Apocalipsis

*A poem I originally wrote in Spanish, then translated back to English for your viewing purposes. Enjoy!*

Una mañana me despierto

a la salida del sol

El barrio por la ventana me parece

lo mismo de ayer

A perfección habían tallado los céspedes

Siguen brillando las luces de los garajes

El mundo queda sereno

No actividad, no caos

Nadie.

El mundo está desierto

 Dónde están?

mis amigos con quién hago memorias

mi familia con quién paso tiempo

Un amor con quién comparto mi vida

No tengo nada.

Me despierto con un sobresalto,

cubierto de sudor

Sólo un sueño.

Apocalypse

One morning I woke

to the rising of the sun

The neighborhood through the window seemed 

the same as yesterday

To perfection the lawns have been cut

The lights of the garages still shine

The world remains serene

No activitiy, no chaos

No one.

The world is deserted

Where are ?

my friends with whom to make memories

my family with whom to spend time

A love with whom to share my life

I have nothing.

I woke in shock

covered in sweat

It was only a dream.

Great Futures Start Here

The buzz of voices and children greet visitors at the front door of the Boys & Girls Club of Fond du Lac Johnsonville Site. At the end of the school day, elementary children begin filing in by the bus load to find their classrooms. The stairs lead you to the Teen Center, a space set aside for teens to hang out.

 Filled with games and laughter, there is always a big crowd of middle and high school students. The elementary section of the building has several rooms, one for each grade level, and a computer lab. The classrooms are filled with voices, laughing, and learning until the place closes at 6 p.m. each night.

For those of you who are unaware, the Boys &Girls Club of Fond du Lac is just one part of the large non-profit organization spread throughout the country. In the Fond du Lac area alone, there are three separate sites: Johnsonville Unit and Teen Center, Chegwin Boys & Girls Club, and Pier Rocks Boys & Girls Club. Children can become a member starting in first grade. Of those members who begin at a young age, most of them stick with the program well into their high school days.

The afterschool program provides a place that’s more than just a daycare. When a child walks into a Boys & Girls Club, they are provided with a warm meal, homework help, and structured programming, including tech lab training, healthy eating tips, plenty of exercise, and the common core subjects.

As a Program Aide at the Boys & Girls Club, I have the privilege of working with a group of first graders on a daily basis. I am on a basic level their teacher, helping them with homework and leading them through programs. The students in my class come from several different ethnic groups and learn at different speeds, providing my classroom with a variety of personalities.

Every day is a new and exciting adventure. No matter what kind of day I’m having, my class can always make me smile. The same kids come daily making it easy to build a great connection with them. They look up to me as a mentor and watch my every move. I’m bombarded with hugs after a long weekend. It’s amazing how much they learn from me but it’s even more amazing how much I learn from them.

It’s a great privilege to be part of a program that affects children so positively. The club provides a place for kids to go afterschool to be safe and make friends. The staff members honestly care about each child individually and want them to succeed in the future. Great futures truly start here. 

Controversial Issue

For some reason all of my classes, despite how different  I thought they would be, have become interlinked. They have all ended up in the advertising field. It all began in Philosophy where we talked about sex in advertising. This topic really struck my interest. We've all seen that sexual advertisement promoting the newest perfume fragrance or the half naked slutty referee promoting beer. Before Philosophy, I didn't think twice about the accepted nudity on television these days. But then we began discussing it further in class and talked about how it's the sexual image of the females (and in less cases males) that sells the product more than the quality of the product itself.

When a girl watches flawless models on tv, she begins to doubt herself, finding flaws within her own image, and desperately wanting to change. Then she begins thinking..."If I buy that (enter product name here), I'll look like that model"... and that is how they suck you in and get you to buy their product. Sneaky, yes. But it works and so they keep using it to make profits. On the one hand, I think the lack of self esteem women receive from these images is an awful after effect of a great marketing tool and they should maybe lay off this technique a bit. But on the other hand, I applaud the ad companies for finding this tactic and using it to the full. But it's getting more common and now commercials blend together because they resemble each other. No matter how far one company goes, another one will just go a step further. How far are these ad companies willing to go?