James Brown Says:

Gina Mashburn represented the non-profit organization Big Brothers, Big Sisters at forum on October 1. She has dedicated her life to the worthy cause of comforting the afflicted, namely young men and women with rough backgrounds, and helping them have a sense of normalcy in their lives by pairing them with an older young man/woman to hang out with.

Unfortunately, her talk was cut fairly short because of the Civil Wars concert which followed. But she got her point across nonetheless: volunteers are needed, particularly in the black male subsection. But for all of us out there who aren't black males (put yo' hands together), that doesn't mean our job stops here. Everyone needs a friend and someone to look up to. Get up offa that thang and be one.

Would you grow up?

I think that human development is fascinating. A Human Growth and Development Course I took last year really shed light on the way that an individual's personality blossoms is just as much influenced by their surroundings and interactions with others as it is innate. Raising children is literally a science. There's so many opportunities to go wrong. That really makes parents the unsung heroes here. Replace word "fascinating" with "terrifying" here. After hearing a talk by Emily Baker, director of Success By Six, I gained a lot of respect for those who choose a profession involving young people. I'll be honest, I used to think that people who chose to be elementary / early childhood educators just wanted the easy way out. Ya know, stick to a fairly simple curriculum, teach kids the correct methods of sculpting Play-Doh, and maybe sneak an animal cracker or two when the kids were down for their naps. Oh, sweet Elise. So wrong. These people have patience levels through the roof and really have to know what they're doing while practically sculpting human beings from 9-5.

Emily told us that nearly half of America's kindergarteners are behind intellectually. America's children need teachers, not babysitters, and Success by Six is taking action to make that happen. Excellent program, excellent way to contribute.