A little diversion to the side...

(A small diversion from my Study Abroad "Day Journals"...)
Time is flying by, slipping away from my fingers, fading by way too quickly.

Strange how these thoughts came up when I am sitting right now in a coffee shop (that has become my favorite since day 1 here in Cardiff) and doing some work. I am reading an article by Stuart Hall on cultural representation and race...the meaning of differences and all the theories behind them. It's quite interesting and something that interests me very much (that's why I am a communication major). Throughout his article, Hall mentions Roland Barthes a lot - which is continuously reminding me of my internship over the summer at the ICI.

I miss interning at the ICI a lot.  It was such an amazing experience of cultural analysis, discussions that would get my brain flowing like none other. I met such great people.

I'm struggling to make a decision about staying here for an entire year or leave as planned in December after just one semester abroad. Whenever I am meeting new people or hanging out with some people whom I've become very fond of in such a short amount of time, I really wish I can stay for a whole year and get the full-on experience of student life at Cardiff. This struck me especially when I was looking into the different ministries that CU runs yesterday (yeah, I'm not there in my "day journals" yet...I'll get there eventually) - there are things that I would have started this semester but would never be able to see how it ends.

I received an email from a friend back in Penn with some mischievous(?) happenings of our group of friends that got me wishing I could be there and here simultaneously. Then, I felt: "that's where I belong." They've become my home at Penn. But I've started to establish a home here too. Walking down the street and hearing, "Hi Ellie!" from a new friend (everyone calls me Ellie here...I started introducing myself as this pet name at first because Alisha and my names were so similar that people got confused, then I realized that Ellie is much easier to pronounce...now it's just gotten stuck) makes me feel like I am home here too.

Where was I going with this entry...?

Oh yeah. Time is flying by. I don't like it one bit. Life has become all about readjusting...adjusting from LA to Penn, from Penn back to LA, from LA now to Cardiff - and in the future, whenever I decide to be back, from Cardiff to Penn. It's so weird how I'm already forgetting what Penn is like as university life here has overwhelmed my so-called "college experience".

One thing remains firm though, whether I decide to stay here for a year or leave after this semester: studying abroad was the best decision I ever made in College, along with joining APO.

:)

Goodbye, Summer 2010.

September 20, 2010

"There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it."
- Edith Wharton

This little notebook was my sidekick throughout my adventures(?) during the summer of 2010. This book marks the three different chapters of my life (although "chapters" is not the precise word to note my summer since all three parts took place simultaneously). It's kind of serving as a "time capsule" for my hectic summer, and I think it'll be a nice tradition to uphold throughout the different stages in my life.

I'm the type of person who loves scribbling notes - although I am basically inseparable from my computer (sad, I know), I prefer to brainstorm and write notes down on a piece of paper rather than on a word document. It's just the way I do things.

The book is pretty much finalized now (although there is absolutely nothing final about it) - and here is a little glimpse into what is in each tab of the book (and therefore a glimpse into the three different parts of my summer):

Chapter 1: My internship with GAP

The first tab indicates the first internship that I started with a non-profit autism organization. On the right of the picture is a page from that tab...my incredibly messy notes from one of our weekly meetings in WeHo. A lot of my job involved contacting organizations for sponsorships as well as getting word out about the event. Although the actual day of the event was fun (as I went kayaking for the first time ever!), I don't think I'll do it again if I were given the chance. We really lacked the resources we needed for our efforts to be effective - things were just so disorganized all the time!

Enter Chapter 2: My internship with the ICI

A glimpse into my internship

My second internship over the summer was really awesome. The two pages above show the variety of tasks I was given in a particular week - everything from researching Internet tools for the Institute to use to managing a blog was fair game! It was a really amazing experience. Everyday, my critical thinking levels were challenged as my meetings with the Director led into discussions about society, culture, communication, the Internet...I realized so many things about the Internet, non-profit world and relationships among people through this internship. Love, love, love. I found that this internship was really perfect for me - I would love to do something like this for a career.  Above all, I think I really need to be around people who analyze culture almost instinctively - I love having interesting conversations that trigger thoughts in my head to such an extent that I am reminded of it throughout my non-work everyday life.

Enter Chapter 3: Part-time job at TLC

A glimpse into everyday life at TLC

And finally...Chapter 3: TLC. As I have noted in my previous entry, I worked at the same Learning Center for 3 consecutive summers. I won't go into much detail about my experience there (as I have multiple blog entries about it), but here is a glimpse of what my days were like while teaching! On the left is my little "grading sheet" that kept track of where each student was in terms of grammar packets (some kids came later, that's why there are so many blank spaces...others were on different levels, some always came late and never did grammar packets). Note the big "LOST" on one of the spaces. It's so typical of them to lose packets...*sigh*. The page on the right shows an agenda that I had planned on a day-to-day basis as well as a seating chart I had to implement due to high levels of noise. The seating chart is incomplete though - I had way more kids than that at one point! It was quite tricky to break-up "pairs" of friends on completely different parts of the classroom - oh the life of a teacher.

Throughout the summer, I was very rarely found without that pink notebook in hand. Now, I put the pink notebook away and along with it all the memories of this summer. It's been an extremely long break (I can't believe I have been home since May 18th!), but it was very productive. Now it's time to enter Fall 2010 - hello, Wales!

Calm, Cool, and Wonderful

August 10, 2010

A little past midnight.  Sitting alone in the quiet apartment in front of the dining table with my work laptop out.  Focusing, brainstorming, scribbling notes - working late into the night for my internship meeting tomorrow.  Soft music playing in the background from Pandora.

Pausing to notice the tranquility that completely surrounds the night.  Feeling the cool air coming in from the slightly open window - the fresh, LA, summer breeze.  This year, we've been lucky that the weather hasn't been scorching.  The heat hasn't been unbearable, and the sun is wonderful as always.

Then it hit me: I love this.  I love working like this to the midst of the night.  This is the highlight of my busy Monday that starts 8 in the morning with a headache from the rowdy, puberty-struck middle schoolers that I teach until late into the afternoon.  The headache and exhaustion last such a long time that when I come home, I need at least a couple of hours to recuperate before dinner.  Then again, I work on my other two internships.  Yes, I have overbooked my summer this year.  But I love it.

Tomorrow, I will return home once again exhausted - a different type of exhaustion, since I won't be seeing the kids but will instead be in a meeting for my internship all day.  I won't be able to spare a couple of hours to recuperate before dinnertime tomorrow, however, since I will come home just in time for the last meal of the day.  Then, a different task will await me - piles and piles of things to grade for my lovely but terrible students.

Yes, it's stressful.  Yes, I have to work throughout the weekend to catch up on my third responsibility this summer - my second internship.  But I love and embrace it.

Summer 2010 - this is exactly what I needed.  Isn't it funny how He always knows?

Perspective

July 30, 2010

The last two weeks have been insane.  My internship with GAP is getting exponentially stressful as the entire team is preparing for our fundraising event, scheduled to occur at the end of August.  Today, the three of us hit up LA "Beach Cities" to ask small boutique stores for in-kind donations.  This was the second time that we had gone around together; last week, we hit up the Melrose and Larchmont area.

It was extremely daunting at first to go around random stores asking for donations, but what really surprised me was this: everyone was extremely nice.  And by everyone, I mean literally everyone.  The places that said "we can't donate this year" were even apologetic.  Some gave us donations on the spot.  Even when we walked into a restaurant that was extremely busy, they paused and listened.

Today, a few of the stores told us something that our stressed-out team really needed to hear: "Thank you for doing this.  Somebody needs to do this, and you guys are making a difference."

And I thought that we were going to be shunned for being intrusive.


As I conveyed to the team as we ended the exhausting day, it's really nice to know that people are generally nice and do care for something more than just profit.  Even in such a huge city as LA, where people are thought to be disconnected, people still care.

I found that as I got caught up more and more into the whole planning the fundraising business, the actual cause of my efforts was long forgotten.  Last week, when the LA team went out to canvas for the first time, I came home absolutely exhausted to find this on CNN that put everything back to perspective.  That news story is exactly why GAP was founded, and why I am working hard on this event.  The voice of the mother in the 911 call is disturbingly calm, but I can't imagine how helpless she felt from this condition that penetrates entire families to the core.  We're looking to prevent such incidents that might and do occur around the world with regards to children with autism, to help educate and aid families through raising a child with such a difficult condition.

Again, I am forced to face the realities of autism every Monday and Wednesday when I teach at my parttime job at the Learning Center: one student in my classroom of seventeen has autism, and everyday is a struggle for us.  On good days, I can get him to write me a couple of sentences for Journal in 3.5 hours.  On bad days, he initiates arguments with other students who are still too young to understand.  Everyday, other students complain nonstop, "how come he doesn't have to do anything?!?".  Yet, there is something that sets him apart beautifully from the other kids.  Something pure and genuine.

Perspective.  It's really all about perspective.  Depending on the perspective, my internship can be a huge, stressful event.  Or it can be a tiny, small step - my little contribution to a cause that affects so many individuals all around the globe.