An Experience Like No Other...

So another week has passed, and I must admit that I have not done anything Beyond Borders related. Sad I know, but it just seems like during the week, I focus on school related matters, like the economics midterm I had this week, instead of BB matters. I tend to do this because I feel as though there is still a lot of time before my trip, but I know that May is going to creep up behind me and bite me in the you-know-what! To avoid this I have written down in my trusty agenda all the things that need to be done. Here's a little preview of what I still have to do:

-Get/ Apply or VISA
-Schedule appointments at a Travel Clinic so I can get poked with countless needles (Thanks Cat for the reminder that appointments are booking up ever so quickly)
-Bother people for more money! (Thank you to my wonderful family members and friends that have donated to my cause, but it won't be the last time you hear from me >:-) )
-Find another volunteer position because, unfortunately, the organizer of the last placement has fallen ill
-Last, but not least, think of better blog topics, because this is not my idea of an interestingly stimulating post!

On that note, I want to switch it up (and try to make this a little more exciting) and pose a question to you readers. A friend of mine said this quote to me earlier this week, and at the time, I sort of played along and acted as if I understood it. When we got off of the phone,however, I starting thinking about it, and I really had no idea how to interpret the quote. The quote is nothing spectacular or amazing really, and when you first hear it, the meaning seems pretty obvious. So perhaps I was just over analyzing it, like I do with everything, but I would like to see how you guys interpret this quote from Albert Einstein.


“You cannot solve a problem with the same mind that created it”

See, nothing extremely mind boggling about it, right? Well at first I thought, well that's not true. I create many problems for myself, but I am able to find ways to solve them. And if I have solved the problem myself, am I not using the same mind/brain that put myself in that situation in the first place? Unless my mind somehow transformed into Albert Einstein's mind at the moment I discovered the solution, then I would say I was able to solve the problem with the same mind; my mind.

Then I figured, let's think about this a little bit deeper. After all, I am a fourth year undergrad student, here (which honestly means nothing lol). So then I thought about bigger problems, created by humans, like oppression. Oppression is obviously a large problem that started from colonialism, and is used as a tool to keep the powerful elite in power, while other races and minorities suffer and are subjected to poverty, racism etc. (Side note: As I type this, I am beginning to understand the quote a lot better, but I will continue on with my thought process because some of you may interpret it differently). Throughout time, there have been many nations that have overcome this oppression, and have been able to gain their independence from colonies, which obviously was NOT done with the same mind; it was done by the people who could realize and see that oppression, in itself, was a problem. Oppressors would not want to solve the problem of oppression because it is in their best interest to remain in power, and therefore, they continue to have the same mindset, and do not look for solutions to the problem.

In my situations, however, continuing to have the same mindset would only prolong the problem and worsen my situation, should I have chosen not to solve it. However, what I am beginning to realize is, as I look for the solutions and seek ways to solve my problems, that is, in fact, changing my mind from its original thought process that got me in that predicament. Looking for solutions, stepping outside of the box, and looking at the problem from a different perspective, is actually changing your mind, and your overall way of thinking. Your mind, or my mind, is actually growing by exploring different options in order to come up with better solutions to any problems that you, or I, may have. Now if only the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, and other oppressors in this world, had the same thought process as me!

I guess then, the questions become: HOW do we change the minds of those who create these problem? How do we get dictators, communists, and oppressors, to see that what they are doing is a problem that needs to be solved?

I, unfortunately, don't have the answer to that yet, but I am willing to rack my brain to find a solution.