Something I am passionate about : The Erradication of Human Sex Trafficking

On Friday May 6, 2011 my activist group and I presented the topic of human sex trafficking to a classroom of Gilbert High School students. We first passed out a survey questioning the students on their knowledge of current day slavery and what they thought about trafficking in general. As we assumed they would, most students referred to the trans- atlantic era and compared the idea of slavery to that time period. We then began our presentation, which went a little rough the first time due to technical difficulties with getting the YouTube video to play by getting around the block on the internet from the school. The second time we presented went so much better.

It was amazing to me how much I was personally moved by the presentation. I have found interest in human sex trafficking since it was first talked about and presented to me in my Sex and Gender Sociology Class. So I have read tons of stories, picked through many articles, and watched countless videos and have been able to get thought it all just fine. I would tear up here and there about the things I was reading and get upset about how these innocent people were being treated but I would suck it up and write the papers that I needed to write. Presenting however was an entirely different story. After playing the movie that gave some insight to human sex trafficking, I asked how many of the students had a brother, sister, niece, nephew, or cousin that was younger than they were; majority of them did. I then described in detail about how young the children are that are trafficked. The minute I started talking to the students about my section of the presentation, I felt my throat start to swell.  Watching the students faces as I began to unfold the horrors of current day slavery that is happening in our backyards just blew my mind. During my piece of the presentation I had to stop a few times just to suck back my tears and finish up. I was in complete shock when I saw how much my piece of the presentation was so difficult to get out.  It didn’t matter how many times I had gone over the material, telling other people and watching their reactions was so surreal for me. I couldn’t and still can’t believe it.

This activism project has taken my interest in human sex trafficking to a whole new level. I plan on applying with a complete resume to Streetlight Phoenix this summer, though the process is pretty extensive. I would love to be able to work with the victims and help survivors recover from the experiences they have come through. I would also be interesting in studying the psychology of how the survivors cope and return to a normal life. There is a home due to open soon that will house eight girls who are survivors of human sex trafficking and who aren’t of age to take care of themselves; but that is only eight girls. My background is in construction and building, how amazing would it be to build an even bigger home to house even more survivors? It would take lots of time and effort, but with the degree I am working on I think it would be entirely possible; but that’s the future. I hope to start taking the first steps this summer and let things lead me to where I need to be.

Tips for the upcoming FINALS WEEK!!!

Ok so it's the end of another semester and you find yourself, much like myself, morphing into a grouchy wore-out pile of craziness. To those who haven't experienced this yet or in awhile, it's somethin' real ugly. Anyway, here are a few tips to help keep what little sanity there is to keep during this dreadful week.

•  JUST SAY NO!- People who aren't in school don't seem to quite understand how stressful finals can be. Say no or just offer to help them with whatever life threatening crisis they have until NEXT WEEK, when you aren't ready to rip someones head off.
•  Keep snacks handy! Your going to be knee deep in paperwork and computer files, getting hungry in the middle of a paper can entirely throw off your train of thought. Runners are also helpful, I take full use of my daughter & boyfriend :)
• RedBox Saves Lives- Grab a handful of these $1 beauties and type away while your kids watch movies. Now I'm not one to sit my child in front of the TV for 9 hours or anything close so i keep a timer on for about 3 hours(usually she will fall asleep before this time, which is even better)
• Energy is a must. There are many different ways of keeping yours up: coffee, 5 Hour Energy, soda, apples, tea, and chocolate works for some people. SLEEP is the best way to revive yourself, even if you only get a few hours at a time- SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP!
• Opt-out of all the extras. Whether it be a side business for extra cash, a once a week softball game, or date night with your beau, clear everything off of your calendar-just for this week. This will insure you are as focused as possible on your school work and nothing else.
• Spread the Word-to your parents, children, spouse/sig. other, employer,friends, and any close relatives. This will be the best way to prevent anyone from getting their feelings hurt if you snap at them, because all of us turn into some monstrous form of ourselves when finals week is upon us.
• Write when you can, wherever you can. Most of the phones these days have smart phone capabilities even if they can't connect to the internet. If an idea comes to you for a section of a paper you need to write, open your memo/ notebook app on your phone and jot it down.You can even save it as a text message if your phone doesn't contain something similar to this. Look at it when you sit down to your computer and *bam!* Entire paper written- ( or so we'd like to think)

I hope this helps! Good luck with those finals - you'll do great!

Mama's Day!

So today is Mother's Day. This isn't my first go round of the holiday, in fact it is my 3rd. I love all of the gifts that are given to me 'by my daughter' but are really bought by her dad or other close family member for her to give to me. But honestly, my very favorite part of Mothers Day are the mornings, like many other mornings, when I get to wake up next to the little brat that calls me Mama. When she sleeps in my bed I usually wake up sore, stuffed all the way in one corner of the bed because she is the biggest bed-hog, and typically one side of my head is wet. Yes, wet. Due to all off the drool my diva monster pours out during the night. It sounds gross to most people, but mornings like this one are truely amazing. All mothers have their 'gross' favorite thing about their child/ren, and this is mine.

Too all of you super mamas out there- HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!