Curiosity is such an interesting thing that has some people wondering whether it is good or bad. We’re always hearing sayings like curiosity killed the cat and what not but I myself think it’s a good thing. I myself have always been a curious person whether it be in school or at home. I’ve always been this way. My parents know it as well and have always fed my curiosity even if it ended up getting me into some trouble at times. Here is one momorie that I have very vividly due to its importance on the person I am today.

It was a hot summer day and my siblings were at school because they were for a lack of better words smarter than I was so they were in some fancy program and I remember being jealous of them. My parents would always have me learn something new those days i was at home so i had the bright idea to ask my parents why are we doing all this on a summer’s day where i should be going outside and having fun instead of having my nose in some book. So I started asking questions about where they were from seeing as I was getting bored of asking when dinner was going to be ready. I’ll start off with my mother first she told me about a life she once had where she came from a big family of eleven siblings all living under the same roof and how each one only had a few years of education until they had to drop out and help out the family seeing as it was their responsibility as children and also her being one of the eldest. She told me how the few years of school she did have she would go to work in the fields with her other siblings and earn some money then go home and take care of the livestock and if possible get some food in their bellies then do homework before it was time for bed, wash rinse and repeat. She would always tell me how lucky me and my sibling were to get a solid three meals a day and have both parents listen to us and not send us off to work. I asked if she still missed it and sh replied with yes and no because it was here where she has her new family me and my siblings and how she regrets not being able to be in most of my older brothers childhood how she was away from him for ten years before he was able to come to the united states. 

My father was a bit of a serious person on the outside but a big softie on the inside he always did everything with a smile. When I asked my father about his life he gave me some similarities that my mom did. He told me how he didnt finish school because of working and how sometimes he would be away from home for weeks at a time on jobs that were definitely not meant for a kid his age at the time. He always said he lived in different times and how Mexico will always be his home but he has a new one here in the United States. He was the second oldest of nine siblings who had been working since the age of seven and came to the United States when he was eighteen seeking work to help his family back home.I remember him telling me how getting here wasn’t easy but the hardest thing was finding a job. He told me of a story where he went and asked for work and he felt so ashamed when the manager who wanted to help him asked if he could show him some documents that looked more valid seeing as he was undocumented he had no other option and is the case for most immigrants who come into the country. He felt so ashamed and just put his head down and said no to the man who still wanted to help him out.  My dad always had plans on going back to Mexico and starting a family there but plans change when events line up for better or for worse. Him and my mother met by chance and that’s when they knew they were going to call America their home. 

During the making of this memoir i asked them a certain question that they both gave the same answer to and that was if they could go back and make different choices would they and they told me no. they said they wouldn’t trade the life they have right now for anything they have family here and my father said he left his life and family everything he knew at some point behind in mexico to give not himself a better life but that of his family. Same for my mother who is a woman of few words. They agreed that they’ve made the right choice in coming to America and staying, which they said again and again after every accomplishment that me or my siblings have had, good or bad. Now my sister is going to be the first one to graduate in our family and they couldn’t be more  proud.

Daddy cop or Not a Cop?

By Mariia Inosensia Laymontia

The series I’m talking about today is Lionsgate television alongside 20th televisions hit tv show the rookie starring Nathan Fillion as John Nolan, a forty year old rookie, and the start to his policing career after his life takes an unexpected turn. Going through tough battles on what he’s to do with his career being older than his training officers and other fellow rookies, almost doubling them in age. The show also makes light of other characters such as Nolans fellow rookies, officer, jackson west a second generation police officer, who is trying to live up to his fathers name played by Titus Makin Jr. as well as officer Lucy Chen, another fellow rookie played by Melissa O’Neil. They all go through the harsh process of becoming a cop having to deal with petty criminals, genius masterminds, murderers and serial killers, even their very own chain of command as well as corruption in the LAPD. 

During the time of the Rookie we know John Nolan is a rookie cop in his Forties who went from being divorced with a kid who’s now in college and owning his own construction business that was going pretty well. This all changes when an incident in his old home town of Foxburg Pennsylvania that leads to him being involved with some criminals and being saved by the police in his hometown. This one event where he felt like he was going to die ended up not only changing his views on the world but changing his career path entirely. He then switched careers, joined the Lapd and became what is known in his division as the oldest rookie. There were challenges of course his watch commander sergeant grey hated what he stood for thinking he would get someone killed and constantly belittled him and made him an example of what not to be like only pushed Nolans resolve to stay in the FTO program in the LAPD. 

He goes through all this with his fellow rookies lucy chen who is not only his fellow rookie but as well as his lover which is strictly not allowed in the LAPD which lead to both Nolan and Chen hiding the truth from their fellow officers and friends knowing that one mess up can have them both fired and possibly even arrested. This becomes a struggle whether to stay together or focus on trying to become a cop. Then their officer Jackson West who’s a second generation who is just trying to become a cop and follow in his fathers foot footsteps struggles with getting accustomed to being a rookie. He is used to being the best at everything, he broke his fathers records in the police academy and was at the top of his class in everything and now he is at the bottom trying to make his way and show that he belongs not because his father is a legacy but because of his own triumphs. 

There are plenty of other side characters who become very important but the show focused its first season around officer Nolan and the rookies since they are the main cast, yet you can’t stop being invested in the side characters storyline. Give officer tim bradford for example he is a ex army soldier whose partner used to be his wife, now ex wife who became addicted to narcotics on the job and she spilled out of control and this ends up being a heavy burden for him as he is always the rule follower with the higher moral code thinking everyone should aspire to be a certain level of professional in the LAPD. This is what keeps everyone coming back for more the way they use the side characters not as additions to the main cast story but little side stories that lead its viewers wanting more.

This as well as the stunts in the rookie make it unlike any other tv cop show where we only see everything happening in the third person. David Rowan was the main stunts coordinator who not only helped on the runaway car scene but also planned out the explosion and also the point of view. This is the main thing that sets the rookie apart from other cop shows; they actually used bodycam footage from each character and incorporated it into the show, giving it a more realistic feel. Not only that but the graphics and details on each crime accident or even the everyday encounter in the show. The show body cam as well as dashcam footage to give it a life-like feel to the scenes. David Rowan was an essential part in this show’s production; without him it would have felt like any other cop show but with his input he does an amazing job of making the rookie thrilling and exciting. 

Each episode is different from the last yet interconnected; the rookie has a massive amount of writers and each one gives a different view to an episode. They can go from focusing on Nolan and his fellow rookies to completely different characters that were just meeting or even comedic relief. Each character gets a storyline as well as a part in the series whether it be the nameless police officers or the detectives they have a part in the series. 

The rookie is a completely different cop show that does not only feel like a cop show, it has laughter and seriousness in every ep[isode along with a team that supports and changes the view and outcome making it a show that never gets old and keeps coming back. 

Source page

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7587890/fullcredits/stunts

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0746454

gentrificación del barrio

Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a poor urban area is changed by wealthier people moving in, improving housing, and attracting new businesses, typically displacing current inhabitants in the process. The area of 167 has gone through many changes throughout the years and many of these have not been for the better.  The process of gentrification has become a widespread problem for these low income communities in the Bronx and everyone in the neighborhood is feeling the impact of such changes.

During such instances we see teens in the Bronx feeling out of place in their own neighborhoods even if they’d lived their whole lives. We see this in the article radio rookie by Christina Adja who is a guest speaker on the show provides her experiences with living in a neighborhood that has gone through changes due to gentrification. She states “shiny apartment buildings going up” and “How do changing neighborhoods affect teenagers’ sense of stability and belonging” this is not just affecting the adults who see it first hand but also the kids who are affected by it. Their favorite family restaurants getting replaced by a fast food chain and playgrounds getting torn down to put up new high rise buildings. The old Bronx has changed and not always for the better.

Gentrification doest always affect the outside of the neighborhood but also what we eat, drink and how we spend our money. Everyone knows the supermarkets have recently been increasing prices on certain items. In The link between gentrification, children’s egocentric food environment, and obesity it tells us how children’s obesity also relates to the change in foods available to the family  in this article it says “We find that children in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods see increased access to fast food and wait-service restaurants and reduced access to corner stores and supermarkets compared to those in non-gentrifying areas” this is just one of the many reasons that gentrification affects these low income neighborhoods by making these places inaccessible to healthy foods due to their high prices which leads to families having no choice then to go for the cheaper option with fast foods leading to further health implications in the future.  This is another Phenomena called a food desert.

Now time to explain some of my own personal experiences in the very controversial topic that is gentrification. I’ve seen it myself from bodegas getting turned into juice bars to family restaurants getting turned into fast food chains. These are just some of the things I see happening to my neighborhood. Let’s get into my neighborhood. I live in the southeast Bronx close to Yankee Stadium, a place full of tourists during the games but not busy during any other time of the year. Originally my neighborhood was just where normal people lived, no real entertainment or places to visit to make it interesting, just a humble neighborhood. Some of the biggest changes I can think of is the appearance of a new school called Dream that is right by the four train. Construction of the school started in around 2016 when I was around nine years old and me and my siblings were all saying how cool it was until we realized that that wasn’t the only thing changing. I asked my mom and dad who have lived in this same neighborhood for twenty-four years and asked them how gentrification has changed our neighborhood and the answers shocked me. 

The Andrew Freeman home, a giant mansion in an old timey building that is right next to where I live used to be a senior citizens center where they had graduations of the local middle schools and was open to the public during community events. I remember seeing it on my way to pick up my mom from work everyday admiring the graffiti placed on it, seeing them as murals that embodied what it meant to be from the bronx. 

The next few years making the same walk I would always make made me see how much it changed from being a senior center to an escape room to a reception hall as well as a place where fashion shoes would be held broke my heart. This place I would walk by used to help out the community bringing kids and adults alike to its doors to mingle with one and other turned into someone’s next instagram post.

These are all things that can happen to anyone’s neighborhood some people may see them as a good thing while others like myself just want the old peaceful vibrant, and colorful neighborhoods were used to, to stay the same. We don’t need a big realtor to go and change something that isn’t broken and when they do change things do it for the betterment of the neighborhood not to bring in more of the same rich people that want to feel like they’ve changed it for the better. 

  https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wnyc.org%2Fstory%2Fchristina-adja-gentrification-bronx%2F__%3B!!MTWKpDe2aQ!Id5WwwxvYbhlpdEg9XRi71V-Des1SSuYHdv4roBFJbhSdZp77o2fe0KNhROC_xqXHLEuILrXU_hqEMer6VdYAefjbgMhi3lUtFc%24&data=05%7C02%7Cbmorale003%40citymail.cuny.edu%7Cd4bfaa4992f04d00eb7908dd5667bdc3%7Cd916a2d793e94ac99afb45a0d646a0b9%7C0%7C0%7C638761725977478353%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=OzfaFmQW26LOv01WC85%2FwrhCzJFXQfLHoPj4WjMYChc%3D&reserved=0

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10229138

https://www.aecf.org/blog/communities-with-limited-food-access-in-the-united-states#:~:text=Neighborhoods%20with%20limited%20food%20access%20%E2%80%94%20som