YIA: You are dumb until I give you this

When youth in action came to Rhode Island College for the 5th time it was different then the other times. The reason why is because before they came for this event they were able to bless us with their presence and educate us about a non-profit that none of us knew about. I will never forget the day they first came to my Fall semester of 2013 my classmates loved them and couldn't wait for them to come back.

But back to today, so the second event that I went to was called "You are dumb until I give you this." At first if you passed by a flyer you would kind of feel offended and shocked because if you didn't know YIA background and how humble and amazing they are you would think by the title of this event that they thought that they knew it all, and you probably thought what is this knowledge that they are thinking of giving me that I do not already have?

As the workshop progressed the whole point of this event was to educate current and potential teachers/professors about the harm they are doing to their students when they do not allow a student to challenge themselves. What I mean is that many teachers as they explained think that just because they went to college and have a masters or doctorate degree that they all of a sudden have all of the wisdom, that there is no way that their high school students could ever teach them something new. Which is something that happens in many schools. I remember various times when I went to high school and I was in a certain class that every time I went to this class I always felt as if I was never smart enough to actually have an educational conversation with my teacher(s). Its a feeling that will never go away but it has also made me stronger.

Overall it was a great event that I hope brought awareness to the students and the teachers that it takes both parts to create an awesome learning experience.

Ps. At this point I was interning for Youth in Action and I felt very proud of my team.

Student Acceptance Day at RIC

This year was my very first time being part of student acceptance day. To be honest my classmates and I from Ydev were very nervous. We were nervous because this was our first time participating and we knew how competitive the other majors can be. The moment you walked into the student ballroom there were 5 students upfront with burgundy RIC t-shirts that said on the back "Ask me about Biology at RIC" and they were very friendly and confident about their major and it seemed like they were very proud. Unfortunately, that day I was the only person wearing my youth development t-shirt so it was hard for us to really look official. We had many experiences that I would like to share with you. Many of the students that were with their parents were to shy to stand up for themselves, there was a girl that was with her parents and we were talking to them about youth development and it seemed like her parents were more involved with what we had to say then she was. I will never forget when Anthony completely turned in her direction and said so what do you think? Are you interested in Ydev and after the girl spoke about what she wants to do Ydev classmates and I looked at each other and realized what a perfect fit she would be for Ydev but realized that her parents had other plans. We still gave her a pamphlet and told her if anything please email the Professors. There was another situation where since secondary education was sharing the same table as us we had a ton of potential students that we could convert to Ydev. There was a student that came up to us and looked like she was confused, and once again Anthony was there to the rescue lol and began to spoke about how she wants to do secondary education but feels overwhelmed by all the hoops you have to jump just to get in and how she is just passionate about working with youth and wants to help them become successful not do all this student teaching and create lesson planning. And once Anthony was about to explain how awesome our youth development program is, someone from secondary education jumped in and interrupted what Anthony was about to say. After awhile Nina and I got the hang of talking to the parents and their kids. We ended up having a great time. I definitely recommend my professors to allow future Ydev students to expose themselves in activities like this.

TED TALK: What will blow our minds in the next 30 years?

As I was watching this YouTube video from TED TALK called “What will blow our minds in the next thirty years?” it was amazing to see the years of technology flashing before me.  As a college student growing up with a desktop computer in my household, having my own laptop by 8th grade and getting my first flip cellphone by 9th grade; these are things that were and still are natural for me. Whereas my parents until 7 years ago really started to get used to using technology, they had absolutely no idea how to do anything. My brother and I would always have to take the time to teach our parents how to text, even how to create their own Facebook which I had since I was in 18.

To see how every generation is going to be raised with different types of technology is amazing and scary all at the same time. It’s bittersweet because I saw how hard it was for my parents to get accustomed to this new technology that my brother and I were constantly being pulled into and I guess I don't want to be that old fashioned parent in the future not knowing what my future kids will be up to. I guess I will always have to make sure I go to tons of technology workshops so that I can continue to stay on top of it. Which I feel many parents/guardians don't think of, they usually just give up which is dangerous because how can you keep up with your child and how are you supposed to know what your child is doing if you have no idea how to use the technology that you just handed to them for their birthday or Christmas?

After I finished watching the video underneath it the speakers allowed the attendees and speakers to discuss or share what they think the future will bring. Nicholas Negroponte, founder, MIT Media Lab, speaking in Session 1 at TED2014 mentioned that, “One of the things about learning how to read — we have been doing a lot of consuming of information through our eyes and so on — that may be a very inefficient channel. So my prediction is that we’re going to ingest information. You’re going to swallow a pill and know English. You’re going to swallow a pill and know Shakespeare. The way to do it is through the bloodstream; once it’s in your bloodstream, it basically goes through and gets into the brain and when it knows it’s in the brain it deposits the information in the right places. I’ve been hanging around with Ed Boyden and Hugh Herr and a number of people… This isn’t far-fetched.” Which I found completely mind blowing and a little weird, because imagine trying to study for a English exam in High School/College and just taking a pill and you will automatically remember and absorb Shakespeare?

“What will blow my mind in the next 30 years is the ability to diagnose a disease before you know that something is wrong with you, treat it with medicines designed specifically for you and eradicate it so it never happens again. The concept of connected health, wearable technology and ingested medicines are all pointing us in that direction. The ability for someone to tie it all together, tailored for the individual is what is mind blowing.”

Doreen Lorenzo, president, Quirky

 “We will see the big picture with more clarity and resolution than ever before. Whether for good or ill (and surely it will be both), ever greater legibility of everything around us, between us, and even in us, and in every system from the physical to the social, financial, commercial, environmental and more is going to transform our relationship to the world, each other and to every system of which we are part.” [Read more about "The Legible Planet" in this separate piece, written just for TED.]

Andrew Blau, managing director, Deloitte

If this is what the future of technology will bring in the next thirty years, all I can say is life is definitely going to get interesting.