Wednesday, August 5, 2015

A Wonderful Journey in The East Coast

The past two weeks I can honestly say I have learned a lot more than I feel like I would have learned in an entire school year. It was an amazing experience and I am really grateful for it. Not only did I learn in class from the instructor but, from other students with different backgrounds as well. I've discovered my identity and realized that I truly want to be a feminist. 

The first day we arrived at Perkins Hall, which was the building we were staying in I was exhausted and the time change made everything worse. I really felt like I didn't want to be there. Since we were early arrivals in the dorm, it was really lonely and quiet. A coupe days later I really regretted thinking that. I was enjoying my time there and spending time with my friends. Most of the time we interacted with each other during class. 

Mary Grace was a great instructor along with her TA, Tory. They both made us all feel safe and comfortable. If I ever needed help or advise I knew I always had them to talk to. They made the course a great experience. I honestly thought the Women & Leadership course was going to be very overwhelming and non-stop work. Although it was a bit challenging not once did I feel overwhelmed.  I loved everything about the course. Most of the time it was just the class talking and listening to each other rather than Mary Grace giving lectures all day everyday. 
A group of feminist

Diversity Workshop
Not only did we have class time together but workshops as well. Most of them were really helpful with the material we were trying to go over. They also helped the whole class grow intellectually and get closer to one another. 2 of them were very emotional while the rest were very informative. 

All the assignments weren't relatively easy but weren't impossible to complete either. The Action Plan needed a lot of detailed thinking. I wish we would have had a little bit more time to complete it. Although it was one of the harder assignments including the presentation it was one of my favorite. I really cannot wait to start on mine and try to make a small difference. Before we had the presentations I was really nervous but everybody was really supportive with everyones Action Plans. That is one of the things I also liked about this experience. Everyone believes in you and encourage you to dream big which is really important for us teenagers. 

Aside from taking a course at Brown, touring Harvard, Yale, and Wellesley was a great experience. It really expanded my horizons and made me realize there a lot more schools to learn about other than the ones here in California. At my high school we always talked about the Ivy League Schools and how great they were but never got in complete details about them. As if they didn't believe we weren't able to make it there so they didn't feel the need to talk about them. Visiting these schools made me realize with hard work anyone is capable of attending these schools.
Harvard
Yale
Wellesley
I know this experience will be something I will remember for a lifetime. It opened my eyes and changed my perspective on everything. I created new, great friendships with similar mindsets to one another and memories that will last forever. I will try my very best to share my knowledge with everyone and encourage to try great opportunities like this. 

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