SITREP: Can you differentiate growth and self-actualization?
By: Cornelle D. Carney
I was recently informed by a former friend that I had not grown much. My first reaction to this was who gave him the title of growth measurer? Then, I began to ask myself what is growth? How can one determine growth? These questions led me to look more closely a growth.
Ironically enough, in one of my education classes, we were studying measuring a child’s growth and I came across this quote by Myles Horton: “You have to start where people are, because their growth is going to be from there, not from some abstraction of where you are or someone else is.” This is a perfect way determining how to measure growth. Which made me wonder did he measure my growth based on where he is or where I am?
Now this week in a psychology course that I am taking we are studying motivation, human development, sexuality and emotion. Maslow, a famous psychologist developed this hierarchy based up human needs:
1. Physiological needs (air, food, water, sleep, sex, etc.)
2. Safety and security (physical and emotional safety)
3. Love and Belonging (family, friendship, caring)
4. Esteem and self-esteem (the need to think well of oneself as well as for others to think well of him)
5. Self-actualization (full use of personal potential)
Maslow describes the first four levels as basic needs. He describes the fifth level as the need for personal growth by self-actualization. According to Maslow personal growth can be measured by one’s full use of personal potential.
So now the next question that develops is am I not fully using my personal potential? Is this what my growth was being measured by, my use of personal potential? Which made me develop a list of my personal potentials and self actualizations:
1. I have the potential to well educated. I am doing this by attending a post-secondary institution even as I am serving in Iraq. I will not stop at a bachelor degree nor at a master degree. I will earn a PhD.
2. I have the potential to own a house. This will be actualized when I activate my Veterans Administration home loan program.
3. I have the potential own a car. I do own a car now; fully paid for and insured.
4. I have the potential to do whatever I want…
I stopped at number four because I quickly realized that I have the potential to do whatever I want. So how can true growth be measured by the use of one’s personal potential? I have to side with Horton on this in recognizing growth from one point and a person’s life to another. I believe that realizing one’s personal potential is important in determine how much he can grow, but it is not the way of determining growth.
Constructive Criticism
As I try to determine the areas that I do well in and the areas that I need to realize my potential in I seek your assistance and support in helping me do so. You attention is desired, but I know a lot of you have other, more important things to do so I understand your not participating.
1. What are some areas that I do well in?
2. What are some areas that I should realize my self-potential and strive to do better?
3. What are your recommendations on how to self-actualized more?
Thanks for reading,
CDC
E-mail: editor.cornell@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cornelle.carney
SITREP Blog: www.situationreport1.blogspot.com
Cornelle D. Carney
8/10/2010
Biography
Cornelle’s Story
Cornelle D. Carney is a New Orleans native. Cornelle was born and raised on the westbank of the Mississippi River in a community named Algiers. He is one of nine children. When Cornelle was three years old he lost his father, a former Army Sergeant, to a tragic vehicle incident which forced his mother to care for him and his eighth siblings alone. After his father’s death, Cornelle’s mother moved the family to a suburban area just outside of New Orleans called St. Bernard Parish. He started school in St. Bernard Parish Public Schools system attending C. F. Rowley Elementary School, Chalmette Middle School and Chalmette High School. Cornelle joined the Chalmette Middle School marching band where he rose through the ranks to become the drum major. He made history in the predominately Caucasian school and community by becoming to first African American to lead any school band in the parish. After completion of middle school, Cornelle went to high school. Cornelle started to face resistance. Discrimination became more obvious to him during his high school years; and as a result, Cornelle started to get into trouble.
Hurricane Katrina: A story of hurt & hope.
Hurricane Katrina struck, devastating the St. Bernard Parish community. He and his family evacuated before the storm to Gwinnett County, Georgia where he started school. His family could not assimilate to the new culture so they packed up and moved back to New Orleans on Thanksgiving Day 2005. In December 2005, Cornelle started attending O. Perry Walker Charter High School in New Orleans. He did not want to be a student at Walker, but he had no other options. Pre-Katrina Walker was a school that was deemed a failing school by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The school was taken away from the controversial Orleans Parish School Board and chartered to the Algiers Charter School Association. Additionally, Walker was plagued by a school shooting approximately three years prior to Hurricane Katrina.
All of the stereotypes that Cornelle had of Walker were disproven when he was greeted by a stern, yet caring administrator—Mrs. Mary L.H. Laurie. Her first words to Cornelle were “good morning.” When he did not respond to her she immediately stopped him and gave him a speech about how giving someone the greeting of the day is basic courtesy and respect. Walker’s turnaround story was featured on CNN and was deemed a model school.
Cornelle was just a normal student in school. He did not participate in any extra-curricular activities. He went to each of his four classes during the day and went home when the bell rang at the end of the day. That was until he was recruited by his American Government teacher to join the newspaper club. Cornelle did not believe that he was up for the task as he did not think he was capable of writing for a campus paper. He accepted an offer to become a sports photographer for the paper, only because he was able to attend all of the school’s sports functions for free. He became the paper’s photography editor and eventually became the editor-in-chief of the paper. Cornelle was also recruited to join the Student Government Association, this time by his Geometry teacher. He was a sophomore class representative, junior class representative, and was elected in his senior year to become the president of the Student Government Association.
During his presidency, Cornelle led his Association to the state capitol to talk to talk to elected officials about creating more opportunities for youth to stay out of trouble during out of school hours. He also led them to the state capitol to explain how high-stakes testing programs-- Louisiana Education Assessment Program (LEAP) and Graduation Exit Exam (GEE)--are not fair ways to measure what students have learned. He also led his group of student leaders to Washington, D.C. to express the same sentiments.
He co-founded a national network of young planners all over the called the Young Planners Network. He also co-founded a group of youth leaders across the city of New Orleans that met with former Mayor C. Ray Nagin around issues involving teens called Greater New Orleans Youth Leaders Council. He was recognized by Mayor Nagin for his commitment to assisting in the rebuilding process of New Orleans.
Cornelle was featured on a CNN/Spike Lee Documentary Children of the Storm where his post-Katrina life was told to the world through the lens of a mini video camera provided to him by CNN. He was a speaker on PolicyLink’s Equity Blog: Men and Boys of Color with a panel of highly decorated activists, educators, writers and policy makers. He also participated in a William K. Kellogg Foundation forum on America’s minority male populations school to jail pipeline. Cornelle was the keynote speaker at the Young Planners Network 2008 conference in New York.
Cornelle graduated number six of his 250 student body in 2008. He began his post-secondary education at Loyola University New Orleans. Cornelle aspires to become an educator and education policy maker, specifically serving the young people of urban and disenfranchised communities.
He started working with students at New Orleans College Preparatory (NOCP) Middle School, which was a new start-up charter school. He was also hired on at the Greater New Orleans Afterschool Partnership (GNOAP) as the Youth Liaison/Youth Programs Associate. At GNOAP, Cornelle assisted with the development and deployment of a city-wide mapping initiative that engaged youth by having the canvass their neighborhood for youth-and family-friendly resources. The information collected was entered onto an online database that generated a map that is available for community use (www.neworleans.ilivehere.info). He interned with Tulane University School of Medicine’s Office of Community Affairs and Health Policy as a project assistant. There, he engaged youth in the planning process of building health clinics around the New Orleans area.
School became expensive for him so he joined the Louisiana Army National Guard to help pay for college. A year after his enlistment Cornelle was ordered to serve in Operation: Iraqi Freedom. He will be in Iraq until December 2010. He became a distant learner while at war, continuing his studies online at Grand Canyon University.
Cornelle D. Carney is a New Orleans native. Cornelle was born and raised on the westbank of the Mississippi River in a community named Algiers. He is one of nine children. When Cornelle was three years old he lost his father, a former Army Sergeant, to a tragic vehicle incident which forced his mother to care for him and his eighth siblings alone. After his father’s death, Cornelle’s mother moved the family to a suburban area just outside of New Orleans called St. Bernard Parish. He started school in St. Bernard Parish Public Schools system attending C. F. Rowley Elementary School, Chalmette Middle School and Chalmette High School. Cornelle joined the Chalmette Middle School marching band where he rose through the ranks to become the drum major. He made history in the predominately Caucasian school and community by becoming to first African American to lead any school band in the parish. After completion of middle school, Cornelle went to high school. Cornelle started to face resistance. Discrimination became more obvious to him during his high school years; and as a result, Cornelle started to get into trouble.
Hurricane Katrina: A story of hurt & hope.
Hurricane Katrina struck, devastating the St. Bernard Parish community. He and his family evacuated before the storm to Gwinnett County, Georgia where he started school. His family could not assimilate to the new culture so they packed up and moved back to New Orleans on Thanksgiving Day 2005. In December 2005, Cornelle started attending O. Perry Walker Charter High School in New Orleans. He did not want to be a student at Walker, but he had no other options. Pre-Katrina Walker was a school that was deemed a failing school by the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. The school was taken away from the controversial Orleans Parish School Board and chartered to the Algiers Charter School Association. Additionally, Walker was plagued by a school shooting approximately three years prior to Hurricane Katrina.
All of the stereotypes that Cornelle had of Walker were disproven when he was greeted by a stern, yet caring administrator—Mrs. Mary L.H. Laurie. Her first words to Cornelle were “good morning.” When he did not respond to her she immediately stopped him and gave him a speech about how giving someone the greeting of the day is basic courtesy and respect. Walker’s turnaround story was featured on CNN and was deemed a model school.
Cornelle was just a normal student in school. He did not participate in any extra-curricular activities. He went to each of his four classes during the day and went home when the bell rang at the end of the day. That was until he was recruited by his American Government teacher to join the newspaper club. Cornelle did not believe that he was up for the task as he did not think he was capable of writing for a campus paper. He accepted an offer to become a sports photographer for the paper, only because he was able to attend all of the school’s sports functions for free. He became the paper’s photography editor and eventually became the editor-in-chief of the paper. Cornelle was also recruited to join the Student Government Association, this time by his Geometry teacher. He was a sophomore class representative, junior class representative, and was elected in his senior year to become the president of the Student Government Association.
During his presidency, Cornelle led his Association to the state capitol to talk to talk to elected officials about creating more opportunities for youth to stay out of trouble during out of school hours. He also led them to the state capitol to explain how high-stakes testing programs-- Louisiana Education Assessment Program (LEAP) and Graduation Exit Exam (GEE)--are not fair ways to measure what students have learned. He also led his group of student leaders to Washington, D.C. to express the same sentiments.
He co-founded a national network of young planners all over the called the Young Planners Network. He also co-founded a group of youth leaders across the city of New Orleans that met with former Mayor C. Ray Nagin around issues involving teens called Greater New Orleans Youth Leaders Council. He was recognized by Mayor Nagin for his commitment to assisting in the rebuilding process of New Orleans.
Cornelle was featured on a CNN/Spike Lee Documentary Children of the Storm where his post-Katrina life was told to the world through the lens of a mini video camera provided to him by CNN. He was a speaker on PolicyLink’s Equity Blog: Men and Boys of Color with a panel of highly decorated activists, educators, writers and policy makers. He also participated in a William K. Kellogg Foundation forum on America’s minority male populations school to jail pipeline. Cornelle was the keynote speaker at the Young Planners Network 2008 conference in New York.
Cornelle graduated number six of his 250 student body in 2008. He began his post-secondary education at Loyola University New Orleans. Cornelle aspires to become an educator and education policy maker, specifically serving the young people of urban and disenfranchised communities.
He started working with students at New Orleans College Preparatory (NOCP) Middle School, which was a new start-up charter school. He was also hired on at the Greater New Orleans Afterschool Partnership (GNOAP) as the Youth Liaison/Youth Programs Associate. At GNOAP, Cornelle assisted with the development and deployment of a city-wide mapping initiative that engaged youth by having the canvass their neighborhood for youth-and family-friendly resources. The information collected was entered onto an online database that generated a map that is available for community use (www.neworleans.ilivehere.info). He interned with Tulane University School of Medicine’s Office of Community Affairs and Health Policy as a project assistant. There, he engaged youth in the planning process of building health clinics around the New Orleans area.
School became expensive for him so he joined the Louisiana Army National Guard to help pay for college. A year after his enlistment Cornelle was ordered to serve in Operation: Iraqi Freedom. He will be in Iraq until December 2010. He became a distant learner while at war, continuing his studies online at Grand Canyon University.
Keynote Speech: PLANet Youth 2008; New York City
This is a speech that I gave in 2008. It interesting to see where I am now in relation to my thoughts in 2008.
Good morning young planners! I am happy to be amongst some of the best and the brightest youth and adult allies in the United States, all coming together for one common goal: Youth involvement. As mentioned earlier, my name is Cornell Carney. I am a member of the New Orleans chapter of the Young Planners Network. I am involved in a number of organizations which includes: the New Orleans Youth Leadership Council, the Katrina Leadership Project, CNN/Spike Lee “Children of the Storm” Documentary. I’ve met and continued to meet with the Mayor of New Orleans around youth involvement, I’ve been to Washington, D.C. to meet with Louisiana’s national leaders, I am the President of my school’s Student Government Association, I was a youth delegate for the National League of Cities, and a panelist for PolicyLink’s Equity Blog 2008 National Conference. I say this not for vanity purposes but I say this because a lot of people discount us being youth. They do not believe that we can effect change because were too young or not smart enough. I believe that I epitomize the characteristics of a youth wanting to make a difference and you do too.
Today I want to speak to you today about the importance of youth and why we should be involved in a lot of the planning processes such as: how to rebuild a city, how should the next skate park be designed, what should be added to or taken out of the city’s budget, etc.
Hurricane Katrina exposed many realities, one of which being that we cannot trust someone else to do doing something on our behalf. This was a lesson learned for both adults and youth. I have made a pledge to myself to never again let someone speak or do anything on my behalf because sometimes things do not get done. Too often do we entrust our situations to another person and too often do we get disappointed.
Next week I will be transitioning from the youth phase of my life to the young adult phase. We need to develop youth and adult allies to continue to do the powerful work that I’ve been doing with the help of others. I can tell you that it is not all fun and is not always easy but the feeling that you get when you know that you have made a difference is priceless. You are going to need to be tenacious and determined because there will be a lot of distractions especially from people who see us as useless.
In my endeavors, I have discovered many barriers that often got in my way. Those barriers included the lack of commitments from both adults and youths. If we want to make a difference and change the perception that some adults have about youth, we absolutely must be committed. Some adults are not allowing us to grow. They do not realize that making mistakes are apart of the learning process and they intervene too early instead of letting us figure out a solution on our own. We often get discounted because we are our ages. Just because we are 14, 15, 16 or 17 years old does not mean we cannot do positive things. Unrealistic expectations are often being imposed upon us. Here is an example of what I am taking about: I remember a tornado hitting a city near New Orleans. My Student Government Association wanted to recognize a full week of dress down to adopt a family and to donate the proceeds to. We thought that because we were taking an interest in other people that the school would be ok with it; that was not the case. They, instead, wanted us the draft a proposal giving specific details about how we planned to donate the money, so we did. We submitted the proposal and were told that it was not sufficient and were told to write it again. The problem was, in our opinions, was that we did not know exactly what their expectations were so we did not know exactly what to include or not to include in the proposal. Another barrier is that rules are constantly being made on our behalf but we are not being included in the process of making those rules. And last, professionals do not find ways to involve youth in their work. But your success will be measured by your ability to break those barriers and remaining focused. Here is an example of when youth played an important role in the planning process: Consistent with the city-wide rebuilding program, a group of developers held a planning zone meeting for my district. One of the proposals for my neighborhood was to demolish my high school to make way for a transit circle. Had it not been for two of my friends at that meeting to explain how we felt about that scenario, that plan would have been submitted and considered by the city.
To end, I would like to leave you with a personal story. I am one of nine children. My father died when I was only three years old, leaving my mother to provide for me and my siblings on her own and the only source of income that she had was from the military because my father was in the Army. I have five sisters and three brothers and out of my male siblings I am the only one who has not been involved in the justice system. I have one younger brother who is in the seventh grade and even he has been involved in the justice system. They sought excitement by doing things that were illegal while I sought excitement by going to our city council meetings or staying after school sometimes until two in the morning. The main difference between me and my brothers is that I found people who wanted to invest their time in me like Mr. Eric Jensen who I call Uncle E and Mr. Tom Hayes, who I call Uncle Tom, Mr. Davis my school's Positive Behavior Support Facilitator, Ms. Lobdell, my school's Social Worker, and Mr. Gibson, my school's assistant principal, all of them are with us here today. How is this relevant? Well, for two reasons: (1) You, I, we need the support of adults. We cannot go this alone and (2) I have come from a family where I was often criticized for doing the right thing. I could have given in, but I knew that it is my calling to make a difference in my community. I hope this message was well received, and thank you for listening.
Good morning young planners! I am happy to be amongst some of the best and the brightest youth and adult allies in the United States, all coming together for one common goal: Youth involvement. As mentioned earlier, my name is Cornell Carney. I am a member of the New Orleans chapter of the Young Planners Network. I am involved in a number of organizations which includes: the New Orleans Youth Leadership Council, the Katrina Leadership Project, CNN/Spike Lee “Children of the Storm” Documentary. I’ve met and continued to meet with the Mayor of New Orleans around youth involvement, I’ve been to Washington, D.C. to meet with Louisiana’s national leaders, I am the President of my school’s Student Government Association, I was a youth delegate for the National League of Cities, and a panelist for PolicyLink’s Equity Blog 2008 National Conference. I say this not for vanity purposes but I say this because a lot of people discount us being youth. They do not believe that we can effect change because were too young or not smart enough. I believe that I epitomize the characteristics of a youth wanting to make a difference and you do too.
Today I want to speak to you today about the importance of youth and why we should be involved in a lot of the planning processes such as: how to rebuild a city, how should the next skate park be designed, what should be added to or taken out of the city’s budget, etc.
Hurricane Katrina exposed many realities, one of which being that we cannot trust someone else to do doing something on our behalf. This was a lesson learned for both adults and youth. I have made a pledge to myself to never again let someone speak or do anything on my behalf because sometimes things do not get done. Too often do we entrust our situations to another person and too often do we get disappointed.
Next week I will be transitioning from the youth phase of my life to the young adult phase. We need to develop youth and adult allies to continue to do the powerful work that I’ve been doing with the help of others. I can tell you that it is not all fun and is not always easy but the feeling that you get when you know that you have made a difference is priceless. You are going to need to be tenacious and determined because there will be a lot of distractions especially from people who see us as useless.
In my endeavors, I have discovered many barriers that often got in my way. Those barriers included the lack of commitments from both adults and youths. If we want to make a difference and change the perception that some adults have about youth, we absolutely must be committed. Some adults are not allowing us to grow. They do not realize that making mistakes are apart of the learning process and they intervene too early instead of letting us figure out a solution on our own. We often get discounted because we are our ages. Just because we are 14, 15, 16 or 17 years old does not mean we cannot do positive things. Unrealistic expectations are often being imposed upon us. Here is an example of what I am taking about: I remember a tornado hitting a city near New Orleans. My Student Government Association wanted to recognize a full week of dress down to adopt a family and to donate the proceeds to. We thought that because we were taking an interest in other people that the school would be ok with it; that was not the case. They, instead, wanted us the draft a proposal giving specific details about how we planned to donate the money, so we did. We submitted the proposal and were told that it was not sufficient and were told to write it again. The problem was, in our opinions, was that we did not know exactly what their expectations were so we did not know exactly what to include or not to include in the proposal. Another barrier is that rules are constantly being made on our behalf but we are not being included in the process of making those rules. And last, professionals do not find ways to involve youth in their work. But your success will be measured by your ability to break those barriers and remaining focused. Here is an example of when youth played an important role in the planning process: Consistent with the city-wide rebuilding program, a group of developers held a planning zone meeting for my district. One of the proposals for my neighborhood was to demolish my high school to make way for a transit circle. Had it not been for two of my friends at that meeting to explain how we felt about that scenario, that plan would have been submitted and considered by the city.
To end, I would like to leave you with a personal story. I am one of nine children. My father died when I was only three years old, leaving my mother to provide for me and my siblings on her own and the only source of income that she had was from the military because my father was in the Army. I have five sisters and three brothers and out of my male siblings I am the only one who has not been involved in the justice system. I have one younger brother who is in the seventh grade and even he has been involved in the justice system. They sought excitement by doing things that were illegal while I sought excitement by going to our city council meetings or staying after school sometimes until two in the morning. The main difference between me and my brothers is that I found people who wanted to invest their time in me like Mr. Eric Jensen who I call Uncle E and Mr. Tom Hayes, who I call Uncle Tom, Mr. Davis my school's Positive Behavior Support Facilitator, Ms. Lobdell, my school's Social Worker, and Mr. Gibson, my school's assistant principal, all of them are with us here today. How is this relevant? Well, for two reasons: (1) You, I, we need the support of adults. We cannot go this alone and (2) I have come from a family where I was often criticized for doing the right thing. I could have given in, but I knew that it is my calling to make a difference in my community. I hope this message was well received, and thank you for listening.
Manifest Destiny: Expanding your territory
Manifest Destiny: Expanding your territory
Cornelle D. Carney
11 August 2010
The time is now! I do not know about the rest of you, but it is time for me to expanding my territory—forming partnerships, building collaborations, and fostering growth livin’ the life.
All of this time I have been waiting for life to happen; never did I take the time to realize that life is not going to happen because it is already here. If you know my background, you know that I was not privy to the finer things in life. What I have I have worked for. Nothing was ever given to me, but a lot has been taken from me.
Expanding your territory means doing what it takes to create a comfortable life for you and your family. Sometimes it may take a little getting dirty because you are going to face opposition and adversity. Nonetheless, your ability to preserver and claim what is yours will determine your success.
I am taking back what is rightfully mine and that is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No longer can I entrust my well being to someone else because they are not going to look out for my best interest. It will take a full speed movement, on my part, to get that big house that I have always dreamed about, or drive in that fancy car that I see so many other successful people drive, and to just be comfortable. Until then, it is me and this hustle… the name of my hustle: manifest destiny.
Livin’ the Life
Cornelle D. Carney
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cornelle.carney
Twitter: @nolasoldier
E-mail: editor.cornell@gmail.com
Cornelle D. Carney
11 August 2010
The time is now! I do not know about the rest of you, but it is time for me to expanding my territory—forming partnerships, building collaborations, and fostering growth livin’ the life.
All of this time I have been waiting for life to happen; never did I take the time to realize that life is not going to happen because it is already here. If you know my background, you know that I was not privy to the finer things in life. What I have I have worked for. Nothing was ever given to me, but a lot has been taken from me.
Expanding your territory means doing what it takes to create a comfortable life for you and your family. Sometimes it may take a little getting dirty because you are going to face opposition and adversity. Nonetheless, your ability to preserver and claim what is yours will determine your success.
I am taking back what is rightfully mine and that is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No longer can I entrust my well being to someone else because they are not going to look out for my best interest. It will take a full speed movement, on my part, to get that big house that I have always dreamed about, or drive in that fancy car that I see so many other successful people drive, and to just be comfortable. Until then, it is me and this hustle… the name of my hustle: manifest destiny.
Livin’ the Life
Cornelle D. Carney
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cornelle.carney
Twitter: @nolasoldier
E-mail: editor.cornell@gmail.com
8/08/2010
The new way of determining the “gayness” of a person
SITREP: The new way of determining the “gayness” of a person
Cornelle D. Carney
9 August 2010
I had an opportunity to sit-in on a class where high school age students discussed controversial topics. During my one visit to the class I was overwhelmed by the discussion of what acceptable as being heterosexual and that which isn’t.
Before I go into the discussion allow me to give you my view on the whole homosexuality deal. I am not homophobic whatsoever. In fact, I embrace homosexuals as I would heterosexuals because before they self-identified as such they are people. My religion teaches me to love all individuals alike—without prejudice and discrimination.
It was a very confusing discussion. One male student tried to differentiate between acts that would make you look straight and those that would make you look gay. He said that talking to another male on the phone, or texting him for an extended period of time, is gay. His rationale was sketchy and he could not provide and logic behind his reasoning, but he said that “it’s just gay.”
When I was home in the states, I always sent out a good morning text to everyone in my contact list. Another high school age student replied saying, “son dats homo.” So of course I was confused and asked him what he was talking about. He went on to say that texting another guy good morning is “homo.” I never knew that extending common courtesy of saying good morning to anyone was, in fact, homo.
Then we got on the subject of the “no homo” phrase. This is a phenomenon that when an individual says something that might potentially be recognized as “homo” they will immediately say “no homo” after completing their thought. So this got me thinking. I asked him that if I sent a good morning text to him but had “no homo” right after it would that still be homo? His answer was no, it would not be.
I find it so interesting how saying normal things like “good morning” to another male could be perceived as a homo-ish act. Who sets these rules?
Thanks for reading
Cornelle D. Carney
Facebook: facebook.com/cornelle.carney
Twitter: @nolasoldier
Linked-In: Search, Cornelle Carney
Cornelle D. Carney
9 August 2010
I had an opportunity to sit-in on a class where high school age students discussed controversial topics. During my one visit to the class I was overwhelmed by the discussion of what acceptable as being heterosexual and that which isn’t.
Before I go into the discussion allow me to give you my view on the whole homosexuality deal. I am not homophobic whatsoever. In fact, I embrace homosexuals as I would heterosexuals because before they self-identified as such they are people. My religion teaches me to love all individuals alike—without prejudice and discrimination.
It was a very confusing discussion. One male student tried to differentiate between acts that would make you look straight and those that would make you look gay. He said that talking to another male on the phone, or texting him for an extended period of time, is gay. His rationale was sketchy and he could not provide and logic behind his reasoning, but he said that “it’s just gay.”
When I was home in the states, I always sent out a good morning text to everyone in my contact list. Another high school age student replied saying, “son dats homo.” So of course I was confused and asked him what he was talking about. He went on to say that texting another guy good morning is “homo.” I never knew that extending common courtesy of saying good morning to anyone was, in fact, homo.
Then we got on the subject of the “no homo” phrase. This is a phenomenon that when an individual says something that might potentially be recognized as “homo” they will immediately say “no homo” after completing their thought. So this got me thinking. I asked him that if I sent a good morning text to him but had “no homo” right after it would that still be homo? His answer was no, it would not be.
I find it so interesting how saying normal things like “good morning” to another male could be perceived as a homo-ish act. Who sets these rules?
Thanks for reading
Cornelle D. Carney
Facebook: facebook.com/cornelle.carney
Twitter: @nolasoldier
Linked-In: Search, Cornelle Carney
8/07/2010
SITREP: The different degrees of college degrees
SITREP: The different degrees of college degrees
Cornelle D. Carney, Blogger
8 August 10
I just could not help myself when a person’s life achievements where predetermined by his unwillingness to finish school at Tulane University, one of the nation’s top post-secondary institutions. I want to weigh in on this dilemma.
I first want to say that I have been a student at many different colleges and universities. They include, in order: Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO), Tulane University of Louisiana, Loyola University of New Orleans, Kaplan University and now Grand Canyon University. I know that you are probably asking why so many changes. The straight-forward answer is I had to find and education program that was right for me and my pockets. Another answer is I had to become a distant (online) learner due to my deployment to Iraq.
Having said that, a person I know decided that Tulane University was not the supportive college atmosphere that he was looking for and started school at a different campus: Our Lady of Holy Cross College. Was this a lifetime failure? Or, was this simply finding the education program that fit him? After having conversation with him about this I learned that Tulane was way too expensive for him and the field that he wanted to go into was not fully supported by Tulane—that field was education. There is some ad hoc program that prepares teacher candidates for certification.
To the contrary, another person I know saw this as a lifetime failure. He is also a student at Tulane and has been through a lot of different situations involving Tulane also. He was accused of plagiarism, the school’s police department sent to him jail for apparently “disturbing the peace,” and he almost flunked out of his first or second semester there as a student. It is only my opinion, but I say Tulane is not supportive of him as well. Do not get me wrong, Tulane can be a great school for the student’s that it supports.
But back to the issue at hand, I believe that it does not matter if you earn your degree from Harvard University or Southern University, although Harvard University’s degree will make you look a little better in the job market, the real benefit is how much the school, not the degree, plays in developing you.
One female friend I have who was once a Tulane student but then transferred over to the University of New Orleans, which is supposedly as less rigorous university than Tulane, explained to me how she had a more difficult time in her classes at UNO than at TU. This goes to show you that a university’s prestige is about the population it attracts and not the results it produces.
Thanks for reading!
Cornelle D. Carney
Students should be taught how to cooperate rather than compete.—Ernest Boyer
Facebook: facebook.com/cornelle.carney
Twitter: @nolasoldier
Linked-In: Search, Cornelle Carney
E-mail: editor.cornell@gmail.com
Cornelle D. Carney, Blogger
8 August 10
I just could not help myself when a person’s life achievements where predetermined by his unwillingness to finish school at Tulane University, one of the nation’s top post-secondary institutions. I want to weigh in on this dilemma.
I first want to say that I have been a student at many different colleges and universities. They include, in order: Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO), Tulane University of Louisiana, Loyola University of New Orleans, Kaplan University and now Grand Canyon University. I know that you are probably asking why so many changes. The straight-forward answer is I had to find and education program that was right for me and my pockets. Another answer is I had to become a distant (online) learner due to my deployment to Iraq.
Having said that, a person I know decided that Tulane University was not the supportive college atmosphere that he was looking for and started school at a different campus: Our Lady of Holy Cross College. Was this a lifetime failure? Or, was this simply finding the education program that fit him? After having conversation with him about this I learned that Tulane was way too expensive for him and the field that he wanted to go into was not fully supported by Tulane—that field was education. There is some ad hoc program that prepares teacher candidates for certification.
To the contrary, another person I know saw this as a lifetime failure. He is also a student at Tulane and has been through a lot of different situations involving Tulane also. He was accused of plagiarism, the school’s police department sent to him jail for apparently “disturbing the peace,” and he almost flunked out of his first or second semester there as a student. It is only my opinion, but I say Tulane is not supportive of him as well. Do not get me wrong, Tulane can be a great school for the student’s that it supports.
But back to the issue at hand, I believe that it does not matter if you earn your degree from Harvard University or Southern University, although Harvard University’s degree will make you look a little better in the job market, the real benefit is how much the school, not the degree, plays in developing you.
One female friend I have who was once a Tulane student but then transferred over to the University of New Orleans, which is supposedly as less rigorous university than Tulane, explained to me how she had a more difficult time in her classes at UNO than at TU. This goes to show you that a university’s prestige is about the population it attracts and not the results it produces.
Thanks for reading!
Cornelle D. Carney
Students should be taught how to cooperate rather than compete.—Ernest Boyer
Facebook: facebook.com/cornelle.carney
Twitter: @nolasoldier
Linked-In: Search, Cornelle Carney
E-mail: editor.cornell@gmail.com
SITREP: Choosing your friends wisely
SITREP: Choosing your friends wisely
Cornelle D. Carney, Blogger
8 August 10
You know, a lot of effort goes into building a friendship. I personally think that friendships are essential to living a fulfilling and enjoyable life. Friendships have lost a lot of value over the years—they are no longer as respected as they were. They should be special bonds between you and the ones you consider your friends and it should be unchanging.
Due to various different stimuli friendships become discarded. For example, one of my friends (I’ll still call him friend because we never formally discontinued our friendship) of five years decided to look at his future and plan his next steps. I believe that making plans will allow you be better prepared for the life ahead, so I commend him for that. What I did not plan for or was prepared for was me being removed from his everyday social circle and support group.
There were different reasons for why I could no longer be his friend; but, the reason that was most shocking to me was that he said I had not grown. This was a catalyst of many questions in my mind that I cannot get answers for because of his refusal to talk to me. Whether if he thinks that I have grown or not, I have learned that people are going to form their own opinion about you. If I was able to speak to him now I would say this quote: “You have to start where people are, because their growth is going to be from there, not from some abstraction or where you are or someone else is.” –Myles Horton
Moving along, there had to be something that provoked this thought process of his. As I move forward in life, I know that I cannot control anyone’s beliefs or thoughts—I can only control for self.
So, what can be done to develop long-lasting friendships?
(1) Co-ownership: There has to be a sense of co-ownership in the friendship. Friendships belong to all parties involved not just “one-sees and two-sees.”
(2) Discussion: When problems come up talk about them rather than put the discussion on the back burner.
(3) Commitment: Be 100% committed. You cannot be committed to a friendship when it is convenient for you.
(4) Trustworthiness: If you say that you are going to do something then do it. Do not say that you are going to return a book and have your friend waiting for weeks.
(5) Communication: I believe there is a difference between communication and discussion… Most of what I know about the discarding of our friendship comes from a trustworthy and reliable third-party. It should not be that way. Communications should happen within and be steady.
(6) Constructive Criticisms: this is important! Not only be able to provide constructive criticism, but be open to receiving them as well. Constructive criticisms means that not only should you bring your friend’s shortcomings forward, but help develop a plan to make things better.
A common misconception is that friendships are all about partying and having fun which is not the whole truth. There is this other extreme of friendship that all parties involved must be committed to and that is, the bad. Not only support your friends when they are on top of their game; but, you have to extend that same support when they are struggling! And I promise you doing this will make for a promising, fulfilling, long-lasting friendship.
Thanks for reading!
Cornelle D. Carney
“No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back.” –Turkish Proverb
Facebook: facebook.com/cornelle.carney
Twitter: @nolasoldier
Linked-In: Search, Cornelle Carney
E-mail: editor.cornell@gmail.com
Cornelle D. Carney, Blogger
8 August 10
You know, a lot of effort goes into building a friendship. I personally think that friendships are essential to living a fulfilling and enjoyable life. Friendships have lost a lot of value over the years—they are no longer as respected as they were. They should be special bonds between you and the ones you consider your friends and it should be unchanging.
Due to various different stimuli friendships become discarded. For example, one of my friends (I’ll still call him friend because we never formally discontinued our friendship) of five years decided to look at his future and plan his next steps. I believe that making plans will allow you be better prepared for the life ahead, so I commend him for that. What I did not plan for or was prepared for was me being removed from his everyday social circle and support group.
There were different reasons for why I could no longer be his friend; but, the reason that was most shocking to me was that he said I had not grown. This was a catalyst of many questions in my mind that I cannot get answers for because of his refusal to talk to me. Whether if he thinks that I have grown or not, I have learned that people are going to form their own opinion about you. If I was able to speak to him now I would say this quote: “You have to start where people are, because their growth is going to be from there, not from some abstraction or where you are or someone else is.” –Myles Horton
Moving along, there had to be something that provoked this thought process of his. As I move forward in life, I know that I cannot control anyone’s beliefs or thoughts—I can only control for self.
So, what can be done to develop long-lasting friendships?
(1) Co-ownership: There has to be a sense of co-ownership in the friendship. Friendships belong to all parties involved not just “one-sees and two-sees.”
(2) Discussion: When problems come up talk about them rather than put the discussion on the back burner.
(3) Commitment: Be 100% committed. You cannot be committed to a friendship when it is convenient for you.
(4) Trustworthiness: If you say that you are going to do something then do it. Do not say that you are going to return a book and have your friend waiting for weeks.
(5) Communication: I believe there is a difference between communication and discussion… Most of what I know about the discarding of our friendship comes from a trustworthy and reliable third-party. It should not be that way. Communications should happen within and be steady.
(6) Constructive Criticisms: this is important! Not only be able to provide constructive criticism, but be open to receiving them as well. Constructive criticisms means that not only should you bring your friend’s shortcomings forward, but help develop a plan to make things better.
A common misconception is that friendships are all about partying and having fun which is not the whole truth. There is this other extreme of friendship that all parties involved must be committed to and that is, the bad. Not only support your friends when they are on top of their game; but, you have to extend that same support when they are struggling! And I promise you doing this will make for a promising, fulfilling, long-lasting friendship.
Thanks for reading!
Cornelle D. Carney
“No matter how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back.” –Turkish Proverb
Facebook: facebook.com/cornelle.carney
Twitter: @nolasoldier
Linked-In: Search, Cornelle Carney
E-mail: editor.cornell@gmail.com
SITREP: Introduction
Situation Report (SITREP): Introduction
Cornelle D. Carney, Blogger
8 August 2010
First, I would like to welcome everyone to my blog. My name is Cornelle D. Carney and I have recently rediscovered how much I like to write. I am a member of the United States Army via the Louisiana Army National Guard and I am currently deployed to Iraq.
As a civilian, I like to classify myself as a youth advocate or youth engager. I believe that it is my calling to teach, support, advise, advocate for, and engage our young people. I am currently in my junior year of college. I will be earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education and History. I also take classes in the sociology, psychology, anthropology, public policy/political science and urban planning areas as those are fields I like as well.
You may have seen me on the CNN and Spike Lee collaboration series “Children of the Storm,” where I told my post-Katrina life through the lens of a mini digital video camera. I have also participated in various panel discussions around youth engagement, participatory planning, men and boys of color, and the school to jail pipeline.
The premise behind this blog is to take the world on a field trip through my mind via words. I stole the name Situation Report, or SITREP, which means exactly what is say—a report on a particular situation.
I invite you all to my other social networking venues:
Facebook: facebook.com/cornelle.carney
Twitter: @nolasoldier
Linked-In: Search, Cornelle Carney
E-mail: editor.cornell@gmail.com
Thanks for reading, and I hope that you return for more. Please feel free to contact via any of the above venues.
With regards,
Cornelle D. Carney
Blogger
Cornelle D. Carney, Blogger
8 August 2010
First, I would like to welcome everyone to my blog. My name is Cornelle D. Carney and I have recently rediscovered how much I like to write. I am a member of the United States Army via the Louisiana Army National Guard and I am currently deployed to Iraq.
As a civilian, I like to classify myself as a youth advocate or youth engager. I believe that it is my calling to teach, support, advise, advocate for, and engage our young people. I am currently in my junior year of college. I will be earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education and History. I also take classes in the sociology, psychology, anthropology, public policy/political science and urban planning areas as those are fields I like as well.
You may have seen me on the CNN and Spike Lee collaboration series “Children of the Storm,” where I told my post-Katrina life through the lens of a mini digital video camera. I have also participated in various panel discussions around youth engagement, participatory planning, men and boys of color, and the school to jail pipeline.
The premise behind this blog is to take the world on a field trip through my mind via words. I stole the name Situation Report, or SITREP, which means exactly what is say—a report on a particular situation.
I invite you all to my other social networking venues:
Facebook: facebook.com/cornelle.carney
Twitter: @nolasoldier
Linked-In: Search, Cornelle Carney
E-mail: editor.cornell@gmail.com
Thanks for reading, and I hope that you return for more. Please feel free to contact via any of the above venues.
With regards,
Cornelle D. Carney
Blogger
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