Letting the world feel big again...


Ever since starting grad school, my worldwide adventures have been very few (*cough* none *cough*) and far between. My lighthearted wandering took on a much more local sort of lens, and I've learned more and more about appreciating the many treasures that LA has to offer.


(mostly fabulous food opportunities...)

This last quarter has brought some unexpected but pleasant surprises...before heading off to Baltimore, we found out that one of the electives was cancelled unexpectedly, and a bunch of us were left scrambling for classes. Fast forward a couple weeks, and I find myself signed up for 6 classes (and trying to sneak into one other) with the intention of narrowing it down to 4. Fast forward another few weeks and I was only able to definitely decide to strike one from the list. Chalk it up to indecisiveness, remnants of college overachieving lifestyle, or desperately trying to make the most of my last quarter, I actually think that it's because these different classes are making the world feel big again. 





Part of it is probably the refreshing feeling of being in classes outside our division and learning from professors and other students who are not super student affairs-y, but still very much invested in education. A few weeks ago, my Asian Ed class presented reports about the education system in different countries and focused on issues of access, equity, and massification of higher ed. Something about sitting in class with mostly students that went to school outside the U.S. and talking about our experiences overseas, the world felt simultaneously bigger and smaller at the same time. Bigger because there were so many reminders that there are educational systems all over the world that are going through important changes right now. Smaller because learning more for some reason, makes the potential for taking part in discussions and movements seem accessible and plausible. 

One of our guest speakers shared this video with us about high school students in Korea, http://youtu.be/WsaLR9EjIwU and there was a lot of back and forth after watching the video whether it accurately represents a version of high school students, or if it was too sensational overall. What it got me thinkig about was this idea of a slice of the population trying really really hard for something that a much larger slice don't even dream about. And while every student has the capacity and cability to aspire in such a way, smaller slices believe those dreams to be achievable, and even smaller have the lucky mix to actualize those types of dreams. From my experience, however, many students aren't preoccupied with etertaining dreams that aren't attainable.

I don't really have an end to this post. School's rolling along so fast with 6 weeks left til graduation..just trying to get through each day with a bit of happiness and working towards the blinding light at the end of the tunnel. 


Still not sure what's coming up next, but it's still exciting :) 

Til next time,
elaine 

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