How does my race change the way I view the world? Hmm.. I’ve never really thought about this beforehand but now that it’s something that I can ponder about it. It challenges my thinking. Growing up in a Spanish community and being raised in a Puerto Rican family comes with a lot of positives and negatives. I wouldn’t change being Hispanic for anything in the world, but that doesn’t mean that sometimes I don’t wish we can eliminate some of the negative stereotypes against us. People shouldn’t be naïve to the fact that when it comes to the real world being a minority definitely means facing more difficulties. More specific when trying to obtain a job, white people are more likely to acquire a position when their competitor is someone who is either African American or Hispanic and have the same qualifications and resume. With this being said, I feel as if me being Hispanic, I have to prove myself beyond others and my determination to employers.
Not only do we have to stand out when applying for a job, but when trying to get accepted into a good university I also have to be aware of my differences because the environment that I may be around may be different from how I was raised. For instance, I aspire to be an accountant after I graduate college, but I know that it will be more difficult for me to obtain a position if I do not adapt to the world around me. If I do not dress, talk, walk or have the same things as the “majority” we would not be able to work with the majority. In addition, the way I view the world is that I always have to change myself to adapt to the others.
I sometimes feel that my race hinders from being able to express myself more freely. The way I express my pain, express my beauty, relate to my family and embrace my culture just gives me a different outlook on other people in the world and how they view these things. In my family, we are more reserved and keep our problems to ourselves so when facing problems; we learn how to deal with them alone. Our beauty is very important in our culture and embracing it is an essential factor. Puerto Rican women are known for their curvaceous bodies and sometimes this could be a negative attribute because when men see us they focus on our physical attractions rather than getting to know us mentally. This could be a frustration at times because there is a lot more to us than a nice ass or thick thighs.
Overall, our race definitely has an effect on how we view the world, but this is what teaches us how to adapt and view differences within each other.

Women who dress sexy are easy. Is this true? Honestly let me start off by saying that this statement can go both ways. Some women dress a certain way to seek for attention and others do so to please themselves. The first type who dress for attention want men to look at them in a sexual way, but they try to pull it off as if those weren’t their intentions. These women are the ones who are categorized for doing the flirtatious “Nooo” and then allow the men to disrespect them. In this situation, I feel as if these women deserve to receive the inappropriate behavior from men because deep down their intention was to get some sort of attention whether it’s acceptable or not.
On the other-hand, they’re many of women that dress up a certain way for their own satisfaction. Lots of women love to dress up in high heels and skin tight dresses because it makes them happy, not anyone else. These are the type of women that get offended when men take their appearance as an excuse to approach them with uncalled for remarks. Yes, every woman wants some sort of attention from a male so she feels good about herself, but this should be done in an acceptable matter. If a male approaches a female and compliments her saying she’s beautiful or likes her smile rather than saying “Hey Sexy” or “Nice Ass” he will get two completely different reactions. No woman wants to be disrespected, but some allow it because they have their own insecurities.
In my opinion, no woman should allow a man to disrespect her based on the outfit she chooses to wear. Women should always be confident within their own body and shouldn’t have to dress in a way expecting to receive attention from men. Appearance is important, but also you have to know how to carry yourself as a woman. Woman should be able to know how to dress a certain way and should never allow a man to belittle them in any way just because they want to wear something that shows off a little skin. There is nothing wrong with being confident within your own skin, but there is something wrong when you try too hard for the pleasure of others. Therefore those women that show off cleavage and legs in-return for unacceptable attention from men, should honestly take the time out to realize that they are not being portrayed as a respectful female. My advice to the ladies is if they choose to wear something revealing, make sure you are doing it for nobody but yourself. Also, give yourself the respect you deserve.

Let me start off by saying that I am very excited for the Haiti Group Project. It's a way to kind of think outside the box and interact with others. Discussing the problems Haitians face and coming up with solutions in my opinion is a great learning experience and interesting one as well.
As I was looking at the videos of the different entrepreneurs two of them caught my attention. The first one would have to be Clorene Blaise clothing business. This one caught my attention because she says she has to turn down large order of t-shirts because she doesn't have enough place in her business. I think that providing a larger amount of space can not only expand her business but it can also provide Haitians an open opportunity for employment. Clorene makes different types of items that can definitely be a great hit for income. She sell different t-shirts and also handbags. Both of these items are very beneficial to the people of Haiti because a lot of children need clothes and also the handbags are very economical as well. Handbags could be used for many types of reasons such as keeping personal belongings but also helping children to transport their school book back and forth from school.
The second video that i decided to write about was on Yvrose Noncent. She makes sandals, women dresses, and evening wear. Yvrose needs help in ways to try to expand her clientele and I believe us, as Penn State students, can help her with that by designing different types of advertising. Advertisements can soon lead to more money coming in and hopefully with that extra change she can expand her business as well and can create even more job opportunities to the Haitian community. Yvrose also mentioned that she doesn't have mannequins to display her work or any types of shelves to display her shoes. She also uses outdated machinery that takes things a lot longer to get made. I believe we should come up with an idea on trying to find a way to ship these machines to her. Considering the fact that they're only $300, which is a pretty reasonable price, we can easily get a couple to send to her. We can also ask clothing companies if they're willing to give any old mannequins for free to also ship to Yvrose.
In conclusion, I really am excited to hear about different ideas from my fellow classmates and to see which ideas can come to life.

Do I agree with the facts on SAT scores score and income? I do agree that income comes into play when SAT scores are being discussed. In my opinion, the higher the household income, the better results on the SATs. This is not to say that people that come from a low income family cannot have high results on their test. What I am saying is that in general, people who have low test scores compared to others usually come from a family that cannot afford to pay for SAT classes. I personally know that my mother couldn’t afford to place me in $300-500 classes that would prepare me for the test. So it was up to me to try to study the practice booklet that they give you when signing up for the test, but we all know that can only prepare so much.
Another factor that I believe should be taken into consideration when talking about SAT scores is the high-school the students graduate from. I know that some schools offer SAT classes as electives for students who want to gain more hands own experience with practice problems. These classes give you examples of questions and essays that you may encounter while taking the SATs and help you prepare and learn how to manage your time wisely. As of a result of taking these classes, students will score higher on their SATs because they have gained the knowledge and experience that allowed them to prepare and practice for such a rigorous test. But, on the other-hand, high-schools that cannot afford to have these classes, cannot give their students the opportunity to prep for the exam. Because of this, students who are seeking for help and opportunities that will allow them to have significant test results, but cannot afford to pay for a class outside of school, do not have the same advantage as students that have the offer of taking free prep classes at their high-school.
Family income and the opportunities offered at your high-school are two important factors that can be related to the results of the SAT scores. But, lets not forget the role parents play in regards to their children taking the exam. If you have parents that are very involved and concerned about your academic performance then you will most likely be obligated and pressured into doing well on your SATs. While children who come from parents that pay little attention to their child’s academics, aren’t as driven to do well on their test because they weren’t as motivated compared to other children. Of course there are exceptions were people who come from a low income family and who aren’t provided with the attention from their parents or don’t have the privilege to take classes, score extremely well. But, in reality there are very few exemptions when looking at the big picture and these factors may be the reason why.

How do I classify myself? Hmm.. this is a good question. Honestly, when it comes to race I classify myself as being hispanic. I was born in Puerto Rico and both my parents are Puerto Rican, so I had no choice but to adapt to the Puerto Rican culture. I guess I can say that my family are who classified what I really am when it comes to my race. As a child I grew up in a household where I was taught how to speak spanish, became accustomed to spanish meals, and learned to dance to spanish music. Thanks to them, today I am fluent in spanish and never forget where I truly came from. My race and culture are very important to me and I am proud of who I am and where I come from.
On the other-hand, when it comes to school and work, I would classify myself as being very hardworking. I classify myself as being very successful because I was the one that motivated and pushed myself to become a better person. I am not saying that my parents aren't proud of my accomplishments because they are very honored to have me as a daughter, but I was the one that wanted this lifestyle. My reasonings behind this is due to the fact that I was the first in my family to attend college and have been working since I was fourteen years old. When it came to applying for college, on my own, I filed out all my applications including my financial aid . I researched for as many scholarships as possible and I pay for school out of my own pocket. I am very independent so I get little help for my parents. Although at times it is very difficult to do everything on my own, I have grown into a strong woman because of it.
As for as my religion, I do not know what I classify myself as. My father was very devoted to the catholic church and my mother never really attended church. I have been to church before both Catholic and Christian, and to be honest I don't know which religion I rather choose. I do know that I believe in God and that he exist. No one has pressured me into picking a religion and in my opinion I don't have to go to church to believe in God.
So if you would ask me what classifies who I am? I would have to say, my race and my accomplishments. I am a strong successful Hispanic woman. My family are the ones that obligated me to embrace my heritage at a very young age and I am the one responsible for achieving most of my goals. I don't have a specific religion, but I am not naive to the existence of God. I am not perfect, but I wouldn't change anything about me.

To conclude, I am a person that contradicts herself all the time, so maybe my opinion can change. I wouldn’t mind dating someone that was out of my race, but would prefer someone that could embrace it the same way I do. As of now, I am very young and not really searching for love so maybe that is why I have all these barriers. My perspective could change in the future because as of now, I haven’t had any luck with the men I have dated that are of my race. We will see what the future has in store for me.

Further-on, although I may consider dating someone out of my race, I must admit, that I prefer to be with someone that has some type of Spanish decent. Growing up, I was taught that you shouldn’t forget where you come from or what makes you who you are. I was told that I should learn the American culture, but never forget about my own. This has been an essential aspect of my life, so I would love to be with someone that feels the same way I do, and although I really like the person I am dating right now, I don’t think I would ever consider marrying him. I say this because although he loves the Spanish culture (being that he is half) he doesn’t know the language well and only can listen to the music when he’s in the mood. Sometimes I just want to be able to have a conversation with him in Spanish and I can’t, and that does bother me a lot because I am constantly speaking Spanish in my every day life.

Would I ever date someone out of my race? Honestly I don’t really know the answer to this question. Ever since I was fourteen, I have dated someone that has been either Puerto Rican or Dominican. But, recently I started dating someone that is half Puerto Rican and half African American. When he first informed me about his race, I was a tad bit shocked, but to my surprise it didn’t bother me. I say this because I love being in a relationship with someone that values my culture. I need to be with someone that is going to love Spanish food, can listen to the music with me and can also dance to the music. Although the person I am dating does not fluently speak Spanish, he barely knows Spanish at all, he loves the Spanish culture. Being able to accept who I am and where I come from is very important to me. So if I am dating someone that isn’t part of my race, but enjoys everything about it, I probably wouldn’t mind dating them.