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Post by abigailrubtsova on Apr 25, 2022 7:00:41 GMT
I had such a great time with Aya and Aliza. We made a plan to meet up at 6 outside of Sproul Cove. We each dressed up for the occasion, we all looked very cute. Once we met up we walked to Westwood where we planned to get boba for the fundraiser and then get dinner. We arrived to Just Boba and saw lots of other familiar faces on the way. While we waited for our order we stepped into Vintage Inspired to see the hype Leslie was talking about. The clothes were very cute and fun to look at while we waited. When we got our drinks we decided it was better to take them to the dinner place, so as to not waste our money or our appetite. I ordered a strawberry tea with boba, Aya a peach tea with boba, and Aliza a mango tea with boba. We arrived at the restaurant, Ami, which was Japanese cuisine. Aya showed Aliza how to use chopsticks, and I learned that the way I use them is incorrect. My way is still effective though so it doesn’t matter too much. It was a fun experience since it was Aliza’s first time having sushi and I recently swore off non-kosher fish. Aliza enjoyed her food which was great, and I am very indecisive so having less options was really a bonus for me. I ordered a bento box with an avocado roll and it was delicious. Bringing the boba inside the restaurant was a genius idea. We had great conversation. We talked about relationships and red flags as well as our pledge brothers and the pledge process thus far. We talked a little bit about how we were in high school compared to now, since it is a drastic difference. We talked about adopted bigs and who we were thinking about getting adopted by; Aya is excited to co-parent. Even after the check came we continued talking and having a good time. Once it was time to walk back we continued talking and stopped to take a picture when we ran into Kash, Chanel, and Akunnia. We continued to talk on the walk up about Minecraft and the Youtubers we watched in our Minecraft phases. Once we arrived to the hill, Aliza and I went to grab our laptops and return to Aya’s room. We were stopped by petitioners, so we lagged a little bit. I got to my room, changed and brought my laptop to meet with Aliza and head to Aya’s room. Her room was so nicely decorated and so aesthetically pleasing. The minion rug really brought it together. Her roommate wasn’t thee for the time being. We sat on the floor and attempted to work but the conversation was too engaging. I opened up about the week I had been having, it has been really hard for me recently. However, Aya and Aliza were very supportive and understanding. It felt nice to know there were people there for me and support me no matter what. I truly vented and talked for a long time, but it led to more conversation. It led to the growth we have had over time, and how we have developed over the years. We have a lot of similarities regarding not liking confrontation and sometimes being a bit of a doormat. However, it was a very nice experience and a conversation I had been longing to have. We talked about toxic friendships and how we deal with them, and we all opened up about our difficult experiences. Her roommate came back and it was time to call it a night. Aliza and I came to her room to finish up some work. I love Aya so, so much and I cant wait to hang out with her again.  |
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Post by abigailrubtsova on May 2, 2022 5:24:21 GMT
The field of law that I am looking to go into is family/juvenile law. Within this field, I would specifically work with children’s welfare, foster youth in particular. I have been interested in this field of law since I was 8 years old. I initially wanted to be a social worker when I was young. This developed into wanting to become an attorney or a judge. However, with age I realized I would much prefer to work on the outside of the system rather than within. I believe that change has to come from the foundation. The health of the leaves depends on the health of the roots. I now hope to work with public policy and legislation in order to take on the issue from its ‘roots’. I decided this was the field of law I wanted to go into because of my personal experience in the foster care system. My eleven years in the system showed me the flaws present on every level, whether it be with the foster parents, social workers, or the attorneys. A huge problem I faced throughout my youth was conflict with religion. I believe it is important to keep children in a home that has a similar cultural background to their own. Being torn away from your culture and being forced to live in a new one can create identity crises in youth. There should be an opportunity to keep the environment as similar to the old one as possible. As a Jewish foster kid, I lived in many homes that kept different religions. I was forced to attend Catholic church for five years and faced numerous instances where I couldn’t eat because the food was made with pork. I also lived with a Christian family for quite a bit of time that forced me to go to a Christian private school, where they actively tried to convert me. In a different context, there are many children out there living in homes where the parents do not even speak the same native language. I experienced this with Spanish. Though I do speak Spanish fluently now, growing up it was very difficult not being able to express myself since we did not speak the same language. I believe there should be a more meticulous process in which a child is placed into a home. Another main issue within the care system is sexual assault. A John Hopkins University study showed that children in the system are four times more likely to be sexually abused. I truly do not know the nature behind this phenomenon, however there are numerous measures that could be taken to prevent this. Creating a more detailed screening process for foster parents, a more extensive investigation when reported, more sexual assault trainings for foster parents, more serious repurcussions for assaulting a child, especially within an institution. I was assaulted and molested by numerous individuals during my time in the system. Some being other children, who were probably assaulted themselves. Others being foster parents or other adults. I was molested for five years by one of my foster fathers, and when I asked for help, I was called a liar and my case was dismissed. Years after the fact, he has still not faced any repercussions. I could go on forever about the countless traumas I experienced while in the system, and how I am still affected by my experience today. However, what has happened to me is only a snippet of what truly goes on in that vile system. I want to go into family law and work with public policy so I can begin to make a change. No child deserves to go through any hardship.
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Post by abigailrubtsova on May 9, 2022 8:33:44 GMT
A law school that is high on my list is Berkeley Law. There are many factors that draw me into this school including location, connections, cost, prestige.
A primary reason that I would prefer Berkeley over other schools is that it is public. Public school is better than private for many reasons, but more specifically because of its price. It is cheaper than most private law schools, especially for in-state students. The in-state tuition for Berkeley is approximately 44k, whereas the tuition for Harvard, an esteemed law school, is 71k. This is nearly a 30k difference between the two. Even Stanford, which is a close rival of Berkeley’s is 47k, which is still a 3k difference, which can be an important factor. Depending on the amount of aid I receive, it could be a determining factor.
Another reason I would like to attend Berkeley is because of the location. First, I would not like to attend law school in LA or LA adjacent area. I would like to change things up and live in a new place and experience another city. I have lived in Southern California my entire life and would like to broaden my horizons. I would like to live farther away from my parents so as to not depend on them as much, yet close enough to visit when I please. Berkeley is also an amazing city on its own, outside of distance. Berkeley and San Francisco are cities rich with lots of diversity and culture. There are lots of museums and restaurants that I could visit in my free time, especially since the public transport in Berkeley is so well established. I have visited the area a decent amount, and I think once I am older I could prosper in the environment. It is more fast paced in the bay area than it is here, and could be a beneficial change for me.
Another big factor would be connections and job opportunities. My older sister attended Berkeley as an undergrad. She is very familiar with the Berkeley lifestyle and could be a guiding hand throughout my process. She has a lot of friends that have jobs there, especially in the legal field. I could become friends with her friends and they could help me out, or potentially find a job through a firm someone she knows works at. She is also thinking about moving to the bay area in the future, so I could have her there by my side if she decides to.
I would also like to attend Berkeley because of its prestige. Berkeley is a top law institution, currently ranked #9 in the country. It has numerous resources for its students including 17 research centers and 13 student run law journals. I am looking to do research in my undergrad as well as during law school. I also would consider writing in a journal, depending on the liberty we have. These resources would come in handy for the real world and make me very competitive. It is also an extremely prestigious and world-renowned institution, which is a big plus. This is great for jobs and internships all around the country and even world.
Though competitive, it still is less openly competitive amongst students because there are no letter grades. You are becoming involved in your campus community and competitive to the outside world, but with your peers there are no GPAs or letter grades to worry about. This would be nice for me since I have a tendency to base my success off of the successes of others, and this would prevent that.
I think Berkeley is my ideal school for the previous reasons, and for many more. If that opportunity would be bestowed upon me, I would take it eagerly. I seriously doing my undergrad at Berkeley, and though I ended up choosing UCLA, I still would like to experience schooling at Berkeley.
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Post by abigailrubtsova on May 23, 2022 7:00:34 GMT
A non governmental organization that I have been looking into for the past couple months is Children Now. This organization became known to me through a coordinator for Bruin Guardian Scholars, a resource program for foster youth here at UCLA. She let me know to apply for their fellowship, knowing it was exactly the type of thing I would like to get into. The fellowship available was called the Children’s Equity Movement fellowship that I applied to a couple months ago. I got far into the interview process but unfortunately did not make it all the way through. I will definitely apply next year, however, as their work is exactly what I would like to be doing with my time. The fellowship with Children Now would primarily consist of community outreach and finding out how to make the Children Now resources available to different communities, and as many people as possible.
Children Now itself is an advocacy group for children. Founded in 1988, Children Now works with public policy to create change and equity for all youth. It strives to bring a voice to the future of our country. Children Now hopes to provide all kids with basic rights such as physical and mental health, proper public education, safe environments, good role models, and anything else imperative to a child’s wellbeing. Children Now also creates a large focus on the racial injustices present within our country, as that is one of the most (if not the most) prevalent injustices in our country. Its vision entails “the systemic injustices that create barriers to kids reaching their full potential must end.
Children Now’s message is “pro-kid”. This simple message defines their organization so effortlessly. Anything Children Now can do to aid children, it does. Like the fellowship position of reaching out to communities, it does this on a larger scale. It reaches out to other similar organizations, dissimilar organizations, corporations, businesses large and small. It makes these places aware of the injustices present for any and all youth, and asks for their help by further distributing the information or by asking for donations and/or collaborations. Children Now states that it also adapts and improves from the strategies of other organizations, to make itself better continuously. That the success of children does not involve divesting in another.
Children Now has four main components to the it’s strategy. The first is full coverage of issues. This entails covering issues from before birth to 26ears old. In seemingly any topic you can think of pertaining to youth, they educate. Another component is deep research and policy expertise. Almost self explanatory, this means collaborating with officials and familiarizing themselves with the very policies they must work with or against. Another strategy is their two word messaging that I previously mentioned, “pro-kid”. This simple message allows it to be spread to great distances with a large impact. The final component is outside grassroots pressure. This is Children Now creating a network of many advocacy groups for Children’s welfare to interact with each other and aid each other.
As I have mentioned, I have already applied to be a part of the fellowship, and will apply again next year. Children Now does exactly what I believe in and want to spend the rest of my life doing. I have been following this organizations’ moves very closely since I applied for the fellowship back in March. I am extremely interested in taking my passion for children’s welfare to the next level by working with policy and legislation. I hope to engage further with organizing work and learn how to get important legislation passed on a county, state, and federal level.
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