Do what is right, for yourself and for others.

People spend too much time finding other people to blame, too much energy finding excuses for not being what they are capable of being, and not enough energy putting themselves on the line, growing out of the past, and getting on with their lives.
-J. Michael Straczynski

As I was reading through the "Finding Your Power," article, it became clear to me that the way I rise above excuse making is to recognize the importance and value of getting involved with that specific situation.  That way, there is no valid reason to make a poor excuse to, for example, attend a certain event or meet up with a couple of friends that I haven't seen in a while. I keep an open mind to everything I do and am involved in. 

Also, I ask myself, "How will this experience benefit my beliefs and my life decisions in the future?". In order to help others break out of there shell of always blaming others and making excuses for various situations, it is important to push them out of their comfort zone in small steps. It is also important to create a sense of trust between you and the other person. This allows them to begin to see that you are doing these things only for the better, and not to make their lives miserable.  If I witness another person blaming someone else or constantly making excuses, I confront them by asking questions, such as "Why do you feel that this person is to be blamed for ___?" or "Is there a bigger/different reason why you don't want to go to ____?". Asking them questions that actually require them to think deeper into their primary decision might spark the thought and questioning of why they are in this avoiding and blaming mindset and making the decisions they have continuously chose. 

I feel that this will also force them to look at the situation from a broader perspective, realizing for themselves, the unhealthy and closed-minded approach they have towards new experiences and other people.

It isn't until you begin to fight in your own cause that you become really committed to winning and become a genuine ally of other people struggling for their freedom.

-Robert Morgan

During The People's Institute Retreat that I attended last weekend, the whole group had a very engaging discussion about being an ally to various identity and culture groups. We talked about the differences between being an ally for self-interest, an ally for altruism, and an ally for social justice. I feel like, as an ally, one needs to focus less on their personal interests, a specific targeted group, or a specific victim of oppression, and focus more on being an ally for the issue. It is important to work with the members of the targeted group to help empower every single person and to, together, get rid of the discrimination against these identities as a whole. I completely agree with karynthia, in "The Do's and Don'ts of Being an Ally", as she mentions that in being an ally, one has to realize that it's not about you and your feelings about the oppression. Being an ally is all about showing support, empathy, and extending grace for the social group and the difficulties they are facing. In the TPI retreat, we went around asking what people expect from their allies, and came up with various characteristics: loving, caring, confident, brave, strong, empathetic, respectful, genuine, decisive, honest, articulate, knowledgeable, consistent and a couple of others. An area of improvement for me to become a better ally to others is to show more support. And by that, I don't mean just simply being their friend and hearing them out, I mean attending various events, dialogues, and meetings to show that I am actively supporting and fighting for their rights for social justice. In being an ally, one of my strengths is definitely being empathetic towards the situation someone is experience. I try to put myself in the shoes of the other people and understand what they are going through. It is very important to me to be a strong, supporting, and empathetic ally for another person/group. I understand, and can imagine, what it is like to be treated unfairly within society and believe that no one deserves to be treated this way. Also, I believe that in moments of weakness and difference situations, everyone needs someone there to support them and help them back on their feet if they fall.

I attended both the Scholarship Junkies presentation for college students on Thursday and the Scholarship Junkies presentation for High School students during our S.T.A.R.S. Leads meeting on Friday. Both presentations were phenomenal and definitely gave me a greater insight of how valuable scholarships are and how important it is to take advantage of all application opportunities. There are various ways, that Sam presented to us, to enhance our scholarship applications and essays. One important factor, is to make your essays unique and personal. You have to show that you stand out from the other 100's of applications for that scholarship.