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View of My Life with Drugs

 

This is the truth about our own people living in the projects
Fighting for territory G’s riding a car
Smoking too much
And drug addiction
We could never find peace with races

Gang Rich n poor
And the rest of the haters out there
Everyone going crazy
Just because of drugs in the communities
Smoking weed
Rolling E’s
Crytal meth
Crack
And the rest of the …drugs out there
But the worst drug of all is meth
Just one puff from it
You’ll be addicted to it
Always got to say no to drugs
It only makes you turn into a hater
We could never change a person
Only they could change themselves
I would’ve died a long time ago
But something’s keeping me alive
Making me try to tell the whole world about it
But I’m just too stupid to realize
That I got a gift
To show everyone
But back then I was too young that time
Try once never going to do it again
This is the truth
From the view of my eyes
This is no lies
Don’t try
Not even once in your life
Too many memories going through in my mind
Got to be tough now.

– William, 16

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Experience with Drugs

 

The first time I encountered drugs was in my backyard when I saw a cigarette on my lawn.

I was only seven, and I didn’t know that smoking was bad. I was curious about what smoking was like. I picked up the cigarette, smoked it, and started to gag. My lungs felt like they were bursting out for fresh air.

Slowly, I started to breathe again, but I was breathing heavily, I went into my house and drank water to cool down for a bit. Then I began to calm down and fell asleep on my couch. That day taught me a lesson on why smoking can be harmful to your health, and I will never again smoke.

– C.J., 15

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Memory of Alcohol

 

When I was younger my father would sometimes drink Budweiser or wine just to have something to do instead of sitting all day. My oldest brother and a few of my sisters would form a semicircle around my father and watch him chug down a cup. He wasn’t addicted or anything of that nature. He was just a father who wanted to imitate the drunkards on T.V. that we often saw.

He would sometimes offer us a sip or two, not to get us addicted, but to see the silly expressions we made in response to the bitterness of Budweiser. My older brother, being the daring one, would usually take in half a can of beer before pulling away. My older sisters, however, took a sip and pulled away as quickly as the bitterness swam across their taste buds. I, on the other hand, took in a whole mouthful before giving in and declaring my brother the winner.

As we grew up the memory of the bitterness of the can of beer taught me to stay away from alcohol.

– Anonymous

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My First Job

 

My first work experience was at the YWCA. In this program we watched little kids and helped them out with their homework. Every Monday and Wednesday we watch the kids at City-view. Tuesdays and Thursdays we went to Olson Middle School.

It was a fun experience, but it was also a frightening experience since I didn’t know anyone. To make things easier for me, I hung out with the kids more and got to know them better. Soon others like the elders started talking to me.

By the time I quit I had a lot of friends and a lot of free time. With the friends I made while working with the Y, we made a lot of mini videos. So my first work experience wasn’t bad or good—it was okay.

-Joshua

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My First Job

 

My first job experience was at a radio station called Jazz 88 KBEM FM, located in my school on the lower floor of North High’s locker room. I was one of the people who helped the D.J. get his CDs in time, because it was important to play the right song at the right time. I helped with a lot of the editing, changing CDs, and picking CDs. This wasn’t actually a real job, though, since it was part of my High School Small Learning Community (SLC).

I helped out a lot at KBEM. In class at the radio station, they taught me the facts about what the listener wanted to hear, and why they wanted to hear it. This job was a good way to spend that one hour part of my school day. It was a great experience and made me wonder what other kinds of jobs I could do in the future. I could be a cop, a lawyer, a paralegal, or a guy flipping burgers at a restaurant.

It was a lot of work, but at least it was a job. Not only did I enjoy the job, I received good pay out of it, too. I also saved a lot of money over the summer. Overall it was a great experience.

-Jeffrey

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My First Job

 

My first job was to build a retaining wall, and I thought it was easy. Then later on it became harder than I thought it was. I experienced a lot from this job. I learned that you need patience, a lot of water, and it’s a lot of fun.

This job requires a lot of patience because you don’t simply lay bricks on each other. You have to level the bricks with a ruler that has a bubble inside of it. The bubbles have to be in between two lines, so sometimes it gets really frustrating, but I got used to it.

You need a lot of water for this job because you are going to be working out in the sun. You need to carry lots of heavy stuff like bricks, rocks, and buckets full of dirt. You get thirsty very quickly.

This job was a lot of fun to me because my teammates and I have fun joking around with each other. Sometimes they try to rap, and that’s what makes it funny. I had fun working with my boss. Although this job was hard, I still liked it because my future job will be in construction, building roads or houses.

-Pheng

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MCP Connects

 

August 3 – It is a complete shock to find out that MCP (Minnesota Center for Photography) has ceased operation as of July 31st, 2008. It is a great lost of resource for us, and for the community. The announcement on the MCP homepage gives more details.

Five of the youths’ photographs have been selected to the MCP Connects photo exhibit that runs from July 26 to October 5. Here are the 5 photos now on display.

Follow the link >> more information on the exhibit.