COMMUNITY

As a community, we come together to express our love and passion into dancing together. All of our movements are combined into one performance. This is how we tell our story.

Before people become members, they already have an idea in their mind of what they're getting themselves into. It is a lot of discipline and hard work. Blood, sweat, and tears are definitely the main feelings of rehearsals. I feel that this shows commitment, and their commitment is also what rises in the atmosphere. During rehearsals you can feel the hearts of everyone in the vibe we bring to express ourselves through culture.

We meet every weekend and get ready for rehearsal. We then have performances where we dance in our costumes, have great food and music, and become united.

The benefits are that everyone can show people what we have worked hard on as a whole together. The success out of every practice and performance is that each individual was able to show a piece of them through their movement. It is so fun, powerful, and uplifting that the only problem is that it has to end at some point.


-Mecca Janae

• Afro-Haitian Dance
• Caribbean Dance
• Hip-Hop
• Modern Dance

Plus and Deltas

One thing that I learned about myself is i know how to code switch. Before Year Up, I didn’t really know what that meant, but it means to separate the “outside you” to be professional in the work place. I didn’t really surprise myself by doing this. It was just something I naturally picked up as a skill.

There were many ways I was proud of myself. The main one is working hard on assignments. I wasnt always the homework person, but in Year Up I have completed all assignments and turned them in on time. I was especially proud of that. Another thing I was proud of was timing. I use to be late all the time. Although I was late a few times, I have been pretty good on making it to Year Up and to class. One last thing I would say I am very proud of is being organized. When it comes to assignments and papers, I usually had everything all over the place which made it difficult to relocate what I needed for class. So far, I’ve had everything together and I have been able to find all assignments.

Certain things I weren’t so proud of were infractions, getting discouraged, and swearing. Infractions affected me the most because they were mostly for timing. It is something I am not proud of for the reason I started to earn them consistently and not changing what I could have done to improve them. I also wasn’t proud of getting discouraged. When something happens that goes against my goal and what I am trying to maintain, I often get ready to give up. Everyone at Year Up and the staff is here to help so I know I shouldn’t feel that way. Lastly, I am definitely not proud of swearing in the work place. Even as a young lady it is not something I should do, but it is something I am so used to. At the work place I should leave it at the door so I can maintain professionalism.

My Neighborhood, and I.

I believe that neighborhoods can make a person who they are. I, personally, am based off two different neighborhoods I have lived in. I would definitely say between the small, southern town in Arkansas, and the urban area in California, they have both developed my character.

Malvern Arkansas is known for the strict ways of raising children, even the schools were run by a strict system. My mother was a single parent and even though we didn’t have much, she raised me at high expectations, and made sure I was going to finish school. I believe that it gave me the mentality that I know I can and will be successful, but with the limited resources and opportunities, made it really hard. Because there weren’t that many chances, trouble and failure was a lot of youths’ common comfort zone, which was another obstacle I had to make it through.

I now live in Berkeley California which is known for all the free spirits. Since I’ve been here, I have developed a stronger mindset. Not only did I believe I could be successful, I eventually took on challenges that were given. That is the difference between living in Malvern and living in Berkeley, opportunities are more available here. Berkeley, let alone California, has given me the attitude that I feel I need in this life to survive.

People, who have grown up in rough neighborhoods with hard lives, don’t press on their potential. All through their lives, they have been told that they can’t, or will never succeed. I feel like when people, mostly blacks, colored, and urban, don’t prove themselves they prove others to be right. That brings me back to the opportunity divide. All through life, I never really knew what that meant. Now that I know, I realize I have witnessed it all.

"Poverty Business" Topic

To start off, I honestly feel that almost everything in this world that has to do with life expenses, are corrupt. Companies and corporations are connected to the government, and they basically have control over lives. The lives I am referring to are people who can barely make it on their own. Living in this world is very expensive, especially if you have a family or children. You have to worry about a home, food, life necessities, and still have money in your pocket to live on. The government always stresses the fact that we need to put an end to poverty, but at the same time causing poverty. They have control over the way things are run in a state or city that can also help the U.S. Therefore, I believe that the government holds responsibility for raising these issues. The corporation and government are very much aware of the problems that go on in life, having to do with expenses.  Instead of trying to help poor people, they make life harder for them. They force credit on many citizens they know they could take advantage of just because they have no money. Life expenses are higher for people who are poor rather than people who already have no money. This brings me to my question as to why be it that someone who is barely getting by have to pay more in this life? It also brings me to believe that people of higher wealth are living off of the poor. Now going on to what this does to the opportunity divide, I believe that it proves it. The opportunity divide is basically opportunity not given to people because of their background and disability to gain resource. Not saying that these people are not smart, or capable of doing things, but they are discriminated on such. When a person is overlooked on their abilities based on judgment, it causes them to do whatever they have to do to get by in life, and that’s just not right. I am truly fortunate to be a part of Year Up that gives people the chance to succeed.