Hello World!
I just want to let my readers out there know that I am thankful that you read my blog. You don’t have to, but you do. And I appreciate you for it. It’s really hard to get people to read your work and even harder to put it out there to begin with. I’d like to encourage you guys to pass the word along to others you think might be interested in reading my work so they’ll have something to keep them busy a few minutes at work.
The following are two articles that are mine and have recently been published by GirlsLife.com. I also give advice to the girls on this website, so you can search my name and probably find more pieces.
Any how, take a look and enjoy!
National Blood Donor Month is upon us!
The American Red Cross Association has deemed January National Blood Donor Month. Every minute of every day, there is someone out there who needs blood.
Unfortunately, currently three out of every 100 people donate, and of those donors, only half are regulars every year. With those statistics, it’s pertinent to raise awareness and encourage some brave souls out there to get up, get over the fear of the needle (ouch!) and donate some of that sweet life saving red stuff.
According to the American Red Cross, it’s a fact that if a person donates blood every 56 days from the age of 17 to the age of 76, that person would have donated 48 gallons of blood and can potentially save more than 1,000 lives.
In addition, only seven percent of people in the U.S. have type 0-negative. Those with O-negative are universal donors and can give blood to anyone, and that’s highly important seeing as O-negative is used in emergencies before a blood type for the patient is found.
In an attempt to engage potential donors during National Blood Donor Month, The American Red Cross joined forces with the new season of ABC’s The Bachelor to spread awareness. This season of The Bachelor will feature an episode with the cast filming a public service announcement on the issue.
In addition, this season’s Bachelor along with past Bachelorettes and Bachelors will be visiting select blood drives in certain cities across the country to encourage people to come out and will be thanking donors on site for their generosity.
Giving blood can save lives and blood can only come from a donor like you. Get out there, raise awareness if you’re too young to give blood or take a group of friends to help save someone’s life with the gift of blood.
In most states you must be 17 to give blood. To find out where you can go to join the select group and donate, please visit www.redcrossblood.org/ or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
see article here
Snag that dream job: Politician
As the only member of her family to graduate from college, Phylesia Steele worked her education to her advantage and started a career beyond her years.
Looking up to influences like Speaker, Christine Quinn, and former Congress Woman, Dr. Una Clarke, this 23-year-old college grad is following in their footsteps. She works with the New York City Council as one of its legislative financial analysts.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the New York City Council, it is the law-making body that presides over the city of New York, responsible for making decisions on land usage, monitoring the performance of agencies throughout the city AND has the job of approving the city’s budget.
What role does Steele play in all of this? She has her hands in a little bit of everything!
Doin’ it all
The list of responsibilities to the city that Steele has is astounding, ranging from monitoring and evaluating spending patterns to interacting with the mayor’s budget office and community-based organizations. And that’s just the short version.
To many of you, this may sound like a tough list of responsibilities for one person, but when you’ve got the passion and perseverance that Steele has, you find a way to get it all done.
Findin’ her way
Steele found that she wanted to work in politics after her sophomore year at Brooklyn College when she was unsure of what major to choose. She got the chance to work with the late Terence D. Tolbert, who not only was an aide to the city, but also to President Barack Obama during his presidential campaign.
“He was a passionate, innovative thinker,” says Steele. This experience stuck with Steele and she was fortunate enough to stumble into another position with a political official, and continued to work hard.
By the time Steele had finally enrolled in political science courses at Brooklyn College, she had been working throughout multiple offices of NYC Chancellor Joel Klein, at the intergovernmental Offices of Affairs.
She was able to not only get a feel for what it meant to work in politics, but was able to make connections. When she graduated in 2009, Steele worked for one city council member and now, she works with all of them!
Makin’ change
Through it all, Steele faced some adversities. Always conscious of her age and her Jamaican background, she felt different, but “was fortunate enough to have an adopted family of female mentors that always pushed me to go further and not let anything stop me,” she says.
And now she is going strong in her newfound position, particularly taking an interest in education policy. She enjoys “being able to sit with all the key players involved in issues that ultimately affect 1.1 million New York City school children.”
Steele hopes one day to positively impact the lives of many more through her own legislation.
see article here
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