Cynthia Amaya's Blog – June 2012 Archive (21)

"Wearing clothes seems like an easy thing to do each day? Well not for today’s youth. Some youths even believe wearing the ‘wrong’ clothes can lead to social suicide. Statistics* say 77% students have been bullied mentally, verbally, or physically. …

Today is the second day of the Keep It Real Challenge; time to talk about how this issue affects me personally. 

My whole life, I've been surrounded with girls and boys saying the same things: "I have to lose weight," "I need to to work out," "I wish my nose looked different," and especially, "I wish I looked like (insert name here)." I myself would say things like that as well. Because we were surrounded by the media yelling at us that no matter what we do we'd never reach…

I heard about the Keep it Real 3-day challenge and immediately I thought it was a wonderful idea. This is a movement to get magazine editors to stop using Photoshop on models and actresses, transforming them into an unattainable beauty that sets unrealistic expectations for girls and women across the world. Through the use of social networking tools such as Twitter, blogs, and Instagram, the Keep It Real Challenge urges women to get their voice heard and protest the 

The three-day…

State Farm® is launching a Celebrate My Drive t-shirt design contest for students age 15 to18-years-old. The winning design will appear on hundreds, if not thousands, of t-shirts across the U.S. and Canada.

Contest guidelines will be posted soon on the Celebrate My…

In commemoration and celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the National Park Service (NPS) announces a nationwide art competition in three categories: photography, poetry, and digital short films. The competition is open to students ages 13 to 18 and will be juried by professional artists. Submissions of artistic works are required to explore personal meanings of freedom and relate to nationally significant themes. The first-place winner in each…

I have a wide variety of pet peeves, but I think my biggest one is the disregard that today's society has for proper grammar and correct spelling. On social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, I am ambushed by people not knowing the difference between "your" and "you're," "to" and "too," "they're," "there," and "their." The fact that texting lingo has made it acceptable to substitute "ur" for "your" or "you're" made it incredibly easy for everyone to fall out of the practice of…

Ever since I was little, crafting has always been a favorite hobby of mine. Making Mother's Day gifts or paper flowers to decorate for Cinco de Mayo was what I looked forward to the most during my days in elementary school. As I grew up, my love of crafting came with me. I became obsessed with making jewelry and so I invested in beads, wire, and jump rings so I could make everything my heart desired. My jewelry phase passed, but I still love crafting. I'd much rather make my friends'…

On the Track to College Webinar with author Mariela Dabbah on June 29th at 10:30 AM EST @Latinosincolleg in…

Janine Gonzalez Scholarship for pre-medical students/graduates who want to take an MCATPreparatory Course for the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) that is required to apply to accredited U.S. Medical Schools.

DEADLINE (not postmark): July 6!

ELIGIBILITY includes:

- Must be a…

One thing about college I'm wary about is finding roommates that won't fill my life with drama. Unfortunately, (most) girls love and thrive in drama. I've always known this, but I was never so sure of it until my first year in college. I didn't know anyone in College Station and had to live with three girls I didn't know; "potluck roommates," it was called. I immediately any of my three roommates, but I dismissed it because I tend to get horrible first impressions of people in…

The CODE:2040 Fellows Program matches high performing black and latino undergraduate and graduate software engineering students with Silicon Valley start-ups for summer internships, and also provides them with the insight, networks and support to ensure their successful participation in the high tech innovation economy. 

The latest census projections show that…

During my many searches to discover new songs, I've come across many covers of songs that already exist. A "cover" is when a band or artist records a song that was previously played by another band/artist. After listening to many different covers, I've come to the realization that for the most part, I like them more than I like the original song. Weird, I know. Here's a list of a few songs (in no order) that were covered by a different artist and why I enjoyed their version…

Hispanic Heritage Youth Awards for Latino/a high school juniors. $1,000 grants/scholarships!

To be eligible, you must:

- Be a high school JUNIOR (or under 21 getting your GED)

- Plan to enroll in college in 2013-2014

- Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident of Hispanic/Latino descent

- Minimum 3.0 GPA (on a 4.0 scale) 

- Must be willing to pay own…

FREE Webinar in English & Spanish: "On the Track to College" at 10:30a/EST Friday, June 29, for students and families with kids who want to go to college.

FREE & open to the public!

Register…

You know, I'm usually not very fond of New Year's resolutions. Up until last year, I had never kept my resolution, giving up about three months in. I finally realized the reason I was giving up my resolution was because I wasn't setting concrete goals. For example, for three years in a row, my resolution was "Stop procrastinating." How was I measuring that? I wasn't. And that's the problem. So this year, my resolution was the concrete goal to read 50 books. Reading is what I love…

“Good afternoon everybody. This morning Secretary Napolitano announced new actions my administration will take to mend a nation’s immigration policy to make it more fair, more efficient, and more just." President Barack Obama started today's announcement with these words, leading on to say, "Effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security is taking steps to lift the shadow of deportation from these young people. Over the next few months, eligible individuals who do not present a…

Today I'm putting together a collection of random quotes I enjoy.

"It’s all about falling in love with yourself and sharing that love with someone who appreciates you, rather than looking for love to compensate for a self love deficit." --Eartha Kitt

"I just think happiness is what makes you pretty. Period. Happy people are beautiful. They become like a mirror and…

1. I have always taken El Paso sunsets for granted, but when I moved to College Station, I realized just how beautiful they really are. Though sunsets are beautiful in general, painting the skies with a red, orange, purple, and blue gradient, there is no better backdrop for a sunset than the Franklin Mountains. 
2. According to all the movies and pictures I've seen, Thanksgiving is supposed to include a huge turkey full of stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes,…

After watching The Avengers, I decided to watch all the movies dealing with the superheroes again, or if I had not seen them before, I wanted to watch them for the first time. Yesterday, I watched Iron Man. As I was watching this movie (great movie, might I add), I realized that although excellent movies such as The Avengers and Iron Man get us pumped up and ready to be superheroes, there's people out there that are already superheroes in their own way.…