Legit

The Secret Life on Facebook

For Briya, her relationship was everything she wanted and more. She met David her freshmen year of college, and two years later they were happier then ever. One day while casually flipping through a friend’s photo album on facebook, Briya saw pictures of what resembled to be her boyfriend with another woman. After further investigation, she found out a whole other side to her prince charming’s life, one that devastated her

With more than 800 million active users, Facebook is a great social networking site to keep in contact with friends, old and new. Yet when it comes to relationships, the site might be contributing to dissolving relationships.

Facebook has installed many privacy features which can virtually hide anything, including photos and a relationship stuatus, from a certain individual or a group. This interface has made it easy to keep a boss or a conservative elder as a friend without them being able to see your life. But this has also made it easier to carry on a secret romantic life.

Accoridng to a survey on members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 66% of members say that they have found/used evidence on Facebook for a divorce case. From photos, to wall posts, to even private messages; all of the content on Facebook is available to those who really search for it.

“Who knew a social network would come in the way of a three year long relationship” says Zainab Hussain, a 24 year old college student. Hussain was on her boyfriend’s facebook when she saw a history of messages between him and his ex-girlfriend, many of them sexually explicit. “I was completely devastated, and hurt” said Hussain about finding the messages on Facebook. Since then, Hussain is now engaged to her fiance who she says “could care less about facebook.”

How to Find a Career that Best Fits You!

Growing I knew I wanted to be a doctor, I was always playing with a first aid kit and was intrigued by all the instruments in doctor’s office. I told everyone that I was going to be a doctor. It wasn’t until I began taking pre-med classes and volunteering at a local hospital that becoming a physician wasn’t quite everything I had expected it to be. In fact, I had no desire to continue on my path to becoming a doctor. It was then that I felt confused and hopeless. I had no idea where to turn to or what to do next.

I’m sure many people can relate to my story. We might have an image of something we want to do our whole life, but as soon as step into it the field we realize that it wasn’t anything like what we had expected. You might be a high school student that is close to graduating but have no idea what you want to pursue after high school. You might even be someone who has worked in a certain area for many years but you hate what you do and you wish you could change it.

So what can you do to find a career that best fits you? Here are some guidelines to help you out.

1) Take out a sheet of paper and answer these questions as honestly as possible.

• What do you enjoy doing? whether it’s playing soccer, playing the violin or digging for fossils we all have a certain hobby that we love to do.
• What are you good at? It may be helping people or working with numbers. What you enjoy doing doesn’t necessarily mean your good at it. If you love to play football, do you think your good at it? Good enough to make it to the NFL? No one else has to know about the private conversation between you and yourself!
• What are my values? Do you push for environmental efforts, are you against abortion? These are values and ideals that we hold true to our heart. If you believe in honesty and doing the right thing whether or not it hurts your bank account, than maybe being a criminal defense lawyer isn’t your path.
• What are my personality traits? Are you an introvert or an extrovert? Are you outgoing and friendly or do you prefer to keep to yourself and have your own space? All these factors are important in determining whether or not you will be satisfied in your job field.

2) Research!!!!

In this age of technology we have full access to an array of sources through the internet.  Take time to use the internet to your advantage and look through thousands of career paths. We all know about the major careers: Doctor, Nurse, Teacher, Principle but we don’t know about all the specific branches that each one has. www.careerplanner.com has a list of over 1200 careers you can browse through.

Also take the time to volunteer and talk to people who have been working in the field for a while. No job description will ever give you the hands on experience that volunteering will give you. By talking to people you will be able to get all aspects of the job, from the perks to the most negative aspects.

3) DON’T be influenced by:

• Family: naturally your parents wants the best for you and want you to be successful, but many parents are still in the traditional mentality that you cannot be successful unless you are a doctor or a lawyer. Of course those are two well respected professions, but if you don’t like what you do no amount of money could ever make that career choice worthwhile. Success is determined by the output of the work you put in, and when you love what you do you create a masterpiece= success!!!
• Salary: Money is what makes the world go around? Of course salary is a big factor in choosing a career, but it shouldn’t be near the top priority. You want to make enough to live comfortably and afford nice things, but when you pick a career solely based off salary you are digging yourself into a pit. Salaries change in any given job, but the work remains the same. So if you hate doing your job, then chances are you salary isn’t going to get any higher.

4) Develop a Plan of Action: Most people plan all the steps to get to their destination but rarely follow through with it. Develop steps! Determine whether the career will need additional schooling or training. Set deadlines for  yourself ex) Graduate by May 2013 with Bachelors of Arts in Psychology.

Keep motivational quotes and pictures around your space to motivate you everyday to wake up and achieve your dreams!

-Nagin Ghiyassi

Honesty Is the Best Policy

Honesty is the Best Policy
or so we’ve been told our whole life.
My parents were adamant on teaching me
that honesty was always the right way to go,
even if it was the more difficult way to live.
I guess up until now..ive always though of honesty
in black and white terms. LIES.
Honesty meant not telling lies, right?

Working in retail for almost two years,
I’ve come to see the sad nature of people.
I could write volumes upoun volumes of stories
of ways people have tried to cheat their way through life.
Recently I had a woman that casually came to the register
and placed a pair of jeans and a jacket on the counter.
Prices for them: $ 14.99 for the pants and $16.99 for the jacket.
Except that the pants were True Religion and the jacket Elie Taharie
both of which retail for $100 +.
It wasnt the money that bothered me during the incident but the way the woman
acted that made me shudder.
Her calm collected air, her cold eyes and the profane words that came out unceasingly after
I told her the price was wrong.
Yes, I was used to that type of customer. And it was with those experiences
that I dreaded going to work..dreaded meeting people and talking to them.

Yesterday a man came to me with just a leather wallet in his hand.
“Look I just bought this wallet and the lady gave it to me for $16.99..”
ohhh noo… i thought it my head. Here it goes again. I really dont want to listen
to you complain about ANOTHER problem so i gonna tune out and pretend I just listened and say..
sorry cant help you..
and then the man handed me 3 dollars.
HUH? All my senses cracked. “Im sorry, what did you say?”
He smiled and repeated his story.
“I just bought this wallet and the lady couldnt find a price so she gave it to me for $16.99,
It wasnt until I went outside that I looked into one of the pockets and saw a price for $19.99 
so I owe you $3.”
I looked at my coworker in shock.
This guy had come back, stood in the long saturday night line to tell me
that he owed US money????!!!!!!
A rush of warmth spread over me as I realized
that YESSS, THERE ARE STILL SOME GOOD PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD!
I could not describe the feeling of happiness I had at that moment,
that after the many crooked, disrepectful people I see
there was this genuinly honest person.
In the end, we declined his offer saying it was our mistaken
and I thanked him from the bottom of my heart for being so honest.
Maybe we dont all have to take it as far as standing back in line to tell the truth
but imagine if we could all live our lives that way…
Man has the capacity to, and it isnt until we truly want to change that
the effect will take place

Fashion, proof of defiance

After 20 years away from his homeland, my father decided to take a trip back to Iran to visit his family and friends and decided to bring me a long. I was 12 at the time, and my biggest concern, besides leaving my mom, was what to pack. Born and raised in Houston, Texas I had only heard about Iran through gossip and knew that after the Iranian revolution, it officially became an Islamic republic in 1979. That meant that the Islamic code of laws would dictate everything from how to live, to what to wear. My mother packed my suitcase with anything “modest” that I owned. Of course for me, modest described baggy and boy-fitting. No shorts, no skirts, no tight jeans or tights shirts.In addition to what I had packed, I was also advised to pack a roosari, which was a headscarf that all women in Iran must wear to cover their hear as well as a monto, a long jacket with long sleeves. I felt I was prepared!

It wasn’t until I landed in Iran and was able to finally walk through the streets that I noticed something. Most of the young women and girls were not wearing loose, boyish clothing. In fact they were wearing tight montos, where the buttons looked as if they would pop off and with quarter length sleeves. The roosaris, that the law required women to wear, were loosely tied on showing off half of their highlighted and teased hair. Women are required to cover their legs, but these women were wearing capris and sky high wedges! I looked at myself and the boyish clothing that I wearing and immediately felt embarrassed. 

The next day I took a trip to my cousin’s salon which was in her basement. It was very busy with women getting their nails done, their eyebrows threaded and their hair colored. I was in such awe that I sat in a chair quietly. My cousin asked what was wrong with me and I confessed to her that I thought women here hid behind a long dark veil. All the women in the salon began to laugh. My cousin explained to me that even though the government set standards on what to wear, the people are unhappy with the regime and thus take every possible opportunity to push the laws extent. Yes they were required to wear montos, but women would wear the tightest, thinnest montos they could find. Yes they were required to wear roosaris, but they would push it as far back as they could showing off their newly done hair. With a face full of makeup and the newest Gucci bag they would show the regime that they would still do as they pleased.

(I do not own any of these images)