InHer City

Study Smarts

Having just taken a couple of six-week summer courses after being out of school for six months, I forgot what it's like to be a serious student! The workload was pretty intense-- now, as I enjoy a refreshing sense of relaxation, I'd like to share some thoughts on studying and being a student. Here are 5 basic lessons I learned about succeeding in school:

1. Know your learning style: Be realistic about your learning abilities. I take longer than most people I know to write an essay-- therefore, I schedule larger chunks of time to write the assignment. This ensures that I turn in completed, quality work; not a haphazard, last-minute mess.
2. Start homework ASAP: "Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday," as Carol Weston writes in her book, For Girls Only. When I first started taking my philosophy class, I put my reading off till the last minute. As a result, I became more stressed and retained less information.
3. Follow directions properly: 50% of your success in class is determined by how well you follow your teacher's instructions. If she wants your essays to be in-depth and well-defined, use as many examples and descriptive words as you can. If he doesn't like cover papers and contractions in your reports, don't use them. To avoid losing points over "silly mistakes," pay attention to your professor's instructions!
4. Keep a planner: Keeping a planner helps you remember when tests are scheduled and homework is due. Planners allow you to know when to schedule what-- this way, you won't double-book study times and/or social activities.
5. Study with friends: When preparing for a debate with my team, the exchange of different viewpoints and clarifications definitely helped me understand the material better. A word of caution, however: only study with freinds if you know you will get work done!

Whether you are in high school, college, or heading back to the books after some time, I hope the above ideas will help you in your educational endeavors. Happy learning! :) - Alina

Spaced Out

The quest to find women in science is not as difficult as it used to be.  Many women are now getting degrees in Science, Engineering and Astronomy.  Many women of color have become part of this list over the past years.  Now we are seeing more names like Lopez, Garcia and Ocampo.  Speaking of Ocampo; Adriana Ocampo is a research scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Headquarters in Washington D.C.  She completed her Master of Science at California State University Northridge.  She was born in Colombia and raised in Argentina.  She came to the U.S. 30 years ago.  She now works at the Office of Space Science at NASA.  She is also the Russian, Spain and Portugal desk officer.  She has worked on the Viking mission to Mars and planned the observations of the moons Phobos and Deimos.  She has developed an expertise in image processing applied to Earth.  Ms. Ocampo has organized a course in Planetary Science that was taught in Mexico City.  She has served on the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Board of Directors for five years.  In 1992 she was awarded the Women of Year Award in Science by the "Comision Femenil."  This woman has done some remarkable things.  The mission to find "Planet Females" is successful and complete.  Women of NASA and other science areas, you are definitely far out! - Stephanie

Numbers

This was sent to me in an email forward, it's very powerful and really puts into perspective our place in the world and what we can do:

If we reduce the population of the Earth to a small town with 100 people and keep the same proportions, it will look like this:

• 57 Asians
• 21 Europeans
• 14 Americans (northern and southern)
• 8 Africans   

52 women  48 men

6 people will own 59% of the town's
wealth and all of them will be from the United
States of America.

• 80 will have bad living conditions
• 70 will be uneducated
• 50 will be underfed
• 1 will die
• 2 will be born
• 1 will have a computer
• 1 (only one) will have higher education   

Also, think about the following:
If this morning you woke up healthy, you are hbetter off than 1 million people that will not survive
next week.

If you never suffered a war, the loneliness of the jail cell, the agony of torture or hunger, you are happier than 500 million people in the world. If you can enter into a place of worship without fear of jail or death, you are freer than 3 million people in the world. 

If there is a food in your fridge, you have shoes and clothes, you have bed and a roof, you are richer than 75% of the people in the world.

Where are you in these numbers?

Girls giving back

Did you know that 130,000,000 children around the world are denied the chance to be educated? Two girls in our cities are doing something about it. Amanda and Nicole were both 17 year old when they heard about the Ruchika Social Service Organization’s (RSSO) train platform schools in Orissa, India run by Inderjit Khurana. The two friends heard about it at a Youth Philanthropy Worldwide conference. The train platform schools are for the children who must do menial jobs such as shining shoes and selling peanuts on the train stations to support themselves and their families. These children are unable to go to school and are trapped in a never-ending cycle of poverty. RSSO developed an educational program that could be brought directly to these children - they bring the school right to the platform, teaching the children who stop working between train arrivals. The RSSO teachers draw a chalk circle on the ground, and the students sit in a circle to have their classes. These schools have spread to nearby slums because they are so successful!

Recently, RSSO started putting together a toy and book mobile library to take to each of the 40+ locations. The cost would be $16,000 to cover the expenses for the bus, driver, gas, etc. When Amanda and Nicole heard that Inderjit had received a challenge grant of $8,000 for the bus and needed $8,000 more, they decided to raise it!

Both Amanda and Nicole were co-presidents of their high school’s Amnesty International chapter. With their club and Youth Philanthropy Worldwide, they went out and fund-raised. They raised money by:

• Donations from local businesses
  

• 5 garage sales
  

• Selling ribbons at school
  

• Youth NOISE donation 

• Friday Night Shoe Box Fund
  

• Rwanda movie showing at at their high school

• Art silent auction at their high school

• Student donations
  

• Selling refreshments at YPW’s “Y-Fest”

All the money they raised went through Indians for Collective Action and was sent to the Ruchika Social Service Organization in Orissa, India. So far they’ve raised $13,000!

So what do Nicole and Amanda say you can do for the fight for global education, “hook into Youth Philanthropy Worldwide. Choose any of the 8 UN millennium goals, and work on them.” Amanda and Nicole are both excellent examples of what girls can do to impact society. By networking, fund-raising, and just being compassionate citizens, they are amazing IT girls! - Naiema