Before coming to AmeriCorps, I had never been to California for any length of time. However, pretty much all I had seen up until a week ago was campus and the Walmart next to campus. So when they announced that our “mini spike” was in San Luis Obispo, a small town on the coast of central California, I was beyond… Read more →
AmeriCorps: Headed to Baton Rouge
After waiting patiently, or not so patiently, for 6 months to find out my first project location, I finally have some answers. Not all the answers, because that just wouldn’t be the AmeriCorps way. There’s always got to be a little room for ambiguity. Instead of just telling us, most of the AmeriCorps teams had a cute reveal, not unlike… Read more →
AmeriCorps: Routine & A Sense of Purpose
I have arrived. As with most things in my life, this happened less than smoothly. Because of high winds, we were delayed getting into Los Angeles and consequently missed our connection to Sacramento. The next flight wasn’t for another 3.5 hours, but luckily there were four other AmeriCorps members on my flight so it was a good opportunity for bonding.… Read more →
AmeriCorps: The Beginning
I’ve always been someone whose interests are all over the place. I have contemplated being a lawyer, doctor, teacher, writer, business owner, therapist, and graphic designer. I thought that college would be perfect for me–4 years to figure out what I really wanted to do. I assumed that I would take one inspirational course with a quirky professor and that… Read more →
Peru & Machu Picchu
I’m forcing myself to write this post, enticing myself with the promise of a few episodes of 30 Rock on Netflix if I finish. I never have a problem reliving a vacation through my writing. I am usually happy to peruse my mental catalog of the dishes I ate and the views I meticulously photographed. But this trip ended with… Read more →
Feminist Series: Personal Experiences
I think the problem that almost any social movement has is when one person or a few people try to speak for a whole demographic or community. Inevitably this is going to cause problems, because each person’s life experience is going to be different even if you share an identity (female, gay, black, etc.). If there is one thing a… Read more →
Feminism Series: An Introduction
I am a feminist. I have always identified as a feminist, and I always will. I am not going to change that because some people associate the word with a certain radical “man-hating” attitude. I do regret that the word has this connotation, but the only way to change the meaning of a word is to reclaim it as your… Read more →
Study Abroad: And So It Ends
And so it ended where it started…at my kitchen table. I wrote the very first Pre-Departure blog post at my kitchen table, and now 6 months later I’m hovered over it again attempting to put into words everything that I’ve gone through in this time. Surely, I would have had a life changing experience regardless, but my father passing away… Read more →
Madrid VS Barcelona
Before I came to Spain, whenever I told people I was studying abroad in Madrid, they’d say, Oh, you’ll love Barcelona. This was mildly annoying, because I wanted people to tell me that about Madrid, but the fact is that less people visit Madrid since it’s isolated in the middle of the country and is located in what is effectively… Read more →
Edinburgh & Glasgow: J.K. Rowling Wrote Harry Potter Here!
Since I knew I was going abroad, I knew I wanted to visit Edinburgh. It’s where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter, and I’d just heard so many good things, namely that it was like a more quaint, less crowded London. I know some people may scoff at that comparison, but that was what I had heard. One of my friends… Read more →