Besides still being on a major high from Gaston, this week might be the most stressful I have encountered this semester. On Thursday/Friday of last week, I had a mini breakdown because i was anticipating the horribleness of the mountains of work that were ahead of me. But really, between then and now (Tuesday) I have completed everything except for studying for my cell bio test which is tomorrow :( that's gonna suck but yea...why does work always hit you in waves? Not even manageable surfable waves, but huge tidal waves that hold you under water for days at a time. Sometimes, I feel like I live in a cave for days at a time when i am really focused on work. Oh stress. It sounds dumb but I have been to some stress workshops and I actually use some of the exercises they showed me to chill out when I feel myself freaking out. Whatever though, I just want it to be tomorrow night already because I will be at dated and all this stress will be over (until next week anyway).... Ugh SCHOOL I HATE YOU. But tomorrow I can register yay
Oh I went to VIA training this weekend, which stands for Victim Intervention Assistant, so I am now certified as a "safe person" for people to talk to about rape, sexual assault, abuse, stalking, harassment, and violence. I actually did learn a lot, although some of it I already knew, I am very happy I went and am now certified since these issues are so prevalent on our campus, especially in Greek Life, and so many people are not aware of it. 1 in 4 girls in college will be raped or have to fight off a rapist in her 4 college years. That is not just here; that is everywhere. I was blown away by that one. So, yea its a big issue and i really hope I can help people. I am also applying to be a SARPP peer educator which is along the same lines as VIA so hopefully I can make a bigger impact that way.
woo ok Chem lab time....
got no way of knowing exactly where I'm going,
but i feel so alive...
everything is changing, life is rearranging...
but i feel so alive...<3
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
the strength of the lion is the pride
Well here I am, safe and sound, surviving one of the most wonderful weeks of my entire life for sooo many reasons. My spring break was spent in the small town of Gaston, North Carolina. Population 973. So, me and my wonderful amazing group which consisted of 15 people all together and only one boy headed down in our two huge white vans on March 14th and came back on March 21st with memories that will honestly never fade.
We worked in a KIPP school there. KIPP stands for knowledge is power program and there are currently 66 KIPP schools in the country but that number is growing. Most are middle schools but high and elem schools are starting to be implemented. KIPP schools are public charter schools and take whoever applies, no question. These schools are put in high poverty areas with hopes of getting more students to college and closinig the acheivement gap. They do this by longer school days, stricter rules, sat classes, parent involvement, having no curriculum.
Gaston college Prepatory, which is the KIPP school we worked in, was special because it is one of the only rural KIPP schools in the country and also one of the original ones...6th I think? The issues that is adresses are the same as urban schools however, as we witnessed each morning when we passed by piles of junk outside trailer after trailer on the way to school. GCP has been open for 7 years now and back int he first year, there was only a fifth grade class. Every year after that, the fifth graders moved up and new fifth grade class came in so this year is the first year every grade is represented from 5-12. That means it is also the first year that the success of Gaston KIPP was made clear.
100% of High School Seniors got accepted into college. In a tricounty area where over 80% of the students fail their reading and maath tests at the end of each year, this number is absolutely staggering. We had the privledge of meeting many of these 40 some students who are recieving scholarships at schools all over. Most of them are the first in their family to go to college. Ask any of them and they will give the KIPP school system all of the credit.
We spent our week working with kids (and recieving pictures and letters from them..shoutout to my fav Sequan :) ), working for teachers, making friends, memories, getting to know the system, teaching (I got to teach a group of lovely 5th graders), grading papers, getting out butts kicked in mental math by middle schoolers, fighting about whether UNC is better than Maryland, chillin out on our beautiful lake vacation homes, cooking, laughing, playing basketball with the kids at PE, running lines with the kids at play practice, tutoring kids, and making posters.
Witnessing the extreme focus and concentration of the GCP kids was the most incredible thing I have seen. The positive upbeat attitudes of all the teachers promoted student thinking. The college flags everywhere reminded students that they have attainable real future. Never have I met such amaing kids with such high goals for themselves at such a young age. Their motivation is through the roof. They do all their homework everynight. Every student waves their arms enthustically every time a question is asked, in hopes of answering it. Insprirational Quotes are covering every single wall. Teachers design what they want to teach and then teach it. They paint their room in whatever color they want and can change it whenever they want. Both the teachers and students think of themselves as a team and support one another. The teachers are constantly fine tuning their teaching week to week.
This expierence really cannot be described effectively with words but there you go; I tried. Being a leader of this trip was awesome. I gained so many good skills I can use in the future and gained 14 friends in the process. I cannot express how thankful I am for this opportunity and how smooth everything went. I also got a huge affirmation that teaching is really what I want to do by spending all this time in Gaston. The atmosphere at the school was something I cannot wait to be a part of and now I want to be a teacher even more :)
I am not saying the KIPP system is perfect, all I am saying is that seeing a group of strong people trying to change the world for the better left me with a sense of hope. I would love to go back and visit because I really think GCP and Pride High have amazing things going on down in good old Gaston. <3
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress." -Fredrick Douglass
We worked in a KIPP school there. KIPP stands for knowledge is power program and there are currently 66 KIPP schools in the country but that number is growing. Most are middle schools but high and elem schools are starting to be implemented. KIPP schools are public charter schools and take whoever applies, no question. These schools are put in high poverty areas with hopes of getting more students to college and closinig the acheivement gap. They do this by longer school days, stricter rules, sat classes, parent involvement, having no curriculum.
Gaston college Prepatory, which is the KIPP school we worked in, was special because it is one of the only rural KIPP schools in the country and also one of the original ones...6th I think? The issues that is adresses are the same as urban schools however, as we witnessed each morning when we passed by piles of junk outside trailer after trailer on the way to school. GCP has been open for 7 years now and back int he first year, there was only a fifth grade class. Every year after that, the fifth graders moved up and new fifth grade class came in so this year is the first year every grade is represented from 5-12. That means it is also the first year that the success of Gaston KIPP was made clear.
100% of High School Seniors got accepted into college. In a tricounty area where over 80% of the students fail their reading and maath tests at the end of each year, this number is absolutely staggering. We had the privledge of meeting many of these 40 some students who are recieving scholarships at schools all over. Most of them are the first in their family to go to college. Ask any of them and they will give the KIPP school system all of the credit.
We spent our week working with kids (and recieving pictures and letters from them..shoutout to my fav Sequan :) ), working for teachers, making friends, memories, getting to know the system, teaching (I got to teach a group of lovely 5th graders), grading papers, getting out butts kicked in mental math by middle schoolers, fighting about whether UNC is better than Maryland, chillin out on our beautiful lake vacation homes, cooking, laughing, playing basketball with the kids at PE, running lines with the kids at play practice, tutoring kids, and making posters.
Witnessing the extreme focus and concentration of the GCP kids was the most incredible thing I have seen. The positive upbeat attitudes of all the teachers promoted student thinking. The college flags everywhere reminded students that they have attainable real future. Never have I met such amaing kids with such high goals for themselves at such a young age. Their motivation is through the roof. They do all their homework everynight. Every student waves their arms enthustically every time a question is asked, in hopes of answering it. Insprirational Quotes are covering every single wall. Teachers design what they want to teach and then teach it. They paint their room in whatever color they want and can change it whenever they want. Both the teachers and students think of themselves as a team and support one another. The teachers are constantly fine tuning their teaching week to week.
This expierence really cannot be described effectively with words but there you go; I tried. Being a leader of this trip was awesome. I gained so many good skills I can use in the future and gained 14 friends in the process. I cannot express how thankful I am for this opportunity and how smooth everything went. I also got a huge affirmation that teaching is really what I want to do by spending all this time in Gaston. The atmosphere at the school was something I cannot wait to be a part of and now I want to be a teacher even more :)
I am not saying the KIPP system is perfect, all I am saying is that seeing a group of strong people trying to change the world for the better left me with a sense of hope. I would love to go back and visit because I really think GCP and Pride High have amazing things going on down in good old Gaston. <3
"If there is no struggle, there is no progress." -Fredrick Douglass
Sunday, March 8, 2009
whats your IMPACT?
So this weekend was filled with the IMPACT leadership conference which was conveniently held at our school this year. Just FYI, the IMPACT conference is the largest gathering of students leaders in advocacy, social change, and service...so yea, there was alot of very influential and inspiring people there, many of whom i got the chance to meet. I went to six workshops, an opportunities fair, and had an opportunity to network. I was BLOWN away at how much I did not know about the world of service and how much I see that I have to grow. I can feel my passions growing inside of me and I think brining back some skills I learned this weekend can def help improove our campus in whatever way I want to use it. I went to a workshop on cultural competence, fundraising, opportunities with working and partnering with NPOs, how education is the most powwerful tool for fighting poverty, and one on how to engage and keep volunteers active. I coulf write forever about alot fo these topics but whats more important about this weekend was the people from the other 100 campuses I met who are doing absolutely amazing things with their organizations. This weekend made me realize that things in my life that I consume myself with are irrelevant compared to the problems of the world. I am committin myself to becoming more politically active and aware on campus because as I learned at the hunger banquet I attended last night, if you are reading this, you are part of the richest 15% of people in the world.Think about that. If your family or yourself makes over 10,000 per year which many of us in America would consider poverty level, you are in the richest 15% of the world. If that doesnt motivate you to care about other people, I dont know what will. The IMPACT conference was a great expierience to have and I feel so wierd that I never knew this world existed. I want to step up and take responsibility in the world and be a voice for the 85% of the world who have virtually no voice. It's not fair that only because of conditions they cannot control, like the situation of their birth, they are suffering and we are not. They are not to blame. And thiking you cant do anything to help is so ignorant. First step, learn and be open. Knowlegde really is power. Then, apply what you love and are good at in some way, in ANY WAY, to those who need your help. Service and advocacy is so powerful and I am not claiming I have the best grasp on it, but I will tell you that compared to last Thursday, I am a different person.
So, that was just a summary of my conference...tried to keep it short never works. But girls ACC championship is on right now and I got tons of work to do and sb is next week so theres alot going on..weirdly nothing seems that serious cuz my mind is filled with IMPACT thoughts..but yeaaaa <3
"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that." -Norman Vincent Peale
So, that was just a summary of my conference...tried to keep it short never works. But girls ACC championship is on right now and I got tons of work to do and sb is next week so theres alot going on..weirdly nothing seems that serious cuz my mind is filled with IMPACT thoughts..but yeaaaa <3
"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that." -Norman Vincent Peale
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