For the past four years of my life - wait, eight years - no, eleven... well, whatever it is, I've been in school for a while. And Sundays have been Homework Day for pretty much as long as I can remember. My first full Sunday settled in the new home brought me a splendid day of freedom... and housework.
Grocery shopping. Cooking for the week. Making my lunch for tomorrow. Cleaning, sweeping, washing. Doing laundry. Huh?, you say, I thought you were embarking on a year of exploration, learning more about how the world works, investigating new solutions, meeting people, trying new things. Well, frankly, this is new to me. I might have done my own laundry at school but I didn't deep clean the area in the basement where the washer and dryer are. I might have ate dinner at school but it was always at Ray or Slavin (our dining halls). I may have gone grocery shopping but it was for the easy items such as cereal, yogurt, granola bars and peanut butter, oh and Easy Mac, and it was usually when my parents were driving me back to school. The area of cleaning supplies under our sink is new to me, as well, so as far as I'm concerned this is learning.
Of course, there were activities interspersed throughout the day such as buying a delicious iced mocha, going on a run, and reading the manual for work that made my day seem a bit more like that of a 22 year old. But hey, striving to be "normal" only robs us of the chance to be extraordinary right? Perhaps a bit out of context, but my point is that this year is going to be full of all sorts of learning for me and I'm excited to not have any learning restricted by the contents of a syllabus. I'm used to classroom learning, service learning, learning from professors/classmates/mentors/friends, and I'm ready for more self learning, real world learning, daily chores and being as close to completely on my own as I've ever been. The type of learner the Global Studies program helped shape me into will be the foundation for my curiosity, openness, humility, boldness, and questioning.
Many college students start blogs when they travel abroad, in an attempt to document the array of new experiences thrown at them every day. I kept a blog during my semester in Argentina, and this reflection and writing maximized the appreciation I had for every moment. Nothing seemed too dull or boring to be included in my blog since after all, I was in a different country.
I started this blog with the same intentions, to never let the brilliance and possibility for learning that are present in every day to go by me without notice. I hope that the entries in this blog will help you to rethink the seemingly ordinary moments of your day, and to seek out more opportunities to learn about the world around you. My perspective is but one very narrow way to view the world, and I require constant challenging to this viewpoint in order to grow and understand the world better. I invite you to comment on posts to help engage in further discussion of some of the pressing societal issues that I hope to discuss in this blog, but maybe you'll also savor the more "simple" entries that perhaps have to do with the new recipe I learned, the cool thrift shop I found, or our neighbors on the first floor who left me a flower in a pot and a card to say thank you for cleaning out the laundry space.
Thank you for reading!
Grocery shopping. Cooking for the week. Making my lunch for tomorrow. Cleaning, sweeping, washing. Doing laundry. Huh?, you say, I thought you were embarking on a year of exploration, learning more about how the world works, investigating new solutions, meeting people, trying new things. Well, frankly, this is new to me. I might have done my own laundry at school but I didn't deep clean the area in the basement where the washer and dryer are. I might have ate dinner at school but it was always at Ray or Slavin (our dining halls). I may have gone grocery shopping but it was for the easy items such as cereal, yogurt, granola bars and peanut butter, oh and Easy Mac, and it was usually when my parents were driving me back to school. The area of cleaning supplies under our sink is new to me, as well, so as far as I'm concerned this is learning.
Of course, there were activities interspersed throughout the day such as buying a delicious iced mocha, going on a run, and reading the manual for work that made my day seem a bit more like that of a 22 year old. But hey, striving to be "normal" only robs us of the chance to be extraordinary right? Perhaps a bit out of context, but my point is that this year is going to be full of all sorts of learning for me and I'm excited to not have any learning restricted by the contents of a syllabus. I'm used to classroom learning, service learning, learning from professors/classmates/mentors/friends, and I'm ready for more self learning, real world learning, daily chores and being as close to completely on my own as I've ever been. The type of learner the Global Studies program helped shape me into will be the foundation for my curiosity, openness, humility, boldness, and questioning.
Many college students start blogs when they travel abroad, in an attempt to document the array of new experiences thrown at them every day. I kept a blog during my semester in Argentina, and this reflection and writing maximized the appreciation I had for every moment. Nothing seemed too dull or boring to be included in my blog since after all, I was in a different country.
I started this blog with the same intentions, to never let the brilliance and possibility for learning that are present in every day to go by me without notice. I hope that the entries in this blog will help you to rethink the seemingly ordinary moments of your day, and to seek out more opportunities to learn about the world around you. My perspective is but one very narrow way to view the world, and I require constant challenging to this viewpoint in order to grow and understand the world better. I invite you to comment on posts to help engage in further discussion of some of the pressing societal issues that I hope to discuss in this blog, but maybe you'll also savor the more "simple" entries that perhaps have to do with the new recipe I learned, the cool thrift shop I found, or our neighbors on the first floor who left me a flower in a pot and a card to say thank you for cleaning out the laundry space.
Thank you for reading!