This week in class we discussed the topic of poverty. Two articles were presented, one with the point of view of no and one with the point of view of yes, I had the privilege of reading the yes article. After reading the yes article I do believe that poverty plays a role in pollution and environmental degradation, but there are larger issues that cater to the issue of poverty itself. There were two different sides of poverty that were discussed within this article, one was Urban poverty and one was rural poverty. Poverty tends to lean more towards the side of people who live in urban areas that are using their income to put towards all of their needs and trying to make ends meet, and rural poverty caters towards those who live in more rural areas that have limited resources available to them. One issue  that contributes to Urban poverty is that of overpopulation in larger cities, not even in just the US but also all around the world on an international level. After discussing these articles in class in the issues that pertain to both of them we were split up into breakout rooms and in my breakout room there were two people that read than no article and two people that read the article.

We were asked to evaluate whether or not large corporations could use their platforms to help those in need. This meant that the larger corporations could help provide resources or benefits to those that are poor. My group came to the conclusion that there were two different sides to this issue and it could play out either way. The corporations could use this opportunity to build on a community basis with those struggling with poverty and help people get back on their feet or it could be kind a scenario of the big corporations providing resources and helping create communities for these people and then expect something in return from them. 

This week I really enjoyed the mindfulness practice of coloring the mandala with three colors that speak to me. I actually got into the coloring scene a few years back in high school just trying to help me cope with anxiety and everything was going on in life. So I really appreciated that we were given the opportunity to use this exercise to kind of clear our minds and let go of some of the stress we have all been experiencing this semester even if it was just for a few minutes.