Promising Practices

My day started out pretty bad going out to the promising practices conference, kids in my neighborhood thought it would be funny to egg cars the night before. At 7:30 am I was washing tons of egg off my car and it took everything in me to not turn around and get back into bed I mean I didn't even have time to get coffee from dunkin donuts I didn't know how I was going to get through the day. I’m happy I didn't go back to bed though because of one thing during the conference – the A.L.L.I.E.D. workshop.

"Maybe the deepest part of who we are is what scares us or breaks our hearts, and we don't want to share that with anyone. And when we do, we don't want to lose those people."

My first work shop was for service learning projects, I didn’t really enjoy this one, I had a teacher with a heavy accent that was hard to understand, and it being so early in the morning I admit I may have not made the best effort of it. Although, it was informative I believe that it was stuff that I already knew and or we have gone over in class. It was a lot of group stuff and making up examples of project that we could do to help students as well as give back to the community. This reminded me of the reading we did by Westheimer and Kahne, “The the service of what? The politics of service learning.” In the article it talks about a child that goes and distributes "daily life kits" to the homeless, but the student failed to connect with the homeless and do any research before about what they might need. My professor at the workshop said a lot about this, that it is easier to help people when you know what they need and how it will make an impact rather then taking a guess about it.

"Because through love we feel the intensity of our connection to everything and everyone. And at the core, we are all the same. We're all one."

The first workshop really couldn't have ended fast enough for me, after that I went and walked around and looked at all the booths that they had set up around the dining area. I thought that was really great it gave me time to explore all the different things that people could offer and the materials they were handing out. I believe that I got something from every table which was nice because I can start a collection to look back on when I start to teach. There was one booth that was all about geography and those sorts that I found very interesting and they had worksheets for kids as well as a ton of maps for you to take so that was nice.

"I'm gonna show the world the strength in me that sometimes they can't see."

My second workshop I didn't really know what to expect, I only signed up for it because I knew that Tara and Dr. Bogad would probably be there. It was the A.L.L.I.E.D. workshop. I can't even explain how happy I am that this is what I went to this particular one. Starting off in this workshop was everyone that was involved said a poem about themselves. I couldn't believe what kind of inspiration you could get from just a few sentences and how much you could learn about people in matter of minutes. Later you learned that they created the poems because of Chris, she didn't know how she was going to express herself to the group and needed a way to feel comfortable. It was great to see that everyone came around her and supported the fact that she did need help and came up with a solution to fix it. I believe that you should feel comfortable in your own skin no matter what race, gender, or sexual preference you have. You are you and no one else can take that away from you.

"If there is no passion in your life, then have you ever really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you, and you will find that great things will happen for you, to you, and because of you."-T. Alan Armstrong

Society has such "norms" that they expect and it's time that gays, lesbians, transgenders, and unrepresented people feel like they have a part it "our world." During the whole presentation I'm pretty sure that I had tears in my eyes, it was so heart wrenching as well as I could connect it to my everyday life. A big message that they were trying to get out is sympathy vs. empathy. When you have sympathy for someone yes you feel bad but it's more of in a way you are like "you're life sucks, I get that but it's time to move on" without really addressing the problem. When you show empathy it is more of helping and devising a solution to the problem at hand. Having someones back when they feel like they are all alone and that they have a hand to hold no matter what. There was one student, Erik that made a great point that I have to share, you don't have to believe in something and think its right to be someones ally. You have your own values and beliefs, and they will understand but it's saying I may not believe what you believe but I don't think the way you are being treated is right and taking a stand against that.

I would love the opportunity to have the opportunity to go to an A.L.L.I.E.D. meeting, there was a lot of people that are transfer students and that might be right up my ally. I moved here this semester because last year I hate the school I was at. I have a twin sister and she goes to Johnson and Wales and I figured what would be better than moving to where she is so I did. We now live together on Pembroke so I don't have the dorms experience or that help to meet new people. I don't really have friends at RIC because the people I spend most my time with are from JWU. I mean don't get me wrong I love my friends from JWU and they are some of my best but when I'm on campus I always feel so alone. I never eat lunch here because I don't want to eat alone so I usually drive home and have something before I have to go to my next class. I think that A.L.L.I.E.D. would be a great way for me to meet people and have a better experience here.

I had to post this video because it reminded me of the book that Dr. Bogad brought into class about the two kings and I think that it's time more people accept things like this and let other find the love that they have been looking for without being judged. The whole presentation from this group was really just so moving for me it was great to see so many people that felt safe and open with their friends. They can be the support that you need when you might not have anyone else.

"I am who I feel like being today. For every day opens another chapter to the endless book of metaphors I've created for identity."