Activism Training

Today I went to a Student Activism Training. I didn't really know what I was getting into, but I am definitely glad that I went. The training is the same given to leaders at Jobs with Justice, a social justice non-profit with a chapter in St. Louis. The four-hour training gave practical strategies for more effective activism. The most important thing I took home was the idea that in order to get something changed, not only do you need to organize people to support your cause, you have to appeal to the person or people that have the power to make the decision you want. I feel that if I want to work on campus or elsewhere to change a policy, I now have a rough idea of how to go about doing that.

In addition to the 4-hour training, I attended a break-out session on social activism on the internet. The informal presentation (there were five people) most talked about blogging as a means to spread information and affect change as an alternate news source. Now, the blogging we talked about was not this type of blogging where I ramble on about my life (as much as I wish everyone were that interested in what activities I'm doing at school), but blogging that covers news, especially political events and issues. Blogging provides a unique avenue to unite minorities of people scattered across the country with similar goals. Bloggers can help call out biases in reporters and news stories, as well as keep news stories long enough for the mainstream media to latch onto something that had first been discarded as unimportant. The man that gave the presentation either started or works behind the scenes for one such blogging community for Missourians, Show me Progress Blog.

I think my favorite thing about the training was meeting all of the students that attended. The ~35 college students there (from 4-5 different St. Louis schools) were all working to change the world for the better. Different groups represented included Amnesty International (fighting human rights violations worldwide), the One campaign (working to end extreme poverty--you can check them out at www.one.org), Green Action, and Peace Coalition. Its so encouraging to be around people who care about the same things as me.

Well, now that I've brought tears to your eyes--either from boredom or sappy reflections--I hope everyone in Florida is enjoying the warmth. Its quite heartbreaking to waltz outside from a cold auditorium, expecting it to be warm and muggy outside, just to find that its cold outside, too! What a sad case I will be in a few months.

Activities!

It's Friday again. I've had a full week of classes now. I've also been to a cornucopia of group meetings. I attended a meeting for Amnesty International, where we talked about things we wanted to do in the coming year--address issues like zimbabwe, human trafficking (my idea!), women's rights, and Darfur. Each week, someone's going to make a presentation on some issue (preferably current) to keep us up to date on the issues. I think I'll probably get involved with that one, and Engineers without Borders. They're working on many different projects, and I'll probably help with one or two of those. I'll tell you more about that later. What's really exciting is that the things I learned at ECHO as well as the connections I made there will be helpful to the group's efforts. Engineers without Borders currently is looking for an international project to work on, and I'm going to see if anyone has any ideas at ECHO. It's really exciting to think that you can bring your own unique experience and knowledge somewhere and have it benefit the whole of a group.

In addition, there are quite a few Christian groups on campus. I'm still trying out different ones as well as churches to see which will fit me and my schedule the best.

I'm really liking school. I figured at first I'd be kind of bummed out and lonely, but that hasn't been the case. Sure, I miss home, but I've met a lot of cool people and the orientations activities (although often silly and involving waay too many ice breakers) has made me feel at home here. Still, I think I will leave this post with a picture of my beloved home in Florida.

Enjoy!

Classes!

I've now had six days of classes, and so far, they look promising. I get really excited when I hear about what we'll be learning, because I immediately begin to figure out where I can incorporate those pieces of knowledge into Wikipedia. I haven't actually edited it since I left for Illinois early August, but I still think about it often...
Maybe a break from Wikipedia is a good thing. I do think it is neat. I think I'll learn a lot of things I can incorporate into Wikipedia--some this year, but much more so in the following years when I start taking higher level classes. If I do graduate classes, I will learn even more obscure information that I can add to wikipedia!
So far, I've been the most excited about my computer aided design class. Essentially it's a drafting class, 50% learning how to design things with pencil and paper, and 50% designing things on a 3D modeling program. The modeling program, called Solid Edge, is fascinating! You can create all sorts of things--make a rectangular prism, then cut out various holes, or handles or what not. This kind of program is like the kind where you will design your house in (in 3D), then use the energy analysis add-on software to analyze the building exactly as it was drawn. This is all called Building Information Modeling, except for the 21st century! (you can find information of Building Information Modeling on--you guessed it--wikipedia. I've done some editing of that page, but I don't really know what I'm talking about--hopefully I'll know more once I'm done with the class.)
I'm also taking computer science I, where we will be learning the basics of computer programming and practical uses of computers. For those who are interested, we'll be programming in Java. Already we've done a bit--involving changing the colors of pictures, combining, pictures, and other fun stuff!
Okay, enough computers. I've spent several hours now playing the piano in various practice rooms on campus. There's one in a dorm a short walk away from me, and very nice practice rooms in the music building, a five minute walk away. I've been teaching Leslie and a guy down the hall from me, Daniel to play chords on the piano, and we've been enjoying ourselves immensely. Leslie and I spent an hour and half yesterday going through my book of guitar music playing songs on guitar and piano. We're turning ourselves into jazz pianists! Well, maybe.
Also, I've been helping some people to learn guitar. Mainly, I've just been showing them chords or giving them music and letting them go to town on my guitar. When they become famous I can say I taught them everything they know:

Locks, Dams, Busses, and Chocolate!

I've had a full week of classes now, and from the look of things this semester should be pretty good. I'm only taking 14 credit hours of classes (four classes), which should give me extra space to get used to college classes and let me spend sometime figuring out what I want to get involved with on campus. Yesterday they had an activities fair. I felt somewhat like the prince in Ever After who, after falling backwards into the crowd while playing tennis, reemerges with handkerchiefs stuck into his clothing. No, no one stuck flyers to my back with duct tape or anything, but I certainly was assailed with people, candy, and brightly colored info sheets. I emerged with a bag full of flyers that interested me--various christian groups and churches around campus, amnesty international, some environmental protection groups, and other social justice groups. I also learned about (and attended) a swing dance club that met yesterday evening. It was a lot of fun, and I sort of figured out how it works! I think I'll probably keep going. It's exercise and fun!

I spent last weekend with my aunt, uncle, and grandma two hours north. Also my cousin Kristina and her husband Eric were there Friday and Saturday. We played lots of games, talked late into the night, and celebrated Eric and my birthdays with home made cake and home made ice cream! It was delicious. On monday, we stopped by a lock and dam museum along the Mississippi. Here's a picture of my aunt Becky, Uncle Mark, cousin Joey and his wife Katy on top of the dam overlooking the Mississippi.



Did you know that there's about a 500 ft difference in height between the mouth of the Mississippi and its delta? Along the Mississippi are many dams (with locks, of course) that make sure that the river is deep enough in all spots for commercial traffic (at least nine feet deep everywhere. I had no idea. The dam we were at doesn't generate any power. I wonder how the impact on the river's ecosystem compares between hydroelectric dams and non-hydro dams...
Here's a picture of a three chemical barge tow passing through the locks. See the tugboat at the end?



On the north side of St. Louis, there is a confluence of waters: the Mississippi joins with the Missouri and Illinois Rivers, I believe. A confluence is where things join together, specifically rivers. Whoever set up the displays in the museum just outside the locks must have really liked this word, because it was probably used over 20 times. The rest of the afternoon, Joey and I tried to throw "confluence" into our regular sentences.



After the family dropped me back off at school, Leslie and I once again sought to master mass transportation. This time, we used the MetroBus to go to a shopping center with a Target in it. I wanted to look at bikes and scooters for school, and Leslie needed some peanut butter. Our travels were successful, and we came back with plenty of provisions, although no bike or scooter. In addition, I bought some fair trade chocolate from Trader Joes. There aren't any Trader Joes in FL, but I had heard they sell organic (and fair trade) chocolate. The fair trade title means that the people involved with the growing and production of the chocolate were paid a living wage. I learned recently that nearly half of the cocoa used in chocolate today comes from the Ivory Coast, where forced child labor occurs frequently (www.stopthetraffik.org). Since then, I've kept my eyes open for fair trade chocolate, and have finally been successful.

Well, I have to run off. There's an information meeting tonight for a group that teaches about environmental responsibility in elementary schools in the area. Sounds like fun!