick-knacks, it was just an opportunity for him to see if we would give him money. Worst of all, we did.

Here's my dad's photo. It'll cost ya a tip to look at it.

Michelle & That Damn Bridges Program

2011-01-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

A good 50% of the reason I’ve disappeared is in great gratitude to the Office of Economic and Workforce Development and the Japanese Community Youth Council. After volunteering a few hours with San Francisco YouthWorks, 10-hour weeks of casual employment, bumped up to 15-hours demonstrated not only my desperation for employment, but also the talents that would come to serve 186 at-risk youth throughout San Francisco.

It came as an honor, really, when the directors of San Francisco Youth Works and the Mayor’s Youth Employment and Education Program came to me with the scariest of endeavors. Understanding my fear and inexperience of direct service (to inner-city youth, yikes) and my knack for talking my way into anything I wanted, they paired me with a fellow JCYC youth program alumnus to design our very own youth employment program for the summer - San Francisco Bridges To Success!

Now it may not be common knowledge that the San Francisco Unified School District and City College of San Francisco were unable to provide summer school. That means that millions of youth were left to wander the streets (an exaggeration) against the common belief that summer should be utilized to “get ahead.” But SOMEHOW, money came to JCYC, experts in youth employment, in every direction to fund the Summer Work Experience Program, the Summer Youth Employment Program (for 17-21 year old), and our own SFBTS (16-18 years old.)

Here I learn, first-hand, the bittersweet Workforce Investment Act, which provided this great opportunity, comes with the expense of hours wasted monitoring, reporting, and auditing. I don’t mean to knock the program, but there were many times where things were asked of me that I regrettably saw as time that could have been spent assisting youth and ensuring actual programmatic accountability – rather than chasing down documentation of it. I suppose that is why I served as the project manager and not any sort of direct service or case management staff, initially at least. But we carry on.

The program operated through 4 (briefly 5) subcontracted community-based organizations. On our side, my partner and I were ensure our program met the contract’s requirements: 50% academic enrichment and 50% work experience revolved around Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This meant developing STEM-related curriculum for a 6-week program for the CBO’s to conduct, provide pre-job readiness training and a placement for them to work as temporary subsidized workers.

A teams of us was 100% behind worksite development meeting the challenge of there just not being enough workplaces in San Francisco willing to accept temporary assistance from a high school youth because it meant training the skill-less while tolerating unreliable and, often-times, poor work ethic for not much reward. Not to mention there were several programs looking to put youth to work – must of had over a thousand youth came from JCYC’s programs alone! Not to mention that a good chunk, about 40 participants spoke little or no English and needed a supervisor that could accommodate them.

Our second challenge was designing curriculum that would re-engage a young person who has already suffered disappointment and lack of goals/motivation from our low-budget public school system. Under the ambiguous guidance of MYEEP’s director, we provided activities aimed at real world application of STEM concepts: the science of the human body and engineering of a bridge through building miniature models, technology through basic computer skills, and math through understanding budgets, saving, investing and credit. The 48 hours we wrote up sounded like a fun and educational summer – the bureaucratic delays complicated their execution.

What was supposed to be mid-way through the program, many youth still without worksites attended academic enrichment workshops 100% of the time, upset because they had signed up for a summer job – not what it felt like to them: summer school. I finally stepped out of what we called “The War Room” and into the Bridges battlefield, observing youth workshops and visiting youth worksites. Worksite development continued even past program end dates, when another program ended the supervisors were offered interns from our program as replacements. At the programs proposed end date, August 13, youth continued to enroll and sub-contractor contracts extended. We eventually met our numbers and my boss alleviated my concerns with, “we succeeded - kids were working.”

From the standpoint of the community’s mission, the youth were receiving a beneficial service that they would not otherwise have – learning English for those that couldn’t, positive adult interaction for those that lacked it, and making money to support their newborn children or impoverished parents. I, a stranger to the environment, was there to ask what other support I could provide them around their career and education goals, which I soon became the sole source of which they would receive them.

The summer was over, my team dispersed into new full-time opportunities, my partner shifted programs, my new partner moved to New York. As our sub-contractors checked out of their responsibilities, I checked into direct service. I used the brainstorming sessions I held during workshops to design post-program events that I had a bit more quality control over.

The number one concern, as Bridges was ending, was if there were more jobs available. As an expert job searcher (ask anyone!) I looked religiously for opportunities suitable for them - an email came to my inbox from a little organization called MatchBridge. Another city funded program (DCYF), MatchBridge, with my best explainer hat, does not guarantee jobs but rather has connections to employers give its members, young people that pass screening requirements, to have an advantage in their job search. Speaking to two young ladies and at their request for job search assistance, I provided one-on-one coaching to assist them in joining MatchBridge and access their wide array of holiday retail opportunities. Following the successful one-on-one pow-wows, I strengthened ties with the MatchBridge staff and direct all my impressionable youth to join and take advantage of their services! The beauty of this particular service - they aren’t youth programs, they are real jobs and connection to real employers.

After hearing them announce their career interests: Real estate! Cooking! Music recording! Cosmetology! Nursing! I began planning our first event that would bring them all together – the Career Exploration Speaker Series. Determined to give them exactly what they asked for, I gathered panelist and youth program representatives from six industries: 1) Visual Performing Arts and Multimedia, 2) Culinary Arts and Hospitality, 3) Health Care, 4) Health Care, 5) Architecture and Construction, and 6) Law and Law Enforcement, and wrapped up the week with an overview of College options. With over 50% of the contact information I had being out-of-date and little/no leverage to convince them to attend, the event drained every bit of passion I had for helping people who just did not want it. It took the one-week holiday from the office to really recollect and remember why I was doing this, and I can really attribute my revival to one young woman from the program.

Back up to Mid-December, SF YouthWorks released their application recruiting new interns which allowed me to dangle a new piece of bait to youth to allow me to assist them – I had jobs! One by one they requested one-on-one assistance to complete their SF YouthWorks applications, which generated more interest in joining MatchBridge as well. I met with several youth, and some of their friends too, and learned about where they came from and where they hope to be one day.

One young woman expressed interest in law and becoming a Public Defender. I, exploring law myself, casually mentioned my hope to observe the courts the following week to learn a bit about the experience. The night before my intended visit, I received a text from her around 11pm, “When are we going to court.” I let her know that my plans had been cancelled since my friend couldn’t make it anymore – but we decided to go and figure it out ourselves.

We spent the morning at 850 Bryant, in-and-out of court rooms, chasing down an attorney to ask her questions, talking to a young couple on their sentencing day - you know, the way I like to spend my days off work. She kept saying they were there for the paycheck and didn’t understand they had someone’s life in their hand; I point out the stack of files and that a Public Defender could potentially have hundreds of clients that weren’t cooperative, switching all the time. We sat in on a good one too, almost like a television show, but my familial obligations restricted my time. I was honest with her, when she said Public Defenders didn’t bring their A-game when it came to their clients about how countless disappointment killed the energy I once had. The opportunity to chat with her definitely brought it back.

That brings me to now, where the past two weeks have been focused entirely on one-on-one job search assistance for several participants (and sometimes their friends) and sometimes on the weekend. This month, AACE Talent Search advisors had generously volunteered their time to provide Financial Aid workshops for my group – with very little interest in this assistance we only offered this once.

I know that I must keep bringing my A-game for the youth that have no other source of this kind of assistance and I’m very happy with the connections I’ve made with some of them. I’ve just got to handle it - one step at a time.

I'm not a bastard anymore!

2010-11-01T12:39:00.000-07:00

This was a summer of many changes! My parents and my sister combined forces, or savings rather, to become first-time home-owners, and Daly City-zens! It took months of debate, really: In the city? Brand new condo? HOA dues? In-law unit? Rec room? Fitness center? Parking? Muni? Bart? Budget!?!

Ultimately, my dad fell in love with this little pink corner house nearby Daly City’s Westlake plaza, sold by the family of a recently deceased elderly woman who lived alone. Barred windows, musty pink carpet, and an odd half-story lay out – my dad and his army of helpers worked tirelessly to turn this one bathroom into two, refinish the foundation of beautiful wood flooring, achieve a millions coats of flawless assortment of off-white paints and install a brand new beige carpet. With a brand new kitchen in the planning stages and my parents making a slow move, we will soon be good to go!

Our new mission, however, is furnishing the place! We have a supremely Chinese dining room with the Auntie Hazel’s dark cherry China Cabinet with matching dining table, Uncle Henry’s house warming gift from the Philippines (12 Inch statues of the Chinese Gods - Fook Look So,) and Uncle Toby’s donation of a set of four shell carvings into floral artworks. My dad, first and foremost, purchased a television stand for his flat screen - which he has since decided is 1) not big enough and 2) should be mounted above the fireplace instead. We all concurred.

I lied. My dad, first and foremost, picked up a bed frame he saw while driving his SF Muni bus, the 31-Balboa, and quickly called for reinforcements to collect from the curb. My dad, second of all, hung his old lady curtains with vignettes with little rope ties to hold them aside. My mother finicky-ly selected brand new pieces for her dark cherry themed bedroom. Finally, my sister’s temporary residency filled the empty home with a sofa, shelf and other handy things.

I will take an interior design class, eventually to jazz up the place. My only contribution to our new home, thus far, has been removing the four feral kittens born in our backyard! But soon enough a washer dryer, new sofa, or massage chair will join the family.

Back pedaling to July, the paperwork of a new house lead to conversations around my parent’s legitimizing their relations – at least in the eyes of the state. We closed escrow and my sister turned 30 – my dad drunkenly announced that he has “Finally agreed to let [my mother] marry him.” Of course my mother’s gang of sisters forced him to one knee for a proper proposal and my diamond diva aunt assisted him with selecting a most beautiful diamond ring.

Now, wedding plans were a hot mess and we pretty much spent our every dime on the house. Since I was expecting a 23rd birthday in the monstrous Las Vegas – I invited my parents to join the cheap festivities and to get hitched in an Elvis style shot-gun wedding (that they really should have had 23 years ago…) The wedding plans grew, of course, from 30 guests to a whopping 70, so we naturally had to provide a Las Vegas style show! As a bridesmaid, I got dressed like Princess Peach while the rest of the gang looked like cotton candy (the color of it after being licked wet.) So many of us flew to Las Vegas to witness the 15-minute ceremony in which my dad was unable to avow his faithfulness – it was great. We receptioned on the 50th floor in a 900-square-foot Wynn suite to Costco snacks and a cute two-layered wedding cake and the gang ate their hearts out at the Rio Seafood Buffet.

My absence was excused but really I enjoyed a stroll down the strip in my tooth fairy Halloween costume arm in arm with the love of my life. We sneakily devised a plan to ensure entry to Las Vegas’ Hot Spot – XS Nightclub in the Wynn. The fellas caught an earlier free ride from my aunt and uncle, passing around a Jack and Coke in a Supersized McDonalds cup to get drunk, quickly. On the flip side, the ladies randomly caught the hummer limo after hanging back for a photo shoot in our tiaras that contradicted with our Halloween costumes.

Memorable mentions of the weekend – my beloved guardian is 1) back! And 2) came out for 5 hours of fun before returning to LA and work the next morning, my big sis (Tau) we wheel chaired out of the night club to be inspected by a medic, and the rest of us hung out with UNCLE TOBY!!! Yikes!

Turning 23, of course, was not a huge bit to celebrate. Honestly, I’ve been lying and saying I’m 23 for months before just to not be 22 anymore. 22 was the worst! I’m in a much better place in my life and excited for whatever changes this year may bring – which I hope and pray are aplenty!

Opportunities & Resource Fair

2010-07-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

The Office of Economic and Workforce Development is inviting local businesses, educational institutions and community based organizations to attend an opportunities and resources fair we will be hosting for our youth ages 16 - 24 who have just graduated from our 6 week employment program and are looking towards next steps in their career path. It's a great opportunity for you to market your business, recruit new hires, and support your community.

For more information, please contact (415) 202-7944 or Michelle Wong at mwong@jcyc.org.

You can register for the event by clicking here.

Summer Youth Employment Program, Michelle speaking...

2010-07-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

check it. call 415 202 7944, that's what you'll get. Following my gasp of excitement, crossing of my fingers and contracting of my cheek muscles for the huge smile because someone, anyone, might be returning our phone call with some good news: "We would love to have interns!"

I haven't blogged in ages but I forget that I should be using this portal to assist our rigorous outreach efforts. Now I will, accordingly:

Thanks to the Workforce Investment Act and Federal Recovery grant money, The Office of Economic and Workforce Development has the funding to provide several hundred youth with jobs this summer. The initiative, San Francisco Bridges to Success, will serve 16-18 year old youth with up to 80 hours of paid work experience for the remainder of the summer (concluding August 13) to explore careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. We invite workplaces that fall under those career fields to take advantage of the temporary subsidized workers by becoming a worksite!

These interns are of no cost to you because they will be employed and paid through our office. It's basically a way to lend you an extra hand for entry level or easily teachable projects around the office in exchange for valuable job experience that will increase the employability of San Francisco youth.

Interested in becoming a worksite? Call 415 202 7944, for sheezy. hiresfyouth@jcyc.org

Wisdom Teeth Extraction

2010-04-21T21:12:00.000-07:00

They really make it seem as though it’s a mandatory procedure, inescapably necessary! Not like they’re making 2.5k from this less than an hour-long procedure. That’s not their motivation, not at all.

So it goes, my dentist has told me several a times that this needed to be done, the pressure on my teeth were ruining my alignment, why didn’t I do it yet, excuse me, you must do it RIGHT NOW! I would typically believe them, like the time they told me to get braces (thought I never did go through with that,) however, I read Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner’s Freakonomics this past summer and impressionably grew skeptical of those that defend our teeth! You see, extrapolating from the authors’ theories about expert knowledge, I believe that the dentist refers me to the oral surgeon, who, even if I don’t need the procedure, will say I do because if they say I don’t, then the hurts the dentists credibility. If the oral surgeon turns them away, why would the dentist continue to send the oral surgeon his clients? In exchange, the dentist gets the good will of the oral surgeon, and therefore a recommendation in their network.

Who stands to lose? After all, we pay for the insurance to do these sorts of things. The receptionist encourages, “Your under your dads insurance right?, So you get an alottment of $2500 for dental work that expires and renews in July… If you don’t use it, you’ll lose the money anyway.” From this argument alone, I ponder whether I suffer tonsilolith and if I should use the $2500 towards this ear-throat-nose procedure.

So I’m nearing July and of course I want to take advantage of this money. During my consultation, which costs a whopping $200 already, I felt pressured to accept general anesthesia (of course it costs $400 compared to the $170 laughing gas local anesthesia.) I resist with the argument, “But you told my cousin that most people don’t like it because it makes people gag as they sleepily swallow the blood?” He’s pushy, and soon enough I’m walking out the door with a $2500 invoice, a hand full of drugs, $225 co-pay, and a plan to biopsy the mole on my lip!

On February 11th, I’m on the first flight back to San Francisco, early BART & Muni home, 30 minutes of shut-eye and on the way to my 10:30 AM oral surgery! The doctor and assistants quickly hassle me down to the seat, strap me to the IV and I’m out in time to wake up! I can’t move my entire mouth, tongue or lips, and the nurse is strapping ice packs to my cheeks. They instruct my dad the prescription and the take my credit card.

The very next day: I’m off to my meeting with Braelan from the Greenlining Institute and then to my first day at my internship at Center for Asian American Media. I know, I know, I’m a trooper… But it was NOT cute.

Healed and well two months later, I receive a phone call regarding my bill. My insurance did not go through and I may have to pay through the nose, please provide more information regarding my dad’s insurance. Blasphemy! I would not have carried out the procedure were I not insured! After upsetting my father with the news, following his Muni lay off, I called the office back with a piece of my mind – just kidding – those pieces of information they requested. The woman on the phone – yes, she did not know what I was talking about. My insurance remains pending.

Furthermore, I receive a bill from Rand Laboratories (or something like that). I call, “What in the world is this for?” Apparently, a hidden cost to my oral-surgeon-pressured cosmetic surgery procedure: they sent a sample of the said mole to a lab, unbeknownst to me, and are charging me for something, I was NEVER aware of. I haven’t responded to their notices, though perhaps I should soon.

That’s my story. I do not advise.

Active Voice & Agent Orange

2010-02-22T19:58:00.000-08:00

Back in Los Angeles, I received a call from the team at Active Voice, an organization who’s presence in my life predates this blog, asking for a bit of research assistance for their latest endeavor… a social media campaign for awareness of agent orange and its resonating aftermath in Vietnam. Agent Orange is the name of the dioxin used by American efforts during the Vietnam War. It continues to harm our veterans as well as their civilians by causing deformations and cancers in war civilians and their offspring. My mission was to research five successful social media campaigns - what they did and how they did it, from production to budget to distribution.

The digging was an enjoyable learning experience that I’d like to share here. The social media campaigns in question, and my description of them, were:

UNICEF’s believing in zero campaign – Accordingly, 24,000 children die of preventable disease or poor living conditions and UNICEF uses celebrities in their broadcasted PSA and blogs to encourage donations and petition support, asking Congress to provide more funding to UNICEF to fulfill their mission of turning that 24,000 deaths into zero. I’ve seen this ad on TV, which didn’t strike a nerve as much as this research did. Though the petition has passed, and they’ve posted about considerable reduction results, the awareness mission doesn’t stop there.

Nike’s Girl Effect - Nike, despite sweatshop controversy, uses simple text to explain that by investing in just one girl (they use cases in Ethiopia and Bangladesh), by giving her a cow or an education, she will be able to improve the overall condition of her community, city, state, country, and the world. This refers to girls in developing countries that don’t have access to education because of prearranged marriages or fear of rape on the far off commute. It’s funny because some lamizoid comments something along the lines of “girls and guys have equal opportunity in this world, why are girls always asking for hand outs.” He got a mouthful of responses, as deserved. Anyway, the video made me really value my time at the YGC girls unit and I hope that I can inspire a girl to better her community and influence others likewise.

Charity Water – I must say this project is so impressive. A couple years ago, founder Scott Harrison cancels his birthday and asks that all monetary gifts and his birthday party fund go to building a well to provide clean water to those who don’t have access to it. Their PSA stars Jennifer Garner in New York, a mother taking an empty gasoline tank to get her water supply from the pond in central park. She then serves the murky water to her children. That is the reality to a lot of developing communities but a hundred times worse. I watched many of the videos on the Charity Water website that show how far they must travel just to get that water and what the water looks like. Charity Water’s mission is to get you (and me) to follow suit – cancel our birthday and build a well instead on the basis that 20 dollars gives one person water for life. The most beautiful part is that your donation in full goes toward building the water well and the organizations expenses are funded by grants and sponsorships.

Invisible Children – This campaign is the most familiar to me because of its overwhelming support and presences at UCLA. The story goes, three aspiring filmmakers travel to Uganda and discover the children running from the army recruitment (which sounds awful in those terms) because it is the driving force for the countries evil leader! It reminds me a lot of the Blood Diamond story, where the kids are kidnapped and brainwashed to kill, and are treated as disposable in return. This project has been going on for so many years so that now the saved kids that can now be called “visible grownups” are coming to the US to promote the campaign and demonstrate its successes. Its great! Now a nonprofit, Invisible Children draws its strength from staging large scale publicity events that call for volunteers to stay overnight in their city’s downtown district, much like the Ugandan children, and demand political leaders and celebrities rescue them.

Enough Project’s Come Clean for Congo – I don’t know how much attention this garnered because I’ve never heard of it, but apparently the Enough Project, serving as a project of the Center for American Progress, got enough support from Citizen Tube and audiences to ask Obama how he intends to increase pressure on the Sudanese regime to end the violence over conflict minerals (tin, tuxton, and tantalon) in the Congo. The videos make it clear that they don’t expect us to stop using our cell phones, where the conflict minerals are commonly used, rather they’d like us to use our conflict mineral machines to pressure congress and the US Government and United Nations to facilitate peace in Sudan.

Watch and enjoy, they’ll change your life!

Home away from home – Los Angeles & Las Vegas

2010-02-08T19:35:00.000-08:00

It was a personal trip, of course. The only thing there is really to say about my professional growth is my lunch with Daniela because it was there that I discovered that my entire website will need to be redone, again! Apparently, it is best practice to work in divs and not in tables, which explains why my website loads so blockily. Unfortunately, the redesign is a project I do not have time to learn right now, but it will need to be done.

The trip to Las Vegas was also one of pleasure, in celebration of the Chiu Family February birthdays and the surprise engagement of my big cousin Kristina to the tall dark and handsome Brian Keates! Look out for my new project will be to produce a website and other materials for this event. Though Brian thinks it is a silly thing that their wedding would ever need marketing; of course people will be lining up around the block to see this lovely couple pronounce their love. Our successful girls night out crossed paths with the flava of love, himself! I also enjoyed the operatic Phantom, Las Vegas experience in the beautiful Venetian theater!

Introducing the Center for Asian American Media

2010-01-27T19:29:00.000-08:00

So, here I am on the road, er in the air again - I should say. It’s been a long time since I’ve written and with very good reason! I can’t decide whether I’ll write all the things I’ve been up to in one entry or cheatingly back date my entries. I guess the posting will tell, soon enough. I am always thinking about what I am going to write though, so here is the line up, chronologically:

Center for Asian American Media

Active Voice

Wisdom Teeth

Youth Works

The Beat

I did drop off the face of the Earth because of a personal emotional roller coaster, which I did blog about and post briefly - those night owls out there may have caught it, but the live version is much better and the feature film will be great too. Inspired by those recent turn of events, (exactly an whole month ago!), I jumped my job search in full gear and secured the paper work to transfer my aunt’s car title to my name, for use while she was away. The deal was I get to keep it under the condition I don’t get it stolen again or name it something stupid like Fred.

Job Searching: I set on a two-pronged strategy approach. I read somewhere (a book I perused through at Borders, apologies for not remembering/crediting that information) that online searching yields only a 10% success rate, taking an unnecessary toll on one’s self esteem, whereas networking bumps it up to 72%. (I like those odds.) I set about organizing my online search, which has been strictly idealist and Craigslist, saving postings I find by submission deadline and then assigning myself to do one each day. Then I made it a to-do to write to those I had crossed paths with, which involved a bit of research about each of them.

Researching one of them, I am now drawing a blank as to who it actually was, I landed on the job forum on the Bay Area Video Coalition’s website. There, I found exciting media related opportunities, particularly an internship at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). Actually, months ago a friend told me to look into this organization, she loved them. The development internship promised event planning, corporate/donor relations, and graphic design practice for their SF International Asian American Film Festival this month. Although the deadline had passed, I submit a tailored resume/cover letter and received a call early the next day.

The next day was really funny actually. Shattered, I woke up at 9 am with the proactive change of heart on the day of my aunt and uncles 3 month cruise departure. Within 20 minutes, their car title was transferred to my name (a plan I deemed unnecessary just two days prior.) At 10 am, we took my uncle to his doctor appointment, at noon to radiology – there I received the call. The team had been so impressed with my resume that they might have another opportunity for me. Great! I’m thinking maybe a paid position. When can you come in for an interview? Today? Great! I took the bus home, prepped, and arrived early for my meeting with the Devo team. That night, I posted my graphic designs on the print section of my website for them to see. I left for Los Angeles that Friday morning. See next post! :)

Love Chemistry - Karmeisha Edwards

2010-01-26T22:13:00.000-08:00

me and you together

love chemistry

which means to me

true love

we have true chemistry

like science

i love the way you say my name

and call me mommy and babe

that's love chemistry

the way we made love

that drove me crazy

especially the way you kissed me

that was just right

and the way i kissed you

love chemistry

you is my backbone

and be on my brain

all the time

as the days and years go by

i am losing my mind

and wish you was right here

by my side

that is

love chemistry

we is like bonnie & clyde

and romeo & juliet

i love you

you love me

that's love chemistry

she sent chills down my spine when she read this. smiles.

SF YouthWorks Career Exposure Event

2010-01-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

In high school, I enjoyed the services of a local program called SF Youth Works, under the Japanese Community Youth Council. They provide inner city youth with internships in city agencies; I interned at the Assessor Recorder Office of Mabel S. Teng, printing and mailing marriage certificates to gay and straight couples. It was a glorious time; the line out the door, there was cake, music, dancing, and flowers, Rosie O'Donnell's speaking in the rotunda, and a visit from Reverend Jesse Jackson! But that is besides the point. SF Youth Works also hosted workshops for their kids to learn about the issues they're faced with and how to address them. Today, the program focuses on professional growth by presenting them with more options than the traditional four year college track.

In September, I came back to San Francisco with a response to their search for a Placement Specialist. They recommended I build up my youth development experience by volunteering with them and they'll reconsider me in June.

Which is how I ended up... at their Career Exposure Event,... as the sandwich lady.

The event featured speakers in five different fields: Law, Engineering, Creative Arts, Health, and Business/Politics. After sandwich duty, I was assigned to fill the sessions with few people (the rain cut the attendance from 80 to 25!) I first sat through the 45 minute session about Law. We sat with women from: the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, the Public Defenders Office, and a Paralegal for a firm specializing in paternal custody battles. They went over their career paths, the type of work they do, the difference between civil and criminal law, and as always, stressed that the field of law is not limited to only becoming a lawyer.

It was a cool classroom environment, we sat in a circle so the discussion could flow naturally. There were only four students to the three speakers. I found the woman from the Office of Civil Rights to be the most unexpected speaker because I suppose I too am guilty of, one, never thinking about civil law and two, never seeing its place in the education! She said they battle discrimination in school policies. The most interesting question of the evening came from this sloppy young man in the nice kicks. He asked how she felt about privatization of education, since its a right not a privilege. I was taken aback by the question, but she handled it honestly - later discovering this kid was one of the very few YouthWorks participants that attends private school. Hard to believe.

I got the opportunity to chat it up with the speakers in between sessions - a High School passing period if you will. I was most interested in this woman because she did reintroduce the idea of law school. It wasn't until the second session, Business and Government, that I really put my mind back into it. I did want to slide over to the woman from the Public Defenders office, running the intern program there is a good connection to make. But I found no such opportunity, returned to my sandwiches and decided, I would not be so hesitant to network in the next round.

As I walked to the second session, I saw one of the speakers, sitting on the staircase on the phone. I thought she did not want to be there with such a small turn out. The session began without her and the other two women, younger, both mention that there was some subject matters that the outside woman could answer much better than they. The first woman, a talker, told her story about successfully managing a million dollar property, not wanting to go to college, and then hitting the glass ceiling. She went to SFSU, studied anything for a B.A. and now is a political consultant, or something like that. She says that anytime you see people on the street asking you to sign a petition, she put them there (really? thanks!) The next woman's story aligned with my thoughts, talking about the fears of following a path that you think you should stay on because you're on it and doing it well. She dropped everything and went to law school with no intention of becoming a lawyer and, really that's how I feel. But if you aren't becoming a lawyer, what on Earth are you doing? She serves on the legal counsel for the Greenlining Institute, helping people of color and immigrants with such issues. She's doing what I'm imagining - taking something that you can do well and doing it for good.

The last lady rolled in and opened with explaining her phone call - a woman and child were put on the street because of domestic abuse, and as Executive Director of the Commission on the Status of Women, she comes to the rescue. Her story was very odd; a lot of different types of school, her dad wanted her to be something and she was on that track for a while, she worked abroad and in the White House. Her words of advice... "Give yourself 10 years" really vocalized what I had been thinking all along. There are so many different jobs/positions out there for so many different industries, I don't believe that all of those people in positions we've never heard of could have foreseen being such. I've never heard of a lot of these positions or thought about how roles differ by industry. For example, we've heard of "consultants" as a job title... but there are so many different kinds of consultants to meet each industries needs. Anyway, if not 10 years, why not more... I'm comforted in the fact that I don't need to know. right. now.

I approached her after the session with a maybe rude but direct question. "You have no background in Women interest groups... how did you get appointed by the mayor to serve such a high ranking position?" She mentioned her work in DC, her network, people knew of her interest... I told her about my consideration in government, especially in our local government, my mom's role in the Mayor's Disability Council, asked if she served on such a council and moved up... I told them all about my distressing job search, freelancing, and my ultra loaded resume. It was enough to strike the special attention of one woman, get on the job board email list of another, and schedule three meetings.

As I thanked YouthWorks for letting me help them, the director approached me with a proposition. Temporary part-time administrative assistance to JCYC. I happily accepted anything that would keep me in their consideration. The money will be enough to get me to Los Angeles and back once in a while.

In conclusion, networking - what a magical thing.

Hello 2010

2010-01-21T11:21:00.001-08:00

A little late, I know. At first I thought turning 22 was unlucky - turns out it was 2009!

Lets recap on 2009 - my car got stolen. Twice.

Though there's a lot more, but I think that sums it up best. I guess it was more the second half of the year. I kept getting smashed at work, felt distant from my roommates, disconnected from Taus, and started fighting with Edward. & then came Dax.

I left Los Angeles and tried to find myself in thought in Singapore. Returned home to the solitude that is my bed. To me, San Francisco is my lonely city, where I didn't have many friends before and those I kept, moved on in my absence. I entertained myself with trips and things, most notably my Ondoy Relief project. I turned 22 & my world spiraled, collapsed, and sunk. The rejection of job searching left self esteem so low I just wanted to hide under the covers - and this I did. My family stood together in support of each other & I ran away many times. Sir Edward came home.

I know that a new year doesn't mean anything is different, but it does wonders to the mentality. I spent new years eve at the Hynson's sending out my resume & cover letter to prospects. With Sir Ed's dwindling patience with me, it was clear I needed to be my own - and in this city.

Because Blair Waldorf does not go back to Constance. With time, she will take over NYU with the loving support of Chuck Bass. (I'm only on Season 3, Episode 5. Please don't spoil it.)

So 2010, (it's twenty-ten, grammatically correct) which, just had to start with more fighting and retreating of course. My resolution being, rebuild my San Francisco life. So there I sat through Invictus, sandwiched between my favorite joe shmoes: a new-we're-so-happy couple to my left and harassment-central to my right. The week ended with the typical father being disappointed in me speech - for being unemployed, for thinking I should work in a field that makes me happy, for worrying about money. Correction: it really ended with me flying back to Los Angeles.

I had a marvelous week. I arrived just in time for the Zeta Phi Rho rush club party at Fu's Palace and rendezvoused with sisters, friends - old & new, & girlfriends. Shopped with two girliest of girls, freeloaded hotdogs and education, playdated with Thump Thump, sipped on Sober Sunday stories, and participated in a sickening drinking study for $50 - all the while freelancingly developing my contract work with Active Voice in consulting for their Have You Heard Campaign. I got the wire to go home for an interview with The Asia Foundation, and set up a meeting with the senior editor of The Beat Within.

My first day with The Beat Within

2010-01-19T21:23:00.000-08:00

I shiver to the beat of her boots as they echo down the brightly lit hollowed halls. I imagine the alarms sounding, orange suits maneuvering through the badged jungle, throwing garbage cans, setting fires, murder by pen stabbings - spilling through the sequence of heavy duty doors that surround me. Too much 24, I decide, as we walk into unit 2 of the San Francisco Juvenile Detention Center.

The boys are just finishing up the cleaning chore after dinner, a trio fill a table with a beat, lyrics, and melody, filling the room with their song. Four quad tables and the now-closed kitchen window sit before the 2 layers of of heavy duty doors, these with a small window an alternative opening. The 13 young men assemble to their seat, unclear if assigned, and I hesitate to sit in the seat in front of me with the only two chinese boys in the unit but I'm waved to do so. The woman in boots recites the rules of the beat and has the boys read the topics. Her attempt to prompt discussion and understanding fails when she asks one guy to tell the group about his grandmother - "She's old" turns into "I thought he said she's a hoe."

I introduce myself aloud, responses were "You go to UCLA?" and "Oh, I went to Wallenberg!" I stay quietly at my table and listen to the Chinese boys around me talk about how one could have been more successful in his theft of the Apple Store. I don't respond, but if I were to, I would say, "That's dumb, I got in trouble for just unplugging one of their lap tops!" I do not know if they would care to hear that. I move on to the next table to introduce myself to another facilitators. I kept thinking, these type of kids didn't even want to talk to me in highschool, let alone college, why would they want to talk to me now? What on earth am I going to talk to them about? "This is not what I imagined this place to be like, at all!" I proclaim. The only kid at the table looks up at me, "You was expecting bars huh?" and the girl smiles. As we talk, I catch a glimpse of his bright yellow paper, "So you're writing about the elders topic or the judging topic?" Both, he tells a story about his great grandmother being kicked in the face by her teacher in post integrated Mississippi. The kid attends Lowell High School, hates the harshness of their grading system, and loves math. I'm constantly reminded, "They have some really good kids in here" and this was the moment I realized that.

I find the courage to consider moving to the table I had been afraid of but the laughing kids are covering their noses with their shirt collars - someone farted or smells. "I was gonna come over there but now I'm not so sure," I shout. I move to another table and tell the kid, "You look like a friend of mine, you don't know him - he's a teacher in LA." The facilitator grabs my attention; it's time to move to the girl's unit.

"I was just getting comfortable", I tell her as we return to the hallway that had originally terrified me. She definitely noticed.

The girl's unit is another different fear to conquer. I sit at the table across from the facilitator, aside two young women, for a more personalized introduction before the remaining girls assemble. I learn their names and their court dates - a very important topic in these halls. Since she is expecting to be out of there soon, she wants to make sure we could send her copy of The Beat to her home. She treasures the latest issue so much that she removed a book from her collection (max. 4 books) to make room for The Beat.

I stand so their friend can take a seat. The facilitator begins with the same shpeal as I sign us in and distribute materials. The girls at another table giggle as they shivere from cold. I overhear them ask for the heat to be turn on and the center staff told them that they share a vent with the adjacent boys unit who quickly turns the thermostat back down. I chime in, "That's how me and my sister are. We shared a room for a couple days and I kept waking up to turn the air on, and she kept waking up to turn it back off. It was like that all night!" They giggle and I sit with them as others read the topics aloud.

A girl across the room hands in her work before anyone even starts, "Can I get The Beat now?" I walk over to her table, "Do you mind if I read yours?" The other girl at the table laughs hysterically as I'm reading. She writes about the first time she did pills, went to a party and was nearly taken advantage of by guys. I suppose she has a humorous intention by concluding, "I try to stop because I know I should but I can't." As if I understand that she is trying to be funny, "This sounds like a TV show..." (an episode of the OC actually, but why would I admit that?) The laughing girl insists on reading again for the laugh and pique the interest of the other girls.

I move back to the first table where they are excited to share what they had so far. They express conversations with God, thoughts of their lover, and their hard times in the halls through poetry. One girl has a boyfriend in one of the units there and they are able to communicate through the beat and through mail. One girl's parents came to visit her. I table hop.

The original giggling-shivering-girls is where I spend most of my time there. It was definitely colder at their table. I sit waiting for an opportunity to chime in, as I do at every table. I hear their rave about North Dakota, and stop them right there.

me: North Dakota??? What the hell is there to do in North Dakota?!

girl 1: It's crackin' if you know people out there. I know this one guy with a farm.. well we got them here too but there, we be diggin' out of the manure & lett'm dry. It's gross but you know that's where they grow from.

me: I guess it's fresh...? Ew that's gross, then you eat it?

girl 2: With chocolate!

Here, I'm thinking, what a place to exchange information for illegal activity! I learned about the neighborhood groups and where to by drugs in so short a time. I change the subject back to the project at hand, without being 'one of them, "Can I see what your writing about?" The third topic - a time you got kicked out. My jaw drops at her story. Pregnant at 13! This isn't her first time incarcerated but she defends that she has her life on track as the other girl accused her of otherwise. I encourage her to write what she could and I leave to join the facilitator in our last minutes of the workshop.

She hands me a story written by a girl with beautiful hair. Wearing a particular color in a particular neighborhood, she was nearly shot, beaten, stabbed, and robbed. Luckily friends nearby prevented more damage. The girl next to her wants someone to listen to her story. Jumped by a pregnant woman and an accomplice, she refused to fight against a pregnant woman that took no mercy. One of two best friends jumped in to help, the other deserves repercussions for not helping, she says. "I have many a ex-best friends for the same reasons, thats not enough reason to start more shit." "There's more to it," she says with no time to finish. The facilitator is already holding her things and waving to me to walk out the door. Many girls shout, "What unit are you going to next? Tell so-and-so I said what's up!"

"You're a born natural," she says as we walk out of the hollow halls.

-----

The Beat Within’s mission is to provide incarcerated youth with consistent opportunity to share their ideas and life experiences in a safe space that encourages literacy, self-expression, some critical thinking skills, and healthy, supportive relationships with adults and their community. Outside of the juvenile justice system, The Beat Within partners with community organizations and individuals to bring resources to youth both inside and outside of detention. We are committed to being an effective bridge between youth who are locked up and the community that aims to support their progress towards a healthy, non-violent, and productive life.

The Beat Within is a division of Pacific News Service dbaNew America Media. NAM's youth divisions -- The Beat Within, YO! Youth Outlook, YO! TV, Silicon Valley De-Bug, The Know and Roaddawgz -- create writings, illustrations and multimedia content that provide a window into youth culture.