We’re always trying to put helpful information out to our Students so that they can live better, more productive lives. In today’s post, I wanted to talk about something that we all care about - money! I think it’s important to learn how to manage your money early on in life so that incrementally over time you can save and invest for your future. Here are a few easy tips and resources that can help you pinch those pennies.
Hi Glincsters,
We’re always trying to put helpful information out to our Students so that they can live better, more productive lives. In today’s post, I wanted to talk about something that we all care about - money! I think it’s important to learn how to manage your money early on in life so that incrementally over time you can save and invest for your future. Here are a few easy tips and resources that can help you pinch those pennies.
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.Hi everyone!
For this week's blog I wanted to talk about how much our students continue to amaze me and make me proud! It's been over 2.5 years that we started GLINC - approaching 3 years in December - and the level of pride continues to steadily rise. What sparked this topic is the commencement of our after school program for the 2013-2014 school year. Just last week we had our welcome sessions at Campbell High School and our new addition, Osborne High School. We have only been at Osborne for one year so we still have a ways to go to catch up to the degree of our Campbell relationships, but I have a strong feeling we are well on our way! The students that bravely came to our program without knowing who we were have returned for the second year. First, I must give credit and thanks where it's due so KUDOS to our Osborne student leaders Gracie Gallegos and Jose Godinez. They are our greatest leaders, recruiters, promoters and supporters at OHS. They have helped made it possible for GLINC to establish themselves at OHS and continue to grow through their relationships with the teachers and administrators and most importantly, their peers. Gracie and Jose are currently seniors so they will be missed immensely, but at the same time, I am happy to see them grow as young adults that will continue to create change in their community as we have encouraged them to do through our mission and programming. Osborne, just you wait! Slowly but surely everyone will know who GLINC is and what we stand for! Campbell High School in a way has been our baby. Our first school to test run our program and help us mold ourselves into the successful program that we are today. We have seen two classes of seniors graduate and students that started our program as freshmen that are now seniors! (Fiorella Lazo ::cough cough::) We had 28 students at Campbell's first session! Lots of old faces but also a good amount of new ones! That's what we like to see and all thanks to our current students that spread the word about us! As long as we continue to see that students come back year after year and bring in their friends, we will continue to strive for the best for you guys! More fun and interactive ways to teach life enriching skills, more relationship building with our community partners/members, more fun field trips and most importantly creating a stronger bond with our youth - our future generation. So I say all this to try to express my joy y orgullo que tengo para mis estudiantes y los miembros ejecutivos de GLINC que han ayudado hacer este sueño mío una realidad. We are starting off our 3rd year strong and I know it will it only get better from here! 2014 here we come! With much gratitude and EXCITEMENT, Melissa Gutiérrez Hello everyone,
Do you hear that? Do you smell it? It’s that special time of the year where we begin our yearly journey! The executive board and I are so excited that our annual GLINC after school program begins this week! We can’t wait to see everyone having fun and learning new things this year. We have been working very hard to bring our glincsters many great sessions that are fun, interactive, and filled with knowledge. I know I sound like a broken record, but every session we have is full of information that you will be able to put to use at one point or another in your life. This fall semester we are grateful to have many great organizations helping us like PADV, Planned Parenthood, Vox Teen Communications, Emory LTA Sorority, and special guest Elvis Piedra. We also have other surprises for this year, so please join us this Wednesday or Thursday and bring a friend! See you soon! -Felipe Munive Hello Glincsters and World,
It's Ren again, your new Director of Marketing. I'm back with my second blog post for Glinc and I wanted to do something a bit more personal. My subject matter today has genuinely impacted me for the better, and I think a lot of us can relate to it. Make sure to keep reading to find about more about this topic that affects us all. Weird thing about my name is that at times, no one ever seems to know how to pronounce it. It isn’t difficult. By reading this you’d probably tried guessing my name and you’re pondering if it’s something like Mieczysław or Zhelobovskaia, right? Not even close. My name is Berenice and chances are you pronounced it as Beren-EEs, Ber-run-niece, Beren-EE-say or Bur-EN-iss like most English speakers. Even though there isn’t anything wrong with how you read it, it’s not the way I like to pronounce my name.
Over the years my name has suffered some butchering. People have called me things like Bernie, Berry, Veronica, Vero, and even Blanca lol. I remember at some point I stopped fighting it and just went with the flow. It began with an old company where I used to work in the “Spanish Team”. I’m bilingual and so that was handy to the company, they could switch me back and forth depending how busy our workload was for the day. The Spanish speakers called me Bere pronounced [bé-re] with a slight roll on the “r”. But to non-Spanish speakers this sounded like Betty, not realizing what I was being called was a short version of Berenice. Sort of like how you would shorten Samantha as Sam. My name works the same way. Eventually because of the recession this location shut down, and I was lucky enough to have been offered another position somewhere else. Unexpectedly the person that hired me introduced me as Betty to everyone. Soon everyone there knew me as BETTY the “negotiator” (because of my job position). In addition to my work calendar, my desktop, usernames, and passwords all began with BETTY. Betty here, Betty there, Betty everywhere! Even my clients began calling me Betty and many of them never found out about my “real” name. In fact, a lot of my clients felt closer to me because I reminded them of their aunt Betty or their cousin Betty. See, I have to constantly explain the pronunciation of my name and most of the time I say it's the same as Bernice, but it's just so that I don't have to explain or say it over again the way I prefer. At some point my name was replaced temporarily with Bere, then mistaken for Betty, and it made me chuckled (shaking my head side to side). Life’s too short to be serious all the time. Current people I know that still call me Betty get creative by greeting me as Betty Boop! Whenever I get greeted like this it flashes me back to those working days, it just makes me smile. Betty will always have meaning to me simply because of the dear people that follow that name. Either way my name is Berenice and I pronounce it: be (pronounce the "e" the same way as in bet) re (sounds kind of like the "ra" in raven with a soft "r") ni (same as knee) ce (sounds similar to "sa" in safe) Spell checker suggested I change my name to Bernice, but I chose to ignore. Be-re-ni-ce is how I like to say it! In today’s world we often grow up with the belief that if you do everything right, you will be guaranteed success. I think a lot of times society fails to teach our young people that the road to success is not a straight road ahead, and that through our journey we will have speed bumps, road blocks, and detours. It’s okay if you failed at something, but it’s not okay to let that stop you from moving forward and following your dreams. I knew someone that would change their plans every time something didn’t go as expected because they were afraid of failing again. This person never truly followed their dreams because they were afraid that if it didn’t work out perfectly, then they needed to stop. Now your dreams and goals may change throughout your life, but don’t let the fear of failing be the reason. If there is one thing I hope our “Glincsters” learn through our organization, it is that they understand that sometimes the hand we are dealt in life is not always the best, but we must not let that stop us from dreaming, and in a way, we must embrace it. We can use it as DETERMINATION to do something positive with our lives. At the same time, you cannot let other people dictate your dreams or tell you that you can’t reach your dreams because you are not smart enough or strong enough. Use the people that doubt you as MOTIVATION to get to where you want to be. When life ends and you look back at the years, make sure you say to yourself, “I reached for my dreams.” Always moving forward, Felipe Munive Executive Director *****Disclaimer: While Generaciόn Latina, Inc. supports justice, peace and equality for all persons, the opinions and viewpoints in this blog are strictly those of the author, Sonjachardé Mixon, Director of Resource Development for GLINC.
So my last blog came from a happy place. After decades of not being recognized and being denied HUMAN rights, same sex couples were granted three steps towards justice. WELL. Let me tell you. AMERICA HAS PISSED ME OFF AND DISGUSTED ME YET AGAIN. I knew it would happen soon. I just didn’t know it would occur SO DAMN QUICKLY. I’m sure by now everyone has heard that the verdict for Trayvon Martin’s case was that George Zimmerman was found NOT GUILTY. Many people have come to Zimmerman’s defense saying B.S. like, “Oh, there were break-ins in the neighborhood recently and Trayon fit the profile” or “Trayvon was not innocent he smoked weed and called his mom a b****.” Here’s why the verdict and these people saying these stupid pointless things piss me off.
“Trayvon Martin smoked weed.” How many White kids Trayvon Martin’s age do heavy, addictive and dangerous street drugs such as meth, crack, bath salts, etc? It’s not a great idea to do any kind of drug. But in my personal opinion, I’d rather have an African American male walking my neighborhood at night after he smoked a blunt than have a White male walking my neighborhood after he smoked meth. No one wants to talk about that right? Of course not. Because White males are never seen as a threat. “Trayvon Martin called his mom a b****.” Never, ever, ever acceptable. BUT how many White kids do we see that have no utter regard or respect for their parents? How many teenagers, regardless of race, blurt things out that are hurtful and disrespectful in their angry, teenage, hormonal rages? Right… As a mother raising an African American son in the United States, I’LL BE DAMNED IF SOMEONE SHOOTS MINE! I hate the fact that I have to teach my son that because he looks a certain way, people will hate him and see him as a threat. Women will clutch their purses when he walks past them on a dark night, men will puff out their chests and give him their best side eye when they cross path. People will make assumptions about his upbringing, his ambitions (or lack thereof), and his capabilities and dreams before he even opens his mouth. He will be followed in stores because people will assume that he is there to shoplift. As a mother raising an African American son, I often feel that I go above and beyond to make sure that he is always groomed, well-mannered, educated, chivalrous, and calm-tempered. Why? Because this way he has a lower probability of falling into the “Angry Black Man” category that people just love to throw African American males into. People of other races don’t have to go to extreme measures to groom their children to not be hated. But me, I do. Because no matter whom he is and what kind of man he becomes, people will always hate him because of where he comes from. I often wonder, had Trayvon Martin been White, would George Zimmerman have felt the need to pursue him and follow him so adamantly? Probably not. He would have just been a regular White kid walking around at night. Never ever a threat in that right? Whether or not you believe that Trayvon Martin was an innocent kid or not, he was shot in cold blood. And the man who shot him showed no remorse and smirked and smiled throughout the whole trial. He’s now free to kill other African American children that look suspicious. While Trayvon Martin’s parents mourn their son’s life and all the things he will never get to experience, George Zimmerman is probably somewhere smirking and having a cold brew. So please, those in defense of George Zimmerman, enlighten me on how I can protect my child? Because what is to say twelve years from now my son doesn’t happen to walk down a street wearing a hoodie and get murdered? Signed- A Pissed Off Mother Thinking of New Ways to Protect Her Child Hello World!
Greetings from your new Glinc Director Ren! First off, I want to say Happy Summer. Some of us are working, some of us are taking vacations. Whatever you’re doing, I hope that you’re gaining value from it. Today’s post is about making the most of your Summer. Life is short, and we should take every opportunity to make the most of the gifts and experiences that come our way. I think about how much social media has influenced our lives as Latinos. We are known for having strong ties to our family… now we are even closer when our mom, brother, aunts, long distance cousins in Latin America are on facebook, instagram, twitter, etc. Before all this social media existed we would to wait for certain peak hours to call our overseas family and wait every other or few years to be able to travel and physically see them. And yes, emails existed, but it’s still not the same as this current communications technology, you know what I’m saying. Now we can see what our family is up to via photos, status updates, and instantaneously talking to them on Skype. I know for the younger generación you may not have even thought twice about all this since you were born into this world of instant communication, but I hope you can see where this sense of thankfulness and reflection is coming from.
For example, my mom has become quite facebook and skype savvy in like no time! She comes from a generación of mostly phone calls and hand written letters so it amazes me every time when I find her on Skype for HOURS upon HOURS talking to our family in Colombia. She can keep a close connection with her brother, nephews and nieces in between our visits to them every other year. And for me, I’m able to learn more about my overseas family members by what kind of topics they talk about on FB, what kind of pictures they share on IG or what makes them sad or happy from day to day. And keep in mind that some family members cannot visit us from their countries or we may not be able to visit them as well, so all this social media is a big deal for keeping our family ties. And I’m grateful for that!! I’m also grateful at the fact that social media allows us Latinos to educate ourselves about current topics that most affect us such as politics, health, finances, etc. Particularly information on immigration. It’s a hot topic and we can stay connected to as it unfolds in our daily lives. We can learn about when the policies and laws are made and changed right when it happens and disseminate it to all of us around the country in seconds! Knowledge is power and the more we know, the more we can help make changes… positive changes in our Latino community. It also gives us a safe space to comment on what’s going on, how it makes us feel or even brainstorm political/social activism ideas. So overall, I say THANKS to social media! You help keep families connected, keep us on the pulse of the nation, and help us stir the “political/ social pot”! Can’t wait to see what new technology comes up in the future…. any of our Glincsters up for creating something new?!!!! :) - Melissa Gutiérrez This past week was a HUGE week for the advancement of human and civil rights in the United States. Part of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), an act that made same sex marriages in the United States illegal and unrecognized, was overturned after determined to be unconstitutional and in violation of the 5th amendment. "By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others, the federal statute is in violation of the Fifth Amendment." What exactly does this change? 1. Some same sex couples can jointly file their federal taxes 2. Some same sex couples can share health care plans without a tax penalty 3. Some same sex spouses can receive social security benefits on behalf of their spouse 4. Some same sex spouses can inherit from their partners upon death without tax penalty 5. Some LBGTQ foreigners can marry same sex Americans and petition for green cards However, same sex marriage is only recognized in 12 of the United States. Therefore, same sex couples that live in states that do not recognize same sex marriage (good ole Georgia, for example) cannot enjoy the majority of these rights because of state laws. Some government organizations (i.e. IRS and Social Security) look at a couple’s state of residency- not the state where they got married- which further denies these rights to same sex couples. Shortly after the decision, President Barack Obama spoke in celebration of the overturn of DOMA, "This was discrimination enshrined in law. It treated loving, committed gay and lesbian couples as a separate and lesser class of people. The Supreme Court has righted that wrong, and our country is better off for it." What an overjoying feeling, to know that we have a President that supports and understands the needs for all families to be treated humanely and as equals! Though not a complete victory, this step towards equality means our nation is open to the (not so liberal) idea that Gay rights are Civil rights are Human rights. Anything is possible. I am so hopeful about the future. For more information about DOMA’s overturn check out these websites http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/26/supreme-court-doma-decision_n_3454811.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/06/26/the-supreme-court-struck-down-doma-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ http://www.policymic.com/articles/20325/what-is-doma-defense-of-marriage-act-primer-ahead-of-supreme-court-decision |