An Experience Like No Other...

In a few of my prior posts I have talked about how good it is to think ahead and to prepare yourself for all possible situations, especially the good, the bad, and the ugly situations. Well this week as I was putting together my India presentation for the class, I did not, in any way shape or form, anticipate that my USB device would stop working and prevent me from opening up my power point presentation to present to the class. When I saw the big “ERROR” message pop up I was thinking, “This could not be happening; not to me, and not right now.” I only saved my work on my USB stick because A)I grew accustomed to saving all my work on it; I have a very old laptop, and I don’t own a printer, so most of the time I have to transfer my work onto the USB key anyways, and B)I didn't think USB could stop working, whereas a computer (especially one as ancient as mine) could crash at anytime; so I always also thought that it was the safer option. But regardless, I did not save my presentation on the computer, I did not email a back-up attachment file to myself – I did not prepare for the good, bad and ugly. I thought my USB was infallible, when really, it was imperect just like everything else in the world.

So after the first presenter wraps up their wonderful presentation, and Joanne calls my name, the only thing I could say to her was, “My USB doesn’t work and I can’t open my presentation!” Honestly, at that point I was secretly praying to myself that these words would come out of her mouth: “Oh really? Well that’s okay Raquel. Technology can be a pain sometimes, so you don’t have to present ... I’m sure your presentation would have been marvellous. Here, I’ll just give you an A!” Haha. Yeah, right! Only in my perfect fairy-tale dreams. Instead she said something like this: “Okay figure something out NOW... Who’s next?” So as a couple more people presented I was scrounging around looking for pictures, links, videos and all the information I used while putting my presentation together. The show had to go on, and that it did, although not as smoothly as I would have liked.

Every once and a while an event like this takes place in life. Personally, I was angry that it happened, and mad that I didn’t back up my work on my computer, but I didn’t completely freak out or have a melt-down, which I consider to be a really good thing. Some people may have been reduced to tears, which is normal, but not this tough cookie right here! If I can recall correctly, one question in the BB interview was, "What will you do if something goes completely wrong? How will you handle it?" (Or something to that effect) I remember saying that if a situation occurred and everything was spiralling out of control that I would probably need a moment to collect my thoughts, get my head straight – basically have a “mini meltdown” - then I would regroup and figure out some way to handle the situation. While I didn’t have a mini meltdown this time, as it really wasn’t necessary for this particular situation, I did have to be quick, and I had to implement plan B. Let's face it, things always happen unexpectedly, things go wrong all the time, and technology fails, no matter how well you prepare. I think I’ve said this before, but it’s how you handle the situation, and pick yourself up that is most important.

I guess the morale of this story is: Always expect the unexpected (and don’t trust a USB stick!) I hope in India I will be able to handle the unexpected (after my mini-breakdown that is). But I’m glad this happened because it was sort of the reality check I needed to put all this talk about preparation into perspective, instead of just blogging about it!

On another note, please tune in as I will be posting information about India in a separate post. I would love to share some of the unique information I found during my research about Madurai to my readers, and classmates since they didn’t get to see my presentation either!

Take Care,

Namaste.

So this week I had to take some serious action towards my lack of volunteering. Luckily for me, the people at St. John’s Kitchen accept new volunteers with open arms. My partner in crime, Olivia, and I, woke up at the crack of dawn this past Tuesday and Thursday and accumulated half of our hours. But the amount of hours is beside the point; I know that after I've completed the necessary amount for the program, I'll still volunteer until it's time for me to leave to India.
So I guess now it’s fitting to share my experience…

First of all, it was A LOT of work! There's a lot of time and energy that goes into running the kitchen, and let's just say, the work that I had to do would make my mother really proud! I mean, I do chores at home, but even one of the older volunteers I met said that our mothers would be proud of us mopping the floors, bussing the tables, cleaning the showers/bathrooms and stairs and preparing and serving the food! It was sort of like, "Okay Raquel, welcome to the real world!" It was great though! The many chores made the day go by really quickly. It was when I reached home that I felt the aches and lethargy of the day’s activities, and had a nice nap!

But on to the more exciting stuff...

The woman in charge, Gretchen, is one character! She is great with the volunteers and the people and the regulars that come in to eat, and she cracks me up, which always makes the job fun! The great thing I realized as St. John's is that everyone there is like one big family. The sense of community I saw was tremendous, and everyone pitches in to get the jobs done. The people that eat there know the place inside out, so they were there to give some guidance and direction, and they also helped to serve the food and clean up. What made the days really great for me was the gratification we received from the staff and the people who eat at the kitchen; that at the end of each day, there was always someone to say, "Thanks girls, you did a great job today!" That simple thank-you went a long way; and I mean a long way. I’m not going to deny it, I was tired after everything! But to hear that, made it all worth it, because I’m sure they’re all aware of the hard work it takes daily, to make sure everything runs smoothly! I certainly left St. Johns with a smile on my face!

Now this change in plans obviously means that I have not yet volunteered at kidsLINK, which I’m really upset about, because I was really looking forward to working with the children at the different centers. Unfortunately, my police report has taken FOREVER to complete, and I cannot volunteer without it, so I could not wait any longer and had to shift gears. Hopefully I can work something out with the coordinator, and she will accept me at a later date if I return to Waterloo.

That’s it for this week,

Take Care Readers

I just wanted to post this uplifting song because I really like it :) Enjoy!

This past week in school, I had one of those moments where I could actually feel the $20 000+ investment towards my higher education actually teaching me something! I’m just kidding, I feel that way about school all the time :)

Well instead of saying that, I guess I could say that what I learned this past week in school really hit home with Beyond Borders, and our mission and goals for this program. I’m really beginning to take what I’m learning and either apply it, or analyze its deeper meaning, to see how it’s affecting the global community.
So let me waste no more time highlighting with you, the wondrous teachings that I learned:

In my Foreign Policy class, we discussed the more recent notion of Ethics in foreign policy. Not only did I learn that I am completely Liberal when it comes to politics and foreign policy views, I learned about a man by the name of Peter Singer. Upon further investigation, I found out that Peter Singer is an Australian philosopher who specializes and writes about applied ethics, animal rights and liberation, abortion and infanticide, world poverty and famine, and even vegetarianism. The professor presented the class with a scenario by Singer, and so, without further ado, I will present it to you, the readers.

The Scenario:
Suppose you were on your way to an important interview for the job of your dreams; dressed decadently in your brand new suit, your confidence is soaring at an all-time high because you know all there is to know about the company and the position; there’s just no way you cannot get this job! But suppose on your way to the interview you have to walk by a pond. As you’re walking along you see a child, whom you’ve never met, drowning in the pond. In order to help the child you have to get your brand new suit wet and dirty and you will miss your interview. If you can, without endangering yourself, save the child, do you have an obligation to do so? Does your obligation change if the other passersby, who are as equally capable of rescuing the child, are standing around twiddling their thumbs, or simply watching the child drown? Most would agree that none of the above matters, and that rescuing that child should be the only priority irrespective of the dream job or the people taking no action. But then, Singer proposes this: “[W]ould it make any difference if the child were far away, in another country perhaps, but similarly in danger of death, and equally within your means to save, at no great cost – and absolutely no danger – to yourself?” Singer’s students, he says, initially say no, that distance and/or nationality do not change the morality of the situation to help those further away. The reality is, however, that we are living in this situation every day; everyday there is a drowning child or adult, who may not be an arm’s length away, who resides in Ukraine, Uganda, Kenya, Peru, Argentina and India, but is still in need of our help, and whom we can help, without putting ourselves in any extra danger or risk. The only problem is, because of access, we tend to help those who are physically closer to us, and give them greater priority than those living further away.

Singer goes on to say that sacrificing that brand new CD, a new pair of jeans, or Beyoncé concert tickets is what it would cost us to save the lives of people drowning overseas. Donating to organizations like Red Cross or Oxfam, “overcome the problem of acting at a distance.”

After reading “The Drowning Child and the Expanding Circle” (click the link to read the article in its entirety, which I strongly recommend you do!), all I could say was, “That’s it!” It hit the nail right on the head! People like to place more value on the lives of people who live closer to them, than those who are in another country - which shouldn’t be the case at all – because of convenience. A lot of people only think within the borders of their country. My mother for example doesn’t understand why I can’t just volunteer here in Canada. Well it’s for that reason alone. There are people drowning in India who need help as well. I’m not purporting at all, that I am the one who’s going to rescue them from the "water", but I am recognizing that they are equally entitled to, and deserving of, the same aid I would give anyone else here in Canada.

In a sense, I do understand the “dilemma”. After all, I was brought up in this environment so I see the mentality towards issues like this. I do understand that helping people closer to us is, physically, so much easier. And that people worry about sending their money to organizations because of all the corruption that takes place, and they don’t know where their money is actually going. For me, and I’m going to be 100% honest here so don’t hate me afterwards, I sometimes use the fact that I am a struggling student, with no income whatsoever, as a reason why I cannot donate to any agencies or NGO’s, because every penny counts for me. Yet, at the same time, I can justify buying a new shirt and skirt at H&M, or spending $5 on a triple-venti-nonfat-dolce-mocha-choc-a-latte drink at Starbucks (yes I know, it’s ridiculous which is why I don’t do it often), but sending a donation seems like – dare I say it – a “waste” of money? :( It’s quite horrible, now that I think about it! And unfortunately, that’s how a lot of us think – that our self-interests are more important. That skirt and that latte are going to bring us instant pleasure, whereas sending our money to an organization that sends packages to hungry children, does not seem as satisfying because we can’t see the fruits of our hard earned dollar. Don’t get me wrong, we obviously we must provide for ourselves first, and I don’t expect everyone to donate 25% of their income to charities like Singer, but what I’m concerned about is the over consumption of EVERYTHING in our “Western” world - buying more of what we already have plenty of, and not acknowledging the detrimental effects it has our global community.

Singer touches on this as well in the article, and again, I could not agree more. He also refers to the “Ideology of the free market” - the fact that our goal in life is to achieve the ultimate success so we can consume, and then we work harder, so we can earn more money, so that we can consume even more. It’s a vicious cycle, and not a very fulfilling one, at that. No wonder environmentalists have strong reason to believe that over consumption is depleting the world’s natural resources.

I don’t want this post to come off the wrong way. In no way am I saying to follow every suggestion Singer has written, and I don’t want to sound like I’m ordering everyone to consume less, and stop buying or indulging in nice things, even deliciously over-priced drinks, and to give all your money away to charities and live in holes for the rest your lives. I certainly know that is not ideal; even for me. But a little awareness may go a long way. The next time you go to purchase something, you may ask yourself, “Do I really need this [insert expensive good here], or can I go another month or so with what I already have?” And try and realize that there is an entire world outside of your own country. There are 6.8 billion people in the world and 195 countries and, in 2005, 32% or the entire world’s wealth was in the hands of the United States, alone (Family Care Foundation: Village of 100 People, 2005). It’s time to become more aware, it’s time to make smarter decisions… and it’s time to start thinking more about the people who are not an arm's length away, but who are still drowning.

Hello again bloggers!

How many times have you caught yourself saying: “I wish I were a kid again!” Too many, right? But what is it about those youthful years that we enjoy so much? Well I can name a few: less responsibilities, for one; less stress, everything was so much easier – the hardest decisions I had to make was deciding if I wanted to play with Barbie or Polly Pocket. It was beautiful! Everyday was rainbows, unicorns and smiles :)

Since my childhood days are long gone, I love being around younger children – I love interacting with younger kids, playing with them, conversing with them, and making them laugh. There's something about a little child's laugh that is so infectious, you can't help but laugh yourself. But really, the beauty behind children, in my opinion, is how genuine they are when they are younger. Kids are just themselves; they don't hold back and they say whatever comes to mind, which is usually the “darndest thing” (haha), because they don't think “if I say this, will I look stupid?”, or they don't have to worry about who's judging them because they don't even know what judgment is! I remember in “Becoming Human”, by Jean Vanier, Vanier said that if you've ever watched young children playing on the playground, you'll notice how easy it is for them to approach one another and instantly become the best of friends. It's because they don't acknowledge things like looks, or race, or how “uncool” the other kid is, unlike older people, who use criteria such as these to screen the people they want to talk to, and don't want to talk to. Kids, on the other hand, just see another person to play with and the bond starts from there.

Younger kids are so innocent, and I love that they aren't filled with all the negativity that we learn growing up. When we get older that's when we are taught that having money is the most important goal in life; that physical things like cars, clothes and jewellery bring us happiness; that you have to compete and make it to the top in order to be successful in life; that you should only associate with people who are more like you because they're on "your level". That means not talking to or getting to meet new people because they don't look a certain way, or they don't wear designer clothes, or because they're homeless, or have a mental disability. As we get older, life changes from rainbows, unicorns and smiles into money, competition and depression.

There's no denying that these innocent children will become exposed to these negative aspects of our Western society. Unfortunately, some will believe in this Western philosophy and they're lives will be directed towards consuming the physical and materialistic items that we have given so much praise and value. Or some, we can hope, will learn with the proper guidance and direction, that that isn't what constitutes a fulfilling life; that healthy relationships, happiness and most importantly, love, are what brings true value to your life.

The reason why I'm going off on this little tangent about children, is because I will finally be starting my volunteering this week at a social services agency called kidsLINK. Yes, I was supposed to be volunteering throughout the term, and yes, I now have to complete 20 hours of volunteering in less than 4 weeks (and during one of the most chaotic school months ever), but remember, I was built to work under pressure! Honestly, this time, my procrastination was not 100% to blame. A few of the earlier placements I looked into fell through, for various reasons, so I had to go back to square one. I could have joined my other members at the St. John's soup kitchen, but I was adamant in volunteering with children, now, before I work with the children at the orphanage in India.

To let you know a little bit more about my volunteer placement, kidsLINK, like I said before, it is a social service agency that works with families who have children with mental health challenges, such as autism, or different social, emotional or behavioural challenges, that the children need help developing. I will be working with children from the ages of 2 – 12, and I will be doing various activities with them, while helping them develop their social skills, recognize their emotions, and how to properly deal with those emotions in different situations. To find out more about kidsLINK and its parent company just click on the link!

I am excited about this placement because as much as I love being around children, I have never been around them in this fashion. I've babysat and I hang out with my little cousins and my friends' nieces and nephews, but that's pretty much the extent of it. I want to see how I interact with them, and if I will actually be able to handle 6-10 screaming children, with different needs and personalities, without losing my own sanity! I've also never worked with people with mental disabilities, so this will also be new for me. I am not worried about it though. If there was one thing I learned from reading “Becoming Human”, it was that mental disabilities do not prevent people from being their truly unique selves – that they are still humans who laugh, cry, and jump for joy. And they can make others around them laugh, cry and jump for joy, if they look past their disability, treat them as another human, and let them into their hearts. I'm hoping to learn a lot from this. There's a lot you can learn about yourself in every situation, and working with these kids, here, and in India, will certainly test me, because you never know what could happen, especially with children.

This past week was a real eye-opener for me as I have learned a lot from the consequences of my actions. The funny thing, however, what happened to me this past week, has actually happened 3 years prior; I think the aftermath of this year finally made me realize that I have to change, otherwise there is no way of me succeeding at anything in the future.

Of course what I'm talking about, and what I need to change – immediately – is my relentless procrastination! It is absolutely awful! It has plagued me for many years of my life, but instead of getting better, it is only reaching new heights, and I cannot sit back and let it suck me in any longer.

This week was the first week back after reading week, and to put it colloquially, it was a week from H-E- double hockey sticks! And of course, I am the only one to blame, because I chose, once again, not to take advantage of the week off, and actually do some school work. Like I said before, this is the usual routine for my reading breaks – not doing school work – but this time it hit me tenfold. I have never felt so disorganized in my life! I think in total, I only got 8-10 hours of sleep for the entire week; I was sick and coughing up my already weak lungs; I missed too many classes because I was doing midterms/studying/reading for others; and on top of that, I had to pay $400 so my arm could be numb for the entire week, from the vaccination shots I received! I'm just glad the school reimburses us, otherwise I don't think I could afford to go to India. There is more I could say about this week, but I digress. I'm sure there are students who are in the same predicament as myself, or maybe even worse. And I am not doing this so we can have a “pity party” for Raquel. The last thing I need is pity! What I do need is tough love and discipline (and a massage). But by putting my bad habit out there, this may be a different way for me to solve the problem, because I usually just deal with everything internally and by myself.

So let me continue to “put myself out there”: Once I got myself in this situation and realized that I needed to stay up hours on end to finish everything, that's what I did. I was able to finish everything that I needed to, on time, and some would commend my efforts. To tell you the truth, most procrastinators I know end up pulling everything off in the knick of time, and we end up doing well, for the most part. (These are the ones I know, not all procrastinators can do this). Most procrastinators would agree that it's that added pressure of working under the gun that fuels our creative energy. But honestly, I just can't take it anymore. After this week, I left too much to the last minute, and despite completing everything, I was still disappointed with myself. I was disappointed that I put myself in that situation, yet again; I was disappointed at the fact that I wasn't 100% satisfied with my end work; and I was mostly disappointed that after so many years, and so many proclamations about wanting to end my procrastination, that nothing had changed.

Let's just say that I've been kicking myself all week! But enough beating myself up, I need to move forward. A quote I read from Walt Disney said, “You may not realize when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” Life is faced with endless challenges and it's how you meet those challenges that really matters. It would say a lot about my character if I continued down this downward spiral, and let my procrastination get the best me. Or I could recognize that it is making me unhappy, and that it's jeopardizing my academic career. I choose the latter, but I know this is not going to fix itself in a day. I'm young, I'm making mistakes and trying my best to learn from them, even though this particular mistake keeps reoccurring. But I'm also human, and some habits, like procrastination, take some more time to break. I think what might make the difference this time around, is that I truly hit an all time low, and I never want to feel like this again. I WANT to change, and I want to get rid of this horrible habit.

Now that I admitted to being an incessant procrastinator (the first step is always admittance), it's time to take action … and no, I won't start next week! I'm actually really good at writing down tasks and what needs to be done. It's somewhere after compiling the list that either laziness kicks in, or the television or Facebook beckons. As something new, I'm going to post, here, some reasons I found as to why I procrastinate and then some advice/steps I found to help me fight it. Hopefully when I catch myself procrastinating, I can come here, read this list, and get back to work.

Here's a few:

PROBLEM: “People don't want to face the consequences of failure, so they delay.” (Pace Productivity)
SOLUTION: “Develop a clear mental picture of the completed task and how you will feel at that time. Maintain a focus on the end result, not just the process. Remind yourself how good you'll feel when you're finished”(Pace Productivity)

PROBLEM: Laziness.
SOLUTION: Joanne, the director, said this simple phrase to the class: “Be like Nike, and 'JUST DO IT' ”

PROBLEM: Not taking the first step
SOLUTION: “When you start to look too far into the future any task or project can seem close to impossible. And so you shut down because you become overwhelmed and start surfing the internet aimlessly instead. That is one of the reasons why it is good to plan for the future but then to shift your focus back to today and the present moment”(Henrick Edberg, Positivity Blog).

PROBLEM: Too much thinking, not enough doing
SOLUTION: “A bit of planning can certainly help you to achieve what you want to achieve. A lot of planning and thinking tends to have the opposite effect. So plan a little and then take action” (Henrick Edberg, Positivity Blog).

PROBLEM: Putting off small tasks
SOLUTION: “By over thinking and putting things off you are not only trying to protect yourself from pain. You also make mountains out of molehills … The more hours and days you put something off the worse it grows in your mind … This makes a little thing a big Godzilla, a horrible beast that is threatening to ruin your life” (Edberg).


For more great tips and detailed explanations on how to stop procrastinating, click: The Positivity Blog.


Also, check out this video I found on Youtube... it's where I got the title for my blog!


Until next week :)

Reading week is officially over. Well it was fun while it lasted!

During the reading week I was able to get in touch with some friends, share stories, and brag about India. While we were indulging in deep, intellectual conversation, one of my good friends pointed out that I have a tendency to always bring up the negative sides of things. I denied the accusation, and I did go on the defensive a little bit, but the truth is, this wasn't the first time someone had said this to me. Because this wasn't the first time, I had to do a quick self analysis and ask myself, “Do you always think about the negative?” If people who are very close to me, and have known me for years are telling me this, then there must be some truth behind it that I am clearly unaware of. Then I started wondering if this is how I am perceived by others. If so, will the people I meet in India think I am negative as well?

In retrospect, I can admit that I am more predisposed to think about the worst case scenarios more often than I think about the best case scenarios. Also, when people ask for my opinion, or tell me about certain plans or situations, I am usually the one to play devil's advocate, if you will. As an example, instead of agreeing right away, I like to ask questions such as, “If A doesn't happen, then what are you going to do?” Or I'll say somethiing along the lines of, “Yes, that's great, but what about ________?” I personally didn't think of this as being “negative” per se, but it led to me being called that dreadful word: pessimist!

All this time I thought of myself as a very happy go-lucky girl, with a friendly disposition, who is always smiling and laughing, and has a great sense of humour. Now, I am being called a pessimist? This can't be! A pessimist is the complete antithesis of who am, or should I say, who I thought I was.

For some reason the word “pessimist” leaves a bad taste in my mouth. “Why?”, you might ask. Well, I blame society, first of all. To me, the word has an overall bad connotation. I view pessimism and optimism as a type of dichotomy, where, on one end of spectrum you have pessimists who are miserable, cynical people, who are never satisfied, who are very unappreciative, and depressed because they view everything in life negatively, and are unable to see the good in any situation. (Now do you see why I was so offended to be called a pessimist?) Meanwhile, optimists are self-deluded people who are running through life as if it were a field of lillies and daffodils; where nothing can upset them, or bring them down, because they believe everything in life will work out perfectly in the end. This is obviously my over exaggerated interpretation of pessimism and optimism, because I don't think people are actually like this, however, based on my own interpretations, I would not want to be placed on either side of the spectrum! Quite frankly, it may sound better to be called an optimist instead of a pessimist, however, there are pitfalls to being either one. For example, optimists may be setting themselves up for failure by having overly ambitious goals, and no alternative courses of action if those goals are not met, because they assumed everything would work out. Thinking about or planning for the worst case scenario is not necessarily a bad thing, but being overly pessimistic about every situation, is. Plus, it cannot be good for your health. That is why I consider myself to be a realist, which in my mind, is a combination of both pessimism and optimism.

The classic test used to decipher whether or not a person is an optimist or a pessimist is to ask, “Is the glass half empty, or half full?” Apparently if you answer that the glass is half full, you are an optimist, and you are a pessimist if you see the glass as half empty. I remember when I was first asked this question and, before I understood its implications, I had trouble answering it, because clearly the glass is both half empty and half full. Then, throughout the years, I became more apt to say the glass was half empty. I'm not sure why, really. I should have maintained my initial position, but maybe throughout the years I became more skeptical life. What this suggests, however, is that I have always been a realist at heart!

A basic definition of a realist I found was, “A person who accepts the world as it is literally, and deals with it accordingly” (Church of Reality). This is exactly what I tell people when they call me a pessimist. I suppose because I am so quick to point out the "negative", or the bad outcomes, people take that as me being pessimistic. However, I would rather lay all the cards on the table and give all possibilities equal consideration because, realistically, that's how life works. Not everything will turn out horribly bad, and not everything will be absolutely wonderful. The only thing we can do is wait to see the the outcome, and deal with it from there. But like I said in my last post, preparing for worst case scenarios, is always wise and decreases the chances of failure. And I don't see anything pessimistic about that!

Hello again. I'm so happy this week is finally coming to an end because it officially marks the beginning of reading week. It could not have come at a more perfect time. I think in the anticipation of an upcoming holiday, my mind is unable to think of anything else. As a result, I was going through all my classes sort of, aimlessly, with the exception of our BB class this week. The cohort finally reunited, and it was really nice to have the entire class together again. Half of the class did presentations on their country, and everyone did a really great job. Watching the presentations and hearing about the different cultures and adventures that some of the members will be going on, made me want to to go to their placement's too! I would never give up the opportunity to go to India, of course, but I think I've been bit by a travel bug because want to travel everywhere!

Continuing on... After the presentations we took care of some house keeping issues, well not so much home keeping, it was more like Joanne (the director of BB) filling our heads with frightening scenarios to “better prepare” us for our time abroad. To paraphrase, she would rather us go overly scarred and frightened, and then have us calm down once we settle in. And she's right. We need to hear and prepare ourselves for the good, the bad, and the ugly, and we really don't need anything sugar-coated, otherwise the transition is going to be absolutely unbearable. I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”. This is exactly why I appreciate our classes, and the words of advice, more and more, as my departure draws near.

What I really wanted to talk about in this post, however, is transition – my transition from Canada to India. Obviously, I have no idea how I'm going to handle this, and I think, for the most part, I've been envisioning myself as being able to handle whatever comes my way. I do this a lot actually. I always picture myself in future situations and act out how I think the situation is going to play out, but nine times out of ten, I am completely off the mark, and nothing goes according to my vision. Okay, so how does this relate to my transition? Well, while I'm able to imagine my arrival in India, and getting along great with my host family, and doing all that wonderful tourist “stuff” for the first couple of weeks, my vision goes completely blank after that. The longest period of time I've traveled by myself was for two weeks, and that was a little bit different because I was surrounded by friends from school. But as you can see, my mind cuts off at about the two week mark. After that, I've never had to think about what happens next. Which brings me back to India. I really never thought about what happens after all the excitement fades after the first couple of weeks, and I stop being the “new girl” and transition into being a “local resident", in a sense. I want to believe, and I want to think, that I'm going to handle this with ease, like everything else so far in my life, but for some reason, thinking about the one month mark, or the two month mark, is more nerve wrecking to me, than thinking about the first week. I want to imagine that by month one I'll be comfortable, I'll have a structured routine, I'll be able to manage my duties at the orphanage despite the language barrier, the girls at the orphanage will like me, and I might even have a friend or two. But the truth is, what if those things don't happen? What if this is the one situation where I am unable to adapt to the new environment? I don't want to be too naive about this trip, and I don't want to think everything will work out in my favour, because, like I said before, nine times out of ten, fate has a funny way of working against me. But when life throws you lemons, you should make lemonade! I think having this attitude, and letting go of the “fairy tale” notions that everything will be perfectly fine, will help with my transition. Preparation is still mandatory, of course, but because my future in India is so unpredictable at this point, I am going to have to learn how to revel in the new experience one day at a time.

Thanks for reading!

Ahh the month of February... It's a month made for university students and lovers! Many university student's are filled with anticipation as they count down the days until their one week break from the madness that is school. During this week, many dedicated and hardworking students take this time at home to catch up on readings for their classes, while reading ahead a few chapters to prepare for the rest of the semester. Plus, if they're anything like myself, they'll throw in some leisurely reading on the side. Afterall, it is "reading week"!

And of course, the 14th marks the day where people can celebrate (or repudiate) the beauty that is love, by over indulging in lovey-dovey Hallmark cards (which are so over-priced!), stuffed Build-A-Bears, fattening chocolates and candy, and flowers that die within days. But then again, nothing says Valentines day like dried up vegetation! P.s I'm not bitter or anti-Valentines day, if that's what you were thinking :)

But there is another event that's bigger than reading week, and even more historic than Valentine's day, and that is Black History Month. The entire month of February is dedicated to the remembrance of influential African American people throughout history, such as, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Booker T. Washington, Sidney Poitier, Jackie Robinson, and more recent figures like Maya Angelou, Oprah, and of course, Barack Obama (just to name a few); who broke down barriers, overcame the struggles of slavery and segregation, and paved the way for African American generations to come.

Now, there are many directions in which I could take this post, especially with the controversy that seems to be surrounding Black History Month in the 21st Century. There have been disagreements and debates about an entire month being dedicated to the African American race alone, which some consider to be unfair. Others, such as Morgan Freeman*, however, contest BHM because reducing the entire African American history to one month is "ridiculous". There are also issues centred around the current relevance of Black History Month, and whether or not it is as widely recognized or celebrated as before, especially amongst younger generations. Although these present great discussion questions, I actually wanted to focus on the founder of BHM because I recently discovered the man behind BHM, and I don't think too many people are aware of this extraordinary man.

So here is some history on Black History for interested readers:



What is now a month, first started out as one week. Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the son of former slaves, single-handily founded what was called Negro History Week, in 1926. Woodson chose the second week of February because it celebrated the birthdays of two important men who greatly influenced the history of black people: former U.S President, Abraham Lincoln, who issued the Emancipation Proclamation, and abolitionist, Frederick Douglas (Haney, 2007).

Woodson would spend his childhood years working in a Kentucky coal mine, until the age of 20, when he enrolled himself into high school. The bright young man earned his diploma in 2 years, and then his Bachelor of Literature degree at Berea College in Kentucky. Later, he attend the University of Chicago and received his M.A, and from there, he went to Harvard University to receive his Ph.D in history, becoming the 2nd African American to earn a doctorate degree. The first African American was another civil rights activist and co-founder of the NAACP, a man, by the name of W.E.B DuBois.

Dr. Woodson's drive and inspiration stemmed from his observations that there was a lack of documentation on the history of black people in history books and textbooks, and in the rare occasion where African Americans did figure into the picture, they were often misrepresented, stereotyped, or denounced because of their inferior position in society. Woodson wanted to refute "the canards that black people aren't as intelligent as other races and are more prone to criminality and dancing" (Kelly, Newsweek, 2010). Unfortunately, not to say that nothing hasn't changed, but this is obviously one stereotype that remains engrained within black communities. But continuing on...

After recognizing this niche, Dr. Woodson co-founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH),now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, in 1915, where he, and fellow members, would research the history of black people in American, and world, history. Collections from this archive would be published in the Journal of Negro History, which is still being published today, but is now the Journal of African American History, and distributed to teachers, schools, communities, and clubs, to promote the significant contribution African Americans had within history (bio., 2010).

Dr. Carter G. Woodson passed away in 1950, but his contribution and his legacy to the African American people remain to this day, albeit, not as well-received as it once was. For some reason, BHM has taken a shift from being an uplifting, pride-filled month for Black people, more so for Americans than Canadians, but regardless, it seems to have become something demeaning and oppressive. Maybe because Barack Obama has accomplished the unimaginable, Black people feel we are finally equal? Or maybe because the tradition has been around for so long, people feel they already know all there is to know about Black history, which is unfortunate for my children because by the time their in school, perhaps BHM will be nonexistent. I hope this isn't the case, but I'm sure there will be, no, there MUST always be, other avenues for people to learn the history and the historic figures of their race. Whether you're Black, European, Indian, Spanish, Asian, Scottish or Arabic; whether you have one day, one week, one month or no months, to glorify the influential people that made a difference for your nation, or for your race, in the end, it's really about all races and all cultures and ethnicities becoming aware of the fact that, throughout some point in history, we've all suffered from slavery, oppression, racism, discrimination and inequality, which makes us more alike, than different. But without men like Dr.Woodson, we wouldn't know we shared this commonality. If BHM should be abolished, we must continue to teach ourselves and others, especially younger generations to come. So I encourage everyone to "keep hope alive", and continue to "have a dream"!

Sources:

*Morgan Freeman Clip on 60 Minutes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO214IFRW1M

bio. http://www.biography.com/blackhistory/history/black-history-month.jsp

Kelly, Raina. "The End of Black History Month?". Newsweek, 2010.

Haney, Elissa. "The History of Black History". Infoplease, 2007.

Welcome to week 4. My, has February fallen upon us ever so quickly! You know what this means? It’s almost CRUNCH TIME, and I have to put everything in “super-mode”.

This past week, our group finally touched base via Facebook, and it was good to hear
from everyone. It seems as though we are all very excited to work on a group fundraising project, and we’ve unanimously decided to host another Band Night at the Bomber Shelter on campus. Last semester’s Band Night, although it wasn’t a huge success and we did not raise that much money, was a lot fun, despite me having to sit in the back and type an essay while loud music was blaring in my ears! But I’d do anything to support the team :)

Speaking of support, I met up with another Beyond Borders member who I haven’t seen in quite some time, and who also happens to be my roommate, and over Starbucks and a shared red velvet cupcake (which was very delicious by the way), we were exchanging stories about our family’s responses to this entire BB experience. Well, let me just preface this by saying, our family’s are on two extremely different spectrums! My roommate informed me that her mother praises her with encouragement and tells her, everyday, how proud she is that her daughter is doing this program. My mother, on the other hand, not to say she isn’t proud, but she definitely doesn’t like telling me so. When people ask about my trip to India her comments are usually along the lines of: “I don’t want to talk about India. Raquel and this trip are giving me nerves!” Now don’t get me wrong, I understand her concern. And with me being her first born, she gets a little, okay, a little is an understatement; she gets very over-protective, despite me being 22 years of age.

As for our sisters; my roommate has an older sister, while I have a younger teenage sister, who is graduating from grade 12 this upcoming summer. After reading her blog, my roommate’s sister was brought to tears, which was followed by her mother being moved to tears, and it seemed like a really genuine family moment. My case is a bit different. You see, my sister has yet to read my blog. I don’t know if it’s because she doesn’t like to read in general, or if she is boycotting my blog because I have to miss her grade 12 graduation this summer while I’m in India. Either way, you can definitely see the differences family responses. I am upset that I will not get to watch my sister graduate because she has been to all of mine, and graduation is a big celebration in our family. I told her, however, that she can Skype me while the ceremony is taking place, and it will be as if I’m right there with the family! Needless to say, she did not like that idea, but she did promise to read my blog while I was away. As for now, there will be no waterworks in the Mignott family, but I’m sure they will come around. I know they do not fully understand why I’m endeavoring this, because no one in my family has done anything remotely similar to BB, but they do see how important this is to me, which is why they are supporting me, even though they don’t get it!

To my fellow Beyond Bord-ians, how are your family members dealing with this experience?