A Sense of Community is A Bulwark in times of Economic Distress

We all need to value a sense of community As a private college counselor and advisor, much of my work is with students in high school. Recently my clients have begun to include recent college graduates or their parents. Some grads are angry, questioning whether they should have taken so many loans, and wonder if they chose the right major or even should have attended college at all. Parents who have been laid off are more than perplexed knowing that they may never have the same level of income, or that a stay-at-home parent must now try to rejoin a shrunken work force after a pause of many years. In these circumstances it is difficult not succumb to feelings of failure and defeat. What tools can help maintain balance during this type of a transition? Staying active is surely one, networking another, as is turning to sources of comfort (not alcohol or drugs!). One man I know, who having had to close his business, attended early morning mass for prayer and guidance. Many months later he secured a position at a private school recruiting international students. Now, when he is not traveling, I often see him on the way to morning mass in a continuing remembrance of that larger source of strength. I have a friend who had a high level position in television production. Her position was secure until her boss passed away leaving her, at age 50+, without gainful employment. She took many steps to re-educate herself and sought work in different areas that proved to be too poorly paid. After much deliberation she worked with an executive recruiter who helped reposition her skills and sent her out on quite a few job interviews. Eventually she was hired with minimal benefits and at a lower salary than she was used to. Her new position is not optimal, and does not fully take advantage of her skill sets, but she has chosen to make it work for the time being, all the while keeping her eyes open for other possibilities. When asked what is lacking in her new position from those she had in the past, she responded, “A sense of community.” It’s the same for many others of my acquaintance. One, a highly organized person who worked in financial services, has been bitten by the entrepreneurial spirit and now does the books for several small businesses as well as managing a local restaurant where her skills are deeply appreciated. Although her parents keep insisting that she re-enter the corporate world, she demurs and says that she is happier and less stressed now as a solo-entrepreneur with a variety of clients rather than in a single office every day. Another family, whose successful floral business servicing big corporations went under, sought different careers and they now make a living selling cut flowers at various local farm markets. These markets bring together entrepreneurs who have found a new skill or are able to develop long forgotten talents into a source of income. The atmosphere is generally supportive and a positive experience, even though the remuneration may not be what many vendors had previously been accustomed to. In particular, women who have been out of the workforce or have taken roads less traveled have a real challenge finding a way to make a living.  Dan Barry,wrote and article in the New York Times which to me it was a profile in courage and of personal choices and it touched me deeply. On the surface she would appear to have little in common with finding work in a mainstream workforce, but dig a little deeper and you see a fierce sense of independence driving her will to both survive and follow her own road. She also found an unexpected community with values of a different age — both congeniality and a respect for privacy. The courage, spirit, and generosity of the woman Barry writes about can inspire. Chutzpah is the Yiddish term for audacity and when faced with difficult transitions, this woman’s survival took chutzpah.http://jwablog.jwa.org/jewish-mother-of-the-old-fulton-fish-market Annie the pushcart hawker, as she was known to all at the Fulton Fish Market, and the beautiful Gloria Wasserman were seemingly two different people. One picture in the article was of Annie, an old woman pushing a cart, looking like one of the homeless or otherwise disenfranchised that populate our society; the other, showed was of a glamorous woman in a 1940s-style bathing suit running on a beach many years ago. When I was growing up, the Fulton Fish Market was located in lower Manhattan near the Brooklyn Bridge; it was a mythical place right out of Dickens where one could envision hawkers selling their wares. My affinity came from far off Dublin and my favorite childhood song about the fishmonger, Molly Malone, whose lyrics always brought me to tears. I wonder, too, if Gloria/Annie ever thought about Molly Malone when she cast her lot with the denizens of the new updated fish market in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. At 22, the gorgeous Gloria had left behind life in New York and biked to Alaska with the man who was to become her first husband. Two children were birthed of this union and another two came from a second marriage. Relationships came and went, and her children were sent East to live with family that she supported with her meager earnings. No one remembers how she got there, only that Annie was soon a fixture known for her increasingly bawdy wit and profane behavior. Yet she had an endearing quality that engendered the support of the hardened workers who looked upon her with affection. In off times, Annie became Gloria Wasserman again, living in subsidized housing in the East Village, still sending checks to family members, even contributing to college educations. Beyond the generosity and adventurous nature of Annie/Gloria, I was most touched by the affection that some of the men at the fish market showed for her. When she was ill, they visited her in the hospital, and welcomed her back when she was able to return. Annie/Gloria dealt her own cards and played her own game, yet found a community that valued what she could contribute, and push come to shove they cared back. This reflection brought to me something I have noted in my own long work history. It is not what you do to make a living, but more about the community surrounding you that makes for happiness at a job. In one restaurant, one nightspot, two schools and my own business, what stands out is that each workplace has been a give and take of community. Conversely, in situations where I was not authenticated or given credence, I became depressed, withdrawn and alienated. I have not done justice to Annie/Gloria or the experiences of those whose lives are torn apart, and whose families have to struggle in ways that are unimaginable. My hope is that for this upcoming holiday season, a light is turned on for a bright tomorrow and that those in need may find their own community either like Annie, or in a more traditional situation. Whether working, or still on the road to finding gainful employment, we do need to value the sense of community. When it surrounds us, know — even as the darkest day of the year approaches— we are not alone.

The Rising Cost of Student Debt

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/25/business/the-ripple-effects-of-rising-student-debt.html

Sharing this article, in hopes of generating discussion about a so serious topic. Join the discussion on the above link.

What are the roads not taken because students must take out loans for college? A collection of studies shows that the burden of student debt may well cause people to make different decisions than they would otherwise — affecting not just individual lives but also the entire economy.

For one thing, it appears that people with student loans are less likely to start businesses of their own. A new study has found that areas with higher relative growth in student debt show lower growth in the formation of small businesses (in this case, firms with one to four employees).  

The correlation makes sense. People normally have only a certain amount of “debt capacity,” said Brent W. Ambrose, a professor of risk management at Pennsylvania State University and a co-author of a preliminary paper on the research along with Larry Cordell and Shuwei Ma of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

When students use up their debt capacity on student loans, they can’t commit it elsewhere. “Given the importance of an entrepreneur’s personal debt capacity in financing a start-up business, student loan debt, which cannot be discharged via bankruptcy, can have lasting effects later in life and may impact the ability of future small-business owners to raise capital,” the study says.

Considering that 60 percent of jobs are created by small business, “if you shut down the ability to create new businesses, you’re going to harm the economy,” Professor Ambrose said.

Student loan debt also appears to be affecting homeownership trends. According to research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, fewer 30-year-olds in general have bought homes since the recession, but the decline has been steeper for people with a history of student loan debt and has continued even as the housing market has recovered.

Total student loans outstanding have risen to $1.1 trillion, compared with $300 billion just a decade ago, according to the Fed’s study. The average total debt for student borrowers was around $30,000 in 2013. No wonder borrowers have been reluctant to start businesses or to buy homes.

Student loan debt may also affect career choices. Having a college loan appears to reduce the likelihood that people will choose a low-paying public-interest job, according to a 2011 study by Jesse Rothstein of the University of California, Berkeley, and Cecilia Elena Rouse of Princeton.

They arrived at their conclusion by studying a well-off university that began meeting students’ financial needs through a combination of work-study money and grants, and dispensing with loans altogether. (The school insisted on anonymity as a condition for participating in the study.)

Before the new policy started in the early 2000s, students were more likely to choose well-paid professions like investment banking and consulting, Professor Rothstein said in an interview. After the policy took effect, more students chose jobs in areas like teaching and the nonprofit sector.

In many cases, the choices that student borrowers make are just common sense, based on the financial realities they face. Taken together, they seem to be having a substantive — many would say negative — effect on the economy.

Is that enough reason for schools or the government to step in with a solution? Not many schools are like Anon U (as the researchers above called it), which could afford to take loans off the table. If society wants to change the skewing effect of student loans, some tough decisions about allocating educational resources may well lie ahead.

A version of this article appears in print on May 25, 2014, on page

Education for Girls must be a Priority sharing

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/22/opinion/kristof-this-smart-girl-says-thank-you.html?_r=0

KINTSUKOROI- "to repair with gold"

I was once written that scar's can be stronger stuff. Here's to the Broken.

Bike Riding: Meditation in Motion

Bike Riding: Meditation in Motion. I do not remember when my training wheels were taken off, or even if training wheels existed at the time. Perhaps one just seamlessly graduated from tricycle to bicycle. I only know that after a bit of practice on my home turf, I took the leap and decided to ride down the hill near the local high school.  Not just any hill, the one where my classmates often stood on the sidelines to watch rider after rider attempt to conquer this formidable obstacle. As I began to brake on the way down, fear overtook me and I could not face the plummet. Making the worst of all possible decisions I froze and fell off the bike. It flew down the hill, and both knees were bloodied. Humiliated in the face of cruel taunts I limped home, head in hands, leaving my demolished bicycle behind.  Intrepid warrior that I was, the knee mishap did not deter my desire to successfully master the two-wheeler. My destination became the very empty schoolyard early in the morning, before the cacophony of shrill voices filled the air.  Mastering the bicycle became my secret. Several years and a new bicycle later, I began to ride in earnest and experienced how wonderful it was to feel the cool wind, whether I was smiling or my face in tears.  The bicycle gave me hope. Perhaps it seems funny/absurd to think a simple machine could have such meaning, but I had found a simple truth: riding was special meditation in motion that was mine alone. Alas my bicycle was stolen and left me without wheels for the first time in many years. Somehow it was difficult to get over this loss, and get back on the saddle. I actually did have a bike. It was an old three-speed Schwinn that was left in the basement. It remained there encased in dust for years, until recently when, with the spring, my curiosity was once again aroused.  Now over 60 years in age, I walked the Schwinn to the local bike shop and found that it indeed could be properly fitted for me to ride. As if I was taking off the training wheels for the first time, I sat on the bike. It was difficult, and I was challenged. Tentative steps, feet on the pedals, I began to ride, each day going a little further. I had not forgotten. Time had not dulled the passion. The meditation began again. ”The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.” — Iris Murdoch.

The College Essay and some Pitfalls

The college essay's shared by the New York Times several days ago are excellent. Each of the winners in a competition about going through difficult financial times had stories to tell. Yet, if taken to heart by this year's and future college aspirants I am concerned. I expect some to feel guilty that they have not suffered from being evicted, having periods of homelessness, experience a parent's loss of income and the like. All are catastrophic life experiences that the essayists dealt with insight and grit. However, I have to issuer a warning to others that they need not have confronted such situations to write a marvelous college essay. The essay or personal statement need not be contrived and the smallest incident if heartfelt can bloom. Autobiographic writings came naturally to me in my study of theater and later with an undergraduate major in Children's Literature and Storytelling. Working in Admissions at Columbia University, I learned the difference between a graduate more informative statement of purpose and what undergraduate statements drew the attention of the readers. Then later still, the person that I consider to be a genius in encouraging the best college essays was the late and sorely missed Stanley Bosworth Stanley Bosworth, who founded St. Ann's School in Brooklyn Heights... His appreciation of individualism drew out the minutest experience into extraordinary revealing works. The college essay or personal statement is an exploration--and pitfalls need be avoided--saving the world at 17 years-old- most travelogues- forged essays about the death of a relative or friend-the did not exist or was not known. And of course recycling used works. I love seeing a college essay evolve be it empirical, poetic, or literary. Getting to know a person through writing is such a window and creative process when honest. And I have read some of students that consider they to be terrible writers to put forth a simple statement that is profound and beautifully evocative. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/05/09/business/student-essays-your-money.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

Musing on Attributed da Vinci

I teach a class at Bucks County Community College in Literacy and Language Development. What wonderful skills to pass on to students--so many applications from teaching reading to the young to essay writing with students of all ages. So many in this class were absolutely outstanding. One student shared a quote--which is what one hopes for all... "It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them,They went out and happened to things." Leonardo da Vinci

Dr. Sakharov, This quote is especially for you. Another Thought: Most education, does not focus on or give credence to surfacing the individual students gifts. But then how would that be possible, as curriculum is directed towards homogeneity. When working with college prep students and/or adults I probe with them to find that light. Once ignited, the flame will only grow resulting in self-awareness towards ones individual path. Any road, has risks and potholes but oh the rewards. Courage friends----don't be help back from achieving your dreams-although the manifestation may be different then expected.

Dr. Mae Sakharov Ed D Associates

Over the years, I have assembled highly qualified professionals to whom I send referrals on an as need basis. Dr. KC Wilder is one such expert and it is an honor to share her services.

Dr. K.C. Wilder is one of the nation's leading mental training coaches specializing in individuals and teams. Dr. Wilder maintains a private practice in Doylestown, PA. With over 12 years experience as a Mental Training Coach and as a graduate of the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education specializing in educational applied sport psychology, research and counseling, she is currently serving as a private practitioner. Among her areas of expertise are youth performance enhancement, overcoming sport performance stressors and balancing the freedoms of sport with the responsibilities of life. Dr. Wilder is an interactive, solution-focused Mental Training Coach. Her consulting approach is to provide support and practical feedback to help clients effectively address sport and exercise challenges. She integrates complementary methodologies and techniques to offer a highly personalized approach tailored to each client. In addition to being a prominent Mental Training Coach, Dr. Wilder has presented at national conferences and to general audiences speaking on the topics of confidence, effective thinking, goal-setting and optimal performance. Dr. Wilder is also the author to children's book, Tour de You. She has also co-authored Golf Confidence for Women and Golf Confidence for Juniors with Dr. Robert K. Winters and Karen Wilder. Dr. Wilder's work can also be seen in several case studies on various topics, such as psychological rehabilitation, goal setting and planning, and attitude, in Case Studies in Sport Psychology edited by Bob Rotella...[et al.]. Dr. Wilder is a member of the following organizations: Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) American Council of Exercise (ACE) USA Track & Field (USATF) USA Cycling (USAC) http://www.drkcwilder.com/AboutDrWilder.en.html