How to implement success in school as a low-income student of color:



It's the beginning of the school year and a lot of things that are on the minds of many, are how to prepare for the upcoming school year. With the stress of homework, exams and just getting grades, it can be a lot for many to handle. For low-income students and students of color, however, the stress can be overwhelming and many students of color as well as their parents are not prepared in how to plan for high school, college, or careers. It's important especially for low-income parents and students to be able to take the beginning of the school year very seriously, as it can be a foundation for how they succeed for the rest of the year.

Being a former student of color myself, I have learned a lot from going through high school and university about the significance of what needs to be done in order to have the most success in college. College is one of the greatest eye openers for students of color because universities are funded much more substantially than public schools in low-income communities (where many students of color attend) and can give a glimpse of what a highly funded educational experience can look. Plus, the enrichment opportunities for students of color at a university are much more diverse than at a regular high school, and so it can be life-changing for many students.

Here is my opinion on how students of color can both utilize their hearts and minds during an upcoming year and plan properly to be prepared to navigate high school and college. This is assuming A-G requirements don't change dramatically in the next few months and years.


1. Pursue what you love.

First comes first, is pursuing a passion or a desired passion to explore. It may be asking young students too much to know what they love doing, as many young adults are often struggling with that question as well. But it's important to address this question at an early age and take it very seriously. Your heart will never stop desiring to try that thing you've been dying to try, and many young adults and older adults can attest to this. The yearning to follow your dreams never really goes away. I've always loved writing, and dancing, and have always wanted to learn how to swim and speak a new language... and though, I have never seriously tried those endeavors, I find that I'm always reminding myself that I can and will someday. Don't make your child or yourself wait. Take the steps to pursue those things that you desire to try soon, whether it be something as silly as hula hooping or something as structured as learning a sport or taking dance classes.

There's some really important and practical ways to make this benefit and to also make it work for students in a way that's gentle and non-critical. Many students, like most every human being,  will find that they will fail at something, and then, inevitably they will want to try it again, though they may be too ashamed to do so at some point. That is a process that can be very damaging to one's self-esteem if it doesn't get treated well. Especially because many students of color come from low-income backgrounds, the sensitivity to failure is very high and can lead to them giving up out of fear of more failure. Being supportive in your child's activities of learning is crucial to helping them learn affirmative ways of picking themselves up after failure. Be a beacon of encouragement for them. Let them know that once they practice they will be much more likely to be as good as they desire to be. Everyone wants to feel like they're good at something, and students can feel this pressure immensely.

Some tips to ask a student is what are the things that they consistently pursue in their spare time? Is it performing in front of family and friends and making them laugh? Is it playing athletic sports and utilizing their body to express themselves? Is it simply being a math genius and excelling at mathematical equations? It's important to realize that many of the skills that are appropriate for a typical school curriculum are not expressed in many people's passions and desires. Not many students secretly desire to be a mathmetician or historian and so not only is it somewhat irrelevant to force students to pursue one of those subjects as their passion, but it can often lead to depression and physical illness, which may follow them all throughout high school and beyond. The important thing for parents and community is to provide these opportunities for the many diverse sets of interest for young students of color, much of which is kept from them due to lack of funding and investment in their education.

Tips on How to Use a Planner

5 Tips on How To Make Your Planner Use Effective and Consistent

Nowadays, people lives are so busy and cluttered, it can easily get out of hand to manage day-to-day activities. But, fortunately, there is a trusty way to create a sense of peace and organization in your life! And it is through the use of planning! Here's 5 tips to help you use planning to get through your days, weeks, and monthly activities. 

1. Have an early morning set-up.

It's best to have your planner set up in an area, where you can access it early in the morning The best place to do this would be in a quiet corner in your room where you can plan uninterrupted. Have your planner open, and begin quickly assessing what you already have scheduled for the day. Have a separate to-do list handy so that you can jot down all your tasks on a small sheet of paper. Sometimes, it is too bulky to carry a planner everywhere you go, so using a small sheet of paper to remind you of your tasks is a great way to get things done without a big planner to keep in your purse. However, if that's something you love to do and you're one of the lucky few who doesn't get overwhelmed with looking at a notebook in the mall or somewhere else, by all means, bring your planner with you. It's whatever feels comfortable and right for you. 

Add all your new activities to your daily planner. Remember not to overwhelm yourself with too many tasks. If you have an overload of tasks in one day, it is likely that you won't be able to complete them all. Be careful what you take on for the day, and be realistic about what you can actually take care of. 

2. Create a dashboard in your planner for sticky notes and flags. 

Carrying sticky notes in your planner is an effective way of reminding yourself of tasks that you have to do that unexpectedly come up as well as urgent reminders of things that need to happen quickly or as soon as possible.

A good example is when you realize that you have unexpected bills that must be paid, or other unexpected tasks like appointments or meetings. Using a sticky note or page flag is a great way of adding a reminder to your planner when you had scheduled something else otherwise.

I also use sticky notes to add room to my planner to map out certain important dates, and payments that I have to make. Sometimes there isn't enough space to write a list of all the bills I have to pay, so I use a sticky note to write everything out. I will usually place the sticky note on top of the day that I am working on and then can just flip underneath to see what's on the rest of my schedule.

Sticky notes are also great ways to jot down ideas, or quotes you may have and then place them in the corner of your planner. I use this for a lot of inspirational quotes and reminders!

3. Write down all the things that you desire to do or that you plan on doing, and see if you can incorporate your schedule around them.

Sometimes, I use my planner not only to write tasks that I have to do, but tasks that I want to do. For example, sometimes I write down that I want to purchase nail polish, makeup, lipstick, or that I want to paint my room, find a new lamp, and donate my clothes. Oftentimes, I don't know when exactly I'm going to do these tasks, I just know that I want to eventually do them. Planning is a great way of putting down future tasks with an unknown schedule into your planner and then moving them around, as you see fit. As long as I have that reminder that I need to get something, I will keep remembering that it's something that I need to do. And then eventually, I will find that I have a few hours in the day to do that thing, or pick something up from the store!

4. Keep track of your pencils and pens. 

I know that this might not be right for everyone, and some people may find that this actually stresses them out more than helps them, but for those of you who are always looking around for a pencil and pen and then having to search all over the house for one, this may be for you! I find that I am always losing my pens and pencils, and often spend time and money purchasing new pens, when it can be much easier to simply keep track of the pens I already have. 

I place my pencils in a corner of a room, where I can easily find them and put them back. This where I put all my pencils together in a pile. I also have one pencil that I use for my purse and this is just for my purse. I do this so because I often need something to write with and having the same pencil there all the time is really helpful and reliable. 

5. Add a detachable envelope to your planner. 

Another way to organize important notes and documents, is to create a diy detachable envelope or folder. There are plenty tutorials on youtube that can help you learn how to do this. All you have to do is get an envelope and use that as a way to create a little pocket for your important documents. You can hole punch the sides and then cut little rectangles into them to make it easy to insert them into the coils of your planner. It's a really cool idea and there's tons of different ways you can make it work for you! Just choose the one that feels best for your style of planning! 

Hope these tips help you organize your planner, as well as keep track of your schedules, meetings and other things you need to remember while planning! 

Good luck!