Don’t get me wrong these arguments are valid and the facts are presented well, but I haven’t seen many answers to fix this mess. For one, not all the schools in this country private or public are corrupt. I refuse to believe that at all because there are good people as well as bad people in any profession period. During this recession many college graduates have failed to find jobs and some have. But, of course our media will only show one side of the story, which are the kids who are graduating with a lot of college debt and no job. It is hard for me to have sympathy for anyone who graduates college with debt and can’t find a job.

For some reason these students thought that if they went to school and graduated a job will magically appear. Those same people will be the same one to tell me that I am lucky to have a job after school. Lucky? I refuse to call my success luck at all. I worked my butt off to be where I am today. And if you look at my background I am from the same “hood” a lot of people use as an excuse for not succeeding.

One thing I do believe is that colleges & schools in general do not focus the student on a field where they will more than likely be successful. Successful meaning having a career and etc. A lot of kids go to school and think “oh I like that so I will major in that subject”. In that whole process not one person thinks “will this get me a good career?”. I personally feel that one question will help reduce some of these horrible numbers we have seen for unemployment among the youth.
Another helpful tip in seeking employment would be to check outside of ones bubble (city, state). When a young adult graduates from college, they most likely move back in with their parents to start their new journey. I am sure very few ever look outside their hometown to seek employment even if it is garunteed to be a huge struggle. I don’t have all the answers, but those two things I feel will help a huge deal. I know many people say that our economy is horrible blah blah blah, but have you looked at other states in America? There are plenty of cities & states that have great economies and are creating jobs. When it comes down to it people need to think outside the box and be willing to make changes as times change. I know that one day for a fact the languages I use to code on the web will change. I am more than willing to keep learning whatever I need to learn to stay at the top of my profession.

One thing that my points and assumptions won’t help is the laziness factor. A lot of people within our country have become extremely lazy and have more time for television shows than to study to help improve themselves. They know the timetable for the latest shows, latest sneakers and video games, but have no idea what profession is in need of workers within the job market. Nothing stays the same and you must be willing to change or get left back. The market has no sympathy for the weak. I remember when I graduated from my university I refused to leave my mothers apartment before I got a job/interview. My friends would IM me or call me and say I was crazy to stay in for that or I should enjoy life. I still kept at it and literally stayed in and on my computer everyday until what I wanted happened. It worked and things started to change for the better.

I sit in a way better position that I was in five years ago and those same memories are what keep me humble. These are just my random thoughts I usually have and felt I should share them. Hopefully this motivates someone to keep pushing and reach for that goal. Also, hopefully this will help current students pay more attention to their major and job market. We will see.

Yup I said it, we got married. Besides all those things the most important thing is the fact that we got peace of mind. That is the most precious gift a man can recieve to me personally. I would like to thank my family and friends because without their support non of this would be done so easily. Also with our current social technology because that has made our transition easier too.

Another Innocent young man

Another young man killed for absolutely no reason. If you haven’t heard a young man Oscar Grant in Oakland, California was killed (executed) on New Years Day by an officer.

Grant and some friends got into a fight on the train which obviously led the BART officer to handcuff them. What doesn’t make sense is the fact that minutes later he was shot execution style. He was handcuffed and on the platform while getting shot by this officer.

Thanks to a girl on a passing train who recorded the whole act on her cell phone, we can all see what exactly happened on YouTube and even news networks.

The excuse used by the officer and the department is that the Bart officer mistaken his gun for his tazer. Sometimes I think that the public is so dumbed down that we star to just assume right in every single person even if it is right in front of us. As much as I hate violence I am glad they are protests and riots going on in Oakland because things like that cannot go on anymore.

This isn’t based on race, this is based on rights. There was no reason to pull out the tazer from my eyes because the young man had three officers on him, what more can he possibly do?. I have heard of too many people being killed by Tazer guns this whole summer so I don’t think that’s even a save way to calm someone down. How in the world are you going to explain to his parents and his family that your son has died due to mistaken weapon identity?

In this day and age Officers have way too many rights and reasons to fire a gun and in this event there was absolutely no cause for it. Sometimes important news like this gets lost and for simple reasons like news on the other coast didnt report it and etc. I hope all of you take this problem seriously as we did Sean Bell and many more in the future. I haven’t heard a peep from any politicians on this and not even Barack, but thats another story. What do you guys think fo all this?

I love this position because I get to bring up new concepts and Ideas when I see fit and my opinion is being listened too for once!  To me this position is a stepping stone in developing my career as one of the elite Tech/Web minds. More and more I grow I know my place in the industry lies within developing a companies Tech and web presence to help clients, sales and etc.

Other than that my coworkers are great so far and Austin is definitely my home for now and wouldn’t change it for the world. The weather down here around this time is so crazy I forget that we are in October at all.  I don’t think I have ever just been at peace in NYC as I have been here. So all of you guys definitely need to come visit soon maybe even come for SXSW!  Well till next time.

Hey people!! I know I haven’t blogged in a while, but to me if I have nothing worth writing about I would rather not waste anyones time and mine with nonsense. But, today is different, Friday June 6th was my last day at Situation Marketing as a Web Designer. This was one hard decision especially since I learned so much there and met so many great people that have each affected my life in a positive way.

My reason for leaving is purely based on my growth as a person and a professional. I have been there a year and I learned so much so fast I was no longer challenged with my daily tasks. My main purpose for working there was to learn more about the web in the first place and I did so it was time to move on. Then comes in the fact that more money was needed for my daily bills and etc. So my original thoughts from 2006 my graduation year came about, which was a thought of moving to another city.

Not just any city, but another big city where I can live the life style I have always wanted without a hassle of mixing and losing my personal life with my work life. Without living check to check and trying to move out on my own and can’t even get an apartment due to NYC’s horrible prices. You see most people from “The Hood” never make it out and some have never seen other states let alone another borough. After working with so many diverse people at Situation Marketing I noticed that almost everyone is from another city and even country. And after reading Ekart Tolle’s A New Earth, I started to challenge myself to get rid of everything that I am comfortable with. To remove all the things I have known and have attached to myself and identified as me, which are my neighborhood, my family, friends and just everything that I have know for all 25 yrs of my life. Don’t get me wrong I have family in Grenada, Trinidad and etc so I have traveled all over, but I haven’t lived at these places.

So after all the research and thoughts I have chosen Austin, TX. Yes Texas!!! I know most of you think ” ill Texas where all the cowboys are?”. And to that I say “grow up and explore more”. I am moving to Austin one of the best places for myself & Carmen to explore, learn and start our personal business ventures. Out of all places Austin has intrigued me because of all the great things I have always heard and when myself and my Girlfriend Carmen went on vacation it was amazing. I don’t think I have ever been so relaxed in my life at anytime in my life as I was when we stayed there.

So Carmen and I have been approved for our Apartment and will be moving middle of this month. Yes I said moving in June !!! Yes I know it is very soon, but we have some moves to make and if not now then when ? This is a fun time in my life and to achieve the lifestyle where I can live in peace and ensure than my family will also I have to take these chances now. So to all my friends and family feel free to come visit my door is open to you and I mean it. This isn’t the end this is the beginning.

Always remember everything has its purpose, I have learned it was my purpose to work at Situation Marketing to learn what I needed, It was my purpose to feel stressed about work and my salary because it was needed to trigger my original thoughts of moving from NYC in the first place. So to everyone I leave you these simple words, ” In order to do big things you need to think big” .

More and more I realize that a little bit of me is afraid of leaving my hood. To me my hood is my culture my upbringing and with out it I will lose a part of me. People like my mother and my girlfriend always say please because they left their countries (Grenada & Panama) for a better life and if they were to think that way then they would be stuck there. So it is an official year since I been back home from graduation and I am a different person and have been exposed to so many things my peers haven&rsqo;t yet in their lives. Since I am always thinking I always dream of a nice home to finally call my own, no roaches, rats, overcrowding the whole nine, but most of the time that will equal giving up a persons culture, family and some friends.

So my question to everyone is if you had a chance to escape your home, hood and etc, where would you set up your life? You finally got that big paying job, but its in another state are you willing to leave close friends behind? If so where and how far are you willing to go?

I am not saying forget your taught skills from school and previous jobs, but to keep an open mind and be willing to change things up a little. My Junior design position at Situation Marketing is going good, but of course I have had my days where I wonder what is my next step in my career. I usually keep a list of things I want to accomplish and get done. So far I have got my position in web design, purchased my car and continue to get my name out there for my personal clients. I have also become more fluent in CSS, which I love. With the help of my new favorite book CSS Mastery by Andy Budd, Cameron Moll, Simon Collison and my coworkers Matt and Jade I am getting better and better at understand the tricks of designing and styling websites in beautiful CSS. Woooo hoooo!

I am turning the big 25 this saturday and yes it is a big accomplishment for a young black man in hoods all over the globe, but also as a young man period. My next goals are owning a home or getting my apartment, get more organized, redesign this blog and moving up in my position as a designer within this year. I believe my skills are enhancing by the minute and it feels great to feel content and free on my design choices within each project I am given.