et502's blog

The image I selected is from the Sound of Music – it’s that moment when Maria is bounding into a field, arms spread, singing, feeling completely free… right before she realizes that she’s super-late for something back at the convent and sprints off back down the hill (goddamn bell!)

 Forground/Background based on this image: I chose this picture because, for me, it represents emotional highs and lows based on location. In the background, there’s the unseen convent – a place related of worry, awareness of responsibilities, commitments, etc. But in the foreground, there is a sense of freedom, carelessness, and anticipation – perhaps Maria has been planning to go for this walk, looking forward to it, much like I look forward to my sources of freedom on campus. And of course, there is the challenge of the climb, which I think is a good symbol for life at Bryn Mawr. 

I’m trying to accentuate the positive right now, let that positivity foreground my vision of Bryn Mawr (and I think visiting my on-campus site, the area around Arnecliffe Art Studio, will be a space of freedom). But honestly, sometimes it feels like a convent, so many tight corners and obligations.

So. In my google search for images of the campus, I found this site. These images don't represent the campus for me (though I did make the "Bryn Mawr Bubble" connection while I was looking at the Toroidial colony), so this post is just for fun.

I love that NASA validated this dream-world. I did a little more searching and found out that NASA hosts this contest every year -

I.
For this walk, I felt restricted in my wanderings. I was uncomfortably aware of the need to reflect rather than simply being in the moment. And when I think, was I "present," in my own proceedings? I have to admit that, no, I was mostly divided. I saw, I felt, I heard, and all the time I wanted to translate this into words. But that act of translation, of recording, seems to ruin the experience, no? Or maybe it just leads to other experiences.

Hello EcoLit 313! My name is Emily, and I'm a senior at Bryn Mawr. I'm studying English and Education.

recall - - Discourse = “set of values and viewpoints in terms of which one must speak and act, at least while being in the discourse” (Gee)

So Mia and I were talking about going to this country club/Alumni benefit/conference. (we went to an alumnae conference in Santa Monica over the weekend to represent the 360 program - this is a post that we wrote together on the airplane on the way there)

We started talking about clothing. We both realized that we had no idea what would be appropriate to wear in this environment – as neither of us has spent a significant amount of time in a country club (and by that I mean that I have gone to one once, and she has never gone to one). Should we wear skirts? Dresses? what length is appropriate?

So we’re wondering: what kind of discourse are we entering? Are we actually going to have an opportunity to speak frankly and genuinely about our experiences, or will the discourse silence some aspect of our behavior? It’s certainly silencing our creative fashion sense!

Clothing is a perfectly reasonable cause for concern – every time I’ve done any career counseling, I’ve been told that first impressions are essential. So appearance is essential. Uncertain about the kind of discourse you are entering + wearing the wrong thing = making your illiteracy obvious and embarrassing.

So that’s we were so worried about this on our trip to Ghana – we had no idea what our clothing would say about us. Legitimate? Eh, I think so.

While in Ghana, I couldn’t help but think about my group’s discussion of NGOs in Ghana and their work, and compare these things to the realities that we saw on the ground. I still have a lot of questions, but my post is long overdue, so observations + questioning will have to be sufficient for now!

During our project, one of the more resonant questions for me was, “How do NGOs collaborate and is this collaboration successful?” I think this question guided some of my observations during the trip.

Observations: Looking around the Dalun Youth Association (DYA) building, I saw some posters, asked some questions. All this happened very quickly, so I’m not 100% this is the correct information, but I’ll relay what I remember and wrote down.

DYA exists to bring the youth together – students gather here and “because they are together, they are stronger and can advocate for the needs of the community, what they see the community needs to develop” (field notes), like new roads to Tamale (which I would also advocate for, for both selfish and unselfish reasons). DYA uses sports as a tool for development – in this rural community, athletic competition is a perfect way to bring people together, both young and old. Once the people are gathered, the youth can spread their message of change. And this message is much more powerful coming from a vibrant, organized youth group.