Iria Vasquez-Paez

If I get my free positive news newspaper started someday, I will start it by finding good news to talk about. A disabled person got a job, overcame their illness, or somehow, anybody did something good for the world, their community, or their family. Conservatives often see the media as a bastion for liberal influence and penetration. Instead of looking for dark, horrible news stories, we seek to enlighten and influence people with hopeful, positive news of people making a difference in their community. Not every country has as much luck or diversity as the United States. We are busy fostering an environment filled with racism, woman-hating, and disabled-people shaming. The world needs an antidote if we expect another four years of the same.

Most of us are too busy working to think of making the world a better place. Then again people who have more money than I do, like Ashton Kutcher, are busy rescuing human trafficking victims. Now, how does one person change the world? It could be as easy as signing up to be a reading tutor. You see, I’ve always wanted to do something more productive with my life besides knowing the pen is mightier than the sword. I don’t go to protests for one, because I do not want an arrest record following me around every time I apply for a job. The thing is that I need more energy to volunteer my time with. I would like more energy anyway, from sleeping the whole night if that becomes possible. I’m caught up with my knee injury from nine years of yoga down the toilet in one second of a bad move on the part of my left foot. I injured myself and that was the last day anybody saw me at the gym for a very long time. I’m not sure if yoga can make the world a better place, but it does calm me down, and has a similar effect on everybody who has ever taken a yoga class before.

Okay, so I’m getting the following degrees when I get stable enough to go back to school: an AA in film and television from De Anza, because I can also take online classes within the quarter system. I need to get my Foothill College transcript still because this is something I’ve been really lazy about. I also want an MFA in creative writing from UCLA, and then a law degree. After I get my law degree, I’d take the time to work for a few years. After that, I’d get my MBA from UCLA, while trying to run for mayor of Los Angeles.

I’ve been a Parliamentarian before in student government. I’d love to be one again if I do De Anza student government. At any rate, I’m stuck in San Jose for a while longer until I can cope with crowds by myself, and I’m getting my A.A. in film and television in the process, because what I really want is to move to Los Angeles to work as a producer or something with the film industry while getting my MFA in creative writing. City Hall may have plenty of public service opportunities if we take a look at the website. I’m looking at the website just to see what’s happening.

The 116th Congress is run by 67 Democrats and 44 Republicans, to which I say, good. For once, Congress has some diversity. Yes, there is the occasional black representative, but see, my own people, Hispanics, have historically been underrepresented. The New York Times is a publication I got my free subscription to because my dabbling in real journalism is going nowhere without access to information like the type found in The New York Times. Okay, we have 101 fresh Representatives in the House, mostly white, although there are some people of color.

We’ve seen Amendments to the Constitution but I’m going to go out on a limb and say we need to rewrite it for modern times stating that men and women get equal work for equal pay, that we are all equal no matter where we come from, and that birthright citizenship will always exist. We need to define what America means to us. We can’t let somebody else do it, we have to have everybody’s input, which is why the Internet exists. We don’t have to do this with a drop of blood spilled either.