Today’s Hope High Life Skills guest was the Senior Director of Planning and Analytics at CVS (PMO), Michelle Nguyen.  Our host for today’s class, responsible for welcoming Michelle to Hope High School and introducing her to the Life Skills class, was Delvany Soares.

Michelle Nguyen (right) and Delvany Soares. Delvany welcomed Michelle before class to Hope High School today.

Delvany leads Michelle into today’s Life Skills class

Delvany introduces Michelle to her classmates at the start of today’s Life Skills class.

Michelle’s story began with her journey as a 15 year old Viet Namese citizen to America, first to residential Virginia and then onto inner city Philadelphia.  “It was culture shock for me. 

I was nervous, sometimes fearful. 

Michelle begins her personal story with Chanda Nuth (to the right of Michelle) and Alaendry Tavares (to the right of Chanda) listening intently.

Our home in Philadelphia was in a poor and dangerous area.  We had a bullet shot into our home one day.  Unfortunately, my high school had lots of gangs and a strong police presence.  But,

Improvisation!

Students will eventually learn that the creative skill of ‘improvisation‘ with its prerequisite attitude of ‘perspective‘ will serve them well during their quest for lifetime success.

Today’s guest was John Garcia, Development Officer at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.   Upon discovering early this morning that Friday’s school schedule had been changed to accommodate an important all school activity, a conversation among Principal Hunt, John Garcia and Stephen Cronin created an opportunity for some students to still meet and speak with John Garcia.

John Garcia (center) with Elijah Akindolie (right) and Isaac Demola (left).

John’s story was inspiring and informational.

John’s parents were Portuguese immigrants.  Portuguese was the language spoken in his home. John spoke about his transition from Portuguese to English during his early years of education, from big challenges to eventual academic success. “It was a challenge initially;  success really came down to hard work and perseverance.  I believed education would help me become a successful person.” John said.

And, then, John shared one interesting anecdote with Elijah and Isaac.  “I was not initially accepted into my primary college.  They said my grades were not good enough.   So, I asked for a meeting with the Admissions representatives at Bryant University to tell the other part of my story.  As soon as Admissions learned how involved I was outside of the classroom, in different clubs and activities,

the brand perception of John Garcia changed. 

1.  Please read the profile of Preston Tucker in your “Brand” textbook (pages 107 to page 114).   After reflecting on the information you’ve read, state, in one sentence, your opinion why Preston Tucker’s dream of creating a successful car company to challenge Ford and General Motors in the late 1940s was unsuccessful.  Thank you.

2.  Complete Activity 14 in your “Brand” textbook on page 141.   Please keep in mind your answer should be ‘well written’.  ‘Well written’ means good sentence structure (no ‘run on’ sentences, perfect spelling and good grammar).      If you don’t have a textbook yet, access the Brand textbook on our web site to the right of our post.  Thank you.

Here is your homework assignment for this week.   Send your answers to my email address no later than Tuesday, October 13th, 11:59 pm.  Make sure your answers are well written with good sentence structure, proper grammar (punctuation, capitalization and no ‘run on’ sentences) and perfect spelling.  Thank you.

There is a very specific reason why I am asking you to respond to each of these questions.   Our homework is not ‘busy’ work; it has a specific purpose related to our class objectives.  If you are curious, feel free to ask me anytime about the reason for any assignment or class.

Everything we do in this class, from the people you meet, the field trips we go on and the assignments posted on this site are all designed to reach our Life Skills objectives;

i.e. helping you develop the critical skills necessary to create as many opportunities as possible for you to become a successful person.  It’s all about helping you become the successful person you aspire to be.   Seguro!

1.  Read page 10 in your “The Development of the American Brand” textbook.  If you just joined our class today and don’t have a soft cover, personalized textbook yet, click on the textbook link entitled “The Brand Book” shown to the right of this post on the web site landing page.  Go to page 10 (Glossary of Key Terms).  Explain in a well written paragraph how the lessons on page 10 apply to this picture below I shared with you in class today.  Your explanation must be written with well constructed sentences, good grammar and perfect spelling.

Photo of Pope Francis and Stephen Cronin during Mr Cronin’s recent visit to Charlotte, North Carolina.

2.  Read the profile of Cesar Chavez in your textbook beginning on page 65 and ending on page 71.  If you had the opportunity to go back in time to have dinner with Mr Chavez, what question would you ask him?   (Your question must be written with  good grammar and perfect spelling.)  Thank you.

3. Name a fictional character (super hero, monster, cartoon character, etc) you would love to have as a friend.   Then, tell me why you think this character would be a good friend for you.   Again, write well constructed sentences with good grammar and perfect spelling.