Niya Cephas

By -
Hello, everyone! My name is Niya [not N-E-YA but, N-EYE-YA] and I am a sophomore here at Upstate. My major is Special Education and I am extremely passionate about it. Most of the time when I tell people what I am going to school to study they give me this look like; "oh god bless your heart" or "good-luck with that.." or they even go as far to say "are you sure you want to work with slow people?".

I've encountered these sayings ever since I moved here from Salinas, California, my freshman year of high school. At first when people and  family members would say these things it really stuck with me and I almost started asking myself "do I really want to pursue this career?". But, taking a step and realizing that whenever I'm with my older brother, who has Down's Syndrome, or when I volunteer with children and adults that have special needs that I am truly at my happiest state. I have also found other students here at Upstate that are just as passionate as I am about majoring in Special Education. As you can tell I am very set on working with people, specifically children, that have special needs and I know that when I become a teacher that I will set my goals on making a difference in each and everyone of their lives.

Now I will be honest and say that reading isn't at the top of my list of 'fun' things to do. It takes me a good bit to find a book that I can actually be engrossed in. The last book I read was most likely The Hunger Games Trilogy and I absolutely loved them. You would think I would be in love with that kind of dystopian-type-of-society books but, no I couldn't keep my interest in the books; The host, Divergent, or The Maze Runner. It's sad because I really want to keep reading them but my focus and motivation just wasn't there. I do also enjoy reading mangas and manwhas which are Japanese and Korean comics. I can sit on my phone or in Barnes and Nobles and read those types of stories all day. So as you can tell my reading passion is all over the place but I do hope by the end of this semester that I become more open to reading different types of books and have a passion for reading more often.



Comments

  1. Caroline_BrownAugust 25, 2016 at 5:12 PM

    Yooooooo, half my home library is manga but no one would know because i keep them hidden behind my other books ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

    Your goals and dreams are so cool. Seriously, I'm obsessed with people who have their hearts set in things. Its amazing. You'll be exactly the kind of person the kids deserve. YOU GO YOU! ONWARD AND UPWARD. I work with special needs kids thought the MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) and we're always, ALWAYS in need of volunteers when camp rolls around. I can get you the hook up if you're interested.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownAugust 26, 2016 at 7:38 AM

    You're the third person this week that I've heard mention 'manga'. I guess I need to check that out. I've grown up a Batman freak so I've loved the emergence of graphic novels as an extension of the comic book. I get one at the beginning of each semester and treat myself to an enjoyable read after having so much required reading.
    And kudos to you for following YOUR dreams. It's not for others to understand what drives you once you know what it is. Always follow your passion. It will keep getting you out of bed once the paycheck gets old!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ms LopezAugust 28, 2016 at 6:42 PM

    I love it! You said something that I think is very important, that you realized you are happiest when working with people who have special needs. And you're right not to let what other people say about that stop you from pursuing it!

    I like that you mentioned manga. I got into reading manga in high school and I read some freshman year of college too. I do love graphic novels.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Growing Pains - The Symbolism of the Tree in Speak

By -
I have felt the paralyzing pain of internal disease. The kind of trauma that causes your mouth to curl in and swallow you whole. I, like so many other women, are walking the halls in Melinda’s shoes in “Speak.” I thought Laurie Anderson did a phenomenal job of twisting all of the tribulations a high school girl goes through, into the tree that Melinda is. Whether we’re as strong as an oak or weak as a bush, we have all gone through the disease that strikes Melinda from the inside out. Melinda is like a half-dead tree. Some parts of her strive to blossom and create beauty. Other parts are broken and diseased. Like a dead tree, Melinda needs to save herself and “cut off the damage, [so it] is possible for the tree to grow again” (187). The symbolism of a tree is significant in “Speak.” Trees reflect her growing process. In the beginning, Melinda is a sick and lifeless tree. Her view is negative and dark. She’s so far past repair, bursts of sunlight do her no good. Sunlight would be pe
Read more

How Starr Goes from Acting to Embracing in The Hate U Give

By -
In The Hate U Give, Starr Carter is caught between two worlds. She lives in a predominantly black neighborhood, but her father sends her and her brothers to a private school where she is surrounded by white people. She talks about acting differently depending on what group she is around, which can create some identity problems. She says on page 11, "Funny how it works with white kids though. It's dope to be black until it's hard to be black." When at Williamson, she sees white kids that think it's cool to engage in black culture, but she knows they don't understand what she goes through in her Garden Heights community. She witnessed her friend Natasha's death when she was 10 years old, and she sees gang activity in her community all the time. When she is among her black friends, like at the party, they tease her for hanging out with the white kids. This reminds me of a Drake song where he says, "I used to get teased for being black, and now I'm
Read more

Postmodernism in Curious Incident

By -
Before I start writing, I first want to acknowledge that I just really loved this book! It seemed like a lot of the class had trouble enjoying or appreciating the novel because it's so different stylistically, which is understandable, but all of those unique elements helped make the novel more authentic. The main topic I want to focus on (also what I'm writing my paper on) is how a lot of postmodernist elements were used in the novel to make Christopher come to life. While obviously not every postmodern novel is about an autistic kid, I think Haddon really used a lot of these elements to his advantage and they ended up working out really well to characterize Christopher. One of the major postmodern elements which helps this book really craft an authentic portrayal of autism is the fact that it's metafictive. Basically, this means it's a "story within a story." Readers would be extremely limited just reading the parts of the novel which are meant to be C
Read more