Masterpiece Academy

Although I have only been in this course for a semester I think I have learned more in the past few months than I did in any other English course. I have learned how to reach out to members of the community professionally, in a way that they will and have actually responded to me.

As Dr. Preston goes throughout class, we as a class are not necessarily treated as students but as colleagues in a process that is much bigger than ourselves. Although at times we may not deserve to be treated as colleagues,  we are and that helps us grow. In life no one is going to tell you to do your presentation you just have to prepare and get it done.

Through this course I was able to express a deep concern I had about sex trafficking and was then able to get in touch with people that could help me get further on my way to my overall goal of building a safe house for the victims. After I leave thus course I will continue to keep in touch with my resources and hopefully will build the safe house.

On a daily basis Dr. Preston says things that make me think, "you know what, he is right" something that made me laugh was that people think this class is easy because no one tells you what to do, when to do it, or how to do it.

Now although no one tells us what to do, everyone had a presentation when it came the day to present. As people were presenting, I found a common theme in quite a few,  compassion or love. I did sex trafficking which in order to help the victims I need to be compassionate and loving, Jacob is a chef and in order to produce quality food he needs to put love into his food like he did with his bruschetta. Analyssa is into photography, in order to compose a quality picture she must have love and patience in what she does, Paige is into art and crocheting, she needs love when it comes to art because putting love and passion into anything you do makes it worth more to the person you are making it for.

So what did I do? A hero is defined as someone who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities. Noble qualities, I believe by spreading awareness and gaining status I can call myself a hero, but would I? No, I don't do this for fame or fortune, I do it to better people's lives.

When it comes to adventure, I went with wherever my blog took me whether it was across the street or across the country I contacted people and never ended up getting a mentor but I learned that if you want something done you have to do it yourself.

Overall I love this course because it helped me grow into an adult. I will attach a few pictures of my classmates work. Jacob's bread sticks and bruschetta,  Paige's graduation treat, and Austin's comedy suggestions slide.

Beginning

Everything had to stem from something, some idea or thought. As I sit in class and write creatively about something that at first glance looks provocative, I start to think how I can bring creativity into the world of sex trafficking.

Some ideas I came up with were to figure out new ways to catch the pimps, and in addition to that, think of different ways to appeal to the victims.

Masterpiece Interviews

Today I interviewed several people about their projects and what they would be presenting to the class in a few weeks. I found that everyone I talked to had the same worries and/ or wants in means of outreach.

Many people were worried they weren't going to be able to finish their masterpiece in time and on a scale that would be acceptable.

In terms of outreach, many people including myself, said that they feel like they can't reach the audience they had in mind.

Through this experience I have learned that I need to shape the curriculum in order to benefit me.

Connections

Throughout the day I had several experiences that made me think of my project some include people walking through the halls and others included driving in my car.

As I wall through the halls I looked for signs of abuse and shockingly a lot of people show the signs. Now this doesn't mean they are abused but it just makes me think, what if they are? What can I do?

When I drive down the road I look for people, I see a lot of homeless people who could get a job but don't. There are girls forced into a job and here they are begging for money. I'm sure if you asked any victim if they would rather keep doing what they are doing or beg for money almost all of them would say they would rather beg for money.

Lastly laying in bed I think to myself, what if I was taken and forced to do what they are doing? Would I fight? Would I let them take me or would I even know that I was being persuaded into being in that lucrative business? All I know is that I'm thankful I'm not in that situation Abe that I need to get as many victims out of that situation as quickly as I can.

Design

When thinking about my environment and how I could hack it to better suit me I think about where I'd like to spend time. I love the outdoors so maybe I can go out in town and learn from my surrounds. Instead of hiding behind a blog I want to be out on the streets telling people that sex trafficking is real and that it happens everywhere, even here on the central coast.

By hacking my environment I will be open to more possibilities to succeed in my overall project. No one can truly succeed if they don't hack their environment, they will simply be going with the motions rather than making a statement,  making a difference.

The Crossroads Between Should and Must

Should is what society says you should do where must is your moral standards. I find myself doing what I should do not what I must do. As a teenager I want to fit in I want to be "normal" what does that even mean anymore?
I don't know why I want to be normal anymore, the only way to make a difference in the world is to be different, to be abnormal.
From now on I'm going to do what I must, be myself and make a difference no matter how small. I need to make a difference it's my moral instincts to be out of the box and hopefully inspirational to others to make a difference.
Should or must? I choose must.

Up To You

I have been struggling with plenty of problems the past few months but a big question I ask myself is- Am I an entrepreneur?
Most people view an entrepreneur as an expert and I by all means am not an expert when it comes to anything so I'm an entrepreneur in that sense.
As defined in class an entrepreneur is someone who puts something into the world that wasn't there before. By blogging and making a video I can consider myself an entrepreneur because I am putting products into the world that weren't there.
Am I an entrepreneur? As I think what I have done and what I plan to do I can honestly say I consider myself an entrepreneur now. Do you?

S Wonderful

Nik Koyama (an entrepreneur) and I are trying to put together a video to help spread awareness. This video will include a girl who is missing in Orcutt, we want to make a difference in the community and I believe I am speaking for both of when I say we feel the need to help the community.
I grew up here in Orcutt and to hear that a young woman my age is missing, it hurts. I love this community and hate that this has happened,  but as I have been saying, this can happen to anyone, even in the safest communities.
Do you think we can make a difference?

Look At My Brain

Being in classroom and being told you can build your own cariculum as a student is mind blowing but what is even more spectacular is that my cariculum is about sex trafficking. To be completely honest it's something I've been passionate about for years and being able to put my passion into school helps me want to do the work in class.

Currently I am working with a brilliant man named Nik Koyama and we are making a video to benefit a girl who is missing in Orcutt, Ca. This video will also help me expand my sources when I can finally make the shelter I want to build for the victims of sex trafficking.

Welcome to my mind feel free to explore.

Preview of Coming Attractions

Today Amparo and I talked about how we could collaborate and better the community through a video. This video would be about the missing girl in Orcutt, CA and how we would like to and do help her. Nik Koyama will be participating in this video as well in order to make an impact on the community.

Raising Digital Awareness

Having many people on my site means a lot to me because I'm trying to build awareness towards the severe issue of sex trafficking.
So far I have provided not only my opinions,  but facts and sources to credit my points as well. I am not trying to please a specific individual, I am merely stating facts and what I would like to do to better the United States.
In order to make this blog better I must be consistent as well as provide accurate and interesting information so people want to come back and see what else is happening and hopefully want to help in my efforts to stop sex trafficking.
In general I believe that human ideas are more important than media/ tools because you can have all the tools in the world but if you don't know how to use them or don't have the ideas to better then what is the point of living? I live to make the world a better place, starting with ending sex trafficking.

THIS IS ONLY A TEST!

What is sex trafficking?

Who does sex trafficking affect?

How can I help stop this crime?

Sex trafficking is when minors are forced into sexual acts for money, much like prostitution, but the victims ate not willing to participate.
Sex trafficking can happen to anyone, rich or poor, smart or under educated.
Imagine it were your sister, your daughter, would you want her to have to fear walking hone alone after a football game?
You can do something to help, spreading awareness is the first step. Tell people you know about this horrible crime and do your part.  By doing that you could save a little girls life, who knows it may be your sister's or your daughter's. It's worth the risk, take that first step towards a better world.

Testing my Skills

Instead of being handed a traditional test I would love to have my test be a speech. I am much more comfortable just talking about sex trafficking then writing on a blog about it because I feel like I'm not making an impact, but if I spoke, at least I know people ate listening. I would speak about my over all knowledge as well as some personal testimonies I have heard and read.

Startling Facts

http://courageworldwide.org/the-problem/

The current issues in society range, but sex trafficking has to be the highest on my list. Men are purchasing their daughters, it makes me sick just thinking about it. This repulsive industry needs to be stopped as soon as possible, not for my sake, but for those girls.

Entrepreneurs

When I think of the expert my questions were intended for, I do believe they are an entrepreneur because they built homes for women in need, making an impact in those women's lives.
When I think about my project, I want to make a place where victims feel safe so I believe I am an entrepreneur as well, because I'm putting something into the world.
Lastly I believe the world has a false view of entrepreneurs, to be an entrepreneur you don't need to be an expert. In the article "The Youngest Technorati" Michael Hansen and his best friend Ryan Orbuch created apps starting in 10th grade. They are definitely not experts in apps but they are entrepreneurs. You don't have to be an expert to be an entrepreneur.

10 Questions

1. What is it like to work with girls who are "broken"?
2. Is it possible to change how the victims view them self after being pulled out of sex trafficking?
3. How should I approach the subject? Blunt or compassionate?
4. Does helping these victims take an emotional toll on you personally?
5. How did you get interested in help sex trafficking victims?
6. Why is stopping this crime so important to you?
7. Do you have any advice for me going into the business of helping these victims of sex trafficking?
8. Where did you start?  Locally? Online? Where do you suggest I start?
9. Who helped you start helping these victims?
10. Is there any way I can help you further your success? Posts? Campus awareness?

Resource a Day

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/01/284487140/courts-take-a-kinder-look-at-victims-of-child-sex-trafficking

The thing about this article that first caught my eye was the image of the girl on the bus stop. That picture is part of how I want to spread the word about sex trafficking.
Later on in this article it is said that anyone found guilty of selling sex is prosecuted, even children. I want to stop sex trafficking but if there is no safe place in California to put the victims of sex trafficking, what's the point?
I have decided that I want to talk to either a city official or our state representative and discuss the growing issue of sex trafficking within the United States.
I would like some feed back, what do you think?

Resource of the Day

https://oag.ca.gov/human-trafficking

Sex trafficking is a continuously growing industry. Although it is illegal in many countries it produces $32 billion a year. Since there is no regulations on it the pimps profit all of the money.
It sickens me that "men" are selling women to other "men" for hundreds and even thousands of dollars an hour. I say "men" because a man would never use a woman so I can hardly call these people men.
These men use underground tunnels to transport women across the Mexican boarder but there are plenty of women that were born and raised in the United States that are forced into this lucrative business as well.

Masterpiece: Sex Trafficking

What is sex trafficking? Sex trafficking is when young girls are forced to do sexual acts. In my eyes, sex trafficking is rape.Sex trafficking is a crime that no one should have to go through and effects everyone in the family. How many of you have sisters? Mothers? Or daughters? Imagine if they were taken away into sex trafficking, what would you do? What can you do?
 I am here to help, I want to create a network to help victims of sex trafficking and their families.  Eventually I would like to provide shelters for these victims in order to help them to go back into the real world, providing counseling and the necessities to be able to succeed in life after the shelter.
Help me in my efforts to make our world a safer place where no one has to worry about the sex trafficking business, because it could happen to anyone.

Peer Review

Dylan Horton: Not too bland and has most of the assignments and keeps up with assignments as well. The thing that caught my attention was that he is very descriptive. On top of that there are different tabs that make you want to explore his blog.

Shane Cheverez: His blog is very well technically designed and I'm pretty sure he has most if not all of the assignments. I like his blog because it's different and original not cookie cutter.

Amparo Adame: Her blog stands out to me because she has a very original style and very good grammar. The design portion of her blog is very good because there is contrast and a personal touch behind it.

Dale Bebeau: I love how he writes, it draws you in and it honestly makes me want to read more which is good in a blog. His design is simple and sleek and I like it, it's not boring and it's not overwhelming at the same time.

Nick Almaguer: Although his design is very simple it allows you to focus on his content which is very impressive. He is up to date on his posts and has impressive grammar I can't wait to read more.