The most powerful song writer that has inspired me to love myself more is Natasha Bedingfield who in her song “Strip Me” asks the question “If you strip me and strip it all away what would you find?” Her answer in response is that she will be alright. Take what you want, steal my pride, build me up, cut me down to size, shut me out but I will still scream and find a way to be heard. Everyone is only one voice in a million but no one should take that voice away from you because without expression what type of world would this be to live in. If you take everything away from someone, it is what lies way deep down inside of them that they still have that will shine. Natasha’s song continues to express not to let anyone stop you from being heard because in the end you’ll find that those people were never worth listening to anyway. Make noise and be proud of who you are. When you really listen to what someone has to say you will find that you learned something from them because we are learning every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month and every year from everyone that we come in contact with. Fight for your right to speak up and don’t be shy or give in to other people’s judgments. Get angry and prove to the world who you are. Let everyone see who you really are and stop being afraid to be yourself. No one is taking who I am away from me. I am who I am and I love myself. Keep reminding yourself of that. This day right in front of you is the day to make a change and not take any crap from anyone else. I’m still the same person no matter how many layers that you strip away from me.

From the very first time that I heard one of Natasha Bedingfiield’s songs she instantly became my role model. Her lyrics are profound and every time you listen to her music you fall in love with each of her songs like it is the very first time that you heard them. Natasha bring her own sound, that is like no other female singer, to her music that for me has gave me the strength to not be ashamed or embarrassed to be who I am and to not let a few people tell me that I am not beautiful. With every step that we take we learn more and more about ourselves and find that we all have several layers that just need to opened up through the journey of life. Forgive yourself and everyday start a new beginning.

In the “Strip Me” music video Natasha Bedingfield starts out putting on different hats of different people and different professions to show that you do not need to pretend to be something or someone that you are not. Underneath all the shiny, sexy and flashy clothes that we wear, we are still the same person before you put on those clothes. Clothes might enhance a person’s look but clothes do not make you a different person. You might have to choose between what outfit you want to put on one day but no matter what is on the outside no one can change who you are on the inside. You will always be the same person that you started as.

You better say what you mean to others because it’s what you say that makes you who you are. It only takes one voice to make chance happen and that voice could be you if you dare to be heard. Natasha says that you need to choose the person that you want to be and a microphone is not necessary because, when you are true to yourself, people will be able to hear you without needing any equipment. Natasha is being made over by several different people in her music video but all you see are the arms and hands that are making her over. However, she realizes that, no matter how you make her look, she will still be her beautiful self. In one point in the video, she is wearing feathers and warrior makeup to make the point that she will fight for who she wants to be and has the right to express herself in her own unique way and no one has to like it. After all the hands keep dressing Natasha up in different costumes, she gets sick of the fact that people keep wanting to change her look that you see her rip off what they have put on her. One by one she gets rid of what she was wearing and towards the end of the video she is just wearing a slip to prove that even if she was close to naked she should still be worthy of love and the same acceptance from others. In parts of the ending, you see the color in the video go to black and white to symbolize that just because the color is taken out, life does not have to be boring. However, color does enhance things and make things look better to the naked eye. It is all a matter of the way that you look at life. Everyone has a different view of life and Natasha likes to undo herself to see if she would be better living in a different body but proves to herself that the only body she wants to be in is her own.

Think about who you are and do not take it for granted. God made you who you are for a very specific reason. You might not think you matter but, to someone out there, you do matter. Even if you only matter to one person, that person would be lost without you even if they have forgotten to show you what you mean to them.

At the very end of the video, to make a statement, Natasha starts throwing lots of different colors of paint on a white wall and she is rolling around in the paint as well. The colors show that people can be a combination of different colors and even when the colors are all blended together something wonderful is created. Natasha is having fun drawing hearts and other shapes in the paint. Get messy and enjoy life even if it is only for a brief moment. Each little moment joined together makes for larger moments that help to shape us into the people that we are already but with that extra something that was needed to bring it out of us. A rainbow is inside of every one of us and now all we need to do is go ahead and paint that picture.

Take everything you have and make the most beautiful and interesting picture that you possibly can with your imagination. Your picture does not have to make sense to anyone but yourself because you should not be looking for approval from anyone because as long as you like it then you have created art. As the saying goes, art is in the eye of the beholder. Do not let anyone squash your creativity because everyone has his or her own view and perspective on things. Just because someone has a different perspective does not mean it is the wrong perspective. You can strip me of everything but you will never take away the true essence of who I am. Why would you want to be a copy when you can be an original, and an original is always much better than a copy.

Natasha has drifted away from the public eye and she really should come back because this song should have become popular on the radio. “Strip Me” has the power to inspire so many people who are having a hard time in life and have lost their way. Everyone falls off track sometimes but with listening to songs like “Strip Me” they just might find their way back on the track and see a better tomorrow. Think about the lyrics in the song and focus on the message behind Natasha’s words. At the end of the day, you want to go to sleep loving yourself and leaving all your regrets behind you. Just tell the world that you are not going to let it get the best of you. Do not spend a lifetime letting every damn little thing bring you down because you will hopefully one day realize that all that worrying was a waste of time. Surround yourself with people who will bring out your extraordinary qualities. Friends come and go but you will always have yourself, so you should always treat yourself like you are your own best friend. Listen to your heart all the time because the heart usually knows what is best. If you find yourself in a bad situation, and you are being stripped down to nothing, stay strong and do not be afraid to speak up and stand up for yourself. No one can steal anything from you. People can only steal something from you if you let them so do not give up on yourself too easily. Fight for yourself because no one is going to get away with taking anything away from you that does not belong to them. Even if people were able to strip you of many of your possessions, clothes, belongings, and material items, you still have yourself, your true essence and that is what matters most.

CLICK PLAY ON EACH VIDEO AND LISTEN TO ALL THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE SONG “STRIP ME.” SEE WHICH ONE YOU ENJOY THE BEST !!

THE FIRST VIDEO IS OF THE OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO TO NATASHA BEDINGFIELD’S INSPIRATIONAL SONG “STRIP ME.” SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STRIP YOURSELF DOWN TO NOTHING. 

THE SECOND VIDEO IS THE MUSIC TO “STRIP ME” WITH THE LYRICS ON THE SCREEN SO YOU CAN  LEARN ALL THE WORDS AND UNDERSTAND NATASHA’S POWERFUL MESSAGE. 

THE THIRD VIDEO IS OF NATASHA BEDINGFIELD PERFORMING HER SONG “STRIP ME” LIVE ON THE TODAY SHOW. 

THE FORTH VIDEO IS OF NATASHA BEDINGFIELD PERFORMING HER SONG “STRIP ME” LIVE ON REGIS AND KELLY. 

THE FIFTH VIDEO IS OF NATASHA BEDINGFIELD PERFORMING HER SONG “STRIP ME” LIVE ON  DICK CLARK’S NEW YEAR’S ROCKIN EVE IN 2010. 

THE SIXTH VIDEO IS OF NATASHA BEDINGFIELD PERFORMING HER SONG “STRIP ME” LIVE FROM MORNING GLORY ON EXTRA @ THE GROVE.

THE SEVENTH VIDEO IS OF AN INCREDIBLE COVER OF “STRIP ME” FROM SINGER GAVIN MIKHAIL. HIS VERSION IS MUCH SLOWER AND VERY UNIQUE. 

YOU CAN “STRIP ME” WITH YOUR EYES.

NATASHA WEARING ONE OF HER SEVERAL COSTUMES IN HER MUSIC VIDEO FOR HER SONG “STRIP ME.” DON’T CHANGE YOURSELF FOR ANYONE ELSE EXPECT YOURSELF.

NATASHA BEDINGFIELD AS A WARRIOR IN HER MUSIC VIDEO FOR HER SONG “STRIP ME.” SHE IS SHOWING THAT SHE IS STRONG, BEAUTIFUL AND FEARLESS LIKE A WARRIOR.

NATASHA GETTING MADE OVER BY SEVERAL  DIFFERENT HANDS IN HER MUSIC VIDEO FOR HER SONG “STRIP ME.”

NATASHA BEDINGFIELD CD COVER TO “STRIP ME” RELEASED IN 2010.

NATASHA BEDINGFIELD CD COVER TO “STRIP ME AWAY.” SECOND CD RELEASE.

THIS GIRL IS ON FIRE !!

SEXY – SEXY – SEXY

“The staff was thrilled with the honor,” said adviser Prof. Michael Perrota. “More than anything, the staff scored a perfect in the category of content coverage. That is 330 points of the total score. I believe that proves that the staff is offering the campus a wide range of news stories and coverage. Students and faculty not reading are really missing out.”

The content coverage category included features on campus and off campus issues, investigative reporting, editorials, academics and athletics and community issues, and lastly, original ideas and material.

The 2012 staff consisted of Managing Editor Larry Curtis, Michelle DeBella, Molly Stazzone, Sasha Majette, Katherine Wirth, Erminia Errante, Maria Perez, Jackie Marone, Kelly Sisco, Jessica Brown, Rocco DeRose, Kalen Ross, Matt Gordineer and Barry Paige.

Individually, former sports editor Chayim Tauber won a first place editorial writing prize for his piece, “The Plight of Israel.”

“This is the second editorial prize we have won in this competition in the past four years. It is safe to say that the Impact staff writer is more than qualified to critique the world and how it is impacting our readers.”

The Impact staff would also like to announce the formation of The Impact Now, and multimedia narrative component that is set to launch in the summer of 2013. The news stories will be online content only, and will consist of a combination of text, video, photos and graphics.

“The New York Times story Snowfall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek, which won the Pulitzer Prize this year, has changed online storytelling forever. We are adapting to the times. We are very excited for its debut.”

What happen to these girls for 10 years is absolutely horrendous; I don’t think anyone could imagine what they have seen or been a part of.

There is always a report on the news were someone says, “It won’t happen to me” after a natural disaster, or a gun shooting, or someone gets assaulted. Now let me clarify, do I want something bad to happen to another person, no. However, people need to start being aware of their surroundings, and not trusting everything someone says. We need to be more alert to what we post online i.e. information, locations, photos etc. I have friends who post photos on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram with the map and the location of where they are. That is absolutely ridiculous because everything you post, upload, and share is then saved FOREVER on the Internet. No matter what you do on the Internet someone can find it: friends, co-workers, family members, strangers.

My friend from before also mentioned she works at a shopping mall. She said after her shift is over (sometimes she leaves work at 11 pm.) She runs to her car which is parked in the parking garage, while she is running she unlocks the car door with her car remote and when she gets to the door she ‘jumps’ into her car. It is at this point that she locks all four doors and makes sure she is safe. Then she turns on the car and goes home. While she was saying this we both were hysterically laughing, but I knew why she would do this routine after work. As a woman, you have to be careful when walking alone at night. That is why society should not think rapes, kidnaps, and murders only happen to people who live in bad neighborhoods; anything can happen to anyone, at anytime.

I recently saw a clip of Louis CK’s comedy show “Oh My God,” and in this clip he spoke about dating. He said “If a woman says yes to go on a date with a man it’s literally insane and ill advised…how do women still go out with guys, there is no greater threat to women than men. We are the number one threat to women…” He then says, “When a women goes in a car with a man, and she says ‘where are we going’ and the guy says ‘to your death statistically speaking.’”

Being in love and being young is great. It can also be a very stressful time for the bride and groom and also their families. Meeting the parents of your daughter or son’s soon- to-be-wife or husband can be an experience that can bring out the best in one another and show the strength of love that parents have for their child or reveal things that you would of ordinarily never of found out about your family members. I saw “The Big Wedding” with my mom and her mother (my grandma) on Mother’s Day. this movie shows that all families deal with difficult situations and have interesting moments in their lives, but that they can find a way to get through them and make the best of sometimes a situation that could have gone completely worse if the family members did not believe in the fact that families really do come in “all shapes and sizes” and need to accept each other with love.

“The Big Wedding” is about a non-traditional family with a cast that stars Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon and Patricia Rae who all either by birth, adoption, being the mother-in-law or just through marriage play the role of a parent to the five adult children in the movie. Amanda Seyfried and Ben Barnes’s character are getting married and this movie brings the two families together. Through the coming together there are many ups and downs that make each character stronger. Katherine Heigl and Topher Grace play siblings who take part in what should be the most happiest time in their adopted brother’s life – his wedding. This large cast of very talented and famous actors and actresses made this movie for me a 10 out of 10. Each character brought something very special to the other members of their family.

The movie starts out 10 years after Robert De Niro and Diana Keaton’s characters have been divorced. Even though they were divorced for a very long time, they still remained close friends and that turned out to be difficult for Susan Sarandon’s character who was Robert De Niro’s girlfriend and who was also like the mother to his three children. All of his three children thought of Susan Sarandon’s character like a mother because she was living with them for the past 10 years as they were growing up. It was the weekend of the big wedding of Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton’s characters’ adopted son, Alejandro and also when his biological mother, played by Patricia Rae, was going to be introduced to his adopted parents and his father’s girlfriend (his fill in mother). Alejandro had met his biological mother before but never introduced her to his adopted parents until the weekend of his big wedding. Muffin (played by Christine Ebersole and who played Amanda Seyfied’s character’s mother) was not happy that her daughter, being a blonde white girl, was marrying a Spanish guy because her grandchildren would come out “beige” in color to put it in nicer terms. The bride and groom thought it was ridiculous that Muffin was living in the olden times when it mattered that a person was of mixed races and it bothered the couple that the bride’s mother was not all that accepting of the groom. Later, you find out that Muffin, who was married to Barry (played by actor David Rosche), was not as straight-laced and traditional as she pretended to be and she was putting up a front to cover up who she really was. But on the other hand, the groom’s mother was also not too happy that her son was marrying a white girl but both parents had to get over that and start to like each other for their children’s sake and well being.

The bride and groom were determined to get married even if their families did not get along too well. The groom had three women in his life that played as his mother (actress Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon and Patricia Rae) whom he loved very much and knew he was blessed to have them all in his life. He wanted all the women to be at his wedding ceremony and that meant they would have to put their differences aside and remember that they were bonded together because of their great love for their “son” who was getting married. The movie though took a unexpected turn when Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton, due to their son’s wedding festivities, got a lot cozier with each other then they should have. Both of them were so happy and proud of their adopted son and started remembering back to when they first got married. While the wedding rehearsal was going on Diane Keaton stayed in her old house that she lived in when she was married to Robert De Niro’s character. Being in that house again brought back old memories and the divorced couple found themselves in bed together having sex that in the movie Robert De Niro’s character said ”lasted for 40 minutes.” The first child to find out that her parents hooked up again was Katherine Heigl’s character and she was actually not surprised because her parents always remained very close after they divorced and something like this was almost bound to happen. But to make the situation worse, Susan Sarandon’s character found out and almost left Robert De Niro’s character. Susan Sarandon’s character was best friends with Diane Keaton’s character and she could not believe that she could sleep with the father of her children after 10 years of being divorced. Susan Sarandon’s character stayed upset for a good portion of the movie but forgave the couple because she loved them both way too much to stay mad at them and knew that it was just in the heat of the moment since their adopted son was getting married that they hooked up and for no other reason. You could tell that Susan Sarandon’s character had faith that Robert De Niro’s character really did love her and even though he still loved his ex wife they were only really good friends at this point. Susan Sarandon’s character loved all the three children like they were her own children because she had a significant role in raising them.

“The Big Wedding” brings out the true love that a parent has for his or her child but also the love that a women can have for three children that are not even biologically hers but rather the children of her best friend. Things were changing for the lives of each of the characters and learning to deal with whatever life throws you is the key to true happiness. Topher Grace’s character was the only child who was not married or in the process of getting married. Topher Grace was looking for a girlfriend, or let’s say a girlfriend fell into his lap, when he was immediately turned on by his adopted brother’s biological sister who was staying the weekend. Topher Grace’s character was shocked at how forward was his adopted brother’s biological sister, played by actress Ana Ayora, and how she literally took her clothes off for him without hesitation and jumped into their lake to turn him on even more. He was surprised with how she acted but figured that her being extremely forward was part of her Spanish culture and expressing her sexuality was normal among the younger generation. But the older Spanish generation was very reserved and you saw that in the way the groom’s biological mother acted and how she responded to his adopted family and also soon-to- be wife’s family. However, just like Muffin, Alejandro’s biological mother had secrets too and the reason she gave him up for adoption was because she had him from a man she was not married to and in her culture that was unacceptable. That is why it was not entirely fair of her to judge her daughter’s sexual actions so harshly. Each character had a secret that through the movie was slowly being revealed. The characters having these secrets made them have more humanistic qualities because all people have flaws and no one is as perfect as they pretend they are. Even Susan Sarandon’s character has a secret that is revealed towards the end of the movie that is the biggest shocker and totally unexpected.

Each family member was trying to be on their best behavior but things did not exactly turn out as planned. Most things in life usually do not turn out the way that they are planned but in the end they end up turning out perhaps even better than one could have imagined. Each character had their quirks and problems but that did not mean that they did not want the best for their children. Being a parent is certainly not an easy job but it is surely the most rewarding job in the world and this movie was an excellent choice to see on Mother’s Day. It doesn’t matter how you become a mother, if it were by giving birth to your child, adopting them, being a so-called mother to your son’s wife and by perhaps being a mother to your son’s three adult siblings (who are siblings through adoption) or lastly, by being with a man who already has kids. Being a mother is a wonderful thing and let’s not forget that being a father is also just as wonderful. The soon-to-be-married couple did not believe in organized religion but they put their doubts behind them about the church and let Robin William’s character, Father Moinighan, marry them regardless of what their mixed-up family had to say about it.

“The Big Wedding” will make you laugh, cry, feel joy and pain but feeling all those emotions at once is part of understanding the heart of what a family is all about. No family is perfect and, if you think there is a family that does not deal with struggles, then you are fooling yourselves. Getting through those struggles will in the end bring you closer together and maybe even start a whole new family in the process. Learn to love and appreciate your family because, like I said before, families come in all shapes and sizes and moments like a wedding can bring people together who probably would not end up together if it were not for the sake of their children. Funny things can come out of serious circumstances and finding those funny moments will make life more enjoyable. Holding onto grudges is a waste of time, so forgive people today or you will be sorry when they walk out of your lives forever. Never let someone so special slip out from under your fingertips when you know the situation can be worked out. Without forgiveness, there can never be true love and, without faith and hope, a new love can never start. You might see some of these characters in your own family because, no matter how different a family is, everyone goes through similar circumstances that we learn lessons from and those lessons help us to grow into the individuals that our parents can be proud of.

VIDEOS –  CLICK PLAY AND WATCH EACH ONE OF THEM !!

THE FIRST VIDEO IS OF THE OFFICIAL MOVIE TRAILER TO THE MOVIE “THE BIG WEDDING” IN HD. WATCH AND GET A SNEAK PEEK INTO THIS WILD, LOVING AND EXCITING FAMILY !!

THE SECOND VIDEO IS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH ACTRESS – KATHERINE HEIGL ABOUT HER CHARACTER .

THE THIRD VIDEO IS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH ACTRESS – SUSAN SARANDON ABOUT HER CHARACTER AS THE ADOPTED MOTHER AND THE MOTHER-IN-LAW TO FIVE ADULT CHILDREN.

THE THIRD INTERVIEW IS WITH ACTOR – ROBERT DE NIRO ABOUT HIS CHARACTER AS THE FATHER AND FATHER-IN-LAW TO THE FIVE ADULT CHILDREN. 

THE FORTH VIDEO IS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR – TOPHER GRACE ABOUT HIS CHARACTER.

THE FIFTH VIDEO IS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH ACTRESS – AMANDA SEYFRIED WHO’S CHARACTER PLAYS THE BRIDE.

THE SIXTH VIDEO IS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR – BEN BARNES WHO’S CHARACTER PLAYS THE GROOM AND THE ADOPTED SON. 

THE SEVENTH VIDEO IS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH ACTRESS – ANA AYORA ABOUT HER CHARACTER. 

THE EIGHTH VIDEO IS OF AN INTERVIEW WITH ACTOR – ROBIN WILLIAMS CHARACTER WHO PLAYS FATHER MOINGHAN.

THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL MOVIE POSTER BUT RATHER A TEASER POSTER.

ONE OF THE OFFICIAL MOVIE POSTER WITH A PINK TINT.

“THE BIG WEDDING” THREE DIFFERENT MOVIE BANNERS.

“THE BIG WEDDING” RARE MOVIE POSTER.

SOME OF THE CAST OF “THE BIG WEDDING” MOVIE.

THE ENTIRE CAST OF THE MOVIE “THE BIG WEDDING.”

THE BIG FAMILY HOUSE THAT WAS BUILT ON A LAKE. 

ACTOR – ROBERT DE NIRO LOOKING GOOD.

ACTRESS – DIANE KEATON AND ACTOR – ROBERT DE NIRO PLAYING A LOVELY DIVORCED COUPLE IN MOVIE “THE BIG WEDDING.”

ACTRESS – KATHERINE HEIGL

SCENE – WHERE THE YOUNG COUPLE IN THE MOVIE WAS AT CHURCH GETTING THEIR WEDDING ARRANGED. ACTOR – BEN BARNES AND ACTRESS – AMANDA SEYFRIED

THE YOUNG COUPLE WHO WAS GETTING MARRIED IN MOVIE. ACTOR – BEN BARNES AND ACTRESS – AMANDA SEYFRIED

THE ADULT CHILDREN OF THE MOVIE “THE BIG WEDDING.”

BEAUTIFUL CEREMONY DECORATIONS IN MOVIE “THE BIG WEDING.”

ACTOR – ROBERT DE NIRO AND ACTRESS – SUSAN SARANDON WHO PLAY LOVERS AND PARENTS IN MOVIE “THE BIG WEDDING.”

SCENE – ACTRESS – KATHERINE HEIGHL AND ACTRESS – SUSAN SARANDON HAVING DINNER WITH THE REST OF THE CRAZY FAMILY IN MOVIE “THE BIG WEDDING.”

SIBLINGS PLAYED BY ACTOR – TOPHER GRACE AND ACTRESS – KATHERINE HEIGHL

SCENE – DIVORCED PARENTS HAVING A FIGHT IN MOVIE “THE BIG WEDDING”.  ACTOR – ROBERT DE NIRO AND ACTRESS – SUSAN SARANDON

ACTOR – BEN BARNES WHO PLAYS ALEJANDRO AND GROOM IN MOVIE “THE BIG WEDDING.”

ACTOR – SEXY BEN BARNES SMILING.

ACTRESS – ANA AYORA WHO PLAYS THE BIOLOGICAL SISTER TO THE GROOM IN MOVIE “THE BIG WEDDING.”

ACTRESS – PATRICIA RAE WHO PLAYED THE BIOLOGICAL MOTHER OF THE GROOM IN MOVIE “THE BIG WEDDING.”

ACTRESS – SUSAN SARANDON LOOKING AS BEAUTIFUL AS SHE ALWAYS DOES.

Introduction

YouTube is the number one website that hosts video. It is said that users watch 4 billion hours worth of video each month, and upload 72 hours worth of video every minute. YouTube was started in 2005 and in the last eight years it has grown to be the largest website of its kind.[1] Anyone can create an account and upload any type of video that they want for anyone to view, simply and easily and for free. This has led to the phenomenal success of YouTube, with millions of videos enjoyed by millions of people. Unfortunately, there are a percentage of users who upload distasteful videos. Those distasteful videos have caused riots and spread to people who copy the horrible acts in those videos. This has become a problem for the world because the world should be a place of peace and love towards one another. There are already enough bad messages in the world and people do not need to see any more bad messages, especially being promoted on YouTube that hundreds of millions of people use. Just because YouTube is a place where anything can be uploaded that does not mean that people should use it in negative ways. But, just like many others examples in life, people abuse and take advantage of a good thing and ruin it for everyone else. It is lousy that a few bad apples can spoil the entire barrel. The situation needs improvements but whose responsibility is it? Is it YouTube as a company or the people who uploaded the irresponsible videos? Those questions lately have brought up much controversy and a dilemma on the best way to handle the issue fairly.

There are certain privacy settings that someone can enable while they are filling out the information YouTube asks for before they launch their video. However, the privacy settings are not that advanced and do not block videos that promote violence, hate towards others, or deal with inflammatory topics. That is why YouTube is getting the blame for those types of videos being on their website because they allow for those types of videos to be posted, simple as that.

The Beginning of YouTube and its Power

There are so many different types of videos that people post from personal home movies, movie trailers, television shows, music videos that people have created and the official music videos that the artist has created, captioned lyrics that come on the screen (like karaoke), comedy shows, documentaries, How-To videos, DIY (Do-It-Yourself), stage performances and there are so many others. The possibilities of all the different videos that can be seen on YouTube are endless. YouTube has also jump started the careers of many celebrities that are famous like Justin Bieber and Psy who sings the song “Gangam Style.” [2] YouTube has literally created a whole new world and has made video the biggest way to view media. Former PayPal employees Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, and Jawed Karim founded YouTube and there were discussions of its development a year before it’s official launch on February 14^th, 2005. Later in October 2006, Google, its co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, saw the potential of YouTube and bought the video-sharing website for $1.65 billion dollars.[3] At that time Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt called it “the next step in the evolution of the Internet.” [4]

This was the start of big things to come for YouTube and everyone wanted in on a piece of the action. People were very excited about how video was taking over and people were uploading their videos at a rapid rate because before YouTube there was not a website that was geared to watching videos, yet alone a website that made it possible for someone to post their own videos to. YouTube created a phenomenon and video was the new way everything was going to be seen. But being able to post whatever you want causes a problem when it come to people who post sexual videos, hate speech videos, bullying videos, samples of violent video games, violent movies people have made, videos of fights that broke out, videos with lots of cursing and other videos of that nature. Let’s say a fight breaks out somewhere and it gets recorded and the video gets posted to YouTube. The video then goes viral and, as a result of that violent fight video, people start emulating the fight that they saw on YouTube and people get seriously injured. In a case like that, who is responsible?  Is it YouTube for being the host of that video, or is it the fault of the person who posted that video to YouTube? That is where the controversy lies and where YouTube needs to watch its back and know how to protect itself and at the same time take steps to improve the video environment.

Hundreds of millions of users across the globe come to YouTube to discover and shape the world through video. The first-ever video to be uploaded to YouTube is a video of a young guy at the zoo and the video was entitled “Me at the Zoo.” That video which was uploaded on April 23, 2005 has been watched 1.96 million times and is only 19 seconds long.[5] YouTube is the host website that allows for people to have their spot in the limelight and it is an excellent feeling when you see the number of times your video has been viewed reach a higher number. Everyone wants their video to be viewed as many times as possible or they would not have uploaded and shared it with the world. But not all content on YouTube should be up there. YouTube is just the host website and “ordinary” people are the reason that so many of the videos hurt others, cause problems for themselves and others, and are just in poor taste. YouTube needs to figure out a way that they can scan a video and look at it to see if it will ultimately get them in hot water for it being on their pages and being among their collection of videos.

Privacy Settings on YouTube

The current privacy settings allow the user who posts a video to require his or her approval of the comments made by viewers before the comments are shared with the public. This allows for the comments to be scanned to see if they are appropriate and in good taste. Other privacy settings include having the option to choose “public” and share your videos with the world, or you can choose “private”, limited to a select group of 25 people such as friends.[6]  YouTube has just added another level of privacy called “unlisted” that makes it easier to share clips with selected people without actually having to set the video to private. This “unlisted” option lets a poster of a video only share it with certain people by giving them the URL link to the video so the viewer is able to watch it on YouTube but it is not included in YouTube’s searchable database and the video will not show up in YouTube’s search results.[7] This “unlisted” option will allow posters who create questionable videos to still have people whom they chose to be able to watch their video, but by not being searchable, the video is not “out in the open” where it can easily be searched and possibly cause a stir among many people, with bad repercussions as a result. This new privacy feature causes a gray area for inflammatory videos because those videos now have a way of disguising themselves so they are not easily searchable and “flagged” but nonetheless they can still be found within YouTube’s website and video library and sent around the internet using the URL link.

Community Guidelines, Flagging and Reporting Abuses

Critics say, that YouTube’s community guidelines are not strict enough and many videos remain posted. An extremely important way that YouTube reduces the number of problematic videos is with its “flagging” tool. Registered users can easily click on the flag tool and report offensive videos that (1) show nudity particularly of a sexual nature (2) hurt, attack or humiliate (3) have speech that demeans a certain group (4) incite violence or encourage dangerous illegal activities and (5) show gory or violent acts.[8]  Once reported, the YouTube’s flag channel says that its staff works quickly to get the videos removed. An additional idea would be to mark delisted videos (with a “Scarlet” X, covering a still image over the video) and issue reports to the YouTube community to show progress being made. When you sign up for YouTube you must agree to the terms of service, which include community guidelines. When they are violated YouTube can terminate the users account.

Anti-Muslim Video

An article on the Forbes website talks about Google, who owns YouTube, blocking a bizarre Anti-Islam Film trailer, which was 71 minutes in length, that was posted on YouTube in Egypt and Libya. The film is entitled  “The Innocent Prophet,” which was a movie produced by Pastor Terry Jones with collaboration from an ex-Muslim named Imran Firasat. The film had the ability to enrage Islamist groups across the globe and, as a result, major riots had broken out and many people were injured badly. The film targeted the Prophet Muhammad and even the most moderate and liberal thinking Muslims took offense.[9] YouTube has their website all over the world and has different versions of their website in other countries. Even though we can still see this video in America, the video has been temporarily blocked from YouTube where people in Egypt and Libya cannot view it. Google works very hard to create a public space that everyone can upload and watch whatever they enjoy and that allows for people to be able to express their different opinions. This has caused problems because what people in one country might find okay, people in another country might find wrong and offensive. The Anti-Islam film trailer is within YouTube’s guidelines and as a result will stay on YouTube for Americans to see but, because of the difficult situations that are taking place in Libya and Egypt, YouTube has restricted access to the video in both of those countries.

Censoring

It is a not an easy decision for a company to decide what gets censored and what does not. Sometimes it is too late to censor a video after it has already gone viral and people have formed their opinions. But some people have stated that they are against YouTube’s decision to take down “the Innocent Prophet” video because it does not violate YouTube’s current terms of service and it is within the rights of a person’s free speech. People have also said that taking the video down was a poor decision, which was made more due to the fear of a problem breaking out than anything else. YouTube simply took the video down in those two countries because the company did not know of any other better way to handle the situation. The video though, was already all over the Internet so censoring the video after it went viral is like “covering your ears an eyes as your house burns around you.” The problem has to do with religious intolerance and violent reactions to the video are going to occur whether people acknowledge they exist or not. However, now that YouTube has restricted access to that video in those countries, the protests about the video’s negative effects have stopped. That is where companies such as Twitter, Facebook, and Google are being drawn together in global debates regarding people’s access to inflammatory material. In another example, on May of 2012, the Pakistani government blocked people’s access to Facebook over the offensive cartoons that were drawn of the prophet Muhammad. Two years before that incident, Pakistan temporarily cut off people’s connection to Facebook after a Seattle cartoonist mocked that Thursday be nicknamed “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day.” [10]

New Directions

When YouTube starts deciding to actively censor its content (videos), the company is heading in a slippery direction that will cause every video to have to keep to the same moral codes or policies. YouTube was built on allowing everyone to be able to post whatever they wanted and that was people’s freedom of expression. Now YouTube because of some of the videos that have been posted is going to have to enforce a stronger platform regarding what defines people’s freedom of expression. People hope that the more active role in censorship is temporary and instead they keep that in the future of things to begin shaping up and moving in a positive directions that will suit the public in a way that will not cause too much of an uproar. Everyone wants to be able to say what they want but sometimes people cross the lines and, without rules that are clearly stated in writing on YouTube, the company will not be able to do anything about inflammatory videos. That is why YouTube needs to put clearer rules and terms of service and assign fault to people who chose to put provocative and offensive videos into place. Even with rules, there are people who break them because YouTube’s community guidelines are not obvious enough. New rules would make it so that it will no longer be the fault of YouTube but rather the fault of the person who uploaded the video. But once a video is already posted, YouTube’s decision to remove or block people from viewing it is too late because the effects of it are already out of the bag. All YouTube has proven is that they can block a video based on people’s reactions and people deciding that they are offended. A video needs to be blocked before people see it and that means that YouTube needs to take a more active role in checking their videos before they are published and become public for the world to see. Each video that is uploaded should not be uploaded immediately but rather take 24 hours before it becomes published so that YouTube’s staff has a chance to scan it for any inflammatory problems. In theory that sounds like a good idea but, with the amount of videos that are posted everyday, unless YouTube hired thousands of more people, they will never be able to keep up with the growing volume of videos that are posted daily. YouTube cannot be responsible for screening every last video on their website because that would be too big a problem for even a huge company to manage and much too expensive. One way to make it possible to review all videos within a day of their posting is to enroll YouTube users to review the videos, not for cash compensation but with some type of rewards points, coupons or other incentives provided by advertisers.  It may be possible to enroll thousands of YouTube users to be “watchers” and “flaggers.” Wikipedia has proven that volunteers do an awesome job at editing. Even with a revamp of their video guidelines and other changes, the ultimate fault should fall on the shoulders of the person who uploaded the video for not obeying YouTube’s rules and regulations. For example, let’s say you drive drunk and speed recklessly and get into an accident and hurt someone, you should be responsible and not blame the town for not posting enough “speed limit signs.” Believe me, stricter guidelines are not going to stop the whole problem but it is a start to making people realize how their videos can affect people in negative ways.

YouTube cannot allow everything, because there is a fine line of what exactly is appropriate freedom of speech. Just because people have their right to free speech that does not mean they can use it to slander others or post videos that will clearly cause controversy and lead to people possibly portraying what they watched in their own lives. Afterall, you have the right to say “fire” but don’t do it in a crowed movie theater or nightclub. YouTube, because of how big the company has grown, will not catch everyone who posts inflammatory videos, but now with this topic being a controversial issue and certain steps being taken, people need to understand that YouTube is going to be much more aware of what is being posted on their website. The company, due to past incidents, is now keeping a more careful eye out for videos that will offend others and cause problems in a world where we all need to survive, peacefully without hate.

Conclusion

As with any activity that involves millions of people, the responsibility for appropriate behavior is the shared responsibility of many parties, including people who post videos, YouTube the company, and we the large community of users. Every party involved is responsible and each party should do their part to help fix the controversial problem of inflammatory videos being on YouTube. The blame cannot be put on just one party because each party contributed to the situation mutually and all of the parties mutually are needed in order for the videos on YouTube to stay safe and in good taste.

He was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Israel, and his family came to America on a visitor’s visa when Naim was four years old. The visa expired. The family stayed.

Now 29, Naim is an aspiring marketing consultant and has been a volunteer in his Brooklyn community for much of his life. He has visited patients in hospitals and delivered food to people in need. Once, an organization rejected his offer to volunteer because he didn’t have a social security number. He was devastated, but not totally unacquainted with the feeling.

“The journey of an undocumented immigrant isn’t an easy one,” said Naim, and added that it often includes uncertainty, depression, and the isolation of being different.

“I used to be embarrassed to admit why I couldn’t get my driver’s license, so I would lie,” he recalled.

Other memories of realizing he was different from his peers include a trip to the hospital with a broken leg, where he was denied treatment due to lack of health insurance. Another time, his eighth-grade class was taking trip to Niagara Falls, on the Canadian side. His parents refused to let him go.

In both of the above cases, Naim’s high school principal stepped in, first paying his medical expenses in full, and later providing Naim with documentation so he could go to Niagara Falls with his class.

“This was my first experience with the underground railroad,” said Naim, speaking of the network of American citizens who assist undocumented immigrants simply because they feel it is the right thing to do. “I understood then what it meant to be undocumented.”

Naim, who has only ever identified as American, is a living argument that immigration reform is long overdue. The proposal that the Senate has recently drafted, and that is currently up for significant amendment, does address the needs of people such as Naim, although the proposal isn’t without controversy.

The immigration reform proposal was drafted in April by a bipartisan Senate committee known as the Gang of Eight. Currently, the 800-plus page document proposes granting provisional legal status to undocumented immigrants who arrived in the U.S. prior to December 31, 2011. That status would then place the immigrants on a 13-year path to citizenship.

There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S., and one whose status has made some progress recently is Antonio Alarcon, 18, from Queens.

Alarcon’s border crossing from Mexico, unlike Naim’s, did involve crossing the desert and facing a series of physical hardships.

“My family and I walked for three days. It was scary for me, but it was really hard for my parents.”

Alarcon, then 11, recalls the leader of their group telling them to discard all food and water as they approached the U.S. border, but the guide was mistaken and off-track. The border was still more than half a day’s walk away, and now it had to be made without provisions.

Once they entered California, the family boarded a flight to New York City and moved into an apartment already overflowing with relatives. Alarcon’s brother had been left behind with his grandparents, too young to make the difficult crossing.

In the United Sates, children have the right to receive an elementary and secondary education, regardless of their immigration status. Social security numbers are not required, nor is it lawful to require parents to disclose their residency status. Out of approximately 3 million annual high school graduates in the U.S., approximately 65,000 are undocumented immigrants.

Alarcon became more consciously aware of his situation around ninth grade. He was not a legal resident of the country he now considered home. Where high school was challenging because of the language and cultural barriers, college was going to be a financial problem. Though many New York State colleges allow students to enroll despite their residency status, there is no financial aid available for undocumented immigrants.

After Obama’s election in 2008, Alarcon began to see how the willingness to fight for one’s beliefs could actually change the course of the future. Flashes of hope began to inspire him, and he became involved in his own cause.

“Obama was fighting for the future of the U.S. so I saw that you can fight and change things,” he said.

He’s been to Albany twice to rally in support of immigration reform. On one of his visits, he stood up in front of state politicians and told them his story. He described how he works hard every day to make his grandfather proud of him, sometimes staying up all night to study for a test. He talks about his academic accomplishments, and how he volunteers in his community by going to hospitals and visiting patients who otherwise wouldn’t have visitors.

Through all this, Alarcon resists defining himself as an activist.

“I just want to help the people in my community who need help, and I want to go to college.” His dream is to become a journalist.

Just before Alarcon was slated to graduate high school last year, his parents returned to Mexico. The grandparents had died so someone needed to take care of Alarcon’s younger brother, Salvador, whom Alarcon hasn’t seen since leaving Mexico. They were also having an increasingly difficult time finding work in New York.

He is hoping that the immigration reform bill will eventually pass, and that it will allow his parents to return, along with his brother. The bill currently states that in some cases, undocumented immigrants who have been deported will be allowed to return.

“They self-deported,” explains Alarcon, using term made popular during Mitt Romney’s run for president last year. It became too difficult to get by in the U.S., so they chose on their own to go back to Mexico.

In the meantime, they missed his high school graduation, where he became the first member of his family to achieve that honor.

In June 2012, the Obama administration enacted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which allows for the temporary suspension of deportation of young people who were brought to the United States as children.

Alarcon has been granted deferred status; Naim has been waiting almost six months for his application to be approved.

In a somewhat ironic twist, since arriving in America 25 years ago, Naim’s two siblings have gained legal U.S. residency through marriage, which then aided his parents to obtain their green cards.  Brooklyn-raised Naim, who came to the U.S. as the baby in the family, is the only one that remains undocumented.

In the meantime, he lives his life, explaining some of the loopholes that allow him to be a productive member of society.

“I can work as a contractor, but not a full-time employee. I pay taxes.”

Though he is still waiting for Deferred Action approval, he no longer fears being targeted for deportation.

“It’s now the publicity that protects us. People are realizing the stories of our country, and wondering how we can move forward. It’s a question of what kind of country we want to be known as.”

Sharing those stories has been made possible largely through social media. It was on Facebook that Naim heard of Jose Antonio Vargas, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who published an article in TIME magazine about his life as an undocumented immigrant.

“His article gave me so much hope, and made me realize I wasn’t alone.” Naim got much more involved in the immigration reform cause, seeking out others like him. He reached out to Vargas on Facebook, asking how he could help, and Vargas was shocked to hear from an Orthodox Jew, which highlighted the fact that this wasn’t only a Latino or Asian issue.

“What social media does is makes us human,” explains Naim. “Some people think we are criminals, and nothing more than illegal immigrants, but social media makes us approachable.”

A vocal opponent to the current immigration reform proposal is the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington D.C. According to their recent report, the bill would end up costing the federal government $9.4 trillion in benefits that American citizens are routinely eligible for, such as public education for school-age kids, Medicare and Social Security for retirees, and services such as fire and police that need to be expanded as communities expand. The report estimates that the new citizens would only pay close to $3 trillion of that amount.

According to a recent report from Pew Research, the public seems equally divided between favoring the bill and opposing it. Thirty-eight percent don’t know how it will affect our economy.

As for Naim and Alarcon, their lives will continue moving along. Alarcon wants to finish college and have his family back with him. Naim would like to visit Israel like most of his Jewish friends have done. The security of becoming a citizen would be a welcome relief, but both young men seem resourceful enough to make the best of their circumstances.

For many, the choice to find friendship, love and marriage is one that is without barrier.

Her mother has 5 children of which, 3 are of mixed race. To see them all standing next to each other, you would be hard pressed to tell that they were of the same family other than an uncanny link they have in the eyes. It is this diversity that makes them a modern day interpretation of what the melting pot values the United States was based on.

Amanda Brooks is a 24 year old mother of two; one e months, the other a 6 year old. Living in the upstate New York small town of Mellinville, she lives with her younger brothers and mother, along with her 2 sons.

Their home is small, sandwiched between a two lane county road and a creek that feeds into the local sewage plant that is just behind a row of trees a half mile away. She makes ends meet by working in the local Wal-Mart and selling knock off copies of various colognes, jewelry and discounted personal hygiene products; the same as you see small time vendors do with their carts and small tables throughout Manhattan streets.

While Brooks is Caucasian, she says that she is a mix of different European descents.

“I have Polish and German roots…in fact I am a mixture of a lot of different cultures…I guess I am a sort of mutt,” she says while laughing.

Brook’s children have different fathers both of which are black. She says that dating outside of her race is not something she actively pursues. It’s just what happened.

“I don’t care about a person’s skin color and any of that. As long as they are good inside, it does not matter.”

Three of her brothers have black fathers as well. Brooks said that she was not raised to be prejudiced in anyway and that her friends if not dating someone of a different race are accepting of it.

That does not mean that she has not come across a few people that have said things to her that were disparaging.

“There were these girls I hung out with that were like ‘I can’t believe you would date a N****R when they found out my boyfriend was black…it was pretty messed up and that was pretty much it for them in my life.”

The choice for Brooks to date someone was in fact not a choice at all.

“It was no different than two people of the same race dating. You meet someone and if you get along and like the person, you just see where things go.”

In the United States, miscegenation (sexual relations between people of different races) was illegal in the Deep South part until 1967. In the 1883 case Pace vs. Alabama, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that each state could ban interracial marriage and that in doing so, the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was not violated. The following is what the law read.

“[I]f any white person and any negro, or the descendant of any negro to the third generation, inclusive, though one ancestor of each generation was a white person, intermarry or live in adultery or fornication with each other, each of them must, on conviction, be imprisoned in the penitentiary or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not less than two nor more than seven years.”

This law was in place for more than 80 years until the 1967 case Loving vs. Virginia.

Mildred Jeter and Richard loving were married on June 2, 1958 in Washington D.C. by randomly picking the name of a minister out of a phone book according to information in the book “Virginia Hasn’t Always Been For Lovers,” by Author Phyl Newbeck. After which, the newly married couple immediately drove back to their home of Central point, VA.

After being home for 5 weeks, court records say that the two them were arrested and charged for being illegally married to each other. The two plead guilty to the charge against them on January 6, 1959 and were sentenced to 1 year in jail.

However, the sentence would be suspended if the couple agreed to leave the state of Virginia for 25 years.

They left Virginia and went to Washington D.C. where Mildred wrote a letter to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy Jr. about what was happening and he forwarded it to the American Civil Liberties Union and attorney Bernard S Cohen.

After 9 years, the case appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court and in 1967, the court unanimously ruled that state bands on interracial marriage violated the Fourteenth Amendment. This ruling made interracial marriage legal throughout the United States.

However, in the state of Alabama Constitution, there was an unenforceable interracial ban that stood as recently as 1998, in section 102 that read “The legislature shall never pass any law to authorise or legalise any marriage between any white person and a Negro or descendant of a Negro.”

After voters went to the polls to have the wording removed, it was approved to do so buy a surprisingly close margin; 59 percent voted to remove; 41 percent favored to keep it.

In the United States post Millennium, the support for interracial dating and marriage has taken the most dramatic change in the country’s history, particularly among one group.

The generation dubbed “Millennials” or “Generation Y” are the most diverse group racially in United States history according to data from the Pew Research Center.

Millennials are generally considered those born between 1981 and 2000.

With Generation Y, data says that the percentage of racial diversity has changed drastically among those between the ages of 13 to 29. In 2009, 18.5 percent were Hispanic, 14.2 percent black, 4.3 percent Asian, 3.2 percent mixed or other race, and 59.8 percent were white, which is a record low.

Also, according to Census 2000 data, the most common type of interracial couple was a white husband married to an Asian wife which was 14 percent of all interracial couples. The next largest percentage was black husbands with white wives, which accounted for 8 percent. The Census data also reflected that of the black-white couples, in 73 percent of them the husband was black. With Asian-white couples, 75 percent of the marriages identified the husband as white.

At Mercy College, diversity is one thing the school prides itself on. Being in the back yard of the countries’ largest cultural and racially diverse metropolitan area, Manhattan and its burrows, it’s not uncommon to see racially diverse couples around campus.

Brian Johnson and Claudia Santoya are Mercy sophomores in an interracial relationship. Johnson identifies with being of African American and Jamaican descent. His girlfriend Claudia is Cuban. They believe that interracial relationships are a positive thing.

Johnson and Santoya have been together for a year and six months and met at Mercy College while they were freshman.

Santoyas’ parents have met Johnson before and vice versa. Santoyas’ family is very supportive of her decision with who she is dating. She says that they don’t have anything against Johnson as long as he is a good kid who doesn’t drink or do drugs. Santoyas’ parents are more concerned with Johnsons inner being than how he looks on the outside.

Johnson experience leads him to believe that dating someone of another race is not an issue, but there are times when things might be a little uncomfortable.

“I think it’s a tough thing to do because it gets awkward if you are taking a blonde hair and blue eye girl on a date and you are really dark skin, you get a variety of looks from different people. They do make beautiful babies though.”

Johnson and Santoyas also believe that the diversity of Mercy College and the equality of the students is a very positive part of student life. Johnson says that with all the different types of people at Mercy, he has never noticed or witnessed anyone not getting along with anyone else because of their race.

To find out how some other students felt, an anonymous survey of 75 randomly chosen students was conducted regarding interracial dating at Mercy. The students were from the Dobbs Ferry campus.

There were 25 Caucasian students, 17 black or African American students, 17 Latino students, 9 Asian or Pacific Islander students, and 7 students that checked “other” as their race.

The survey asked a variety of questions to include basic demographic information such as the student’s race, gender and age.

More than 50 percent of the Caucasians that participated in this survey haven’t dated out of their race but they would if they had a chance. 11 out of 17 black of African American participants were in the age group of 21-29; more than 50 percent of those participants have dated out of their race.

Less than half of the black or African American participants feel like they have been involved or targeted in an act of racism or discrimination of someone that is a different race or ethnicity at Mercy College.

More than 50 percent of the survey participants that were Latino said that didn’t mind interracial dating; they have been in an interracial relationship before, and they notice that there is cross cultural dating at Mercy College.

There were 5 out of the 9 participants that where Asian or Pacific Islander decent that were in the age group of 21-29 and said it was acceptable to date out of your own race, but their families wouldn’t approve.

Lastly, all of the survey participants that fell under the category of “other” race were in the age group of 17-20 and believe that is acceptable to date different ethnicities and they have many close friends that are of different ethnicity than their own.

The last question on the survey dealt with question of whether the environment at Mercy College promotes equality and diversity for all students. More than 50 percent of the participants answered saying yes. 15 out of the 75 students said that Mercy College does not promote equality and diversity.

Of the 15 students, 5 were Caucasian, 4 were Latino, 3 were black or African American, and 2 were Asian or Pacific Islander. There was 1 student that said no from the “other” race category.

Based on research from polling organizations such as the Pew Institute and the survey locally conducted on Mercy Colleges’ Dobbs Ferry campus, interracial relationships do mirror national trends towards the acceptance of interracial dating.

Even though the country has come from a turbulent past and has made great strides in the pursuit of racial equality and acceptance there is still work to be done. In President Barack Obamas’ 2008 presidential speech, “A More Perfect Union”, Obama paraphrases a quote from American writer William Faulkner:

“The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact it isn’t even past.”

Work: English as the language of communication around the world has created endless opportunities for education-minded college graduates who want some adrenaline-fueled excitement along with their job. Teaching can be a very unique experience when you’re facing a room full of eager students who share a language and culture completely different from what you’re used to. It’s almost guaranteed that you’ll learn more than they do.

Before teaching abroad, it’s best to acquire a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) Certificate. These can be obtained through organizations such as Oxford Seminars or WorldTeach. If you’re applying to a job that doesn’t require TEFL certification as a minimum requirement, the school probably doesn’t have high standards overall, and is a place to avoid.

Besides teaching English, there are endless opportunities for jobs abroad. Work on an ostrich farm in Australia, pick strawberries in Denmark, or cocktail waitress on a cruise ship. These are all real jobs, and not so impossible to obtain.  A long-time standard resource to find out more about such opportunities is Susan Griffiths’ book, “Work Your Way Around The World.”

For fun seasonal work in the U.S., check out www.coolworks.com. They feature job listings such as working as a bartender in Cape Cod, or a front desk clerk near Yellowstone National Park. If nothing else, it’s a great way to spend the summer.

Sleep on couches: Limiting the amount of cash you spend on hotels can really free up your budget. Couchsurfing considers itself a hospitality exchange service and allows like-minded travelers to connect with each other. If you’re heading to a new city or country, hop onto www.couchsurfing.com and do some research. You’ll find hosts around the world who have offered their couch, air mattress, or spare bedroom to travelers. On the other side of things, you can open your home to travelers by offering a place to sleep. Why would strangers allow you to crash on their couch? To meet new people, share their culture with travelers, and generally make the world a smaller place.

Volunteer: Voluntourism has become a buzzword in the travel industry, and ads abound of bright-eyed college graduates eager to make a difference in the world. Among endless projects around the world, volunteers can donate their time building community centers for the local population, rebuilding towns hit by natural disasters, or assisting in creating a clean water infrastructure for the millions of people globally who lack access to clean water. If you love kids, you can volunteer your time and affection in orphanages or teach in an educational setting. This is not one of the cheaper ways to travel, since organizations that set you up on volunteer trips usually charge a fee; a lot of that money often goes into rooming and boarding volunteers, as well as the local community that it serves. However, you’ll get see things and meet people that you would miss if you were just passing through. Do some research before you go; make sure the organization is reputable, employs people from the local community, and does not exploit the same people it is trying to help.