Blog Post #7 Pre-Write

The community of MetWest is one born of the OUSD (Oakland Unified School District). As many people are aware the OUSD has had a rash of administrative and financial woes that have all but crippled it completely. The OUSD that I was a part of was a cumbersome and sickly beast weighed down by bureaucracy. It was in this climate that I spent my school career and where MetWest started. A determined group of parents, staff, and some very motivated students made the whole thing work despite all the difficulties. During my time in the OUSD I learned to never expect anything to work right or correctly, and MetWest was no exception. In fact, I would say that it was this dysfunction that really forced us to innovate and build up resistance to all the red tape and disinterested higher administration, don’t get me wrong I would have preferred more funds and resources but the “make do” attitude that pervaded MetWest was a positive necessity.

It was this necessity that drove us forward. At MetWest your learning experience was what you put in, not what you could absorb by rote memorization. Naturally this attitude, or rather this atmosphere tended to imbue its students with certain traits. Many MetWest students could be described as more self reliant and open to personal growth than your typical OUSD student. We placed less stock in the idea that personal value was determined  by an abstract numerical total derived from an often obtuse test, and more value in our experiences and what we learned and could apply in the practical world. In all candor, there is worth in being able to do well on tests and academic pursuits, but I think that there is more value in knowing how to build skills and operate in less than optimal situations. The adversity of the OUSD imparted to the students of MetWest a greater inner strength and character than we could have developed anywhere else.

Blog Post #6

What are some of the things you learned about yourself as a student or a professional in Module I? Did you surprise yourself in any way? Were you proud of yourself? Were you at all disappointed in yourself? Why?


During module I I learned that  I needed to work on remembering to always treat e-mail as a professional tool. I tend to use e-mail sparsely and do not always format it as I should. I can't say I was particularly surprised by any of my strengths or areas in need of development. As a writer and speaker both, I know what my limits are and have had a lot of feedback pertaining to both. As a result of much of this feedback I was not surprised by my results, nor was I particularly proud or disappointed. I suspect that as the year progresses I will adjust my own expectations and expand into building other skills, once this happens I will probably have more to reflect about. I am, in this respect, a slower learner when it comes to incorporating new skills and further improving my existing ones. However, this method has allowed me to more comfortably expand my skill base. 

Blog Post #5

Prompt: To what extent does a person’s neighborhood shape who she or he is?

Write a post on your blog- 300-350 words- in which you talk about your surroundings and how this environment has affected you as a person:

Briefly describe your neighborhood.
Which statement best fits you and why?
I am who I am because of the neighborhood I live(d) in.
I am who I am despite the neighborhood I live(d) in.

The neighborhood that I grew up in is a fairly quiet area with what might be considered a low crime rate (for Oakland), and I suspect that many would categorize it as middle class. I have never lived in what many would call a rough neighborhood. However, I have been around and worked in some neighborhoods in Oakland that could be described as such. It is difficult to say that my neighborhood has been the sole contributor to my character or that I am who I am because of it. In truth both the place that I have lived in and the places that I have lived near are responsible for much of my development. My home and directly surrounding area have provided, for the most part, a beneficial environment, while the more difficult areas have endowed me with a certain understanding of the value associated with that kind of asset. But which statement fits me best “because” or “despite?”

I would have to choose “because” for the simple reason that my immediate neighborhood has provided me with more benefit than detriment, the pros have always outweighed the cons, so to speak. Many of my neighbors have supported me throughout my life and I have never felt unsafe on my street. This support and relative safety (with perhaps the one exception of a heavily armed police squad aiming at my house) has proven invaluable to me in ways that I probably don’t completely understand or even consider. I can’t say I’d be a vastly different person if I had lived somewhere else, mainly because I believe that people and events have a much more tangible and measurable influence on a person’s life. It is true that location can have an effect on who and how but in my particular case the people that have most influenced me have been independent of my home location in respect to neighborhood.

Blog Post #4

In today’s economy low-wage earners are an increasing majority and corporate organizations have found ways to tap that resource for profit. Unfortunately, the method used is to hold low-wage consumers in perpetual debt. Companies specifically target less savvy consumers who already have difficulties acquiring the bare necessities to survive. These people are offered goods and services, often at a higher markup than normal retail, and then charged exorbitant appreciation rates. These business practices have effectively driven a wedge into the opportunity divide. In order to be competitive people require resources that they are unable to acquire for a fair price. Unscrupulous companies then use these resources to extort money from the people who need them most. This cycle keeps lower rung consumers poor, freezes upward mobility, and further stratifies society.

It’s difficult to fully analyze all the effects of this poverty profiteering business, or how to change this dynamic that has been so carefully engineered for the express purpose of profit at the expense of opportunity. However, some general behavioral and policy changes could diminish the negative effects of these practices. First, the government should enact and enforce more stringent policy regarding consumer safety. Second, companies should re-evaluate their profit ratio to the potential harm to consumers, and find a more equitable balance. Finally, consumers need to be more alert and capable of analyzing contracts before falling victim to these types of debt entrapment. In order for any of the above to actually happen would require time, money, and education. Consumers need to be educated in better business sense. On the corporate side there are several possible solutions. Corporations could lower their prices and receive subsidization from the government, or a public government funded alternative could provide resources to those in need. Poverty shouldn’t be a business, it should be a problem for society to solve.

Blog Post #3 Biography

Joshua Ikeda-Nash is currently a student at Year Up Bay Area in San Francisco. He graduated from MetWest High School and is a product of the Oakland Unified School District. During his time during and after high school Joshua has interned at OTX-West (Oakland Technology Exchange West), OASES, and the Port of Oakland. At OTX-West he gained hands-on experience building computers, managing volunteers, teaching basic computer skills, and setting up computer labs. During his internship at the Port of Oakland Joshua was placed in the Cranes Engineering Department where he learned a bit about electrical system graphs, engineering diagrams, CAD programs, and to always keep a weather eye out for free food. In order to ensure maximum free food he participated in an intern based network that provided notification of possible resources.

At the moment Joshua’s goal is to complete the Year Up program and continue his education in the field of computer technology and science. This goal is largely tied to his main interests in computers and his passion for technology, which has been his main motivation throughout his career in school and college. Joshua’s hobbies include computer games, carnivorous plants, and volunteer work at EBMC (East Bay Meditation Center.) Known affiliations have been with the aforementioned EBMC and the JACL (Japanese American Citizens League.) After graduating from Year Up, Joshua plans to find work in his area of interest and possibly continue his education at a college in order to get a BA.