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Using herbs to ease physical and mental pain

BERKELEY, Calif. — The Twisted Thistle Apothicaire sells everything from tarot cards to hangover cures. Herbs are collected from local vendors and Malaysian shops. Even the types of customers vary from college students to middle-aged moms.

Street view of the Twisted Thistle Apothicaire in Berkeley, California. (Photo by Miranda Aldridge)

Though the store thrives on its eclecticism, its values are concise. The Twisted Thistle cares for its clients, valuing their mental and physical health.

Ruthie Elizabeth, who’s worked at the store for a year, spent six years traveling around the world and studying plant medicine. During an herbalism internship after college, Elizabeth was certain she wanted to work closely with people and plants.

A 29-country study by The New England Journal of Medicine found that women, low-income citizens and younger Americans are less likely to trust their doctors. Still, the United States ranked lower in terms of trust in the profession among both men (21st) and people 65 years of age or older (22nd).

A big part of why Elizabeth enjoys working at the apothecary is the connections she is able to make with her customers, ones they may not be able to make with their physician. She said she cherishes the moments when customers tell her personal stories about their pain and the reasons they come seeking help.

Ruthie Elizabeth, an employee of the TTA, uses plant medicine almost daily. (Photo by Miranda Aldridge)

“Working at an apothecary is a great space to help introduce people to different plants that can be healing to them,” Elizabeth said, adding that some people say they do not feel heard in a doctor’s office.

Elizabeth not only sells the herbs in the apothecary, but she also uses many different ones in her daily life. Whether the issue is a stomach-ache or anxiety, she said there’s always an herb that will soothe her pain.

She said some of her favorites products are adaptogens, which work to help the nervous system adapt to stressful situations and improve as a whole.

“One of my favorite plants is Ashwagandha, it really helps with any floaty feeling or anxiety.” Elizabeth said, “When taken daily, it’s been really helpful to me in that my nervous system feels stronger and more supported.”

Many other herbs help ease her nausea and stomach-aches in daily life and when she goes on trips.

“Echinacea is my go-to when I’m starting to feel sick or if I’m traveling.” Elizabeth said, adding that more common products like chamomile and peppermint tea also help alleviate pain.

Elizabeth explained that over-the-counter medicines like aspirin are already derived from plants, so utilizing that plant directly has a positive effect on the body. She notices the effects plant medicine and teas have on her and her customers everyday.

“I encourage anyone with any kind of symptom that feels like it’s not healing, whether it’s physical or mental pain, to come on in and check this store out.” Elizabeth said. “It’s really empowering when you start incorporating herbs into your life.”

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International students attend Berkeley summer sessions

BERKELEY, Calif. — Every summer, UC Berkeley students leave campus to visit hometowns, travel and work summer jobs. As they leave, undergraduate and graduate students coming from all over the world take their places on campus to participate in summer study sessions administered by the university.

Berkeley Summer Sessions offer international students an opportunity to learn at a well-regarded educational institution — UC Berkeley was ranked the No. 1 public university in the country by US News in 2018 — alongside intelligent, like-minded people from every corner of the globe.

Morten Fels and Liu Peng are both participants in the political science session. Fels, a 25-year-old from Denmark working on his master’s at the University of Copenhagen, and Peng, a 23-year-old working on his master’s at Peking University in Beijing, have become good friends despite coming from completely different places.

“Even though you’re from China _ totally different political system than we have in Denmark — we still actually think very much the same way,” Fels said to Peng.

Hyeonjoo Seo is an international student from South Korea taking summer courses in psychology and statistics at Berkeley.

Berkeley summer sessions also allow students to pursue interests unrelated to their majors. Hyeonjoo Seo is a 19-year-old chemistry major studying at Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea.

“My university doesn’t give us too many different fields, so I wanted to take different classes at UC Berkeley,” Seo said. “I’m a major in chemistry but I wanted to study statistics, mathematics, and biology or psychology.”

A high percentage of international students are Chinese, and almost every country imaginable is represented at the summer sessions. Seo has met people from China, Japan, France, Korea, Italy and more.

Gene Guo, a 20-year-old from China studying electrical engineering, appreciates the wide-ranging backgrounds of Berkeley summer students.

“Here you can make friends with people from all over the world,” he said.

Fels also enjoys how diverse students studying in summer sessions at Berkeley are.

“You really get to meet a lot of people from throughout the world. That’s amazing, that’s very unique,” he said.

From bottom left to top right: Bill Yuan, Samuel Tseng, Gene Guo

Though roughly 3,000 international students study at Berkeley in the summer, being given the opportunity to do so is not easy. International applicants have to demonstrate a proficiency in English, and their grades and test scores often have to meet certain requirements. Guo, Samuel Tseng and Bill Yuan, all of whom are from China, had to be in the top 20 percent of their classes to apply to their sessions.

Once students arrive at Berkeley, they have to get to work. While classes do not typically exceed three hours in length, many students attend multiple sessions, and the homework load can be heavy.

“Six weeks is not a lot, so it’s quite intensive,” Fels said. “We have a lot of stuff to do.”

Being a student in a foreign country can be a useful, formative and eye-opening experience, but it does not come without challenges. The language barrier, in particular, can be difficult to navigate. Peng and Seo agree that speaking English has been the toughest obstacle they have faced at Berkeley.

Other troubles include having to use different types of toilets than those at home and not having much to do at night in dorms. On the whole, however, the experiences of international students attending Berkeley summer sessions are positive and constructive.

Even though they have had varying experiences while staying at Berkeley, Fels, Peng, Guo, Tseng, Yuan and Seo all agree that coming to Berkeley to study during the summer was a good decision.

“It was worth it,” Seo said.  

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Bows and Arrows brings fashion to Telegraph

The minimalistic Bows and Arrows on Telegraph Avenue serves as a cutting-edge oasis of street-wear culture in the Bay Area. (Photo by: Cailan Ferguson)

In the hub of vibrant colors, culture and extravagance that is Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, one storefront stands out: Bows and Arrows, a minimalistic, sleek shop carrying cutting-edge clothing wedged in between a vintage clothing shop and a shop carrying foreign imported goods. The store serves as a beacon of fashion and streetwear culture, attracting customers throughout the East Bay.

Bows and Arrows has been in Berkeley for about 14 years, flying relatively under the radar.

“The Bay Area doesn’t have the greatest fashion scene,” said manager Kyle Martin. “It tells you that it’s really under par because there’s no fashion week here.”

Though streetwear culture isn’t dominant in the Bay Area, it shows more prominence in other parts of California. However, these locations definitely have their differences.

As Martin said, “LA is more expensive. They worry about the cost of something more instead of the style. It’s really hard to be into fashion… when you’re thrown a bunch of high-end clothes all the time. All people worry about is the Balenciaga, like the Triple S or the Sock Runner. They don’t really care about fashion.”

Bows and Arrows tends to stock streetwear pieces from brands such as Pleasures, Comme des Garçons Play and BrandBlack, but, as an independent retailer, deciding where to invest can prove to be a challenge.

“We have to find interest in it (potential merchandise), and it has to fit the idea and appeal of the store, also our customer clientele and what they’re looking at on a day-to-day basis,” Martin said. “It’s not exactly the most hype stuff, because that comes and goes really, really quick. You kind of need to put classic things around unusual things at the same time to draw people in.”

Additionally, the brands themselves play a strong role in deciding where they place their products.

Manager Kyle Martin trying on a pair of sneakers at the shop. (Photo by Gabrielle Lurie, The San Francisco Chronicle, reprinted with permission)

“They want to sit next to things that will make their brand justified at the price. Off-White wants to be in Barney’s. They want to be around other things. Raf wants to be around Alexander McQueen and Alexander Wang. They don’t want to be around a Stray Rats. They don’t want to be around no Pleasures. It’s all about placement,” he said, “what you see around it, the company you keep.”

Along with major brands, the store also frequently receives messages from smaller, independent clothing companies, in hopes of stocking their supply.

“We want to go for things that we want. If we notice you, that’s better than you contacting us to notice you. Instead of reaching out to us, expand your reach to just people, in general, and, then, if we hear about you, we’ll hear about you,” Martin said. “Branding is a hard thing to do, for people, especially in this day and age. People don’t understand exactly what the kids want, or what people want to see.”

While much thought clearly goes into the merchandise Bows and Arrows offers, it can still be very difficult to expand and gain exposure as a smaller shop in the competitive world of streetwear.

“We’ve gotten posted on Hypebeast and different little magazines that don’t have the same publication as a Juxtapose, or a Mass Appeal, or something like that, but we’ve been posted on other things,” said Martin. “Our reach, because we’re in the East, like Berkeley, isn’t as strong as San Francisco.”

Despite this, Bows and Arrows has more than 22,000 followers on their Instagram.

“Social media is a hard one… because with a store, it can get corny really, really quick. Just even the words you choose, the descriptions you give, how you choose to present yourself,” said Martin.

“We can put some shoes out, and nobody can care at all. It’d be whatever, they walk past it,” he add. “But if we post it on our Instagram page, people are just like, ‘Oh, yeah.’ It’s like ‘Oh, OK, I see it. It’s there. I’m gonna go purchase that.’”

 

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How this cup of joe serves a purpose

BERKELEY, Calif. — The 1951 Coffee Company believes in its mission of sharing refugee stories and experiences. As a nonprofit organization, the shop provides refugees with job assistance and employment through monthly barista training. Visual graphics displayed along the interior walls of the shop inform customers on the troublesome process of resettlement.

“It’s important for him to see the environment of all races and respect [them],” says customer Natasha Jacob of her 9-year-old son, whom she often takes with her. “He enjoys the numbers and graphics, and it opens a dialogue for us.” She has been visiting the shop ever since it first opened three years ago.

Co-founders Rachel Taber and Doug Hewitt “wanted to make a direct impact on the lives of the people they were already serving directly and to be their own bosses,” Melanie Miksis, 1951’s communication and fundraising coordinator, said.

Melanie Miksis has been the communications and fundraising coordinator since 2017. (Photo by Kennedy McDermott)

“They created this business model because not only does it provide job training, but also it’s the type of job that is so customer-focused and interactive that it’s putting people in the middle of what the U.S. culture is, which would be coffee,” she said. “It’s just a great relationship-building type of job.”

Staffers are given the opportunity to attend a barista training program at a nearby church, “That’s teaching between five to eight people per month the skills on how to make coffee, from point of sales to making an espresso drink,” Miksis said.

“On three of the 10 days we invite the public to come in as mock customers,” she added . “It’s a way for the trainees to practice customer service and also to make the drinks in an environment with real people, real customers, and just get them geared up for a real job in this environment. That’s a huge volunteer opportunity that we have every month.”

The company also encourages  workers to become familiar with their surroundings and go to other local shops as well.

“We recently had an employers’ event here and invited coffee-shop employers to come in and listen to a panel of some of our baristas that are now super-qualified. They were speaking about their experiences coming to the U.S., some confusion they had, and really breaking down this barrier of employing a refugee or asylee and to not have as much uncertainty with hiring,” she said .

The shop holds informational events on the resettlement issue, including recently on World Refugee Day June 20, during which each customer was given a new identification card and country of origin, an arbitrary number of family members and a level of ability to speak English.

Tables were numbered in Arabic and labeled in different languages, including French, Farsi and Tigrinya “to add that element of confusion to the people that were going through the simulation,” Miksis said. “It created a way for people to understand how confusing it is, how frustrating it could be, and how lengthy.”  

“It definitely prompted people to ask themselves what more can I do and how can I volunteer, whether it be with 1951 or with a resettlement agency in the area,” she said. “People were triggered to do more, to have more interest in what’s going on, and to feel like they can make some sort of difference in seeking ways to actually do that.”

For more information, visit the 1951 Coffee Company website.

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Young customers flock to iconic vintage store

The store stands on iconic Telegraph Avenue. (Photo by Polina Mogilevsky)

BERKELEY, Calif.— When walking into Mars Mercantile on the corner of Channing Way and Telegraph Avenue, one is immediately immersed in the grungy, psychedelic atmosphere that seems to emanate from every square inch of the space.

The staffer who checks your bag behind the counter is dressed in edgy, alternative fashion demonstrating some of the items and styles that can be found in the two-story time capsule of fashion dating back to the 1960s all the way to the 1990s.

There is music ranging from modern pop to ’70s psychedelic rock gently blaring from the speakers nestled all around the store. The atmosphere makes time slow and immerses the customer in the culture and history of the items on display.

Though the store currently boasts only 309 followers on Instagram, it has a loyal fan base from the surrounding area on websites such as Yelp.com, where the comments are mostly positive and the store holds a rating of 4.3 / 5 stars.

Kaijah Sabbah is an employee of Mars Mercantile and has been with the store for six months. She is originally from Sonoma County, California.
Sabbah describes her time at Mars as “groovy, hella groovy,” because “it’s enough creativity that I need in my life,”she  said.

She was attracted to holding a position at the store because “I always loved thrifting and get to style both people and mannequins,” she said.

Like many stores in the area,  Mars Mercantile requires customers to check their bags behind the sales counter until all transactions have been completed to avoid theft. This method is surprisingly effective, she said.

In her time at the store, Sabbah has only witnessed two instances of shoplifting, one of which was a woman grabbing a wig from a mannequin and running off. The store’s employees are all equally responsible for keeping an eye on their merchandise, which the owner buys in bulk from different warehouses.

Though the store attracts a large number of clients during the summer months, business really flourishes when all the college students come back to campus. Amber Ferguson, a Las Vegas, Nevada, native and Sabbah’s co-worker behind the sales counter, said that the business really picks up in September and October when the students come in looking for new clothes for back to school.

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What an apothecary has to offer over a dispensary

BERKELEY, Calif. — In January of 2018, the sale and cultivation of recreational marijuana was legalized in the state of California, opening a new market for potential users. Many people walked into apothecaries looking for cannabis, only to realize that apothecaries do not sell marijuana but instead offer a variety of non-psychoactive herbs targeted toward healing instead of getting high.

Twisted Thistle Apothecaire stocks many different herbs.

What these people who wanted to get high recreationally needed to be going to was a dispensary. Dispensaries sell cannabis: a psychoactive drug which, although legal, is still regulated in the state of California.

The natural remedy world has been around for ages, and cannabis isn’t the only herb around. Apothecaries sell various herbs besides tobacco and cannabis. These herbs are often unregulated by the FDA.

“There are herbs than can be used for pain, that can be used for digestion, for your immune system,” said Ruthie Elizabeth, an employee at the Twisted Thistle Apothecaire.

In fact, most people walking into an apothecary are an entirely different niche than the people who walk into a dispensary.

The only thing that both stores sell is CBD, but it is important to know that hemp-derived CBD, which can be found at an apothecary, and marijuana-derived CBD, which is found at a dispensary, are different.

Although both plants are members of the cannabis family, they contain different amounts of THC, the psychoactive compound in cannabis. Marijuana can contain up to thirty percent THC whereas hemp contains no more than three-tenths of a percent THC.

Herbs on display at Twisted Thistle Apothecaire.

The experience of intaking herbs can also be very different than the intake of marijuana. Herbs can be smoked, mixed in tea, or added as an extract, depending on the needs of a person.

“Smoking herbs is really more of a quick cerebral experience… and depending on the herb, drinking herbs as a tea can be very beneficial in a lot of different ways,” Elizabeth said.

Digestive issues and urinary tract infections may benefit from drinking tea because herbs in the tea will coat the mucous membranes of the body. Lobelia can open up your lungs so it’s an herb that may be better smoked.

There are also concentrated droplets of herbal extract called tinctures.

The tinctures that Twisted Thistle Apothecaire offers.

Elizabeth said, “Extracts are going to be a lot stronger and more concentrated and have a quicker onset. You take them sublingually under your tongue so they go into your bloodstream, or you can put them in water and drink them.”

When walking into an apothecary for the first time, the staffer will often listen to what is going on, and provide personal anecdotes or historical facts about certain herbs she or he feel would help. They will not recommend a certain herb, but instead offer the consumer enough background knowledge to make their own educated decision.

As the popularity of recreational marijuana is on the rise, the popularity of plant medicine has seen an upward trend, too. However, these trends are not correlated, and the user base remains entirely different.

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How one dancer broke out of his shell

BERKELEY, Calif.— Gizmo responds to his opponent with a series of sharp hand movements to a fast-paced beat. He incorporates contractions and twists of different limbs to articulate his intention. 

Tariq “Gizmo” Witherspoon, 23, is the cofounder of The Aspects, the only street-style dance group in Berkeley. The group draws from various styles, including flex and turf dancing, which creates a unique mode of expression.

Their style is a fusion of dance styles from both the East and West. Flex dancing is a dance style sometimes called bone breaking because of its rhythmic contortionist movement and incorporation of waving, tutting, floor moves and gliding. It has origins in Braco, Jamaica,and took off in Brooklyn, New York. Turf dancing is an American style of street dance that originated in Oakland, California, in the late 1990s. Witherspoon describes the dancing as more of a “feeling.”

A Berkeley dance group, The Aspects. Witherspoon on the far left. (Photo by Algerion Bryant)

It started with the friendship between Witherspoon and his best friend, James Palmer. Witherspoon would often watch his friend’s dance performances.

“I just thought it was really cool,” he said.

When he was 17, he tried it himself.

“I was a pretty shy and reserved person,” he said. “And I literally sat in my room and watched these videos and practiced for a whole year.”

Dancing has created an outlet for him to express himself, allowing him to open up in a way that would have been difficult to do without it.

“It’s really therapeutic, to be honest,” he said.

Witherspoon works full-time at Urban Outfitters in Berkeley and finds time afterwards everyday to practice.

“If I hadn’t become a professional dancer, I probably would have been a lot more shy,” he said. “And it definitely helped me come out of my shell.”

In the last year, The Aspects have gained recognition performing at Mission in the Mix at the San Francisco Dance Mission Theater.

The group is  working on new choreography for the International Hip Hop Dance Fest, which will take place this year from Nov. 16-18.

“They fly people in from all over the world,” he said, “and do a couple days of shows. It’s one of the biggest venues in the area. I did it in another group called TURFinc. This is the first year we’re going to be by ourselves.”

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Fluid, colorful, fun: “Yellow Submarine” survives the test of time

Producer George Dunning’s absurdist daydream, “Yellow Submarine,” inspired by The Beatles’ song of the same name, is an animated film packed to the brim with psychedelic color schemes, musical numbers performed by the quartet themselves and wildly out-of-proportion body parts. The film has returned to theaters across the country to celebrate its 50th anniversary, allowing it to prove its vibrancy against the test of time.

Lee Minoff’s writing is rife with humor and nods to hippie culture, as the dialogue style seems to shift with every character. Among the Beatles, the chemistry is written clearly. Jeremy, otherwise known as “The Nowhere Man,” speaks entirely in rhymes, and the main antagonist of the story, Chief Blue Meanie, saturates his lines with emotion.

However, instead of the smooth conversation that often accompanies well-written characters, the rhythm and placement of “Yellow Submarine’s” writing is almost unsettling, but, coupled with the unreal nature of the rest of the film’s design, this does not detract from its quality. It feels intentional, serving to push the boundaries of conventional storytelling, which, at the time of the film’s release, were more orthodox.

Ultimately, “Yellow Submarine” revolves entirely around its music. It features several songs by The Beatles, such as “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” during the film’s climax, and “All Together Now” to send it off. These performances are woven into the storyline in ways that feel natural and progressive by interacting with events and characters within the film, and the visuals for each track create a dream-like atmosphere that blends from scene to scene.

The animation in “Yellow Submarine” is fluid and colorful, pushing the limits of its two-dimensional space as far as they can go. Each character’s design, like the iconic costumes worn by the Lonely Hearts Club Band, jump off the screen, and juxtapose semi-realistic figures with the absolutely fictional. The film also contrasts light, positive imagery with harsher designs in ways that benefit each other, and make the film, as a whole, more dynamic.

“Yellow Submarine”
Ringo Starr
1968
King Features/Apple

The movie clearly uses its intense visual direction to carry a much, much simpler plot. The peaceful Pepperland falls under attack by the Blue Meanies, and Old Fred, the lone survivor, enlists The Beatles to fight back with their music.

While the film’s focus on visual storytelling is not inherently negative, it lacks even the most basic levels of character development or emotional attachment, and rarely touches upon any morals besides the surface level “All You Need Is Love.” At times, it feels like watching John, Paul, George and Ringo joke between themselves from one color-changing environment to the next, usually featuring a side character or two.

However, “Yellow Submarine” tells its story spectacularly, even a half-century after its initial release. Animated beyond its time with a soundtrack just as innovative, this is not a film a music-enthusiast world want to miss, despite its relatively easy digestibility.

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“Yellow Submarine” still works — 50 years later

By today’s standards, “Yellow Submarine” might not be considered an outstanding animated movie. What it did, however, in 1968 was to inspire a new generation of interest in animation.

And seen today, now in re-release nationwide to celebrate the 50th anniversary, it still keeps its charm.
“Before “Yellow Submarine,” animation was a mild, goody-goody world of personality-free gloved mice and cartoon bears stealing picnic baskets,” wrote Josh Weinstein in the Guardian.  “How the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine gave rise to modern animation,”

“Without Yellow Submarine,” he wrote, “there would never have been The Simpsons, no Futurama, no South Park, no Toy Story, no Shrek. No animated anything that enables us to laugh at ourselves while being highly entertained.”

Comedy is an important element in this movie. Unlike other animated filmsat that time, “Yellow Submarine” did not make us laugh by using exaggerated body language and slapstick, but by humorous dialogue , such as:

“Hey, I wonder what’ll happen if I pull this lever.”

“Oh, you mustn’t do that now. ”

“Can’t help it. I’m a born ‘Liverpooler.’ ”

The soundtrack contains six songs from the Beatles, and the orchestral part was written by the band’s music producer, George Martin. It forms the development of the plot (such as it is; there was never a completed script, according to the Guardian story) and succeeds at keeping the audience involved. The moment when the (real) Beatles starts to play “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” is  the climax of the movie.

As an animated film, visual arts and graphic design play an integral role.  The now-iconic sign of LOVE and KNOW in Pepperland showcase the artistic flair that has continued to influence designers today: the image of the characters,

Although the Beatles did not voice their own characters —  the voice-over actors imitated George, Ringo, John and Paul, and the actor Paul Angelis voiced both Ringo and Chief Blue Meanie —  but it works.

The film is fast-paced 90 minutes, and it was rare to see an animated film that long in the 1960s.

But it works  — even today.

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YouthWorks program provides jobs for Berkeley youth

BERKELEY, Calif. — She was almost going to be cleaning up feces, cages and animals at the animal shelter, but instead Myisha Kemp spends her Saturday mornings at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market in Downtown Berkeley.

Myisha Kemp, 17, works for the city of Berkeley in the YouthWorks Program. The YouthWorks program is a year-round program offered by the Housing and Community Services Department that provides youth living in Berkeley with part-time paid jobs. Jobs range anywhere from Graffiti Abatement to Biotech.

Myisha Kemp, 17, working the YouthWorks booth at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market on Satuday. (Photo by: Natalie Wu)

Kemp spends her weekends working a booth at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market. This is her second year working for the YouthWorks Program. Last year, she had the same job heading into her senior year at Berkeley High School. This coming fall, she will be interning at the YouthWorks office while attending Berkeley Community College.

Kemp has multiple jobs at the Farmers’ Market during the summer. This includes running an info booth about eating healthy, being environmentally conscious and explaining programs that the City of Berkeley offers.

She also takes over for vendors who are in need of a break and don’t have someone else available to man their booth.

Outside of the Farmers’ Market, she helps plan events that YouthWorks is hosting and promotes YouthWorks on social media.

Along with working for the Farmers’ Market, Kemp also attends Roots of Success workshops on weekdays, which are required for her job at YouthWorks.

Roots of Success is an environmental education organization which prepares impoverished youth and adults to be part of the workforce while living environmentally-friendly lives. They do this through various educational classes including financial literacy and healthy cooking.

Kemp has also been on many trips through the Roots of Success workshop. One week ago, she was at the shoreline doing a beach clean up. Last year, she went to St. Anthony’s in San Francisco to serve meals to people who could not afford one, and her team is planning to go again this year.

The Roots of Success workshop has also changed her perspective on nutrition. By offering cooking classes, the workshop teaches students how to eat healthier while still having delicious meals.

Before attending the class, Kemp’s favorite place to eat was McDonald’s. She now enjoys cooking healthy foods and experimenting with spices.

“Next paycheck I’m excited to buy some fruits and vegetables,” Kemp said.