Vado Diomande, 50, has established a reputation as a distinguished performer and teacher of traditional dances from West Africa.  Five years ago, however, Diomande’s career was interrupted when he suddenly became ill with a life threatening disease.

In February 2006, Diomande, founder of the Kotchenga Dance Company, collapsed in a restaurant he went to after a performance in Pennsylvania.  An ambulance was called and he was rushed to a hospital.

“They check everything and they said that my heart no good, and everything no good,” Diomande said.

Diomande’s condition later became critical.  What followed was worry and confusion as doctors tried to find a diagnosis.

They knew it was something very, very serious,” said Lisa Diomande, Vado’s wife.  “But they didn’t know what to do.”

Eventually, the Center for Disease Control concluded that what Diomande had was naturally occurring anthrax.  He was the first to fall ill with the disease in 30 years.

Diomande survived the rare, but deadly disease.  He doesn’t attribute his survival to any medical cure, but to his career as a dancer. “My dancing helped me a lot, that’s why I’m living today” Diomande said.

Diomande turned his near death experience into a source of motivation for his dancing. “I was strong before,” Diomande said “This is what happens in life.  I will keep going.”

by Oulimata Ba

I presented a survey asking people how satisfied they are with the current job or career they have.  I wanted to find out if most people are working some place they are unhappy, and what their motivation is for not leaving.  A total of 25 random people answered the six question survey, most of whom are in their early twenties.

There is one overall contradiction I noticed from the results.  The first question asked people to rate how satisfied they are with their job on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 indicating the most satisfaction.  Most respondents, (88 percent) gave their answer in the middle ground, meaning they answered with a 3 or 4 on the satisfaction scale.  Not one respondent answered they were completely unhappy with their job.

The next question asked people to choose words that describe their job from a set of adjectives.  Here is where I noticed a contradiction between the answers given for this question, and those given to the first.

Most respondents (62 percent) used the word “stressful” to describe their job.

The same respondents also used the adjectives “aggravating,” “exciting,” and “aggravating.”  Although “exciting” was used often, there appears to be a lack of enthusiasm respondents showed for their occupation.  Because of this, more people should have responded that they were unsatisfied with their job, instead of replying they were satisfied or more.

When I sat down to find another community for my survey, facebook was the first social media tool I tried. I figured it would be a good place to start since I was used to it already. I typed “job groups” and “career organizations” into the search bar.

Perhaps these searches weren’t specific enough. Neither of them turned up anything substantial. I kept finding groups for networking support, as well as career planners and life coaches. Although these topics are jobs related, they would not offer me an audience specific enough for my survey. My survey is geared towards those who already have a job or career, not those who are planning and deciding on one.

I was more successful with Meetup.com. After setting up an account I choose “New Career,” “Career Network,” and “Jobs” as my interests. Like facebook, I found similar networking and job search groups. The difference was that I was also able to find groups with people who already had a job, and were sponsoring upcoming job fairs. Bottom line, meetup was more suitable because I could find a specific group I knew would take interest in my survey. One such group was named “Creating Change: Get the Job, Results, Life You Want!”

The next step was for me to join the groups I found and contact their members. This also turned out to be fairly easy; I could read the profiles of the members to see if they listed a job or not.

Meetup members can send emails to anyone in their group. Even though I can do the same on Facebook, I like the fact that Meetup seems to be a more mature, professional setting. I proceeded to email my survey to as many members as possible.

Oulimata Ba

Joe Vaupotic, 22, sits on the ground with his legs crossed and a guitar in his lap in Zuccotti Park.  Next to him is his guitar case with a sign inside that states: “Been here since day one, need $ $ $ to go home.  Much love!”

This is how Vaupotic spends most of his time, playing melodies from his guitar that’s missing a few strings. Passersby sympathetically drop money into his guitar case.  Yet this image has made Vaupotic want to leave the Occupy Wall Street movement.  “I don’t want to reinforce any hippie stereotypes,” Vaupotic said.

Vaupotic, who is originally from New Jersey, has been at the park since the Occupy Wall Street movement began on September 13.  The 99 percent continues to gain strength, sparking other Occupy Wall Street movements in cities like Orlando, Los Angeles, and Oakland.

At first, Vaupotic was enamored by the cause against corporate greed that brought thousands of protestors to the park.  After a month of camping out and playing his guitar, he now realizes that perhaps its time to get back to his own reality.  His ambition is to one day create melodies with his guitar so that other people can write lyrics to them.  Right now his next sept is to get a job and move to Rochester. NY.

Melissa Noel’s Decisive Moment by Jeanie Ba
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism student Melissa Noel, 23, shares the experience that inspired her to become a journalist.

Joe Vaupotic, 22, sits on the ground with his legs crossed and a guitar in his lap in Zuccotti Park.  Next to him is his guitar case with a sign inside that states: “Been here since day one, need $ $ $ to go home.  Much love!”

Vaupotic, who is originally from New Jersey, has been at the park since the Occupy Wall Street movement began on September 13.  The 99 percent continues to gain strength, sparking other Occupy Wall Street movements in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Boston.  Yet for protestors like Vaupotic, the occupation has gone on for too long.

At first, Vaupotic was enamored by the cause against corporate greed that brought thousands of protestors to the park.  After a month spent camping out and playing his guitar, Vaupotic now realizes that it might be time to get back to his own reality.  He plans to get a job and move to Rochester. NY.

Why Vaupotic joined Occupy Wall Street by Jeanie Ba
Vaupotic says that it was his uncertainty about life and his frustration with the American system that lead him to Occupy Wall Street.

Vaupotic explains how he got into music by Jeanie Ba
Vaupotic sits on the ground with his legs crossed and his guitar resting on his knee. He says he taught himself how to play when he was in college.

Why Vaupotic is leaving Occupy Wall Street by Jeanie Ba
Vaupotic has been at Zuccotti Park since the movement began on September 17. Now, however, he believes it’s time for him to move on.

Vaupotic plays the guitar by Jeanie Ba
Ambi: Vaupotic plays his guitar in Zuccotti Park.

by Oulimata Ba

Local businessman Neal Curtis is the owner of the Retro Bar and Grill in Freeport, NY.  Though his business has been affected by the faltering economy, he still tries to give back by being an employer of young adults in need of a job.  Sharice White, one of his recent employees, is a bar tender.

On Thursday nights she can be found behind the bar leaning against the cash register with her arms folded across her chest.  She has adopted this relaxed pose because the place isn’t usually teeming with customers.

“I’m not sure if it even will be crowded later.  Last Thursday there were more people here,” White said.

White is a 25-year-old graduate student at Adelphi University.  Though Curtis provides her with a source of income, her work hours at Retro are never certain.

“The schedule here is so weird, I’m not even gonna say anything about it!” White said.

Still White is aware of her need for some type of employment, no matter how unpredictable it is for the time being.

“I intern during the day so I can’t work then,” White said, who is studying to become a social worker.  “I’m in school, which is why I’m here.”

A couple of hours had to be spent with Sharice to capture her drink making process due to a lack of customers buying drinks.

[Show slideshow]