The Lighthearted Wanderer

A couple weekends ago, I found myself one of two buses taking 80 UCLA undergrads (and me) to the Posse Plus Retreat being held at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center . I was invited at the beginning of winter quarter by one of the undergrads working at my internship, and honestly I didn't know what to expect except that Posse was a pretty cool education nonprofit, and everything was paid for on the retreat. And the theme was "social and political movements"--which I thought would be a good experience being a part of conversations on that topic with UCLA undergrads. Sure, why not? I thought. Before the retreat, I tried learning a little bit more about the Posse Foundation. Started about 25 years ago, Posse brings groups of about 10-20 low income students who are all from the same urban area who are going to the same university/college. For example, UCLA's Posse Scholar groups are all from the LA area, but Vanderbilt (in TN) has posse groups from the NYC area. ...

Happy New Year 2014!!!  I always get caught looking between the past year and musing about the future. For right now, I'm just going to make a list of what's going through my head as some silly resolutions for 2014. I say "silly" because these were things I just thought of for new year's purposes, and for the most part my big goals are always in my head.  1) Create something everyday.  Anything from write, draw, put some pictures together, and finding. Different ways to be creative and express it.  2. Practice Mindfulness   Last month I went to a few workshops about different ways to practice Mindfulness. Outside of the specific workshops, however, I was pretty bad about taking the time to bring it into my life. School is starting up again soon, and with all the commuting and different stresses I foresee, I can't forget the different tools I have for dealing with everything.  3. Be less scared.  I've noticed since coming back from Japan, I've fallen in...

It was extremely nerve-racking leading up to the actual performance, but once I started speaking, it felt great! It's funny because a lot of people commented on how I didn't have any notes, but this is probably the most performed piece Archi did while I was at Brown, so it came pretty easily :). A couple of my classmates came, and one of our professors was there too! The next Monday in class, not only did she share with the class the fact that I performed, but she also said that she spent most of Saturday looking up other Archi videos and watching them! The whole experience has encouraged me to take on these opportunities, and even start working on my own pieces to share. It feels really good to be making a little niche for myself on the crazy large UCLA campus, and connecting with some good people along the way. 

Tonight, I'm going to perform at UCLA for the first time. I'll be performing one of Archipelag-a's pieces from the spring of my freshman year. I've practiced out loud, and in my head. I've made adjustments to the piece and mentally summoned the support of my sisters. What's great is that it's for a really important cause, and bringing the community together.  I hope I don't screw up! 

  What is the purpose of higher education?  (Purposes) Who should attend colleges and universities?  (Who are the students) What should be taught?  (Curriculum) Who should teach? (Faculty) Who should pay? (Finance) How should higher  education be structured and  governed? What is (should be) the role of the federal government? What is higher education’s responsibility to society?   8-10 pages due on Tuesday...let's go. 

Monday: In addition to getting a spontaneous haircut, I also had my Pecha Kucha talk - 20 slides, 20 seconds each = 6min40secs of very fast explanation. My topic was Baxter Magolda's theory of self-authorship. Tuesday: Work and play. I took the "morning" off by coming into work an hour or so later than usual. It totally made a difference though, knowing that I was going to stay up later that night to write my paper, simply being able to move through the morning without rushing seemed like a good idea. Wednesday: Tuesday and Wednesday sort of blended together since I only slept for about an hour and a half. In the morning I turned in one of the most atrocious papers I've every submitted, but the afternoon was a fun treat because I had my first student organization advising meeting. After the meeting, I met up with my buddy Matt, who was visiting from Japan. As usual, spontaneous me set out to explore the touristy favorites, as well as find a new spot. ...

So for the past few weeks, I've been watching New Girl. In addition to unintentionally getting advice (because literally...my life situations on tv!), I decided to go back to bangs. It's an adjustment but I do enjoy my new look!  This is Casper, he kept me company while I got my hair cut :) I hope Chelsea didn't get jealous.