#disney college program summer 2017

[writemarcus]

Playwrights Set for THE FIRE THIS TIME Festival 7th Cycle Of New Works Lab

The seventh cycle began in October 2024 and will meet monthly through May 2025.

By: Chloe Rabinowitz Oct. 24, 2024

The Fire This Time Festival, an annual festival of new work by playwrights of African and African-American descent, has revealed that playwrights Melda Beaty (2022 International Black Theatre Festival's Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin Rolling World Premiere Award for "Coconut Cake"), Rachel Herron (2022-2023 resident playwright with Colt Coeur), and Marcus Scott (Princess Grace Award finalist) have been selected to develop full-length plays in the seventh cycle of their New Works Lab. The seventh cycle began in October 2024 and will meet monthly through May 2025.

In 2015 The Fire This Time established The Fire This Time Writers' Group with the mission to provide TFTT alumni and writers from the TFTT community the opportunity to develop new work in a nurturing and supportive environment. In 2017, the initiative was renamed the New Works Lab. From its inception to the present, the lab has been co-directed by educator and playwright Cynthia Grace Robinson ("Letters From Loretta," "Freedom Summer" "What If?" "Dancing on Eggshells") and A.J. Muhammad, a producer with TFTT. Funding for the 7th cycle of the New Works Lab was made possible by generous support from The Black Seed Fund.

Since its launch, over twenty playwrights have developed work in the New Works Lab including Kendra Augustin, Ngozi Anyanwu, France-Luce Benson, Kim Brockington, Tyrell Bennett, Christine Jean Chambers, Edgar Chisholm, Adrienne Dawes, Danielle Davenport, Khalil Kain, Jay Mazyck, Maia Matsushita, Liz Morgan, Shawn Nabors, Deneen Reynolds-Knott, T.R. Riggins, James Anthony Tyler, William Watkins, Shamar S. White, Mars Wolfe, and Antu Yacob.

Melda Beaty is an enthusiastic playwright of eight stage plays: "Front Porch Society," "Coconut Cake," "Thirty," "The Lawsons: A Civil Rights Love Story," "Feebleminded," "COVID Be Damned," "Gaslight Garden" and "Guess What's for Dinner?" Her plays have enjoyed national productions and/or recognition. Most recently, she received the 2022 International Black Theatre Festival's Sylvia Sprinkle-Hamlin Rolling World Premiere Award for her stage play, "Coconut Cake." The play will receive five professional productions between 2024-2025. She was also a 2021 Confluence Fellow with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival. In addition, Melda is the author of two books. When not writing, she serves on the Board of Directors for the August Wilson Society and as a contributing editor for Black Masks magazine. Melda resides in Chicago, Illinois with her three talented daughters and is an assistant professor of English at Olive-Harvey Community College. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her graduate degree from Illinois State University.

Rachel Herron is a Black, queer, multidisciplinary artist residing in Brooklyn. She is currently a company member of Colt Coeur Theater, where she was a 2022-2023 resident playwright. Her plays include "It's Only a High School Reunion" (Live and In Color 24 Hour Festival), "Red Red Wine" (Fire This Time Festival 13th annual Ten-Minute Play Program), and "Token" (O'Neill Center Semifinalist). Additionally, her playwriting portfolio has landed her as a finalist for the WP Theater Lab and a semi-finalist for the June Bingham Commission with Live and In Color. She's written several original pilots, of which she was named a CBS Writers Mentoring Program finalist (2019), a Mentorship Matters semifinalist (2021), and a two-time Disney Writing Program finalist (2022 and 2023). She is a mentee in the #startwith8 program for women of color trying to break into television writing. She wrote, directed, and starred in a short film called IDOL CHASER, which premiered in Fall 2024 at Katra Film Series and took home the Audience Choice Award. Her satirical writing is featured on McSweeney's Internet Tendency. She received a BFA in Drama from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

Marcus Scott is a dramatist and journalist. Full-length works: TUMBLEWEED (finalist: 2017 BAPF & 2017 Austin Playhouse Festival of New American Plays; semifinalist: 2022 O'Neill NPC, 2022 Blue Ink Playwriting Award & 2017 Princess Grace Award), SIBLING RIVALRIES (finalist: 2023 Normal Ave's NAPseries, 2021 Seven Devils Playwrights Conference & 2021 Judith Royer Excellence In Playwriting Award; semi-finalist: 2022 Lanford Wilson New American Play Festival, 2021 Blue Ink Playwriting Award & 2021 Princess Grace Award), THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD (finalist: 2023 Princess Grace Award, 2023 Blue Ink Playwriting Award; semifinalist: 2024 BAPF, 2024 Fault Line Theater's Irons in the Fire & 2024 O'Neill NPC), CHERRY BOMB (recipient: 2017 Drama League First Stage Artist-In-Residence). Heartbeat Opera commissioned Scott to adapt Beethoven's FIDELIO (Co-writer; Met Live Arts at the MET Museum, NY Times Critics' Pick). Scott is the recipient of the Chelsey/Bumbalo Playwriting Award (2024). He is a finalist for the 2024-2025 Dramatists Guild Foundation National Fellows Program, 2022 Many Voices Fellowship, 2021 NYSAF Founders' Award and is a 2021 Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award semi-finalist. His articles appeared in Architectural Digest, Time Out New York, American Theatre Magazine, Playbill, Elle, Out, Essence, The Brooklyn Rail, among others. MFA: NYU Tisch.

The Fire This Time Festival was founded in 2009 by playwright and producer Kelley Girod to provide a platform for playwrights of African and African-American descent to write and produce evocative material for diverse audiences. Since the debut of the first 10-minute play program in 2010, presented in collaboration with FRIGID New York, The Fire This Time Festival has has produced and developed the work of more than 90 playwrights including Katori Hall, Dominique Morisseau, Radha Blank, Antoinette Nwandu, Jocelyn Bioh, korde arrington tuttle, Stacey Rose, Aziza Barnes, C.A. Johnson, Kevin R. Free, Charly Evon Simpson, Angelica Cheri, James Anthony Tyler, Jordan Cooper, Nathan Yungerberg, Nia A. Robinson, and Cris Eli Blak.

The Fire This Time's first anthology, "25 Plays from The Fire This Time Festival: A Decade of Recognition, Resistance, Rebirth, and Black Theater" edited by Kelley Girod was released by Bloomsbury Publishing in February 2022. www.firethistimefestival.com

FRIGID New York's mission is to provide both emerging and established artists the opportunity to create and produce original work of varied content, form, and style, and to amplify their diverse voices. We do this by presenting an array of monthly programming, mainstage productions, an artist residency, and eight annual theater festivals that create an environment of collaboration, resourcefulness, and innovation. Founded in 1998, the aim was and is to form a structure, allowing multiple artists to focus on creating and staging new work and providing affordable rental space to scores of independent artists. Now in our third decade we have produced a massive quantity of stimulating downtown theater. www.frigid.nyc

[diary-of-a-disneyprincess]

best day at work ever!!!!!

The other day at work I the best interaction with a family and it really made my whole day! At the beginning of my day a family came in and started asking questions about pin trading and I spent about twenty minutes talking with them and picking out what they needed to start pint trading. They were the sweetest family and once they had everything they needed to start pin trading, they traded pins with me for the first time. Fast forward to later in the night and the family came back because the daughter wanted to show me what they had traded for during the day! It was so sweet of them to come back to see me and the daughter even wanted to take a picture with me! At this point I was pretty close to tears with how happy I was. I really wanted to do something special for the daughter since she really brightened up my day, so I created a magical moment and let her pick out a pin and it was going to be on Mickey. After they left I couldn’t stop smiling, they were so sweet and I was so happy I was able to do something special for them. 

[hex-inthecity]

Being so bad never felt so good here on Photopass day! Photopass day did just recently pass in mid-august and it is to celebrate photography and with that special and wicked characters come out. See who I meet in my latest vlog.

[justforbooks]

Paul Leonard Newman was born on January 26, 1925. He was an American actor, film director, race car driver, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, Newman showed an interest in theater as a child and at age 10 performed in a stage production of Saint George and the Dragon at the Cleveland Play House. He served in the United States Navy during 1943–46 and spent time in the Pacific Theater of World War II. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and economics from Kenyon College in 1949. After touring with several summer stock companies including the Belfry Players, Newman attended the Yale School of Drama for a year before studying at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg. His first starring Broadway role was in William Inge's Picnic, and he starred in smaller roles for a few more films before receiving widespread attention and acclaim for his performances in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), the latter of which also starred Elizabeth Taylor.

Newman's major film roles include The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Harper (1966), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), and leading roles in The Sting (1973), The Towering Inferno (1974), Slap Shot (1977), The Verdict (1982), and voice role of Doc Hudson in the first installment of Disney-Pixar's Cars as his final acting performance, with his archival voice recordings being used again in Cars 3 (2017), nine years after his death. A ten-time Oscar nominee, Newman was awarded an Academy Award for Best Actor for The Color of Money (1986).

Newman won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing, and his race teams won several championships in open-wheel IndyCar racing. He was a co-founder of Newman's Own, a food company from which he donated all post-tax profits and royalties to charity. As of July 2019, these donations have totaled over US$550 million. He was a co-founder of Safe Water Network, a nonprofit that develops sustainable drinking water solutions for those in need.

In 1988, Newman founded the SeriousFun Children's Network, a global family of summer camps and programs for children with a serious illness which has served 290,076 children since its inception. In 2006, Paul Newman also co-founded Safe Water Network with John Whitehead, former chairman of Goldman Sachs, and Josh Weston, former chairman of ADP, to improve access to safe water to underserved communities around the world. He was the husband of Oscar-winning actress Joanne Woodward.

Paul Newman filmography

Photo Above: Paul Newman in front of St. Mark's Square, 1963

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[earsontaylor]

Long Time, No See

Hey howdy hey! It’s been a long time since I updated this blog, and honestly, it feels sad to be doing so. I think I took for granted what this blog meant at the time, but now that I’m where I am now, I almost wish I could go back to the start. 

Let’s start at the end of the story. On July 25, 2018, I worked my last shift as a Walt Disney Company employee. I know there’s a lot of time that passed between my last shift and the last time I wrote a post for this blog. I think I want to give you a short recap, but it might be more for me than for you. 

I left off by writing about how I had just gotten into a car accident right at the beginning of my first college program. I did recover! I also went through a lot that year. I had issues with leaders, I gained friends and they did things to cause me to lose trust in them, and I broke up with my long-time boyfriend (not long after I wrote the previous post). There were parts of that program that I absolutely would never want to go through again, but all in all, I look at it fondly. 

Here are some highlights:

Had lots of fun (and spats) with my roommates

Had Dole Whips at the Polynesian Resort with all of my roommates (it was Elizabeth’s first time having one)

Met my best friend in the entire world, and he’s still my best friend, two years later. I see him every single day now!

Went on many road trips to St. Petersburg, Tampa, and Dunedin

Went to Magic Kingdom for its 45th anniversary celebration

Went to two Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween parties and one Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

Ate at Be Our Guest for the first time

Went to a cast preview for Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM, a new Christmas nighttime show that debuted at Hollywood Studios just before the Christmas season 

Picked up a shift at Super Hero Headquarters at Disney Springs

Vended on Christmas while wearing Christmas light necklaces on every single appendage (arms, legs, neck, waist, etc.) and with absolutely no voice while aforementioned Jingle Bell, Jingle BAM went off

Danced next to Frozen Fractal with my friend Anne-Marie while also wearing Christmas light necklaces from every appendage as the fireworks went off

Graduated from the Fall Advantage 2016 program successfully and left with a whole pizza and a box of cookie brownies from Domino’s

And that’s just a very, very small snippet of the entire seven months I was on my first college program. 

In January of 2017, I packed up my stuff and moved out of Patterson Court, back to Lawrence. As I mentioned, I took a semester off and took some online classes in order to do my college program, so when I returned home, I still had one final semester left of college. I started that semester off with a bang, however; after syllabus day, I found out that I had contracted mono. I spent the first two and a half weeks of my last senior semester at home, slowly dying. This isn’t really related to this blog’s purpose, but it was awful. While I was home with mono, I decided to apply for another college program and was accepted halfway through the semester!

Despite the mono, I was able to finish out the semester strong and graduated on May 17, 2017, with Bachelor of Art degrees in Art History and Religious Studies, a minor in Journalism, and a certificate in Global Awareness.

I was accepted for the Fall 2018 program, so I moved back to Orlando yet again in August. My check-in date was August 7th, but this time I decided to opt out of housing since I planned to live in Orlando on a longer term basis this time around. This time, I was placed in...

Drumroll please!

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Hollywood Studios, Animation Courtyard Merchandise!

Yes, that’s right. For my second program, I was placed in Hollywood Studios yet again! I love working in Hollywood Studios so much, so I was extremely excited to be going back to my home park after just a few months. 

I loved this location so much -- so much that I even extended my program TWICE, once from January until May and then from May until July, so I ended up actually doing a year long program instead of eight months like my first program. This time, I worked in Star Wars Launch Bay, In Character and Studio Store, Toy Story Department, and park-wide vending. Eventually, Toy Story Department closed and we gained Toy Story Land! I was so lucky to be part of the Toy Story Land opening team and worked all three days of the land’s opening weekend (which was definitely both a marathon AND a sprint all at once). I even was part of an internal promotional video for the land on the Hub.

Along with opening Toy Story Land, some highlights from my second program include:

Doing the “Courtyard Pokey” (and, later, the “Backyard Pokey” in Toy Story Land) with my friends and having Guests laugh and video tape it

Having so many potlucks and parties

Going to the parks with Mckayla, my in-room roommate from my first program, who ended up moving back to Florida too to do a professional internship in Guest Relations at Magic Kingdom

Dancing to Fantasmic while nighttime vending

Playing with lots of little Jedi-in-training in Launch Bay and giving them personalized name tags (and sometimes lightsabers...)

Gaining some new (and true) lifelong friends whom I cherish so much

Gaining a whole new set of leaders who made the not so great ones seem unimportant

Received a quarterly award from the Cast Experience team for having amazing Four Keys Cards

Got lots of #CastCompliments on Twitter

Having late night talks with my favorite leader (whom I am privileged to also call my friend) until 1:30 AM

Having my birthday brunch at Crystal Palace with some of my favorite friends 

Having brunch at Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge with some more of my favorite CP friends from the first part of this program who came back to visit

Finally went to my first Dapper Day (Spring 2018 at Epcot)

Laying in the Hub Grass at Magic Kingdom and laughing with my friends

Cry-laughing in Toy Story Land at 2 AM with my friends who also worked all three days of crazy opening weekend hours because of how ridiculous it all was

Dancing joyously in the middle of the Courtyard with one of my friends when my last Courtyard shift ended while A Star is Born played loudly throughout the park, telling the Guests the park was closed

Making so many magical moments for Guests, and crying with them when they were really, REALLY good magical moments

Graduated from my program TWICE times, one for the fall and one for my spring/summer extensions

And now for the present. After my second program ended at the end of July, I made the hard decision not to apply for part-time or full-time. I finally had an almost perfect college program experience my second time around, and I knew that it would be better for me to leave the company at a high point. 

So, almost a month after Toy Story Land opened - my last final, amazing hoorah as a cast member - I left. Amazingly, I didn’t cry. I was definitely emotional, but it was bittersweet. This is probably due to the fact that I actually...still live in Orlando, and still work on Disney property! I am now a third party cast member (or an operating participant) at Kate Spade at Disney Springs. I love it SO much. I can’t think of a better way to pass the time while waiting to get into graduate school!

There aren’t words for how grateful I am for my time with the Walt Disney Company and for my two college programs. There were some really low lows, especially during my first program, but there have also been so many incredible highs that I would honestly trade the world to have again. My programs weren’t perfect, but magic doesn’t have to be. 

I think this is a good place to leave off, mostly because I’m starting to get emotional. I would really like to do a Q&A with you guys that have stuck around AND with any new CPs about to start their Spring/Spring Advantage programs in the coming weeks. Feel free to drop any and all questions you might have about being a CP, or about my program experiences specifically, in my asks and I will make one long masterpost with all of my answers.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.“

-- Walt Disney

[dcpisoutthere]

I’ll be heading down to Orlando for my second college program on Monday, and it’s finally feeling real! I can’t wait to be back home. I always wanted to have a place to post about my life as a Cast Member, so I figured it was about time I start a blog about it. I’ve been a cast member since October 2015, so if anyone has questions or wants to get to know me, I’ll be here!

[gabiwnomagic]

I’ll help some more! I see you speak Italian. Are you a native speaker? If not, when did you learn and why did you want to learn?

🥺🥺🥺

I am not a native speaker but I started taking Italian during my sophomore year of college. I totally had no desire to learn it but I had to fill my college's language requirements. It slowly grew on me and I then proceeded in 2017 to study abroad in Florence for the summer and then Rome for the rest of the semester. (About 6months total) and during this time I took Italian immersion courses. It was amazing and I miss Italy all the time. Unfortunately, I've forgotten alot of my Italian because I don't have anyone to practice with ): most Italians I've met speak English really well and prefer to use it instead of hearing someone stumble over their words- it's understandable😂

I had one chance to go back to Rome in 2018 but I opted to do the Disney College Program instead. They put me in Epcot World Showcase so I did get to eavesdrop a bit on the Italian castmembers from the Italy Pavillion on the bus to the parking lot 😂😂😂 I remember once after working at one of the food stalls that served scallops, one of the Italian castmembers proclaimed loudly to their friends that they didn't think I had taken a shower in 100 years, in reference to me and how the scallops' smell must've lingered on my clothes. They had no idea I could understand them 😂😂😂

[memorylang]

Language Learning, Mom’s Birthday | #43 | August 2020

Since Mom had held language-learning close-to-heart, I dedicate my August update to a language theme! 

With August 9, 2020, my late mom turned 55. I’ve often felt since 2017 a bittersweet fondness for the summer months between Mother’s Day and her birthday. That year had been my first summer in China getting to know Mom’s family after her death. 

For this August’s story, I’ve reflected a great deal on my experiences with language learning. Of which I’d written before, I’ve basically chosen five languages as the ones I want to be functional using (my native English included). So beyond the usual reflections from this COVID-19 summer in the States, I also take us back through my young life learning.  

And, I’m pleased to announce that I've begun to work on a new writing project! More on that soon. 

From Multilingual Mom to Me 

I start us from spring 2020, around evacuation back to the U.S. from Peace Corps Mongolia. 

By April 10-16, I’d been in my sixth week in Vegas again. Yet, less than a couple months before, I was in Mongolia packing to evacuate. As part of my coping while packing, I’d listened to hours of music. Much included Chinese Disney themes I’d found on Spotify. 

Well, having returned to Vegas, you might recall that the sisters’ songs in “Frozen II” resonated deeply with me. Whether while waking or working the yard, I’d listen to “Frozen II”' tracks in Chinese, sometimes in English. Finding songs in other langauges fit my 2020 exploration resolution. I humorously suspected that my Spotify Wrapped 2020 will surely list the same tracks in different languages... if only Spotify had Mongolian versions. Well, a month later, by week 10 (May 8-14), I’d exchanged the songs’ English versions for Spanish!  

That week also featured May 13, 2020—the third anniversary of Mom’s funeral. This year, something special happened.  

I’d received a fateful book—A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin. My college pastor had ordered this for me just days after I’d asked him what I should consider studying while discerning during quarantine a doctorate in religious studies. After my pastor noted my interest in world Christianity, especially its past and present in Asia, he highly recommended I study Church Latin. 

My pastor’s suggestion pleased me in a curious way. It reminded me of my Duolingo dabbling back in Mongolia, how at that time I’d favored Latin over Greek. Still, Liturgical Latin, studied seriously, seemed like quite an undertaking. Nonetheless my pastor commended my talents and felt confident I could succeed along paths God may open for me. I felt grateful for the aid! 

Embarking on my quest to learn Latin, I’ve found the language remarkable. 

It’s felt at times the culmination of my years learning languages. In fact, Mom had actually wanted my siblings and me to learn languages since we were little—She’d taught us to read English then tried to have us learn Chinese. Most summers, she’d have us in the mornings copy down Chinese characters before she’d let us play games or do activities that weren’t “educational.” 

While cleaning my family’s garage this COVID-19 this summer, I’d unearthed old notebooks in which my siblings and I would write Mom’s required phrases. I noticed how even back then I’d seem to try harder than most of my siblings, given how many characters I copied. Still, I hadn’t much inclination to know the language words beyond, then, clearing Mom’s barrier to letting me play games. 

Still, even if the notebooks had implied some aptitude I’d had for languages, Mom’s requirements left me if anything more averse to language acquisition than eager. 

Suffering Through Spanish

Many today may feel surprised to know that for years I’d called Spanish my second language. 

Given my childhood disdain for studying languages beyond English, I’d found my task to study Spanish in high school assiduous. I formally began in the language fall 2011 as a freshman. Spanish was our Vegas school’s only foreign language option, and all honors students needed two years of language. Yet again, my language studies drew from a requirement—little more. 

Many of my classmates and I rapidly found our classes exhausting, for our instructor had a thick French accent. Furthermore, verb conjugation, unfamiliar tenses and gendered vocabulary felt alien. I didn’t get why a language would be so complicated. 

Yet, despite my struggles to understand our teacher, she’d commended me because I “made the effort.” Well, I sometimes felt like I’d make the effort to a fault. When peers cheated on exams, my darn integrity had me abstain. 

By my second year, when I was succeeding in college-level AP world history, my fleetingly flawless GPA took from Spanish a beating. That hurt. By my senior year, at least Mom let me take Spanish online instead. I’d learned that I’d known more than I thought, but I still sucked. 

Redemption Through Mandarin

By fall 2015, I’d had graduated high school and enrolled as an honors undergrad facing another foreign language requirement. 

Licking my wounds from Spanish, I ruled out that language. I saw the University offered Chinese, though. Studying world history had interested me in Mom’s cultural background and native tongue. Considered she’d made my siblings stare at the language since childhood, I hoped it wouldn’t be too hard. So, I chose Mandarin Chinese.

And by my first days learning Chinese, I could already feel the benefits of having taken Spanish. 

Chinese felt astoundingly straightforward. Spanish had taught me to recognize that English letters (better known as the Latin alphabet) sound differently in different languages. For example, I felt pleased to notice that the ‘a’ /ah/ letter in Spanish sounds similar to its Chinese pronunciation. Thus, Spanish’s “mamá” and Chinese’s “māmā” relate, despite appearing in separate languages. 

Thanks to my Spanish experience, I picked up Chinese’s general pronunciation system far faster. Furthermore, I felt relieved to find that Chinese grammar lacked the conjugation and gender nightmares I’d faced in Spanish. I’d even loved how Chinese characters’ little images could often help me guess word meanings intuitively! 

My interest and success with the Chinese language led me to study abroad in 2017, planned with my mother before she was killed. I returned to China a year later, in 2018 on an intensive program. Both times, I spoke my mother’s native tongue, meeting relatives and making friends. I even received awards for my skills. 

Yet, despite my progress in Chinese, I’d often considered it only my third language. After all, much of my success in Chinese came having struggled through Spanish.  

  Finding Peace with Spanish

In my college senior year, January 2019, I’d attended a religious pilgrimage in Panamá—a Spanish-speaking nation. 

By that time, I’d grown acquainted with language immersions. In fact, I readily used my Mandarin skills when I met World Youth Day pilgrims from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan. They often felt shocked to meet someone outside their communities who knew their language! 

Of course, Panamá left me at times surrounded too by folks who only spoke Spanish, including my host family. 

I listened carefully. A luminous spark, I’d felt. Buried memories of my broken Spanish resurfaced. Near my last day in Panamá, I felt awed to have had a conversation with a cab driver completely in Spanish. 

My peace with Spanish became a renewed interest. 

After our pilgrimage, I’d continued with my host family and new Latin American friends to speak and write almost exclusively in Spanish. Online, we benefited over WhatsApp with Google Translate, too. Panamá in 2019 had taken a language that was for me dead and breathed in it new life. 

Peace Corps Language Level-ups

Later that year (last year), I began to learn what would be my fourth language and one entirely unfamiliar—Mongolian.

I should note that before reaching Mongolia June 1, 2019, I couldn’t even read its Cyrillic alphabet. I’d basically started at zero. 

Peace Corps’ language briefings had at least taught me that Mongolian is an Altaic language, distinct from Indo-European language like English and from character-based languages like Mandarin. Over the course of summer in villages of Mongolia, Peace Corps put us through mornings of immersive language training followed by returns home to our host families. 

Still, many Peace Corps Trainees felt unmotivated to learn Mongolian. After all, with statistically few Mongolian speakers worldwide, many felt that we wouldn’t have much utility for Mongolian outside Mongolia. Nevertheless, I felt motivated by desires to understand and feel understood. I powered through. 

Initially, Mongolian baffled me. 

Its Cyrillic alphabet (and its script one, too) includes consonant and vowel sounds unknown to English, Spanish and Chinese. Furthermore, Mongolian uses a case-based grammar of suffixes, a reversed subject-object-verb order and postpositions instead of prepositions. Mongolian even reintroduced me to my nemeses gendered vocabulary and tense-based verb endings!

I felt grateful for the sparse Chinese loanwords I wouldn’t have to relearn! Yet, my kryptonite was often pronunciation. Challenging consonants and tricky long vowels left me so inauthentic. Regardless, I was an ardent study who savored most every chance to receive Mongols’ clarifications and corrections. 

Finding Latin in Asia

Curiously, Catholic Churches became great places for my language learning.

This was the case for me both with learning Chinese in China and Mongolian in Mongolia. Parishioners would often take me under their wings to support me. Curiously in Mongolia, an English-speaking French parishioner pointed out once that Mongolian grammar is quite like Latin. I didn’t know Latin, though. 

I had encountered Latin, though. For, Asian vocabularies for Church topics often derived more directly from Latin than even English translations! These pleased me, since learning the vocabulary to speak about religion felt less foreign. 

Then came the sleepless nights during Mongolia’s COVID-19 preemptive quarantining, January and February. I’d had taken up Duolingo and opted for Greek or Latin in hopes that they’d bore me to sleep. I’d also hoped they might supplement how I teach English and read Scripture. And while Greek felt hopelessly confounding, Latin vocabulary felt surprisingly... natural. Despite my lack of formal training, I did alright just guessing. 

My Roads Led to Latin

From late May through mid-June 2020, I’d read the first four chapters of the Church Latin book. Meanwhile, mid-summer, I felt pleased to reach Duolingo’s Diamond League! Realizing that to become Champion would take far more effort than I cared to give, though I focused just on keeping my streak. 

Still, my Latin especially progress slowed after Dad’s remarriage and my relocation to Reno, Nev. My mostly-free summer rapidly grew hectic. But even in those first four Latin weeks, I’d discovered true gems in pursuing the historic language. 

At face value, Latin’s vocabulary reminded me of Spanish and English. Sometimes, Church words I’d learned first in Mandarin and Mongolian too related! Vocabulary felt profound. 

Furthermore, Latin grammar felt reminiscent of not only Spanish conjugations but indeed Mongolian cases! I felt relieved that Panamá had freed me from my conjugation aversion. Likewise, my Mongolian skills felt far from obsolete! 

To supplement my Latin studies, I try to translate between Chinese and Spanish, the way how in Mongolia I’d translate between Mongolian and Chinese. By juggling languages, I seek to codeswitch in more contexts with a more unified vocabulary. 

Wherever I wind up academically and professionally, I hope to work between languages. Through daily discipline, textbooks, apps, videos, notes and conversations, I trust I’ll go far. Feel free to connect if you want to practice with me! The more corrections, the better. 

From Ecclesiastical to Classical Latin

On August 23 (of my stateside week 25), I’d reunited in Vegas with a high school friend who’d studied classics in undergrad. From that meeting on, I’d not only ramped up my Latin studies but also transitioned from Ecclesiastical Latin to classical. 

For, Church Latin is but an evolving Latin. To understand the orgins of many words—beyond simply their uses within the Roman Catholic Church—I would need the eternal Latin that changes no more. Well, my friend offered to tutor me, so I offered to try! 

Classical Latin is harder, by the way. 

And in the midst of my suffering throughout September, my friend had even offered to tutor me Greek. While mostly joking (but also not), I’ve offered that I might learn Greek from him if for no other reason than to thank him for teaching me Latin! 

Nearly a month since beginning the tutorial system with him, we’ve since cleared over a fourth of a textbook meant sometimes to take a year’s worth of study. I hope by the year’s end to have finished the book. 

At least a third of my waking hours at times seem to go into Latin. But, it’s nice to keep learning! That same week, my siblings had all resumed their undergraduate studies. At least I’m still learning something! 

Embarking on a Book Memoir 

Besides working on my other languages, I’ve even placed time in my English. 

Lastly, I want to share about my writing quest! Although the project isn’t always across the top of my agenda, I keep at it. We return again to mid-summer. 

Peace Corps friends and I have often checked in on each other since evacuation to the States. Some also write. During a webinar for evacuated Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, I’d met many looking to tell their stories.

Most weeks since July, I’d also have a few video calls. I’d take these no matter what I was up to. I’d still been doing that ‘groundskeeping’ in Reno, Nev. of which I’d written before. Whether I was getting the mail, trimming the hedges, pruning the flowers, watering the lawn, raking debris, sweeping the floor, taking out the trash, tugging the garbage bins, adjusting the windows or washing the dishes, I’d often had some task that Dad requested I’d tend to. Calls with friends broke the monotony. 

After encouragement from mentors and friends, I’d decided to write a creative nonfiction book memoir for publication someday! 

The first step, of course, is having a manuscript. So, since week 17 (June 26–July 2), I’d been typing away at the first chapters to what seems will be a story spanning my three years of studies and service overseas after Mother’s death, leading up to my acceptance and peace. I'm excited to tell stories about finding purpose and identity, despite grief and loss. I hope it helps readers to find their own peace amid confusion. All things are so fundamentally interconnected. 

By three weeks in, I’d felt so grateful for the outpouring of support I’d received. Frankly, I wouldn’t be writing so much if people hadn’t been saying this has potential. Thankfully, readers offer marvelous insights. They treat the story as one deserving of quality. I love their attention to details. 

Still, among the most grueling lessons I’ve learned learned has been that a book about grief has needed me to relive the hurt of my mother's death for repeated days. I trust nonetheless that once I’ve written and rewritten well, the remaining may rest behind me. 

If you’re looking to read what’s coming, you’re in the right place. Merely starting on the book has helped me to improve my blog writing. You may have noticed in my recent summer 2019 throwback stories, for example, I’ve used more narrative than before. I hope you’ve enjoyed! 

The language studies and the book continue, though I’ve taken more breaks lately with the book. From mid-August I’d embarked on advocacy projects with the National Peace Corps Association. I’ll share more on that soon. Having doubled-down on my Latin studies from mid-September, it can be a quite a black hole for my time! For everything there is a season (Ecc. 3:1). 

Seeking to Stay Holy

A couple friends admired my dedication and called upon me to help them meet their spiritual goals. What a kind expereince! In helping them keep accountable, they’ve likewise helped me. 

With a homebound Knight of Columbus, we’d continued July’s rosaries throughout August, as many as three times a day leading up to the Catholic Feast of the Assumption. Afterward, we’d reduced our count back to two times daily through early September. I’d never prayed so many rosaries before! 

Through August, I’d also read a chapter of Proverbs daily with a friend. I’d reconnected with her during my outreach for the book. I enjoy our weekly Scripture chats, and she shows more Protestant perspectives on our faith!  

I find God a great companion along the journey of life. Regardless of how you view religious and spiritual topics, I trust that you have companions, too. They’re so important! 

On a positive note, I’d gotten to revisit my undergrad parish. I felt so amazed to hear that students I’d never met thought I was a cool person! I try not to think too highly of myself, but I feel touched when people notice me. I hope I inspire folks. 

Coming up Next

Thanks for reading my meta-stories about languages and stories!  

If you’ve been following my tales for a while now, you may recall I’d mentioned feeling surprised to learn that my mother had been studying Spanish around the same years I’d been studying it. I felt awed to realize that even when I’d tried to learn one of my earliest new languages, Mom was trying to learn what was for her one of a few. I’m glad to have perhaps inherited Mother’s interest in languages. 

Up next, I have a very special piece dated for September 2020 [and ultimately released in October]. I’m focusing on perspectives—mine and others’. I’m particularly excited to share adventures with teams including those within the American Psychological Association and the Honors College at the University of Nevada, Reno. They’ve given me plenty of fun roles amid the pandemic! 

I’m also writing about national and state parks! God, I love nature.

Stay healthy, friend.

COVID-19 and America Months 11 through 15 | April, May, June, July, August

Easter Epilogue in America | #35 | April 2020 

Remembering Mom—Third Year After | #36 | May 2020 

Fathers’ Day, Faith and Familiarity | #38 | June 2020

23rd Birthday~ Roses and Rosaries | #39 | July 2020

Language Learning, Mom’s Birthday | #43 | August 2020

You can read more from me here at DanielLang.me :) 

[ayonde]

My journey beyond MBA into Canada (Blog#10)

After graduation we went to Orlando to see Disney/Universal. That trip burned a hole in my pocket. Washington DC was the last leg and luckily the museums in DC are free to public unlike New York. We survived on McDonald's for couple of days as I simply ran out of money.

Signing bonus was a new concept. I had assumed that I would get that money the moment I accept the offer letter. Only to realize that I would actually get it 45 days after joining. I was running dangerously low on cash so I requested Cartesian to give me 50% of my signing bonus upfront which they trustingly did.

Location: Cartesian also gave me options for my location. Boston was too far up north and cold. Philadelphia was tough. New York was costly. Washington DC has nice summer and I was familiar with Northern Virginia due to its proximity to Williamsburg. So I selected DC.

My friend Vipul helped me get a lease at his apartment complex in Herndon, VA. My wife joined me in US to join me while rest of my family left for India. Doing grocery was a problem. Walking to the store and carrying big bags was too laborious. Ever since I drove Chris’s car I wanted to buy a Subaru Forester but as I had no credit history and my income hasn’t come yet no one was ready to give me auto loan. I approached Bank of America but they declined – even though I showed my offer letter with salary information they wouldn’t lend me a single cent unless I agree for 20% APR.

Once again, Vipul introduced me to Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU). DCU gave me the full $20,000 at competitive 2.29% APR. I searched online to shortlist few cars. Hilariously changed 3 buses and a Metro with my wife and traveled to Manassas, VA to buy my Forester. Now I could reach places within minutes – such a big relief!

2015: Luckily my first project was with Time Warner Cable and their office was a mile away from my apartment. I would come back home to have lunch or walk to office. 

Life was good. 

It became better as I got news from Larry that USCIS cleared my RFE and my H1-B was approved. Huge sigh of relief! The H1-B came into effect in October. I noticed that my take home pay decreased as now I had to pay into Social Security and Medicare.

I felt that this system was unfair. As foreign national working in US I was a non-resident alien but for tax purposes I was a resident alien. I could not benefit from SSN or Medicare but I had to contribute into those programs. Additionally, every time I exit US, I had to get my passport stamped and answer lot of questions at port of entry. Cartesian also had to file paperwork to USCIS whenever I changed apartments as my address of residence was listed in my petition.

2016: Having money felt great but my wife couldn’t work in US. We thought of starting a family but I wanted her to earn and be financially independent. I thought “If I can come to US and get work after US education, my wife and sister can do that as well”. We put our family plans on hold. Raising kids would mean a gap of 5+ years for my wife which could prove insurmountable in rejoining workforce.

She liked William & Mary’s Masters of Accounting. She enrolled in Northern Virginia Community College to get prerequisite credits. My wife and sister took the GMAT/TOEFL and applied to schools.

My wife got admits from George Mason, American University and W&M. My sister got admits from CUNY Baruch, Fordham, Johns Hopkins, American and Bentley for Masters in Marketing Analytics. Even though CUNY was 1/3rd the cost of Fordham and Johns Hopkins is a huge brand name, I advised my sister to enroll in Fordham as it is STEM certified. STEM allows international students to be eligible for 2 years of extended OPT in addition to the initial 1. This provides 3 years to find an employer who would file for H-1B.

For obvious reasons, my wife selected W&M. Since I could work from home, I decided to move back to Williamsburg to lower our living cost and be together. I did not have sufficient money for my wife’s education. Luckily I learned about Mpower Finance. They provided $25,000 without collateral at 11.99% APR both to my wife and my sister. This was a game changer. I took a personal loan from DCU for the remainder amount. I paid my sister’s monthly rent in NYC. By fall both enrolled in their respective schools. I asked Cartesian to apply for my Green Card (GC) but they asked to revisit in 2017

2017: I visited India in Oct and that’s when my mother fell and broke her shoulder. It became clear to me that I need to live together with my parents. I asked Cartesian again for GC but they refused to apply. To be fair I still had another year on my H-1B and could renew it for 3 more years. Usually companies exhaust 6 years of H-1B before sponsoring for GC. The problem is that USCIS puts a cap on number of GC applications per country. Which means that India with a population of 1.3 Billion gets the same number of GC slots as Lithuania – a country of 3 million. This cap puts a wait time of 10 to 15 years for Indians and Chinese to get GC in best case estimate. Worst case puts the waiting period at 45 years!

Even if I received GC, I still couldn’t stay with my parents. I started exploring other options and learned about Canadian Permanent Residency. My wife and I applied to Canada’s point based PR. During application I got to know another Indian applicant. He was 38 years old, had two kids. Worked in US on H-1B for 7 years. (2 renewals + 1 extended year) His company exploited him and gave him $138,000 while his American coworkers made $200,000+ He couldn’t leave his job as his company was filing for his GC, because of his age he scored less points in the Canadian PR process. He was in a pickle.

I decided I didn’t want to be in his shoes after 5 years. By mid-2017, my wife faced rejections at interviews due to companies unwilling to sponsor H-1B. Luckily she contacted Tim who owns La Tienda at Toano, VA and is a W&M Alumni. They hired her for a yearlong internship during the course of her OPT. My sister also found a job at NYC but the hours were killing her. Rampant racism existed in her company. English Hons fresh out of school American citizens are fast tracked into Managers while  Indian employees who had considerable experience in SPSS, SAS etc. and had a MS in Marketing / Analytics were made to work at grassroots. I decided to leave US when my wife’s internship and her OPT would conclude in July 2018. By December we had received our Canadian PR.

I owed my parents $80,000 for my MBA. I had little money saved. So I decided to buy a property in India. I would pay the mortgage on it and my parents would rent it out. The rent would provide them additional income to support cost of living.

2018: I was bleeding money from all ends – rent, auto loan, mortgage, education loan and taxes. Additionally, I couldn’t plan for retirement or invest in a property while in US.

Since both of us were earning and our cost of living was low. I decided to use snowball effect. First, paid off my wife’s education loan by making lump sum payments every month. That freed up the money going towards that loan. We used that additional money and attacked the next – auto loan was now repaid. Only mortgage remained as we moved to Canada in July 2018.

In September my H-1B expired. I resigned from Cartesian as a full-time employee and rejoined as independent contractor. This worked in my favour as I was able to get a 20% hike. I was promoted to Manager. I did not miss forgoing benefits like medical etc. as those are provided in Canada under universal healthcare.

We setup base in Toronto and my wife landed a job soon. We used the snowball effect once more to pay off my mortgage in India. After 4 years or so I recouped my Return on Investment on my MBA.

2019/2020: I was debt free and started saving money. Paying rent in the Greater Toronto Area was expensive and paying the same amount in mortgage made more sense. We bought a house and started a family. My sister also applied for her PR and joined us. I applied for my parent’s Super Visa – which allowed them to stay up to 2 years in Canada at each entry. After 6 long years we all were together again.

In conclusion, I feel lucky that I was able to successfully use my MBA to transition into consulting, change geography and attain higher purchasing power.

[stacijya]

My decade in review

2010-2013:

-finished high school, made competitive dance my life, joined theater and became a member of the thespian honors society, joined women's choir then show choir, traveled to california for an international dance convention where I met the young americans, traveled to Florida with my show choir to perform at Disney, went to a young americans summer camp, auditioned for the YAs, got accepted, graduated high school with a 4.23 GPA, saw Ed Sheeran in concert, saw One Direction and 5sos in concert, helped my best friend move to Nebraska, moved to California and met some of the coolest people, performed in my New Kid Show and The Magic of Christmas.

2014-2017:

-finished my New Kid year, auditioned for summer tours and made the European tour with my best friends, traveled to Germany, poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Netherlands, England, and Ireland. I started my ress-cast semester, wrote, produced and performed in my ress-cast show, performed in another Magic of Christmas show but in more prominent parts, got on my first japan tour, fell in absolute LOVE with japan and it's people, went home to make money, went on a tohoku tour, saw some incredible sights, performed in my last Magic of Christmas show, went on a summer japan tour, decided that teaching was my calling, fell in love with my cast, went home for fall for once, went to Florida, found out I made world tour and cried, went on world tour to Australia, hong kong, Singapore, south africa, and alaska. Had layovers in New Zealand and Dubai, found an incredible group of friends, went to st. Maartin with my parents, watches my best friend walk down the aisle as her maid of honor, moved to nebraska, started my actual college experience as a collegiate dancer and performer/teacher candidate.

2018-2019:

-started working at an after school program, adjusted to a new life in a small town, started my journey with Premier Dance Company, choreographed a number for our showcase, did my first full length musical in Thouroughly Modern Millie, finished my first year with a 4.0gpa, passed my praxis exam on my first attempt, spent the summer with my parents and helped my brother move back to colorado springs, performed in Newsies, another amazing year with Premier, choreographed another great piece for showcase, started teaching supplementary lessons after school, won history student of the year and most thought provoking research at the social science research fair, took a full semester of summer online classes, traveled to South Korea, started my final semester of classes at Midland, got placed and prepped for student teaching, won a midland star award, also won a Who's Who award, performed as Brooke Wyndom in Legally Blonde the Musical.

[thegreatlukeski]

Hi! I'm Luke Ski! I am a Storyboard Artist / Revisionist, Animation Writer, and Animation Voice-Over Actor and I am looking for a full time job in the animation industry. I also have been making nerdy comedy music for the past two-plus-decades for "The Dr. Demento Show"! If you'd like to find out all about me and how to hire me for a full time animation position or freelance animation or commission art work, or even making funny songs for you, please check out the deluge of links below to learn all abut me. Thanks you! ~ Luke Sienkowski, aka Luke Ski

~~~ LINKS: ~~~

Animation Industry related:

Storyboarding Portfolio: http://www.luke.ski Voice-Over Website: http://www.luke.ski/voiceover LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thegreatlukeski "Mighty MagiSwords" on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/mighty-magiswords "Mighty MagiSwords" at Cartoon Network: http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/magiswords/epi...

Freelance Cartooning Commissions & Caricatures:

Art by Luke Ski .com - http://artbylukeski.com Note: Luke is available to draw Caricatures at private parties and events in the L.A. area! Contact him through the website above to book him for your party/event now! DeviantArt page - http://artbylukeski.deviantart.com

Comedy Music:

Bandcamp - http://lukeski.bandcamp.com Official Website - http://www.thegreatlukeski.com The Funny Music Project, aka The FuMP - http://www.thefump.com

Videos:

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/lukeski

Live Comedy Music Concert Events Luke Helps Run:

MarsCon Dementia Track (Twin Cities, early March) - http://marscondementia.com FuMPFeST (Chicago, mid-June or sometime in the summer) - http://fumpfest.com

Podcasts:

Kyle & Luke Talk About Toons - http://www.kyleandluke.com Luke & Carrie's Bad Rapport - http://badrapport.com The Funny Music Podcast - http://www.thefump.com/podcast.php

Best Show Ever, Still On The Air, Pay-Per-Streaming Online:

"The Dr. Demento Show" - http://www.drdemento.com The OFFICIAL Dr. D Show Facebook Group - http://www.facebook.com/groups/drdemento The Dr. D. Show Request-A-Song page: http://drdemento.com/request

Social Media:

Patreon - http://www.patreon.com/lukeski Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/thegreatlukeski Twitter - http://twitter.com/thegreatlukeski Tumblr - http://thegreatlukeski.tumblr.com Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/thegreatlukeski

And The Rest:

Cirque du So What? - http://cirquedusowhat.net The Logan Awards - http://www.loganawards.com Dementia Radio - http://www.dementiaradio.org

~~~ BIO: ~~~

At Dragon*Con 2004, Dr. Demento declared "the great Luke Ski" to be his radio/internet program's "Most Requested Artist of the 21st Century". Since then, Luke held onto that title by having songs on "The Dr. Demento Show's" annual year-end "Funny 25" countdown of his most requested songs of the year for 16 years in a row, including five of them at #1 ("Peter Parker" 2002, "Stealing Like A Hobbit" 2003, "Snoopy The Dogg" 2011, "Fake Adult" 2014, "Candybars" 2017). His song parodies, originals, stand-up and sketches about pop culture phenomena have made him a favorite performer at science-fiction and fandom conventions all across the Midwest and beyond. He's released 11 albums and 2 DVDs over the past 22 years, many of which feature collaborations and cameos by his fellow comedy musicians of the Funny Music Project (the FuMP dot com), most significantly Carrie Dahlby, who often sings lead vocals on Luke's parodies of female musicians.

He has won 3 awards at the Logan Whitehurst Memorial Awards For Excellence In Comedy Music. The first for his Peanuts tribute, "Snoopy The Dogg", winning 'Outstanding Parody Song' of 2011; the second for his song about Disney buying Star Wars, "When You Wish Upon A Death Star", winning 'Outstanding Parody Song' of 2012; and the third "Candybars" winning 'Outstanding Parody Song' of 2017, about his and many people's struggle with weight loss in the face of so many delicious foods & restaurants in this modern world.

Luke Ski recently got his dream job for 3 years as a storyboarder, writer, & voice-over actor working on Cartoon Network's "Mighty MagiSwords" (created by Kyle A. Carrozza) from Mar. 2015 to Feb. 2018, on 20 web shorts and TV Seasons 1 & 2. Luke wants to continue to live his life long dream to work as a professional in the animation industry creating comedy for television, and is currently seeking a Storyboard Artist/Revisionist position on other shows, as well as getting more Voice-Acting work for animation. For "Mighty MagiSwords", he (with his partners) storyboarded on 27 episodes spanning the 2 seasons, including his brainchild episode "Gotta Get Grup To Get Down", which got the highest TV ratings of any episode of the show. He is also a member of SAG/AFTRA and got to be the voices of a handful of tertiary characters, including Skullivan the beleaguered Level-1 cave monster, Docky Boardman the hot-tempered old sailor man who runs the boardwalk pier, Cattus the One-Blade the nomadic zenned-out do-er of "great justice", Nyando the obnoxious cat kid of 'The Broccoli Dumpling Gang', and whole lot of background pirates, monsters, and disconcertingly odd-looking dogs.

~~~ CREATIVE SKILLS: ~~~

Other creative comedy & art stuff Luke has done over the years includes but is not limited to:

* Performing in Stage Plays and Musicals

* Stand-Up Comedy - intermittently since the 90's

* Improvisational Comedy - ComedySportz: training in Milwaukee, performer on the Kansas City team

* Has a Bachelor Of Fine Arts Degree in Illustration from the 4-year fine arts college, the Kansas City Art Institute

* MC / Host - been the on-stage host / master of ceremonies for comedy, music, and other events at fandom conventions

* Podcaster - 3 different current shows

* Sketch Comedy - intermittently since the 90's, released 3 albums as a part of the sketch comedy quartet "Cirque du So What?"

* YouTube Channel - featuring music videos, puppet videos, animatics, commercials & such with Luke providing voices / vocals

* Can do a dead-on impression of Gilbert Gottfried

[worklabournewsresearch]

Shining a Light on Summer Work

“Foreign students who come to the US seeking a summer ‘cultural exchange’ are subjected to wage theft by employers, retaliation, physical threats and human trafficking, a new report has revealed. The allegations are made in Shining a Light on Summer Work, a damning survey by the International Labor Recruitment Working Group, a coalition of 30 US-based labor rights organizations. The report focuses on recipients of the Summer Work Travel visa (SWT), the largest in the J-1 visa category, which offers foreign college students summer jobs in the US.”

“In 2018, nearly 105,000 J-1 SWT workers were hired in the US. More than half worked in the leisure and hospitality sector, including accommodation, food services, amusement, gambling and recreation for well-known brands such as McDonald’s, Disney and Food Lion. ... But between 2015 and 2017 about 67 visa holders sought help from an anti-trafficking hotline managed by the Washington DC-based not-for-profit Polaris, and labor advocates believe this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Labor advocates argue that the J-1 visa program offers even less protection than other temporary visa programs such as the H-2A and H-2B guest worker visas for agricultural and non-agricultural work. ‘The state department has no mandate or expertise on labor standards,’ said Daniel Costa at the Economic Policy Institute. They outsource this to sponsor organizations for whom this is a business and who ‘have an incentive not to report’. Carole Vigne, an attorney at Legal Aid at Work, said that the lack of government oversight, the age of participants as well as potential cultural and language barriers conspire to ‘increase the vulnerability’ of members of the Summer Work Travel program.”

The Guardian, July 30, 2019: “Foreign students hired for summer jobs in US subjected to abuses, says study,” by Milli Legrain

Economic Policy Institute, July 30, 2019: “Shining a light on summer work: A first look at the employers using the J-1 Summer Work Travel visa” (40 pages, PDF)

Topic Magazine, July 2019: “They Work Hard for the Money”

[diary-of-a-disneyprincess]

I GET TO DO A BACKSTAGE TOUR OF STAR TOURS!!!!!!

I literally cannot contain my excitement about this!!!!

[originaljediinjeans]

NO!

me, evening of may 5, 2016, at the premiere of Captain America: Civil War, my outburst at the moment when Bucky Barnes voluntarily went on cryo in Wakanda during the mid-credit scene, breaking my heart into a million pieces

The immediate fallout: the entire movie theater heard me, including a friend of mine who happened to be at the same showing but sitting closer to the front. As soon as the rest of the credits started, the woman sitting right next to me turned to me and said, “I’m sorry, but you are really rude,” and she got up and left, not even staying around for the Spider-man scene, which I was too upset to enjoy anyway, it felt like a slap in the face.

My life between then and February 16, 2018, when Black Panther came out and in the post-credit scene Bucky awakened, was a real struggle.

I know a lot of you who were following me here on Tumblr were concerned about me during that time, while I was trying to make sense of it.

For the first few months, I was distraught. I started seeing a counselor around the same time Civil War came out. I told her about my decision to write a fanfic AU where Bucky going under gets ~delayed~ and she was pleased with me for wanting to “rewrite the narrative.” And she immediately said, “So how are you going to rewrite the narrative of your real life?” For the next year and a half that I worked with this counselor, especially that first summer, my visits with this counselor were a constant back and forth between me going “I have a lot of sad feelings inside about a fictional character” and her going “I see, but why cant you get to work on time and take better care of yourself?” I started a job about a week after CACW came out, and it was difficult for me to keep that job, for various reasons that aren’t within the scope of this essay. But I felt like that counselor was more interested in fixing my outer life than hearing about my internal problems. She did help me with a few things, but there were some other ways I felt that she wasn’t that great for me.

I felt really really sad about Bucky going under, sad enough that I wanted to cry, and cry a lot. The thing is, I don’t cry when I’m sad, I cry when I’m angry and having a meltdown. I wanted to find a friend to talk to about my little sadness, but I’m also socially introverted and I have a hard time making friends, especially in a college apartment complex where people are always coming and going, so I could never get close enough to anyone to confide in them. I felt like such a “trivial” issue over a fictional character wasn’t worth talking to a stranger about. I didn’t even feel like it was worth talking to God about--I just thought that God must think I was silly and that I should beg forgiveness for being obsessed with a fictional character, if anything.  In January 2017 I did have a longer session with my therapist where I was able to properly shed some tears over Bucky and over some other things that weigh me down. But it didn’t solve the problem. WHY was I so hurt about this scene? WHY couldn’t I just be satisfied with the literal ending? I couldn’t make sense of it.

I admit, one underlying factor was that I was jealous because T’challa spent all of Civil War chasing Bucky, trying to either kill him or capture him, and after having a change of heart T’challa took him to Wakanda anyway and offered to “fix” him, and the best thing this country with advanced technology and medicine could do for him was offer him a cryo chamber even though he was safe from anyone who could trigger him. I was so ANGRY.  Go ahead, call me racist if you want, send me hate mail, I’m a worthless piece of white trash anyway.

Sebastian Stan’s 9-picture contract notwithstanding, there was a part of my brain that was convinced that Marvel didn’t care about Bucky and that they were going to put him out of the picture for good. AKA I reached the irrational thoughts stage of the mental illness aspect. I was scared: what if Bucky never woke up? What if he and Steve never got to recover their friendship? What if he was gone forever, not just out of Steve’s reach but MY reach? Again, there was some jealousy there.

That was why writing/working on fanfiction gave me solace. But I couldn’t get it written fast enough if I had a part-time job and I was asleep/depressed the rest of the time.

I think what it really boiled down to was a fear of cryogenics and just wanting better for a favorite character that I related to--and maybe fear of being “stuck” on some mental, spiritual, or metaphorical level. And the fear of permanent, irrevocable loss.

I tried to spend some evenings alone to work myself into sadness so I could get some more of the tears out, but either I just got more mad at Tony Stark or it didn’t work period. There were times when I was at work or in public when I would think about it and want to cry but then I would tell myself not to because it wasn’t the time or place. So I just kept shoving a lot of those sad obsessive feelings inward. After about a year I opened up about it to my mom but it was a pretty casual confession. It wasn’t what I really needed. Every time I saw any images of that shot of Bucky on cryo I wanted to scream. Even just thinking about it just hurt me.

(Also, side note, I’ve been very defensive of Bucky since Civil War came out, and I’ve even gotten into almost fights with people over him. Overall I’ve become increasingly sensitive to the entire Cap vs. Stark debate.)

So finally Black Panther came out, and seeing Bucky awake was a huge relief. No, seriously, it helped. It was like a dam inside of me broke and some emotional stream was able to flow freely again.

How am I dealing with Bucky getting dusted in Infinity War? Besides wanting to kill Thanos with my bare hands, I’m doing great. 

I don’t really think in the long run Bucky being on cryo between Civil War and Infinity War changes much for the character in the MCU. I stand by my previous observation that Bucky was emotionally and spiritually at rock bottom after everything he’d just been through and he felt like as long as he still had his Hydra programming inside of him he’d never be good enough to live a normal life.

I’m happy that Bucky and Sam are getting their own series. They both need character development. But I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford to subscribe to the Disney streaming network at all. Or if the show will be decent enough for me to care about watching it in the first place.

The thing is, though, it still hurt me. I’m not convinced that the heartache was valid, much less necessary. But I thought, with the benefit of hindsight, my followers on Tumblr should at least know that that was what I was dealing with. At least now I understand myself better.

[ibreathedisney]

Working for Disney (DCP/CEP): Week One

Working for Disney (DCP/CEP): Week One

I managed to keep a daily diary for the majority of my summer working as a Cast Member in Walt Disney World. Some days are a bit sparse compared to others, and  honestly some days are actually just very boring. But, if you’re nosey (like me) are thinking of applying to the programme or have been accepted to the programme and want to know every single little thing that happens over your time…

[sunshinekarliekloss]

Karlie Kloss, Coding's Supermodel: The Forbes Cover Story

Karlie Kloss is sitting in a glass-walled SoHo office holding court with five teenage girls. Over video chat with several more, they are brainstorming how to support scholars of Kode with Klossy once class is out. The teenagers are all graduates of Kode with Klossy summer camps, an initiative by Kloss’ education nonprofit that aims to teach girls the basics of computer programming.

In her off-duty uniform of a Planned Parenthood T-shirt, black jeans and Gucci loafers, the 6'2" supermodel listens intently. One young woman wearing a white Kode with Klossy top suggests a custom app for students to communicate through. Kloss nods and encourages more ideas. Perhaps Kode with Klossy could upload lesson videos for scholars to look back on, or start a newsletter with events and internships. Another girl in glasses says she posts tricky coding problems on Snapchat and scholars from her camp offer solutions.

As the meeting concludes, Kloss hugs the girls before rallying them to put their hands in for a cheer. “Klossy Posse!” they shout in unison.

A 36-time Vogue cover girl is an unlikely candidate to launch a charity that has taught more than 500 young women how to code. But the 25-year-old has leveraged her giant social audience–some 12.6 million followers across platforms–to grow a burgeoning nonprofit that aims to balance the scales of software engineering’s gender disparity.

“I didn’t go into this with the plan to build an education nonprofit,” says Kloss, a member of the 30 Under 30 Class of 2018, over vegan cupcakes and cookies in her Manhattan office. “I really went into all this out of my own curiosity of wanting to learn what the heck coding was, because it was building massive enterprise value for people in a short period of time.”

Her first taste came in 2014, when she signed up for a two-week boot camp at adult-education company the Flatiron School in Manhattan to learn the basics of computer programming. “I didn’t actually know who she was,” says Avi Flombaum, cofounder of the Flatiron School, who taught Kloss’ class. “She was the best student in that group and I was surprised by how enthusiastic she was.”

Kloss covered the basics of Ruby on Rails, a popular web development framework. But she quickly noticed that her classes weren’t gender equal, an imbalance that mirrored the tech workforce. “I was curious, why are there not more women in this space?” recalls Kloss. An idea for how to help took form: “I realized, here I am with this platform and reach to young women across the country and around the world,” Kloss explains. “If I could just help a handful of girls that would be really meaningful.”

In 2015, Kloss spent more than $20,000 to personally underwrite 21 scholarships for teenage girls to the Flatiron School’s two week pre-college coding class–the very class she had taken the year prior (Flatiron School matched the donation).

But she was itching to do more. Last summer, Kloss took the initiative in-house, launching her own two-week summer camp for teenage girls aged 13 to 18 in New York, Los Angeles and her hometown of St. Louis. Kloss helped pick candidates, design the curriculum and select teachers; its graduates have gone on to win hackathons and land places at Ivy League universities. In June, the program expanded to 12 cities across the U.S., with plans to grow further.

Adults are also included: Last July Kloss launched a year-long online scholarship with the Flatiron School that selected one woman every month to enroll in its full stack web development course. And whhile other nonprofits with similar missions, such as Girls Who Code and Black Girls Code, are far more established, Kloss’ reach brings her objective to millions.

To date, funding for Kode with Klossy programs has come from Kloss herself and the brands she poses for. According to a familiar source, Kloss has personally contributed into seven figures to Kode With Klossy since 2015. She has also redirected a slice of her modeling contracts with companies such as Adidas, Swarovski and Express to fund and support Kode with Klossy. Ford’s STEAM Experience—an initiative focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines as well as the arts, part of the car maker’s philanthropic arm—lent additional support to this summer’s camps.

Such initiatives are sorely needed. Half a million more jobs related to computers are expected to be added by 2024. Though 74% of high school girls are interested in STEM, women only earned 18% of all undergraduate computer science degrees in 2015. That impacts employment, especially among minorities: Women made up just over a quarter of the tech workforce last year, though African-American women comprised a mere 3% and Latina women counted for only 2%.

“There are so many young women who really could change the world with this kind of opportunity, girls who self-select out because they don’t see others in the industry that look like them,” says Kloss.

The daughter of an emergency room physician, Kloss’ favorite subjects as a child were math and science. Had she not been discovered at a charity fashion show in a mall, aged 13, she might have become a doctor or a teacher, she says. Instead, she booked her first advertisement in 2007; that same year she landed her first major runway show, walking for Calvin Klein.

Her career quickly took off, but it went into overdrive with the advent of Instagram. Thanks to social media, says Kloss, “I could be seen as well as heard.” As her followers swelled, her fees increased. She premiered on Forbes’ highest-paid models list in 2014 banking $4 million pretax; this year, her contract earnings soared to $9 million in the 12 months prior to June 2017.

“When social media arrived, models came back into the spotlight because now everyone could see what was behind the velvet rope,” says Maja Chiesi, SVP at IMG Models, the agency that represent Kloss. “The next evolution is brands wanting the full, 360-degree sense of who these women are… They want women with a voice.”

Enter Kloss, who has long presented herself as more than just a pretty face. In 2012, she started a charitable cookie line called Klossies with Manhattan dessert spot Momofuku Milk Bar; the treats donated to meals for children with each purchase. After taking the odd night class at New York University, in 2015 she enrolled (mentor and supermodel-turned-philanthropist Christy Turlington wrote her recommendation letter). With her busy schedule, she has opted for approximately one class a semester, so far notching credits in creative writing and feminism.

She is eager to expand her platform through a YouTube channel, launched in 2015, that documents her travels and baking forays. Next up: A talk show, Movie Night with Karlie, airing on the Disney-owned Freeform in December.

All of it serves to raise awareness for Kode with Klossy. As she focuses on the nonprofit, she has pared down her modeling contracts to the most lucrative partnerships. Today, says Kloss, she works with “partners that really are excited to work with me because of not just what I look like, but because of what I stand for.” It makes sense that her bookings have shifted from conventional beauty and fashion to tech; she can be seen in recent advertisements for electronics giant Samsung and website builder Wix.

For now, the aim is to grow quickly and cost-effectively. “I’ve been thinking about Kode with Klossy like a startup,” says Kloss. The nonprofit’s team is lean, with Kloss, her manager and business partner Penni Thow, five full-time employees and consultants plus help from three members of her management.

And, Kloss says, she is just getting started. “I plan on building a big business at some point, too.”

Startups, you’re on notice.