Non-Fiction Post: I Can Change the World

Thompson, Gabriel. "How Students in San Jose Raised the Minimum Wage." The Nation 28 Nov. 2012. Society. 15 Jan. 2013 <http://www.thenation.com/section/education>. 

Link to my article

Today, I read an article by Gabriel Thompson called "How Students in San Jose Raised the Minimum Wage." At San Jose State University, in the Spring of 2011, a social action class was encouraged to apply change to their community, so a junior named Marisela Castro wanted to raise the minimum wage in San Jose. A child of California field laborers, Castro experienced a strain for college money and saw poverty around her, at school. As she tells Thompson, "'[The students'] parents were working nonstop but only making the minimum wage.'" Doubted at the beginning, the students in Castro's class went to City Council meetings to propose raising the minimum range, but weren't taken seriously. Their professor, Scott Myers-Lipton, suggested raising money to conduct polls. After money was raised and polls were taken, 70% of people were in favor of the raise. It was a wide range of people. The South Bay Labor Council supported the students, and unions committed over $100,000 to the group. The students acquired 20,000 signatures and brought them to City Hall for the November ballot. The Cilicon Valley Chamber of Commerce first had "no position" on the proposal, but after realizing how many people the students had supporting them, the Chamber raised $400,000 to try to defeat the proposal. As the article states, "Students challenged [the CEO of the Chamber] to spend a week living on the minimum wage. (He declined.)" For the last push to get the proposal ratified, the Labor Council knocked on 80,000 doors and made 200,000 phone calls. On November 6, 2011, the San Jose minimum wage was increased to $8 to $10 an hour. This boosted San Jose State's pride as they are often overshadowed by UC Berkeley. This article is about how just a few college students raised the minimum wage for all of San Jose.

While I read this article, I felt compassionate for Marisela Castro and her classmates. The author connected me to the people in the article by including the personal anecdote belonging to Castro. The author really brought me into her life and I got to see the issue of poverty from her shoes. Also, when the students reached a victory, I was proud. The author made me feel proud by showing me that the students were proud. Because I began to really identify with Marisela and her teammates, I was happy when an alumni of San Jose State said, "'We have statues and murals on campus that remind us that we're a school with so much social justice history. But it seemed like that history was fading away. This got us worked up again.'" I felt pride while reading this, almost as if I was one of the students involced. The article also made me feel hopeful by using powerful phrases such as "the promise of action" and "apply social change to the local community." These motivational phrases make me feel empowered.

I think that Gabriel Thompson wanted me to walk away thinking that I can do whatever I set my mind to, even if it seems too big for a small person like me to change. To leave me thinking this, Thompson says, "On November 6, the movement that began with three students brainstorming in a classroom notched its victory." This sentence shows that an idea that started small and far-off, just a few college kids brainstorming, became real and changed the world. It really made an economic and social difference. This tells me that I can do anything that I set my mind to, if I work hard.

After reading this, I am definitely motivated. I always have big ideas about changing the world for everybody, but the world seems so big, and I seem so small (literally!). After reading this, I can walk away knowing that if I map out my big ideas, shape them into something logical, and work very hard, I could make a huge difference. I really respect Thompson for making me feel such hope and pride after reading this, and I'll definitely use the craft moves that I have extracted from this article. I am excited, now, because this made me feel like I have a lot of use. I could be a part of a life-changing group! This also made me realize that changing the world takes a whole lot of work. It also takes time, so I will have to be patient with my endeavors.