Category Archives: Personal Empowerment

About 30 volunteers went door to door to East Gainesville residents on a rainy Saturday morning, providing resources and asking survey question to help improve the communitys standard of living.

It was the third year that the nonprofit Gainesville 4 All organized the door-knocking day to help families and communities in the area boarded by Waldo Road, Northeast 16th Avenue, Northeast 9th Street and Northeast 39th Avenue, also known as the Gainesville Empowerment Zone.

The volunteers, comprised of local college and high school students and concerned residents, were excited to go out into the neighborhoods. They handed out bags with flyers and resources, ranging from free cable TV services to information about cancer prevention. They also asked residents to complete surveys on their smartphones to understand their needs and concerns.

The survey responses will help Gainesville 4 All, which focuses on addressing racial and economic inequities in the community, include resident input in its plans for establishing the GEZ Family Learning Center. The learning center would help serve low-income families and their young children beginning at pregnancy and through kindergarten in these neighborhoods with wide disparities in every sociological and economic stratum of the community including housing, health, transportation and criminal justice, according to a 2018 report.

The organization celebrated its fifth anniversary by returning to the area to follow up with residents from their last survey in the fall of 2018, James Lawrence, Gainesville 4 Alls executive director, said.

Were coming back to check in with people and thats important for communities like the ones that were trying to serve, Lawrence said. To know that were serious about advocacy and that were just not a one-shot deal that shows up doing research and use people as they too often are used.

Volunteers started piling into the parking lot of Faith Mission at 9 a.m., signing in and getting their Gainesville Empowerment Zone T-shirts before being assigned into one of the three teams that would each go into different surrounding neighborhoods.

Pastor Gerard Duncan, founder and senior pastor of Prayers by Faith Outreach Ministries, instructed the volunteers on how to approach residents properly, including door knocking tips and an emphasis on respecting their boundaries.

Rev. Clair Carter, 34, director of Family Empowerment at the Trinity United Methodist Church and the Circles of Gainesville program, said she supports and encourages all the Gainesville 4 All is doing and learning how to work together for the goals of the neighborhood.

I am pleased to have James out here lead everything and moving us towards understanding our neighbors, what theyre dealing with, what their hopes are and how we can find common ground, she said.

As part of the University of Floridas office of political affairs associated with the Hispanic Student Association and one of the volunteers, Johana Mejia said her role consists of finding opportunities for UF students to go beyond and explore the local communities.

This is a great opportunity for us to learn more about the socioeconomic issues surrounding us and I just love encouraging students to come out and help out, the 19-year-old said.

By 10:15 a.m. the three teams headed out into their respective areas, knocking on doors, talking to residents about the resources they are offering and having them answer the survey questions.

The canvassing survey asked residents to name two of their biggest daily challenges in the last year, ranging in options like food, affordable utilities, transportation, housing, employment, high-quality childcare, access to a doctor or dentist, personal safety and mental health.

And with that information, its going to help us with our plans for opening the Gainesville Empowerment Zone Family Learning Center, James Lawrence said.

Lawrence said members of Gainesville 4 All met with the Alachua County School District on Thursday to negotiate a memorandum of understanding to house their Family Learning Center at Metcalfe Elementary School. They hope to finalize the location by the end of the year.

The center advances the organizations focus on shrinking the achievement gap between Black and white students in the county, Lawrence said. They will use data from the survey responses to identify specific services families need to improve their childrens academic performance.

Right now, too many African American children are showing up for kindergarten already behind, and they never catch up, he said.

Lawrence said he also hopes that their work and project encourages the school district and state to start redesigning public education to help close the achievement gap.

After each team of volunteers returned from canvassing in their assigned areas at noon, food and drinks were passed around. Volunteers celebrated the organizations anniversary as Lawrence and other Gainesville 4 All members thanked everyone for their work.

Wanda Nichols, a registered nurse on the Family Support Team for Gainesville 4 All said she hopes that engaging with the communities allowed them to be open to the organizations help in supporting these families.

We want to make sure that were supporting the community and that we have resources at [the GEZ Family Learning Center] to serve communities and families, Nichols said.

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Gainesville for All volunteers share resources, survey neighborhoods in East Gainesville - WUFT

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SAM Evans was just 23 years old when she was offered her first line of cocaine - at the funeral of a friend who had died from a drugs overdose.

Having been through a heartbreaking abortion, suffered horrendous bullying and in mourning, Sam was at an all-time low - so she said yes.

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Within six weeks, the now 42-year-old was taking cocaine every day, spending hundreds each week. Her weight dropped from 10.5st to 8st, and she was signed off work.

It sparked a spiral of addiction that saw Sam, from London, forced to declare herself bankrupt aged 30 after getting into 40,000 of debt to fund her habit.

Now, Sam has turned her life around, earns up to 10,000 a month as a life coach helping others overcome adversity, and she has written a new book The Cognitive Switch.

Taking drugs was a cry for help that no one could hear. I was unhappy and had been since I was little. I was desperately seeking love, Sam said.

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It led me into toxic relationships, and because of the way I was behaving, no job I had lasted more than 18 months.

But through the work Ive done on myself with coaching and therapy in the past five years, I believe what I go through I grow through to help other people. That I needed to go through the pain, come out the other end, and show people how they can do it too.

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Sam grew up in East London in a predominately white British area, in a strict Indian family with her two younger sisters.

She felt as though she didnt fit in at school, and was bullied by classmates who racially abused her. At seven, she remembers praying to god to take her back.

I didnt fit in because I didnt look the same. Other kids would tell me I was dirty because of my skin colour.

My parents were very strict, so I didnt feel as though I could breathe without getting into trouble.

It was the same at secondary school. I tried desperately to fit in, but friends would disappear quickly.

At 15, Sam had had enough of living at home when her parents divorced, so she went to live with her grandparents nearby, who allowed her to get a part-time job in Topshop.

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But Sam would spend every penny on clothes and became addicted, hiding her haul in her wardrobe.

I loved the new outfits and little tops, but I wasnt allowed to wear them.

After completing her GCSEs and A-levels, Sam studied an art foundation course, then a massage course, but she left both without finishing.

At 18, and teetotal, she started socialising and met her then boyfriend, falling pregnant when she was 20.

I didnt know what to do, so I had an abortion. Id only told my ex, so he came with me to the clinic. When I came round after the procedure, I was screaming at him to leave me alone.

I split up with him, and felt numb. Abortion was frowned upon by my family, but I eventually told my mum and she was really supportive, but I was deeply heartbroken at what Id done.

I was doing a gram of cocaine a day at 50 a day. I started borrowing money from friends, taking out loans and maxing credit cards to fund my clothes and drug habit. I was spiralling out of control.

Within the next year, Sam was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, just as she was going to launch her own business, a retail store selling womens clothes.

Then, aged 23, one of Sams friends died of an accidental drugs overdose. And her world came crashing down.

I was offered cocaine at his funeral. At first I said no. But I was at an all-time low, and Id never let go after of having an abortion. When I had a taste of cocaine I thought this is amazing, it numbed my pain.

Within six weeks, I'd been signed off from work, my weight went from 10.5st to 8st. I was addicted.

I was doing a gram a day at 50 a day. I started borrowing money from friends, taking out loans and maxing credit cards to fund my clothes and drug habit. I was spiralling out of control.

Working in the financial industry as a PA in London, Sam started going out clubbing.

At first, she would spend 500 a night, buying everyone drinks and drugs so she felt in control.

Sam would also spend 1,000 per month on clothes, opting for designer brands such as D&G, Versace and Prada.

I just didnt care about myself. I ended up rowing with my real friends who wanted me to stop taking drugs, and found other people who wanted to take cocaine.

Id get out of my head. Sometimes Id just go off on my own, jump in a taxi and go dancing, even though I could barely stand up. Im so grateful nothing happened to me.

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I had no sense of responsibility, and all my jobs were on short-term contracts, so Id either get sacked or the contract would come to an end and they wouldnt ask me to stay.

Sam ignored her increasing debts, which were racking up interest every month.

By the age of 25, Sam was 40,000 in debt. So she took out an Individual Voluntary Arrangement with a company who called her over the phone, and started paying off 425 a month.

But her partying continued, and at 27, she met her ex-boyfriend, and she began to shut out her friends and family.

I pushed for us to move in with each other, despite friends warning me he was a bad influence. Wed stay at home doing cocaine, sometimes staying up for days.

People were calling me a junkie. You can see in photos how dark and sad my eyes were. I was a wreck.

This carried on until I was 29. Then we split up, and I was devastated. I found out he hadnt been paying the rent, so I had to pay the arrears.

How YOU can boss it like Sam and set up your own business:

I then had a call to say my IVA had been conning me, so none of my debt had gone away. That money I had paid every month for five years just disappeared.

I then lost my 30,000-a-year job at a bank, and had an emotional breakdown. I hit rock bottom.

Sam managed to pick herself back up, but it took seven months to find a new job because of her bad credit rating.

Aged 30, she started working at the Bank of America, moving into a new flat and she cut down the amount of drugs she was taking, but she was still addicted.

The following year, at work, Sam met her now husband Barry, now 45, and it was love at first sight - after a whirlwind romance, Barry proposed to Sam on her 31st birthday in 2011.

Having found someone who gave Sam the security she longed for, she quit her drug habit overnight. She found a different high in life.

We had moved into his house in South East London, and I was pregnant with our first child, when Barry got down on one knee, and I said yes straight away.

Sam suffered postnatal depression after Joshua, now nine, was born and decided to quit her banking career to become a montessori teacher.

After welcoming their second child, Micah, in 2013, Sam started to work in network marketing, which introduced her to positive affirmations and the benefits they had on her mindset.

This led her to the world of coaching, and in 2018, she started to work with therapists and mentors to peel off a layer at a time.

It was a really emotional time - I would cry a lot during these sessions as all the negative emotions from my past would come to the surface.

I got to the root cause of why I had turned to drugs, and had become addicted to buying clothes.

In 2018, Sam - who is now a qualified Emotional Quotient Practitioner and Hypnotherapy coach - set up her own business Sam Evans Global, where she helps clients through personal crises and meet their professional goals.

I help people who feel stuck and like theyre going round in a vicious cycle and no matter how hard they push themselves they feel like theyre going backwards.

I would cry a lot during therapy sessions as all the negative emotions from my past would come to the surface. I got to the root cause of why I had turned to drugs, and had become addicted to buying clothes...

I rewire their thinking, to forgive the past so they can achieve what they want, whether thats in a relationship, in a business or as a parent.

Through one-on-one and group sessions, Sams business has soared, with her earnings topping 10,000 a month.

Sam charges 2,000 a month for her one-to-one programme, and offers these or group sessions, which vary from 299 to 1,197pp per month. Her clients are based in the UK and the US.

On top of this, she also earns money from book royalties, her practitioner courses and training other coaches.

She has written about her experiences and coaching techniques in a new book called The Cognitive Switch: Turn off self-sabotage and turn on self-empowerment like a flick of a switch.

Ive shared these powerful tools to allow readers to take ownership themselves. I tell them how to do it, and guide them through the process, and they know that Ive been where they are.

The book put every single piece of information in my brain together. It was like everything I had been through had led to this point.

I now feel aligned and now feel content. I understand why I went through everything that I did. I now know my purpose, more than ever, and I now know that my purpose is definitely bigger than me.

For more inspiring real life stories,Jemma Solomon revealed her sister sister Stacey caught the labelling bug from her- she set up her company with 300 & now Lord Sugar has invested.

AndTropic Skincare's Susie Ma set up her 51m business when she was 15 Lord Sugar fired her on The Apprentice but STILL invested 200k.

PlusRayner Davies was a single teenage mum on benefits now her cleaning business turns over 4m a year.

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I was bankrupt at 30 & in 40k of debt from funding my cocaine habit now I earn 10k a month with my coa... - The US Sun

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A 2020 womens leadership study from LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Co. found that American women held less than40% of corporate management positions, and women continue to fight underrepresentation when it comes toboard positions and CEO roles. They also face gender bias, harassment, and opposition to their management styles.

Heres how one MIT Sloan alumna has pushed back on those statistics and used what shes learned along the way to help those behind her.

Kelsey McRichards, MBA 10, owner and CEO Honest Property Management, former healthcare executive

Who was an ally or mentor for you as youve navigated your career? What made that person stand out, and how specifically did they help you get to the next level of your professional development?

I went through a professional women's development course with The Commonwealth Institute. The course armed me with resources, knowledge, and contacts. It also assigned me a mentor. It's been eight years and I can still call up my mentor as well as two other women I met in that program who I adopted as my mentors. I definitely encourage other women to seek out programs like this and make the most of them.

I can be prone to overanalyzing things and second-guessing myself. When I have really tough decisions, I'll ask all three mentors for theiradvice. Their aligned advice has never once led me astray, and the confidence it gives me to make bold moves is invaluable.

Can you give an example of a time youve experienced or witnessed genderbias? How did it affect you professionally? What impact did it have on your job?

At my first job out of business school, there were four particular men who were very tight-knit. They had been with the company a long time and had a lot of power, including with my boss. In my view, these men were underperformers. I didn't have enough savvy at the time to truly hide how I felt, and I wasnt appeasing them.

When I went up for a promotion, it was denied because I wasn't getting along with others," as if I wasn't getting along with anyone. I was devastated and felt like a failure for almost a full year. Then Lean In was published, and I swore Sheryl Sandberg must have been spying on me. My scenario and the words my boss used to describe my "failure" were written out almost verbatim in the book.

Later I learned the group of men had complained to my boss, which affected the promotion decision. I finally saw the gender bias for what it was. I also knew that changes were not coming to this company any time soon so I left.

In my new company, I was quickly recognized as a high performer. They moved me through three departments and two promotions in four years, explicitly putting me in charge of underperforming units to help turn them around. The results I had to show from those efforts then gave me the credentials to get hired and promoted by another company. In total, I went from manager to vice president in five years.

Certain industries are as male-dominated as ever. Where do you see progress in your own professional experience and how can we scale that throughout your industry?

I had a male VP who hired many women in their 30s who then started families. One of my promotions happened while I was on maternity leave. I came back to a new job as a new mom, and no one blinked an eye. The sense of empowerment among the women on the team, both those with and withoutchildren, was incredible.

More companies need to have that kind of attitude,then make that attitude visibleand normalize the flexibility women need to manage both their personal and professional lives.I think some companies might fear that lots of flexibility means performance goes down. In this case, expectations were high, but talented team members had the flexibility they needed to meet them. This in turn made theteam stronger and allowed us to continue setting the bar higher for what our organizationcould achieve.

How do you support women coming up behind you?

I love to pay it forward through mentorship since that was so monumental for me.I also like to tell other leaders when I notice good work in the company. Calling out good work helps people get noticed by their managers or other leaders when too often good work can get ignored while we're focused on the latest company fire. Sometimes that can be the difference of whether someone is considered for a new opportunity,especially if that person is female, BIPOC, and/or LGBTQI+ and especially if you are viewed as a trusted source.

What is the most difficult lesson youve learned in your professional life? In what unexpected ways did you grow from it?

Prior to being told I wasn't likeable, I had made it to age 30 with words coming out of my mouth like "Does sexism still exist? I've never experienced it." I was only looking for 1950s sexism, when the truth is that gender bias is stillalive and well, it's just much more subtle now.

I still remember the sadness I felt in that year when I thought I had absolutely failed professionally, but I'm also grateful for the huge wake-up call it gave me. In addition, I am now able to spot subtle but real gender bias danger zones and navigate around them while still getting my work done.

Read next: This founder and CEO works to get women closer to capital

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How a visionary boss helped this CEO succeed - MIT Sloan News

Posted on Nov 12, 2021

COVID-19 has heavily impacted the school experience for young people over the past 18 months. But has the time outside the classroom revealed a need for the current education system in the UK to be reviewed? A new study from youth-led community organisation Conscious Youth reveals all.

With government restrictions massively reducing how much time has been spent in the classroom, Conscious Youth polled young people in the UK1 to find out how they found the learning experience and what changes they would like to see in their education moving forward.

Delving into the topics young people think should be taught in high school, the top ten subjects they would like adding to the curriculum are:

Other topics young people are keen to learn about in school include real-life sex education (53%), sustainable living (40%), sociology and anthropology (47%), nutrition (50%), online etiquette and safety (37%) and social skills (47%).

Commenting on Conscious Youths study, Caroline Allams, education expert and co-founder of Natterhub said: The subjects highlighted in Conscious Youths research are a clear indication of whats currently lacking in our education system and so many nudge towards personal empowerment, wellbeing, and mental health-related issues. Its great to see young people recognising the importance of human skills as well as academic knowledge.

As we know, classrooms are diverse environments with many different academic, social and personal needs. From a young age, there could be more opportunities to play to peoples strengths and provide a nurturing education for different learning styles, skills-based courses, and apprenticeships. We need more open-ended creativity across the entire curriculum and recognition for pupils who are not inclined towards academic frameworks. This could provide greater wellbeing, self-acceptance, entrepreneurship, problem-solving and personal achievement.

Reflecting back on the recent UK lockdowns, the new study reveals that 30% of children say they did enjoy virtual learning, with the main reason being that they liked the freedom it gave them (67%). Over half (56%) say they enjoyed being able to learn at their own pace at home, with 44% saying there were fewer distractions compared to the classroom.

However, 43% of young people say they personally did not enjoy virtual learning as they missed being around their friends and teachers (73%).

Conscious Youth also asked children to share what ways of learning they would like to see continue. A staggering 57% state they want more freedom for individual learning following COVID-19. Over a third (37%) would like to see a combination of at-home and in-classroom learning moving forward.

So how could the school week look in the future? The majority (57%) of young people say their ideal school week would be three full days in the classroom followed by two days split between in-classroom learning and real-life work experience.

Sophie Simpson, Co-Founder and CEO of Conscious Youth said: One of the biggest areas that has been impacted for young people in the UK over the past 12 months is their education. The change in how children learnt over this time has really highlighted how behind the times we are and that the education system in the UK needs to be reviewed.

The world has changed dramatically and the issues young people are facing are different to when I was at school. Its more important than ever to ensure they are equipped with the right knowledge and skills to be able to succeed in the future. From black history in the UK to personal finance advice, its great to see that young people have the appetite to grow their knowledge in these areas. We just need the UK government to sit up and pay attention to what young people are calling out for.

To find out more about the research, please visit: https://consciousyouth.co.uk/school-children-call-for-mental-health-mortgage-advice-and-self-defence-to-be-added-to-the-curriculum/

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School children call for mental health, mortgage advice and self-defence to be added to the curriculum - HR News

ONCOLOGY co-editor-in-chief Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, recaps the 2021 Leadership, Empowerment, and Development Conference: Enriching and Supporting Women in Hematology and Oncology.

The LEAD 2021 conference recently brought together leaders in hematology-oncology for a daylong virtual event focusing on essential career development, networking, oral abstract presentations, and awards. What makes this conference different than all the other hematology and oncology conferences? LEAD stands for Leadership, Empowerment, and Development, Enriching and Supporting Women in Hematology and Oncology. This conference does not focus on the science or medicine of hematology-oncology, but instead focuses on presenting statistics on women in hematology- oncology leadership, the perceived barriers to advancement, and methods for overcoming these barriers.

LEAD had several unique aspects such as professional vignettes from hematology-oncology physicians, oral abstract presentations on diversity and inclusion, and an all-male panel discussing the male perspective on closing the gender gap in hematology-oncology. During the professional vignettes female physicians from academia, the pharmaceutical industry, and community practice discussed their stories and how they came to be the strong leaders they are today. These stories showed the remarkable resilience of the women who are subject to difficult circumstances in their personal or work environments and how they overcame these barriers. Abstracts were submitted for presentation on topics such as overcoming barriers, increasing diversity, and looking to the future of women in the hematology/oncology world. There was an excellent panel on resiliency and techniques to use for treating yourself and how to push the reset button. This conference, of which I severed as a co-chair, is a testament to how many outstanding and capable women are working in hematology-oncology.

Julie Silver, MD, who is affiliated with Spaulding Rehabilitation, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Brigham and Womens Hospitals, gave the keynote address Leadership Skills: How to Lead in a Mans World. Silver, who is associate professor and associate chair, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School, has focused her research on improving gaps in the delivery of health care as well as workforce diversity and inclusion. She discussed how women are often excluded and looked over for positions of authority and how to overcome some of those barrierssuch as education on business and leadership skills, involvement in key committees or teams, and volunteering for appropriate dutiesthat would be helpful in ones career.

My favorite part of the meeting was a panel of male hematology-oncology leaders who talked about the male perspective on closing the gender gap in leadership. The panel (a man-el) was moderated by Elizabeth Plimack, MD, MS, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and featured Clifford Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, CEO of the American Society of Clinical Oncology; Thomas Lynch Jr, MD, president and director of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Michael Caligiuri, MD, president of City of Hope National Medical Center; and Marty Whalen, vice president of Hematology at Bristol Meyers Squibb. My key takeaway from the panel was that it is critical for men to advocate for change. If all the committees are male dominated, there must be an advocates voice to point out the inequities and to bring forward deserving female candidates forpositions or awards. If 51% of the population is excluded from consideration, the position may not be filled by the most capable applicant. In addition, male leaders need to recognize the potential in all hematology-oncology physicians to enhance the infrastructure and be flexible to support their diverse needs.

The conference finished up with some practical tips on wealth wisdom and financial health for busy women professionals as well as 2 awards, Woman Oncologist of the Year, which was awarded to Pamela Kunz, MD, of Yale School of Medicine; and the Rising Star in Hematology-Oncology to Ana Velazquez Maana, MD, MSc, of University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. I look forward to the LEAD Conference next year and continuing education outreach on diversity and equity for female hematology-oncology physicians, hopefully at an in-person meeting.

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LEADing the Way: Leadership, Empowerment, and Development Conference - Cancer Network

In todays daily 5 Things You Need to Know feature, ThisWeekinWorcester.com explores five important items and stories that Worcester and Central Massachusetts residents should keep a close eye on.

These five things can cover a whole range of subjects and issues that we feel are pertinent to understanding whats going on in the city and the cities and towns surrounding Worcester.

In todays edition - Friday, November 12 - applications are being accepted for the Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program, Cookie Lady's Daughter is hosting two Thanksgiving themed classes this month, students at Shepherd Hill Regional High School are asking for donations for a food drive, the Worcester Chamber Music Society hosts at the BrickBox theater on Sunday and information on the increasing threat of conjunctivitis as temperatures continue to drop.

The Community Empowerment and Reinvestment Grant Program seeks proposals for projects and programming located within eligible communities that entail community-driven responses to community-defined economic opportunities, and that build leadership, collaboration, and capacity at the local level.

The program is administered by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development [EOHED] and offers flexible grant funding to support local partnerships.

The program will make general operating grants, on a competitive basis, primarily to projects proposing to mitigate the negative impacts of incarceration through education, training, and small business development, as well as recovery, prevention, and other social support services to individuals and families, that to help reduce justice system involvement.

To learn more about the program and access an application, visit Mass.gov.

Cookie Ladys Daughter, which specializes in sugar cookie decorating classes and take-home cookie decorating activities in the Worcester area, holds two Thanksgiving cookies classes in November.

On Tuesday, November 16, at 7 PM, the class is in session at Sail to Trail Wineworks, at 100 Barber Avenue inside the Higgins Armory Building in Worcester.

On Tuesday, November 23, Redemption Rock Brewing Co. at 333 Shrewsbury Street in Worcester hosts cookie class at 7 PM.

For more information, visit the Cookie Lady's Daughter website.

The Shepherd Hill National Honor Society is holding a food drive to support the Charlton Chip-In Food Pantry and Webster Dudley Food Share.

To contribute, bring your donation of non-perishable food items to the main office at Shepherd Hill Regional High School at 68 Dudley Oxford Road in Dudley.

Donations are accepted until November 19.

The Worcester Chamber Music Society presents French Connections as part of its 16th season on Sunday, November 14, at 4 PM, at the BrickBox theater at the Jean McDonough Arts Center at 20 Franklin Street in Worcester.

French Connections is a showcase of the innovative music and cultural exchange that occurred in early 20th Century Paris.

The program will be available On-Demand from November 29 through December 6 and features:

For more information and tickets, visit the Worcester Chamber Music Society website.

The regional medical director of American Family Care provides insight into on the threat of conjunctivitis as more cold weather sets in.

American Family Care in Worcester, with an urgent care clinic at 115 Stafford Street in Worcester, provides online check-in and current wait times on its website.

As colder months set in, many adults and children deal with a common yet extremely irritating eye ailment: conjunctivitis, also known as pinkeye.

Conjunctivitis is an unpleasant eye condition that is a very common health issue among both kids and adults, said Dr. Vincent Meoli, regional medical director of American Family Care (AFC) in Worcester. Pink eye is inflammation of the conjunctiva, which is the tissue that lines the eyelid and covers the white part of the eye. The condition is commonly caused by viruses, bacteria and allergens, but other irritants can cause pink eye as well.

One of the most obvious signs of pink eye is reflected in its common name: a red or pink color in the white of one or both eyes. Other symptoms include itching, irritation, discharge of pus or mucus, crusting of eyelids or eyelashes, increased tear production and a feeling like something is in the eye. Pink eye is rarely ever serious, but a persons vision can be affected if it is not treated promptly.

Some of the viruses and bacteria that cause pink eye can be very contagious. They are usually spread through contact such as handshaking, through the air by sneezes or coughs or by touching something with germs on it then touching your eyes, said Dr. Meoli. Because of its contagious nature, pink eye spreads fast in settings such as daycares and schools.

Its not always necessary to seek medical attention for pink eye. In fact, using cold compresses and eyedrops at home can help relieve pink eye symptoms. Contact lenses should not be worn while dealing with pink eye. Dispose of any products that have come in contact with the affected eyes, such as makeup, to prevent reinfection.

Pink eye caused by a virus will usually clear up in one to two weeks without treatment. Antibiotics may be prescribed for bacterial conjunctivitis, but this type of pink eye often improves in two to five days without treatment, said Dr. Meoli. When it comes to pink eye caused by allergies, removing the allergen will likely lead to improvement.

Medical attention should be sought if a person has pink eye along with eye pain, sensitivity to light or blurred vision that doesnt improve, intense eye redness, or a weakened immune system.

The spread of conjunctivitis can be prevented if people focus on good hygiene and infection control measures, said Dr. Meoli. If you have pink eyeor if youre around someone who doeswash your hands often with soap and water, avoid touching your eyes and do not share personal items.

The AFC staff in Worcester offers convenient, walk-in care seven days a week for patients of all ages, including colds, flu, infections, diagnostic rapid tests and antibody tests for COVID-19, physicals, on-site x-rays, care for minor bone breaks, burns and stitches for cuts and lacerations.

Lead image courtesy: The Cookie Lady's Daughter/Facebook (cropped)

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5 Things You Need To Know Today in Worcester - November 12 - This Week In Worcester

Lebanese-Canadian author and activist Najwa Zebian during her talk at SIBF 2021 at Expo Centre Sharjah Image Credit: Supplied

Sharjah: Womens empowerment took centre stage at Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) during a talk by Lebanese-Canadian author and activist Najwa Zebian.

The 31-year-old writer, in conversation with presenter Sally Mousa during a session on How literature inspires the empowerment of women, gave the audience lessons in self-love.

Zebian, whose fourth book Welcome Home: A guide for building a home for your soul was released in June, was discussing what makes relationships work.

She agreed with Mousas observation that some womens personal value is determined by their relationship with other people whether they feel worthy or not worthy. She stressed the need for an empowerment of young girls and women so they can see themselves as the leaders of their lives.

While on the topic of self-love discussed in her book, Zebian said: To me self-love means giving love to yourself the way you give it to someone you love. So, self-love is not a noun, it is a verb. If you seek to please someone when you are tired, it comes from a place of abandonment or people-pleasing attitude.

What is genuine love?

Genuine love doesnt require the other person to give it back to you, she maintained. If I only feel loved by you, only if you do exactly for me what I do for you, that is not love. That is validation.

She remembered how her parents wanted her to be a dentist but how she became an author because she lived her own dream.

Take time out for a book

Also at SIBF, four performers roamed the halls and aisles of SIBF at Expo Centre Sharjah with tiny suitcases in each hand.

The live show titled Time is Running depicts the artists racing against time in a journey full of challenges and laughter and yet taking a moment to sit and read an imaginary book.

Time is Running is a reminder that we need to read more, explore the world, and lose ourselves in new experiences, said Roy Tukkers, the creative mind behind Tukkers Connexion. We need to hurry, and sometimes we must slow down, and take time out to read real books especially now when people are hooked on to their phones.

The 40th edition of SIBF, held under the theme Theres always a right book, concludes on Saturday.

Original post:

Self-love for women in the spotlight at Sharjah International Book Fair 2021 - Gulf News

When Kid Cudi posed for photos at the CFDA Fashion Awards last night in a custom bridal gown, he stood hand-in-hand with its designer, ERLs Eli Russell Linnetz, lace-gloved fingers interlocked, both wearing American Gothic expressions. On the red carpet, Linnetz lifted Cudis veil.

Be yourself, be free, baby, yeah, Cudi said into a teensy microphone, with a grin; hed paired the dress with a white tux jacket, crystal-covered sneakers, grungy eyeliner, an icy Black Jesus pendant, and Manic Panic-pink hair. This morning, he tweeted a picture of Kurt Cobain mugging in a white dress, wearing a sparkly necklace of his own.

This isnt even the first time Cudis worn a dress in homage to Cobain in the last yearhe wore a custom belle-skirted, floral gown designed by Off-Whites Virgil Abloh while performing on Saturday Night Live back in June. For me, it represents personal empowerment despite any social norm, Abloh told GQ at the time It vehemently represents confidence. Its Cudi knocking on your television screen saying, Hey! Be yourself. Sounds familiar!

For his part, Linnetzwho was nominated for American Emerging Designer of the Year last night for his work at ERL, the white-hot, Venice-based brand endorsed by the likes of Kanye West and Justin Bieberis making a habit of swathing famous men in fabric, lending them a sense of play and softness that menswears been missing for, well, a really long time. (Linnetz also sourced the ginormous quilt A$AP Rocky wore like a cape to the Met Galaa garment that takes on a sexy quality when you consider how Rocky and his girlfriend, Rihanna, also wrapped in a duvet-like Balenciaga gown, arrived impishly late to the function.) Cudis ever-evolving style has such cultural relevance to meit expresses how I view the world of ERL, which itself is an embodiment and celebration of the changing face of America, Linnetz said in a statement. The ease of celebration here is key. Its about gender, its about sex!but not in an I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry sort of way.

Its also, as Cudi and Abloh reiterated, about confidence. The image of seeing Kurt Cobain in a dress was very rock n roll to me, Cudi said on HBO Maxs The Shop: Uninterrupted after his SNL appearance. I want to be a disruptor, I want to fuck shit up. And its cool because Im also giving confidence to the kids and telling them to be themselves do what they want to do.

Cudi also wrote about Lil Nas X, who also wore a wedding gown complete with mascara tears in his recent THATS WHAT I WANT video, for Times 100 most influential people issue: To have a gay man in hip-hop doing his thing, crushing recordsthat is huge for us and for Black excellence. The way hes unafraid to make people uncomfortable is so rock n roll.

Weve come a ways since Dennis Rodman wore a whole bridal look back in 1996 (with a full Kevyn Aucoin face, horse-drawn carriage, and entourage of tuxedo-wearing women), declaring that he was marrying himself. Male-identifying people wearing dresses and skirts is becoming more and more of a bonafide move, rather than a stunt. Be free, baby.

Read more:

Kid Cudi Wore a Wedding Dress For His Latest Kurt Cobain Tribute - GQ

Though I became a veteran by definition when I separated from the Army four years ago, it has been difficult to view myself as a veteran in actuality. Veterans were the grizzled old men who fought in Vietnam, or maybe former Green Berets who deployed to Iraq. While I got out, my teammates were returning to Afghanistan for second, third, and fourth tours. Veteran connotes the past, but my past was not the past to me because it was the present of my former teammates friends with whom I share some of the deepest bonds possible.

My cognitive dissonance ended suddenly and terribly as Kandahar, then Helmand, then Uruzgan places I dared to think we had made a difference all fell within a matter of weeks. Until then, it had felt foreign to live a civilian life while the friends I fought with continued the mission. Now I can no longer pretend that I am neither soldier nor veteran, as if there is a purgatory in between. I have had to take a deep and critical look at what my time in service was worth and what, if anything, it achieved. It is very difficult to point to much of a positive impact for the world or my country when all the patriotism-based premises upon which I based my early adult life fell apart, seemingly in an instant.

Veterans Day is different this year. With the sudden and cataclysmic end of the war in Afghanistan, or at least its American-led chapter, there is a jarring sense of finality. Personally, the wars end represents an immediate break between my past as soldier and my present as civilian.

Perhaps self-preservation is the reason I have abhorred questions about the politics of the U.S. withdrawal or debates on counterinsurgency since August. Participating in these impersonal debates, at least for me, generates a sense of painful helplessness in which my lack of agency is only too clear, while the sacrifices of the men and women who, along with their families, gave so much, are cheapened by abstractions and political ambitions. Maintaining a sense of self-worth and an ability to fully participate day-to-day as a husband, father, and employee requires that I avoid the fray of the withdrawal discourse for now.

Maybe someday I will be interested in the strategy debates, though it is hard to ever imagine diving into the often toxic political rhetoric. The other possibility, however, and the one that to me is much more profound and provides empowerment beyond mere self-preservation, is that the personal elements of my experience as a soldier are what truly gave me purpose, long-lasting direction, and a small sense of existential control.

My purpose, or at least my hope, is that I played a role in my teammates coming back alive. Not that I did anything unique or distinctly noteworthy I did not. But perhaps my wholly unremarkable individual actions were a small part of a tremendous collective mission to bring each other home. We all knew each others wives, children, parents, hopes, dreams, and fears. We all knew one anothers stories, stories that are ours together, but not mine alone to share.

If I have any fear now, it is that my life does not live up to their hopes and expectations, after they endeavored to allow me to live it.

It may seem cliche, or it may just be the next step in a search for meaning after a failed war, but there was never any higher and more tangible sense of purpose than the unity I felt as part of a team of Green Berets. That purpose was not strategic, nor even patriotic perhaps, but was instead a mission to fulfill our duties to each other. The feeling has extended into my current life and beyond my former unit I have been most comfortable and at ease when visiting former teammates, participating in the veterans club during graduate school, or attending Green Beret Foundation events.

I know that people want a clear answer on what Veterans Day means to former servicemembers. The reality is that Im still struggling with my own understanding of the holiday. When I was younger, being a veteran seemed like it ought to come with satisfaction from fulfilled service to the country, which we celebrated as a nation on Veterans Day. But the events of August introduced gnawing doubts about having centered prime years of my familys life around a war that ended so disastrously. Once I reflected on what mattered to me about my time in service, however the camaraderie, the bonds, the team my understanding of what it means to be a veteran crystalized somewhat.

What I have come to realize is that Nov. 11 is a day for veterans to celebrate each other not what we sought to achieve for our country, but what we mean to one another.

What I know now is that the veteran community an extension in the civilian world of the unit in the military sphere provides me the space and support to sort through struggles so that I can chart a path forward. Shared bonds that we forged in diverse units extend well beyond our time in uniform and continue to give me a sense of communal purpose as a civilian.

My evolving sense of camaraderie is probably what makes this Veterans Day different. As long as my buddies were still in combat in a country to which we deployed together, I could not conceive of myself as a veteran. I felt more like a deserter. My friends continued to return to Afghanistan, but I chose to go back to school. I did not feel that I had quit on the national mission by the time I was in Afghanistan, it was clear there would be no ticker-tape parade celebrating a grand victory on that score. Instead, I harbored a deep fear that I had quit on my teammates. We had fought for each other downrange, but I had chosen a path that took me out of the fight. The guilt of leaving my friends who would have to go back into harms way was crushing and constant for as long as they would have to return to Afghanistan. The reality, of course, was different. My teammates were some of my biggest supporters. They all still check in on how my family is doing, how school is progressing, what new job or internship I have lined up. Their support only made the guilt worse.

Now that our war is over, though, I will finally move on, looking toward the future as a veteran rather than the past as something else. But I will still need my veteran brothers and sisters. Not to bring me home this time, but to remind me that duty is about each other, which means the mission continues even out of uniform.

Brian Mongeau is a former U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Beret) non-commissioned officer and deployed to Afghanistan in 2017. He will soon be joining First In as a principal. First In is a veteran-led venture capital firm focused on cyber security and dual-use technologies and investing in veteran founders. Brian is a native of Massachusetts, recently graduated Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, can be found on Twitter at @bamongeau, and now resides in Boston with his wife and daughter.

Courtesy photo

Read more from the original source:

When the War Ended, My Life as a Veteran Began - War on the Rocks

NerdWallet, Inc. (NASDAQ: NRDS) provides financial education and personal empowerment via online tools. Last week, the company publicly launched by initial public offering (IPO), soaring 91% to a $2 billion valuation.

Initially bootstrapped, the company was founded by Tim Chen and Jacob Gibson in 2009. They started with an $800 budget and an Excel spreadsheet comparing credit cards. Miraculously, they've created a progressive personal finance site for the modern age.

Its suite of intuitive tools are a source of information, insight and consumer-driven advice centered around personal finance.

Jake Gibson left the company in 2014, but it was already a multi-million-dollar company. The following year led Chen to seek outside financial assistance in the form of a Series A venture capital round.

NerdWallet raised $131 million in its IPO after pricing shares at $18 each, the midpoint of the proposed range. It is listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol NRDS.

The company went public on November 4, with a share price high of $34.44. Unfortunately, the NRDS share price fell 23% the following day.

In the first half of 2021, NerdWallet significantly ramped spending on sales and marketing. It posted revenue of $182 million and a net loss of $27 million during this period. This compares to revenue of $137 million in the first half of 2020 and net income of $3 million.

CEO and co-founder Tim Chen owns 31.6 million Class B shares, while there are 33 million Class A shares available to the public. This means, at its current market cap of $1.6 billion, Chen's stake in NerdWallet is worth close to $800 million. He also maintains around 91% of the voting rights in NerdWallet.

Chen's Class B common stock grants ten votes per share, while ordinary Class A common stock shareholders have one vote per share.

Institutional shareholders include Innovius Capital, IVP, and RRE Ventures.

Innovius, founded by Justin Moore, owns 5.2 million shares of NerdWallet's' Class A common stock. Innovius also backed insurer Hippo Holdings (NYSE: HIPO), which went public via SPAC in August. Hippo was worth $5 billion at IPO but is now worth $2.3 billion.

Innovius has 1.5% total voting power in NerdWallet, with a stake currently worth around $135 million. Meanwhile, Institutional Venture Partners XIV L.P. has approximately 4.4 million shares and 1.3% total voting rights. Other notable IPOs IVP has backed this year include Compass (NYSE: COMP), The Honest Company (NASDAQ: HNST), and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN).

NerdWallet earns commissions by generating referral fees on the products it directs consumers to. It assures site visitors that this does not influence its product evaluations. Nevertheless, this commission structure does influence which products the company features along with how it directs product placement.

Financial institutions, such as banks, credit cards and mortgage lenders, pay the company for each signup they generate through the NerdWallet site. So, if a site visitor signs up for a loan, credit card or mortgage after reading an article on NerdWallet, then the relevant company pays a commission.

NerdWallet operates in a highly competitive online space, and its major competitors include Mint and Credit Karma, which are both owned by Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU), Lendingtree Inc (NASDAQ: TREE), The Motley Fool, and Bankrate (which also owns CreditCards.com).

One of the fundamental forces behind NerdWallet's meteoric rise is its unmitigated grasp on SEO.

The company had the foresight and clarity to build out a host of free finance tools, such as mortgage calculators, Interest rate calculators, Federal income tax calculator, Student loan refinance calculator and at least 20 more.

While also being relevant to the site's theme, this naturally brought organic page traffic, as it added genuine free value to consumers.

Along with the valuable tools, NerdWallet built enviable domain authority (proof that Google respects the site). As the company won awards such as 'Best Mortgage Lender' and 'Best site for young families,' its credibility in the eyes of search engines (and the public) grew.

According to SimilarWeb, nerdwallet.com's marketing strategy is focused on Search, with 86.22% of traffic coming from this channel, followed by Direct with 11.36%. And the website gets around 20 million visitors a month.

By investing heavily in new product offerings and new technologies it hopes to stay ahead of game and maintain a competitive edge.

The company is well respected and has a loyal following and good reputation.

It is expanding its global footprint.

NerdWallet depends on relationships with financial services partners which tend to be the type of organizations to have high cash reserves and are likely too big to fail.

As a smaller player in the space, it may be an attractive M&A target due to its loyal customer base. In this kind of scenario, the acquiring company often pays a 20-40% premium on the stock.

One of the top Risks to investing in NerdWallet is its dependence on Google and other internet search engines. If their algorithms, methodologies, or policies are modified or enforced without warning, this could affect its rankings.

It's a competitive and rapidly evolving space.

Revenues are unpredictable.

NerdWallet depends on relationships with its financial services partners, therefore any adverse changes in their financial strength, underwriting standards, or reputation could have a knock-on effect on NerdWallet.

It is embarking on an international expansion that increases its expenditure and heightens risks by operating in varying financial jurisdictions.

It is spending a lot of money on new product offerings and new technologies. This is an unmeasured risk because there are no guarantees the returns will be worthwhile.

If the consumer finance markets hit a rough patch or macroeconomic conditions deteriorate, so could NerdWallet's profit margins.

The financial services industry is subject to a variety of U.S. financial regulations, many of which are overlapping, ambiguous and still developing. This could result in unforeseen costs or restrictions down the line.

Tim Chen's significant voting control limits shareholder say in how the company is run.

Read more:

Nerdwallet IPO: What You Need to Know - Value The Markets