Category Archives: Education

School and studies

Swimming in the Flood

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These days have been ridiculous — and by ridiculous I insinuate they have been neither good nor bad. They really have just been really busy. I have never been so preoccupied in my college life. Early mornings are dedicated to getting my swol on at the gym, and later sitting down with a couple of my best friends for coffee and great talk. Then it’s off to class, work, class, and finally work again. Different weekdays have slightly different agenda arrangements, but these are my recurring five days in a nutshell. And now helping out on a research project, I have to cancel various work shifts just to fit this participation in. Fridays are my favorite, not only because it’s the day before the weekend, but because aside from my one class I get to work a solid six hours. I love working at the Center and having a source of income from doing something I enjoy.

Not tomorrow, though. This has been a crazy weather week. With already a couple two-hour delayed start days on campus due to snow/ice, tomorrow marks the actual first day the university has decided to close because of the massive amounts of precipitation. The melted snow and deluge of rainfall has caused extensive flooding in Corvallis, swaying President Ed Ray to close the university for safety precautions. This is very exciting for students, but partially bittersweet for me because I want my work hours.

It just all adds to the complexity of this term. And so I figured this very moment can be ironically envisioned as swimming in a flood. Not only are areas of our city underwater, but my life right now makes me feel like one would feel in the middle of a flood. You’re on edge, trying to get from one side to the other yet worried if your quick departure from point A to point B is wielding unseen mistakes. I extensively plan my days out, have my calendar, agenda, and reminder notifications all on my phone. Everything would be all so different and challenging without my iPhone — I’ve never thought I would need to use it this much beyond apps, calls, and texting.

The term has just started. By each week’s end I am gradually more exhausted. I hope and think I’ll make it through okay. I always tend to perform better in school when there’s more pressure on me. Like my usual approach to things in life, I say bring it on and let’s live it up!

 

Just A Day

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The past few weeks have really been an endless train. Each day is full from start to end – I don’t even know how I have been able to take a breath. School is like a thick head of hair in desperate need of a haircut… It just keeps growing and growing and I’m really looking for that chance to sit down and cut it back. It would be a lie to say that every day has been a good one; Truth is that some days, especially recently, have hit me hard. But I am surviving, and I will be okay. I just need to get things balanced — then I can redevelop my lifting strategy at the gym, re-dedicate myself, and work towards seeing further results.

Working during school is going great. I am surprised how painless it has been to manage both. I love the Hallie Ford Center. I sometimes feel too protective of it — like when students start slithering through the building and making themselves at home. One of the other few negative traits about me is that I feel compelled to please everyone — and that things need to be just right for them to be acceptable. This is slowly being curbed as I learn more about working and the everyday life at the Hallie Ford Center.

But it’s been a while since I’ve last written — so I thought I’d share something that has kept me pushing forward with my head up high.

You are who you are. Remember that you’ve made yourself to be what you are right now. Whether you are happy about it or not, staring back at your mistakes is not going to help you change. Your actions have already affected you. You will make more mistakes, so think about them now and live a proactive life that constructs you to be as you dream to be in the future. There’s nothing stopping you but yourself.

Published from my iPad.

Seek Within

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There’s something humbling, enlightening, personally special about traveling — especially adventuring alone. I’ve tried to pinpoint the reason it is this way, but it still eludes me. I can’t put my finger on it, but I can sketch the ideas that surround it.

Traveling is healing. Mentally, you are pursuing a desire to discover, and essentially you are indulging in a luxury. To travel and follow a craving to explore, you are testing yourself. I think the feeling of need to adventure on your own stems from a subconscious achievement of readiness. You are ready to physically set about. You are psychologically prepared to seek what’s mostly unknown. You are responsible in the commencement of your travel, yet you are heavily resistant to deterrents. It just feels right, and you are determined to follow through because you know you want this feeling of accomplishment. It’s this that heals you.

Heals you from what? Heals you from losing yourself — heals you from all the days you failed to recognize your next step in life — all the days you don’t enrich who you are and push for what you want from yourself.

This solo trip to Grants Pass — easily dismissed as just a hangout with friends. But I look at it as more. I feel like I’m just testing the waters. I’m indulging in this personal adventure to acknowledge readiness for the next phase… And this phase is my internship abroad. I hope it works out, but I have a higher preferred option that could possibly keep me nested happily at the Hallie Ford Center. It’s nice to be developing not just one plan, but two solid options.

I have heard from many people. They say if you have the opportunity to travel — take it, for you might not get another chance. I pass this on to you now.

This road trip I’ve taken… Now I want more. It kind of makes me long for summer break to start over again — maybe do things differently. Maybe a drive to California (scary driving!) or just take myself somewhere. But, then again, if we always dream of doing things over, we’ll forget to live the dreams yet to come. Let’s move forward.

Onward We Fall

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In about a month classes begin again. I have never been more eager for this time to come. I usually hang onto every last minute of summer, but this time it’s so different.

Working indoors from 8:30 to 5 every weekday, I suffer when I’m not outside. I crave to have the sun shine on me and to enjoy the relaxation it brings. I miss the people about, and the hangouts with friends. But I have also come to look past this and to realize how fantastic these near three months have been.

Work has not only been awesome, but also inspirational. In our everyday lives we get in sort of a rut when we travel the same path too long. And for me that path was school and unemployment. It has been pretty much the same thing every day. Classes, hang out, study a bit, hang with friends, bed, repeat. I mean I had great times with friends and all, but in general it has been the same routine. At first it’s really nice and feels great to live like that, but over time you don’t realize how much it brings you down. Working has completely reignited me — and I think this fall term at school will be the best ever.

And as for this season, I really don’t know how to explain why I crave the cooler crispness of fall. I just think about sweatshirts, hoodies, falling leaves of all sorts of colors, people on campus, coffee, tea, hanging out at a café, reading, working, applying myself. It just sounds so inviting. I think this is one of the rare summers where I can actually say I feel I made the most of it — and we’re not even done yet! There’s the road trip to Grants Pass this weekend, maybe a family outing, our grand opening at the Hallie Ford Center — who knows what else is in store! I think I am simply content with the way things are and am confident in the way they will continue to progress.

Onward we fall, in just a month, to another stage of our lives — where people return, the lights go on, and we get down to work and to building memories. I am so ready to make this the best.

Image provided by Oregon State University

The Connection

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Possibilities are growing more visible, and so is my excitement. I have thought that my only path to interning abroad was a list of opportunities on some website. But, just like in other life applications, I’ve come to step back and re-imagine things.

Thanks to a conversation with a nice visitor at the Hallie Ford Center, I have realized that I should look into creating my own bridge to success. Why follow an internship option that so many others may participate in? Rather, I should strive to make my own way. I need to sit down and write what I want from an internship. Where do I really want to go and what do I want to do? I create a solid list of interests and desires and I take it to the experts and I say, “This is what I want. Can we make it work, and what are my next steps?”

College is fantastic. You’ve got advisors that know your academic path and what you need to do to accomplish it. You’ve got someone to aid you from the beginning to the end. But let’s push the envelope… Let’s build our own bridge — a unique one with just your name on it. And let it be that special, personal connection between what is the general pool of education, and the actual applied field that holds your passion.

I’m ready to make my own way. I’m ready to pull my resources together and see what I can construct. I have the university, Hallie Ford Center, a knowledgeable, helpful supervisor, and a slew of faculty core directors. There are opportunities awaiting creation, and I’m on my way to bringing them into actuality. Next week, my supervisor and I are sitting down and having coffee to “talk about my future”. I don’t know if this is in regards to work during the school year… Or something more. I think I’ll make it more — and I’ll have some research and notes together for when we meet.

The adventure begins.

Published from my iPad.

In the Community of Jabal Natheef

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I have been researching international internship opportunities for autumn 2012. One possibility that captures my interest is centered in Amman, Jordan, working with the under-developed community of Jabal Natheef. I would be an intern with Ruwwad, a community empowerment organization founded in 2005. Ruwwad works with partnerships in the private sector, civil society, government, and target communities of Jordan to address the critical needs of youth in densely populated East Amman. With a community population size of about 50,000, children and adults of Jabal Natheef are in need of help in the areas of health, safety, decent living, education, employment, and legal aid.

There are numerous ways I can help in Amman. I would work to improve literacy in children, inspire personal creativity and expression, and tutor those that need extracurricular help outside of the classroom. Another volunteer opportunity could be of an immersion experience within Jabal Natheef, working directly with the community through social services and the community help desk to aid families in need, revamp homes and shelters, and staff daily services. I may also mentor children in information technology literacy, working with computers and the internet to help flourish their educational experience.

Ruwwad has a mesh of networked community services. There are other areas of aid I may have the opportunity to look into, but one thing true about Ruwwad is that it fits my niche and passion — health and human services.