Monday, July 20, 2015

A Day of Self Discovery

What happens when you put 25 intelligent, young ladies in one room? Let me tell you, it was spectacular!  We had various intellectual discussions as well as some humor from various people including our professor, Mary Grace. Today was the best first day of class I have had in a very long time.

My day started very early this morning; I am sure it will be for the next two weeks or so. I met up with Esme and her roommate Miai. We headed to the very under appreciated Ratty. There I had a simple plate of pancakes and scrambled eggs and some cranberry juice. Once we were finished, which didn't take long, we set out in search for our class  so we could head to the building. Watson CIT, where it was going to be held.

Our professor and TA, Tori, lead us to the classroom which, to my surprise it ad air conditioner! We got to cool own from the strong heat. We started class by playing an ice breaker then a small reflection about a quote by Gloria Anzaldua, the quote read, "A misinformed people is a subjugated people." I think this quote is referring to the sad truth that people who are not informed or misinformed are usually controlled by outside and internal forces. These can be things like the influence of a person with more knowledge that tells them what to do or with internal beliefs that might be erroneous. This lead to us going to various topics like why having white or pale skin is considered as being beautiful and having black or dark color skin is considered ugly. With this we went far back in time and history. 
Watson CIT building
When it was time for lunch, we went to the V-Dub, another dinning hall that people think is better than the rest. There I ate some chicken wings, salad and some white rice. We had pleasant conversations with some of our hall mates while we ate. For dessert I had a delicious vanilla and chocolate ice cream cone. I really liked it. Then we headed to the Main Green where we met up with Erin, Gabrielle and some classmates. Soon after, it was time to head back to the second chunk of class. On the second half of class, we made some posters depicting our journey that led to us being in class at that specific time and day. I liked the activity but I felt like I didn't have enough time to complete it the way I wanted to. In the end we got to share our posters with a small group of girls in our class. I find interesting how everyone has such different circumstances for coming, like some were sent by their parents and some had a real strong passion for W&L. I find this blend very complex because we all have different motives but in the end we are all super engaged in class.

When class was over, Mahi, Esme, and I went to the Blue Room for a snack and to start working on our work. We instead started talking and started to connect more as individual. I am very happy that we are going from a group of people that are in the same program to actual friends.
Bonding time at Silent Green
Later at 4 PM we met up with our TA, Tori, to have a workshop about different leadership styles. This was very interesting. We learned about four very opposite learning styles. One being more strict, other more and engaged, also a super creative over the top one and a more technical one. We all found that one style resonated more with us. For me it was the creative one. I love to go with crazy over the top ideas and finding a way to make them feasible. On the flip side, I also think the more strict one is also very me. Often times I start with the creative approach but as time begins to run out I become more of a just do it person that primarily wants to finish the task at hand. In all, I'm actually a mixture of all the styles.

After the workshop we were free for and hour or so. Esme, Wendy, and I decided to come back to the dorms and skip dinner to later buy pizza. We got to the dorms and hung out at the lounge in our hall. We later got a text from Gabby reminding us of the Scholarship meeting. This meeting was specially for the kids that were able to come to Brown through a scholarship or a partnering program like our prestigious Ivy League Connection. Kisa who sent out the invitation for us to come was super nice, gave us shirts and lollipops. We did some introductions and mentioned somethings that we were hoping to gain from this program and this that we were anxious about. I wrote that I hoped to gain knowledge from the course itself and the people in it. Just like that it was over. 
The shirt Kisa gave us.
On the way back to the dorms we decided to get pizza and bread sticks for Mahi who already had some pizza from earlier. We got to our dorms and Wendy, Mahi and I went to Esme's room to blog an well order the pizza. We called about 6 or seven pizzerias and they either didn't deliver or didn't have bread sticks. I wonder if all the pizzerias in Rhode Island got together and decided to eradicate bread sticks. I think my favorite pizzeria was the one that had bread sticks but didn't sell pizza. Yes, you read that right, a pizzeria that didn't sell pizza! This is where we put our foot down. We took the shuttle to Antonio's pizzeria and got ourselves a pepperoni pizza. We also got Mahi some mozzarella sticks.
Waiting for the shuttle displaying our beautiful purchases
After this adventure we returned to our dorm to enjoy our pizza and mozzarella sticks. Everyone came to my dorm since, sadly, I don't have a roommate so there's more space. This arrangement has it's perks. For example, it doesn't matter how long I have to stay up to finish my homework because I won't disturb anyone.

Today for me was super amazing. I got to venture into the world of Women & Leadership as well as to bond with the girls in ILC. I loved that today we got to explore more of the off campus things as well as getting to relax a bit instead of running around from one place to the other trying to finish all this work that is very overwhelming at times. Overall today was one of the best day of my stay so far. I hope I have many more like it.

1 comment:

  1. Sorry to learn that you didn’t get a roommate--that’s half of what it means to live in a dorm.

    On the other hand, like you wrote, it’s nice to have the extra space and not to have to worry about disturbing your roommate.

    ReplyDelete