Dear Congress(wo)man,
I am writing to you to make the case for a stronger dedication from our policy makers to investment in human capital. The reforms we truly need in this country would re-prioritize how our money is allocated. The focus would be on making certain we as the people of this country are able to not only survive but prosper.
As an educator, I am horrified at our country's unacceptable commitment to investment in education. The children of today will be our future residents, voters and leaders. You have to understand that we are doing these children a disservice. A disservice by choosing to allocate money to securing borders, the borders of our country and several others; choosing to increase funding to the justice department, to perpetuate incarceration rather than rehabilitation; choosing to invest in fear rather than in ourselves.
I implore you and others in Congress to get us on track to by supporting policy that facilitate and encourage financing investments in human capital.
Regards,
Virginia Brisley
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Lessons in exigencies
Interviewing can be stressful. Its meeting a new person who is evaluating you for a position as their work-mate, worker, and fulfillment of working standards. I left an interview today feeling that I hadn't adequately proved to my interviewer that I could exceed her expectations for the role needing to be filled. I sweat, the questions she asked needed college courses dedicated to the topics. I talked in circles and said words all together in a row, but I wasn't saying anything in particular. Its disappointing to take a step to the side of yourself while you're talking and realize that you are using words to evade the fact that you do not know the answer to this question and need some time to stare into your brain, preferably off in a corner alone staring out the window, to get to some conclusive solutions. Instead I stammered, painfully reading the lack of interest and imminent rejection in the interviewer's eyes.
Why did I feel so unprepared for this interview? Answer - I'm dealing with a lot of change. I can understand that, easy enough. But I wanted to explore the more subtle choices in the morning that lead up to the time of the interview and how these particular decisions may or may not have influenced my performance in the interview. Taking a non-judgmental walk through my morning, I pinpointed several pivotal factors that stuck out as important. Firstly, I wanted to wake up at 7am to start my morning early. I set my alarm for 7pm accidentally the night before. Secondly, after I woke up at 7am I wanted to stretch. Because my alarm was not set for 7am, I woke up at 9am. The interview was scheduled for 11am. Lastly, I was stopped on the road to direct a driver to N. Roman. No clue. Then he said its near a street that I thought was in the neighborhood behind us. So I directed him to turn around and head back to where he came from. As I rode two blocks further, I crossed N. Roman. I apologized to him in my head the whole ride to the interview.
As I stretched in my yard, a few hours after the interview, my mind unwrapped the improbable queries asked of me earlier. I think I realized those answers were already there, I just made it more difficult for myself to access them while I was on the spot. In the future, I'm going to pay attention to days that I decide not to stretch, or if my alarm isn't set correctly, or some other nuance of the day and how that plays into the outcomes of my day.
The hard part is dedicating the effort to steadily work on oneself in order for one's existence to be as easy as possible; the more work put in, the easier it gets.
Why did I feel so unprepared for this interview? Answer - I'm dealing with a lot of change. I can understand that, easy enough. But I wanted to explore the more subtle choices in the morning that lead up to the time of the interview and how these particular decisions may or may not have influenced my performance in the interview. Taking a non-judgmental walk through my morning, I pinpointed several pivotal factors that stuck out as important. Firstly, I wanted to wake up at 7am to start my morning early. I set my alarm for 7pm accidentally the night before. Secondly, after I woke up at 7am I wanted to stretch. Because my alarm was not set for 7am, I woke up at 9am. The interview was scheduled for 11am. Lastly, I was stopped on the road to direct a driver to N. Roman. No clue. Then he said its near a street that I thought was in the neighborhood behind us. So I directed him to turn around and head back to where he came from. As I rode two blocks further, I crossed N. Roman. I apologized to him in my head the whole ride to the interview.
As I stretched in my yard, a few hours after the interview, my mind unwrapped the improbable queries asked of me earlier. I think I realized those answers were already there, I just made it more difficult for myself to access them while I was on the spot. In the future, I'm going to pay attention to days that I decide not to stretch, or if my alarm isn't set correctly, or some other nuance of the day and how that plays into the outcomes of my day.
The hard part is dedicating the effort to steadily work on oneself in order for one's existence to be as easy as possible; the more work put in, the easier it gets.
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