In the Radical Leap, by Steve Farber, he says, "we follow human beings, we don't follow idealized icons of unattainable perfection."  Clark Kent is idolized by the author because he has super powers, but he's also vulnerable.  Think of yourself as a SuperHero.  Come up with a name, persona, strengths/powers, and your "kryptonite" that makes you vulnerable.

Always grateful for who she is and what she has done for me. I am part of who she is and what her strengths are. I am partly what she wanted to be; her voice, rage, laughter and sorrow. 
My strength/SuperHero/kryptonite is my mama. 

Up above the clouds, in a remote village, where there were no road, telephone or internet,

Born in a family that loved her so much, I can’t imagine she had to leave her parent’s home,

I could see tears in her eyes, every time she said goodbye to her dearest mama and papa,

She told me and my little sister stories about her childhood every time she had a good memory,

I was blessed to walk with her in the dirt road where she ran when she was my age,
Though she hated, but I did my best to cry, scream and playfully tease and make a mess that she would have to fix,

Which I did as a naughty kid, but she denied and claimed she was a very good kid.

Going to school and learning new things and fooling with friends were her daily deeds.

The school that she could see down the hill which still exists as it did when my mama was a kid.

One time she told a story about her knitting skill, which gives me chill every time I try to feel.

Knitting in the dark at night, in her bed, under the blanket without seeing anything in secret.

I have seen where my mama was born, raised and grown but I can’t connect the way my mama connect herself to that special place.

Maybe it is still the same place even though I could see something missing in her eyes.

It must be her mama, papa, brothers, friends and teachers that she can no longer find.

Mama, don’t worry someday soon, we will walk to the same road that you used to walk, we will breathe the same air that you used to breathe and you can show your son what it is like to be a kid who lived up above the clouds, in a remote village that you enjoyed very much as I did.
I will once again, grow hearing the greatest stories about your childhood as an amazing kid from a very special place that still exists.

Superhero Week 9 -- COE

In the Radical Leap, by Steve Farber, he says, "we follow human beings, we don't follow idealized icons of unattainable perfection."  Clark Kent is idolized by the author because he has super powers, but he's also vulnerable.  Think of yourself as a Superhero.  Come up with a name, persona, strengths/powers, and your "kryptonite" that makes you vulnerable.

My superhero name is Hawk Eye. I am very observational. I am always on my toes looking and listening to the things around me. I am ready to jump on anything when the time comes. This is where my super powers come in handy. Of course my first power is observation, whether it be paying close attention to upcoming due dates, my residents or my fellow employees I always have and eye open. I have a great sense of time management and organization skills. These powers keep me in line so I don’t have to get flustered. A flustered superhero is a superhero no good. I am very positive and caring; giving everyone the benefit of the doubt. Before approaching a tricky situation that I have observed I use these powers to set a peaceful environment.   

          Yet, even with all of these wonderful superpowers I have, there is one Kryptonite that gets me every time. Spontaneity or flowing with the punches has always been hard for me especially since one of my favorite powers is organization. When things are thrown at me that was unplanned or things don’t go as planned I have a hard time recovering. When I am the head superhero of a mission you are sure to find an organized operation headed straight for the target, but when I have to work as the sidekick of the mission I won’t always be as comfortable. I work every day as a sidekick to my FIR and am determined to knock off this Kryptonite that gets me all tangled up.  

>Hawk Eye<

Super Hero Peripeteia

In the Radical Leap, by Steve Farber, he says, "we follow human beings, we don't follow idealized icons of unattainable perfection."  Clark Kent is idolized by the author because he has super powers, but he's also vulnerable.  Think of yourself as a SuperHero.  Come up with a name, persona, strengths/powers, and your "kryptonite" that makes you vulnerable.

If I was a superhero I would  call myself Peripeteia. In Greek, Peripeteia means adventurous. I would wish to be seen as a strong and independent character who is placed in different situations where I can be challenged. It is extremely important that I am able to speak my mind and able to try new things that may arise along the way. My strengths and powers would include a high amount of communication, being able to meet the needs of individuals who come along my way, and taking time to seek out the world's adventures. As mentioned earlier, I wish to be seen as strong and independent but I am vulnerable in where I need a group of people to work along side with me and make things for the better. I am still able to make mistakes along the way and listen to other people who try to guide my adventurous soul along the way.

 The actual derivative of the word Peripeteia means "sudden change of events in Greek Tragedy." That is my goal is to be able to be prepared for anything when it could change at any second.

Possibilities Girl and the Super Human Mind

In the Radical Leap, by Steve Farber, he says, "we follow human beings, we don't follow idealized icons of unattainable perfection."  Clark Kent is idolized by the author because he has super powers, but he's also vulnerable.  Think of yourself as a SuperHero.  Come up with a name, persona, strengths/powers, and your "kryptonite" that makes you vulnerable.

As a Super Hero I would probably call myself Possibilities Girl because I am always looking for alternative possibilities. My mind is never completely "made-up" about anything which makes for the ultimate open mind. My greatest super power is my Super Human Mind that allows me to understand the complexity of human behavior, thoughts, and attitudes. Possibilities Girl never casts judgment on a situation or even a mentality without recognizing the unique mix of experiences and context that every individual has that can have powerful influence on a human being. But as noted in the name, Super Human Mind is still a "human" super power that is never constant and is prone to occasional mistakes, so Possibilities Girl doesn't always have full use of this power especially when she is not thinking about it. As a matter of fact, Possibilities Girl is a Super "Human" Hero in every way because all human beings have great potential that is never immune to the limitations and vulnerabilities of humanity. The greatest vulnerability to Possibilities Girl just so happens to also be her greatest source of strength and power. She has a powerful mind that recognizes the complexity of what is both seen and unseen, but that very same powerful mind can be kryptonite that makes her vulnerable. It can be very problematic in this world to not think enough about a situation at-hand but conversely it can be dangerous and crippling to think too much about the situation at-hand. My analytic mind that helps me understand and recognize a great deal more than the average human being is my greatest source of strength. My over-analytic mind can overwhelm me to the point of paralysis, leaving me vulnerable and trapped.

Together, as One!

In the Radical Leap, by Steve Farber, he says, "we follow human beings, we don't follow idealized icons of unattainable perfection."  Clark Kent is idolized by the author because he has super powers, but he's also vulnerable.  Think of yourself as a SuperHero.  Come up with a name, persona, strengths/powers, and your "kryptonite" that makes you vulnerable.

If I were a superhero my name would be Aegis. The definition of my name is: the protection, backing, or support of a particular person. My persona would fit this definition quite snuggly. I would be the defender of the human race, whether it is physical attacks or threats. I would be kind to everyone that I assisted or even those that wanted to just meet me. I would be as humble as ever because I don’t have the capacity to boast about my achievements whether actual or theoretical.

            My powers would be fairly simple, I would have super strength to fight off all of the bad guys and I would also have the ability to make shields to prevent the harming of innocent people. I would not be able to shield myself which is my kryptonite. I can protect the entire world from harm with the exception of myself. In order to make up for this deficiency in powers I surround myself with a team of super heroes. This team of super heroes is where I find my true strength because in everywhere I am not they can be. Together, as one, nothing can stop us!

Super Hero - ERC Week 10

In the Radical Leap, by Steve Farber, he says, "we follow human beings, we don't follow idealized icons of unattainable perfection." Clark Kent is idolized by the author because he has super powers, but he's also vulnerable.  Think of yourself as a SuperHero.  Come up with a name, persona, strengths/powers, and your "kryptonite" that makes you vulnerable.

Name: People Person
Persona: A mild mannered engineering student that goes to Boise State.
Strengths/Powers: Agreeable, Compassionate, Helpful, the ability to change a persons mood dramatically.
Kryptonite: Creativity, Agressive personalities, lack of sleep, opinions lacking basis

Unlike superman my weaknesses are only things that I need more practice dealing with. At the beginning of this year I could definitely tell that I had these weaknesses, and this was because prior to this job I just avoided people who were too agressive or had uninformed opinions. I really started to notice when the year began and I was tasked with approaching these people about their attitudes. Reading the books gave me a strong basis from which I could "combat" my weaknesses, and over time I can feel myself getting better at handling these people and not being driven away from the challenge.

Building Relationships

More than half way done. I am really excited to see the change in the group dynamics. Most of the community members are more independent now then ever. They are exploring different things about college and challenging themselves to move forward. Some of the resident have similar classes and they prepare together as a group for exams and stuff which is really great. Some of the HPRC residents are taking Chemistry classes and few of them are struggling with the classes. I have tried to help few students on individual basis. I encourage them to come to STEM study night by sending them personal message (email or text). Most the resident get along with each other but still there are few resident who don't get along very well. I have talked with few individuals and I am trying to listen, observe and see what they have to say. No judgement. I have discussed that with my faculty as well. Listening to what residents have to say, encouraging them to build connection with each other, and finding ways to have more interaction among the community members will help to improve my own learning about the community. 

 


Questions that are in my mind right now: Is a community built just based on how many fun activities we do? Can we build a community by living with each other and just avoiding any conflicts that arises? What is normal for a community?

Self-Assessment: Taking Measurements for the Support Structure

As the dynamics of the community begins to change, what the community needs might begin to change as well. Plus all of the individuals that we have been building relationships with this year are going to be needing more support in all new ways as we move forward. I need to make sure that I am aware of what kinds of support or advice are needed by paying closer attention stopping to ask questions. In order to gain a better understanding about what I should be doing right now or about what I should be doing better as a whole, I need to integrate some questions into my academic check-ins this week. These questions will assess how each resident feels in the community and how I can improve as a resource for them and the community. Also I think it is critical to do some of my own self-evaluating and examine what I think I need to do better. It isn't always a given that someone will tell me what I need to do because they may not even be sure of what will be more helpful. It might be time to test out new things to improve and see what works. Also as students trust me more I hope that they feel more comfortable to open up about things so I know how to better support them. The foundation is there, now it is time to start building some support structures.

Listen before you Lead - ERC Week 9

 "The bottom of the "peace" pyramid (Anatomy of Peace) is building relationships; you have been working on that all along. The next step is to listen and learn. Consider the most important things you may need to pay attention to at this point in the semester,  Think about the ways you can listen and learn from students.   What question do you need to pose to the residents to get feedback to improve your leadership skills and to meet their needs?"
I feel that we have reached a point where people are beginning to be more independent and focus on schoolwork, and relationships with other students. While this isn't a bad thing, it can be concerning. Seeing the community as it was in the first few weeks with everyone doing things together, to the less connected group that I see today,I am not too worried. I believe that everything has led up to this point normally, with relationships building, stagnating, and soon building again. To make sure that I improve my leadership skills and meet the communities needs I need to remain trustworthy and remain a solid person who will always follow what they say, and be open to suggestions. Questioning my own abilities, and my own actions is the only way that I can continue to improve as a person and a leader.

COE Week 8- We Have Hit the Storms

A few weeks back when we were told that storming time had arrived and we would start to see problems arrive, I was in awe at all the things my fellow PAs had going on in their communities. My community was doing just fine. I thought for a while that maybe my community just clicked better than others and that I got lucky. But lucky is far from what I am thinking now. My community has hit the storming phase just a few weeks later than most and we have hit it hard.

I have begun to see several small issues arrive that my FIR and I are helping to ease. We have issues everywhere from roommates not following their cleaning schedules; to cliques forming that is not going unnoticed. On top of that we have a few residents with personal struggles that they are having to deal with. My FIR and I have a lot on our hands now as we try to support our community and get them through this storm with as little pain as possible.

Building those relationships early on has given us a great advantage when we approach a conflict. Asking the simple question of “how are YOU doing” has been my sidekick through the storms. Letting my residents know that I am worried about them first and not the issue has given me better results than any other. All my residents need in a struggling time is someone who cares. After I have cared for the person it gives me a better look on how to take care of the problem.

At the end of the day we are a community who will rise and fall together but the important part is that we always get back up.

 

>Brittney<

 

Listen, Learn and Act COBE Week 9

           

 At this point in the semester after working diligently on building relationships with my residents I now need to switch my focus to the next step in the “peace” pyramid, listening and learning. For the last couple weeks I have begun this process in regards to the company we all work for. I would constantly be asking for input from the residents that I could use in a weekly meeting with our direct supervisors. This form of representation proved beneficial for two reasons. First, it allowed me to know what was going on. I would hear about things as they occurred which allowed me to help people accordingly. The other substantial bonus to this method is that I could represent their needs for changes in the workplace. At first they were reluctant to share all of their thoughts because of the impacts they could have in the workplace, whether negative or positive.  But, when the ball started to roll because of the changes being implemented in part, due to the meetings, people’s attitudes start to change and the relationships grew because of the trust my residents were granting me.

            Obviously there are many different aspects in the LLC life that can be altered to make the students’ experience richer. One of the most critical aspects to focus on is also one of the easiest. When I pose this question, “What can I do to make your experience in this community a more beneficial one?”  I get a large variety of answers. This is because my relationship with each person has its own spin. To me the relationships are a language dialect that I can change. Not that my actions or goals are changing but the way I go about accomplishing them is tailored to each individual. This allows me to effectively get onto a one on one basis with each person in the community. Then I ask people questions that can allow me to better suit to their needs. When I get answers that take more than an immediate response to solve I try to write them down on my laptop home screen and take them to heart on a daily basis. While this doesn't work every time it has proven effective in the past.

            The most interesting thing I have learned about leadership from my students is about the different types of leaders. I didn't come to this with one student but it was more of a constant shaping over the course of my time working at BSU. Leaders that want to inspire others to reach their goal lead with a steadfast attitude that makes others change to their specific style. Leaders that want to support others in their individual pursuits lead by supporting and adjusting to specific people’s needs on a more personal basis. As the Program Assistant we must true to this style of leadership. Learning these things now and consistently improving on them through listening, learning and acting on our inclinations, is the only way to keep our hearts truly at peace.

Lifetime Rec Journey Week 9

Some of the most frequent things that I have been hearing from students these past two weeks is that midterms are rolling around the corner. Many of the residents seem to be stressed with their midterm exams and with other external factors. Noticing this pattern I began to ask around the community to see where they stood in terms of exams and stress levels. Some of them said that they felt in control of the exam and others stated that they were at a loss. 

One evening, I was walking out the door to go to my class and I noticed one of my residents was crying. I asked her if she was OK and she began telling me  some personal struggles that she was having  with her grandparents. It began with her attending her academic advising meeting and when she had planned her class schedule for the upcoming semesters, her grandparents had become upset with her because of the number of credits that she was taking. She shared with me that since she was only taking the max amount for her to be a full time student, her grandparents felt that she was not utilizing the money that they were spending on her college education. I felt that at this moment, it was necessary for me to stop and listen to see what was going on with her. I think that at this point, a lot of the students are becoming more comfortable with being independent adults but balancing their family and jobs can interfere with their motivation to focus on school. Some of the students just need to talk things out to someone who is in the same shoes as them and then they will able to figure out where to go from there. Just stopping and listening to what they have to say can do a great deal of success for the individual and the community because their is always someone else in the community who feels the same way.
 If I could ask my residents any question on how I can improve my skills and to help them met their needs is to ask "How are you doing personally?" Here I will be able to see if I have anything that I have not offered or if they have taken things that the community has offered them. It doesn't have to be a direct question but more of a way to see where they stand and then continue to ask questions for clarification...

Leadership - ERC week 8

"Be the change you wish to see in the world, we need not wait to see what others will do."

As my collaboration profile stated, the negative to being a people person is that of the extreme follower. While I have never felt that I was a follower I had previously struggled with the concept of non justified being. Before doing anything I would assess the environment, people, and possible reactions to anything i would do. When reading The Radical Leap the concept of the OS!M really struck me. While I've never been one to feel awkward, or afraid of others opinions, I was mainly afraid of the idea of having people look up to me. It wasn't until I read the book that I changed into what I believe is a leader who isn't afraid to fail.
Even though I still fear the consequences of failure, I believe that I could turn any negative situation into a positive one. I have also noticed just how drastically my mood can change the mood of my residents. Even though I belief everyone should be seen for all that they are, I am trying to be a more positive person, and continue to maintain composure regardless of the pressure of my situation. All in all I feel that I am gaining an enormous amount of life skills that I will benefit from many years ahead.

Journey Week 8

I think in this point of the semester, I still don't know what the true meaning of being a leader is.  My community is constantly changing and so am I.. When I played volleyball, I was a setter which is a highly demanding of me to lead the players into winning a game. But I never felt that "leader" is what described me. I just did what felt right so I could help others. I think that is what I am recognizing now in this position. I might have the title of Program Assistant, but I see myself more of a person that the students can relate to and ask me for guidance. Being a leader is not something that I would like to label myself as because I am just a person making some of the same mistakes that everyone else is making.. Their is always the case where along the way there may be times where I have to question what the community is doing in terms of behavior or reactions, but I am still a person. I have no higher stance than them.. 

Something that I have really valued these last few weeks is control. I can show the community things here and there that could help them along the way, but I cannot control how they will react or behave on those guidance. What they choose to do is what they choose to do. I can only control what is within my bubble. I think that within this position, that is highly valuable. As a person, there is only so much that I can do to help someone, but it is their choose on whether they accept it or decline it.

Don't juggle in the dark

A valuable lesson that I have learned about leadership is the true value of communication. I think that there is a common misconception that leads people to think the leader has to be perfect in a lot of ways or at least always portray exemplary behavior. But really this is a very unfair expectation and it is unrealistic in the context of human imperfection. As leaders, we of course will always strive for the best that we can do and to provide others with a positive example. That is part of what makes us leaders because we try and lead others down the right path. It is misguided, however, to put pressure on ourselves to do everything perfectly in an imperfect world. We can strive for the best all we want, but in reality there are going to be other things that sometimes hold us back. It is all about knowing what your rubber balls are and what your glass balls are, just like Dr. Lisa Harris says. That analogy has resonated with me a lot this semester.

If you have to drop a rubber ball sometime, it does not have to detract from our role as a leader. What is more important than juggling all of the balls continuously, is active communication when you realize that you might have to drop a rubber ball. I realize that it is not perfection that makes a leader a good role model but it is communication when you know that you are struggling. It is important to let people know when you are dropping a rubber ball and letting them know when you plan to pick it back up. As long as it does not happen regularly and you really are trying your best, people will understand because a leader should be able to demonstrate their own integrity as long as it is communicated. If people are left in the dark, they may not be able to see all of the balls you are juggling. So in this way, communication is the spotlight for center stage because it allows the people who look up to you to understand the type of show you are putting on and the challenges that come along with it.

The voice of oppression:

The word leader has no meaning to me. I am a human being before I am anything else. I am neither better nor worst than anyone else. I am a human being who sucks at being myself. Full of love, care, patience, compassion, ego, hatred, pride, anger, frustration, suffering and anything else that can be named.

This was how I felt after tunnel few semester back and this is kind of how I feel right now:

Attachment with the things everyday, we don’t realize where that comes from;
Detachment from things everyday, we cry, mourn and try to resist the irresistible.

Happy when we realize I belong in this group, race, place or the mess;
Disgusted when we realize I just did, said or made something that I didn’t wanted.

Men and women, running in the rain hiding their pain and fighting the good fight within them;

Law, rules and the guidelines that are broken to come out of the chain and enter the vain.

Cursed and abolished but we all know it exists around her, him, them and it cannot be named.
Do something, the oppressed says. Again, do something, the oppressed says:
And I react, panic, try to escape and my heart just clenched and my soul wants a vengeance.

Vengeance, from no one else but the very own self , the very own soul and the very own mind.

Mind fears the tears and cries within the self and halts the motion and stops the soul from doing what it does the best; to love, care, fear, cry, try and dry the river. 

Time Management: a New Outlook

Without a doubt time management is the most important skill I have learned. Not what I have to do in a given week but how I allocate my time to the people I am supporting and uplifting. I learned this in a matter of weeks on the job. It took place when I had a handful of student workers deciding that other activities had a higher priority than the community they had joined. This became most apparent when they would blow off work shifts in order to make events for their Greek communities. Frustrated, I would spend all my time trying to change their behavior by correcting and realigning their behavior to match CoBE LLC’s outcomes and objectives. This would drive me to become increasingly frustrated because the more time I spent on the students the less they cared.

          
     My solution came to me after seeing The Anatomy of Peace in my bookshelf that I was approaching it all wrong on a community wide scale. I was attacking everything that was wrong with the community instead of spending my time affecting the people pushing for a better community. Since the shift, now two weeks ago, community participation has increased massively and I want to see a community wide overhaul to further the processes taking place. I can slowly see the mentality of the group shifting from negative because of work-study related stress to excitement for the next weekend trip away being planned by Denise and I. No longer am I wasting my time getting aggravated because people wouldn't come to what the community wanted them to be going to. As Denise would say “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force it to drink”.  By focusing my time on the people going and making the events more entertaining for those interested they are becoming more appealing for people. My goal is to create an environment more inviting and appealing to all of my community members than anything else on campus. Obviously this goal cannot be met for every single event the community has to offer but it is something to shoot for. The only way I can possibly achieve this is by assisting the people pushing for positive change. I can’t keep pulling people to activities expecting them to spontaneously enjoy them. Learning this lesson early proved beneficial for my community, my FIR, and my well being  hopefully you can learn from me.

COE Week 7

To be a leader you must have followers and to get followers you must be trusted. I think that my best move to becoming a leader was the very first day my residents arrived. On that day I had to prove to them that I was someone who knew the answer to what they needed and that I was open and available for any of their needs. I met each of them at either the dorms or the Rec during check in. I made sure to introduce myself and ask if they had made it to Boise ok. I also asked if there were any questions they had that I could help with and then assured them that I would be back around to check in. Making sure that every resident and their families could see that I was there and willing to help is what built the trust I have today with my residents.

That first day really set the environment between me and the residents. Now that I have the trust and environment set that I need I am able to lead my community to higher places. Getting involved in activities and bonding together is what I like to see my residents do on their own. When I see this happening I know that I have leaded my community the way that I have hoped for.   

>Brittney<

A struggle to build a community-HPRC

Like Melissa mentioned last time during our guest speaker visit, "The honeymoon period is over now". I think that is kind of true for my community. Most of the resident had a lot of excitement and nervousness at the beginning. Now, it's season for struggle. When I say struggle, it doesn't necessarily mean a hard struggle. It can be a fun, joyous and an awesome struggle where we are challenged everyday. It might be a hard struggle but it is still an awesome experience to feel, learn, unlearn, relearn and jump up & down. I feel like some of the community members are challenged on what they used to think and believe in. Amen to those who come to Table Talk and who are willing to express themselves or just expose themselves to everyone else. Amen to those who are always to willing to help others; helping other students in the community, being there for someone else and volunteering for a greater cause (Red Cross Blood Drive). Most of them are stretching their limits, they are exploring their own place and place in the community. That is pretty awesome :)
At the same time, most of us come with some scars that haven't still healed or they are not gonna go away for a very long time. When someone pushes the limit and opens up the scar, it's not going to be a very happy place. The struggle takes another turn and the safe place that we are trying to build can pretty easily turned into a personal battle field. It's a struggle among the resident themselves and personally myself to create a safe place where we all can live together without doing harm to each other. I have noticed few things among few individuals. In the mist of everything, I personally trying to observe, reflect, consult and address any issues that arises among the community member. During, the camping trip or even before that, there was some tension among the community members. Even though, we kind of live together, we do things together, we still fail to recognize each other as human beings. We are carried away by our ego and personal greed.  To ease the tension, we did and activity during our camping trip (hold each others hand and look in the eyes of everyone who was there for 30s to a min). That was super helpful to see how people connected with each other and release some of the tension and the conflicts. Any other activity that connects the community at a human level would be really awesome. Looking for any suggestion or activity that you might have........

Togetherness - ERC Week 7

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” - Helen Keller

As we approach the seventh week of this semester I have a trend that I saw from the very beginning has started to come to fruition. That of a strong sense of community, belonging, and togetherness. While much of my past experience last year was driven by the fact that we were all engineers living together seeking a common goal, this year I feel that the community has achieved a whole new level of this belonging. Rather than a simple sense of commonalities, almost every resident sees each other as people helping them to achieve their goals. With most of them looking toward Thad and myself for advice and assistance with their own struggles. The main reason I have pride when I walk the hall and see a group of 10+ people working on homework together is because they all feel welcomed. I cant help but to feel that I largely attributed in setting up a community of young adults who see one another as people and are aware of group dynamics. While going on a walk with one of my residents he talked about how incredibly different the mentality of the students in college was compared to high school. He was referring to the majority of the residents being non-judgmental and inclusive, rather than creating drama. Talks like the one I just described make me remember just how amazing and unique the experience that living learning communities provides. I'm eternally grateful that I have had the opportunities that I have thus far, being in the community my freshman year, and assisting in creating the terrific community that I see this year. I only hope to continue to keep the environment stable and positive while we push through midterm stress. 

One Step at a Time

This week, I noticed some small tendencies within the residents. Instead of being as active and fun-filled, the residents really seemed to have a calmer weekend. Most of them stayed at the dorms to complete homework,  decorate their rooms for Halloween, and they rested. Now, I was a little worried when I was  noticing a lot of the residents were not doing anything.. But I realized that they might just be tired and need the recuperation from school, work, and life. I feel that some of the residents were definitely feeling more homesick this weekend than any other weekend. They just had their parents here last weekend and I think that they are hitting the stage of a OS!M that they are really on their own in terms of taking care of themselves as they transition into the adult world.

I talked to one of my resident's about how she was feeling at the moment with almost being half way through the semester. She told me that it has been interesting road with a lot of flat ground and a lot of mountains that she had to climb. Something stuck with me though. She stated " I have just been putting one foot in front of the other, taking one step at a time." I definitely think that the last part about "one step at a time" reflected what this week and weekend was about. This was a week to gather their thoughts and actions to a more meaningful relaxation and pondering of what they really want from their college experience. I had been sitting in on a conversation between a few of my residents and they were talking about their classes. Some of them were questioning why they were taking those classes and how they would help them in their education or with their future lifestyles. One of the students in particular was upset with his English 101 teacher because he felt that he was not giving him the feedback that he needed to grow as a writer. He talked with his professor and solved the problem. It was great to see that they were able to analyze what was going on and then to act upon what they needed help with!

"One Step at a Time" could seem like an over stated quote, but in all honesty, I feel that it fit the moment that the community was having this past week. In a way, it reflects what my bulletin board has on it. It shows the "Finding Nemo" characters and way to "De- stress your life." But what I am thinking about now is Dory saying "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming."

The Beauty in Storms

It felt as if it would never end. There were problems everywhere some more solvable than others. After a board meeting with our employer most of the students left more dissatisfied with what they were doing here, especially in regards to working. They felt as if they deserved more from the program. They wanted the manager positions; they didn't want to be hourly employees, but managers. Not having all of these expectations met caused too much emotion for the community members to handle all within themselves so they inevitably took it out on each other. While this sounds like an extremely volatile and dangerous environment it became clear that the storm was here and there was not much we could do to move it. So, we let it run its course for the most part, and we only changed one thing. This one action item was something that felt overdue and ultimately will shape the community to what we want it to become.

Last week my FIR and I delegated loads of work to deserving and responsible students in the form of student management positions. While this change might seem fairly minute in the grand scale of things it had a rather profound effect on the students. It altered their mentalities towards work. Now they were a part of something. They meant more to this scary corporation than hourly wage workers. I've personally witnessed the select students change into a more positive work force. These few, are now leading by example and slowly but surely changing other people’s mentalities too.

“People are people” was the line of last week. After the dust had settled it became apparent that the only thing that came out of last week’s disputes and actions was residents understanding each other. No longer was it about how much one would work versus another. No longer was it about how much they disliked how another person worked towards completing a task. All that mattered is that the work was finished in a timely manner. I can finally see the community building together all as one tight knit group. This is a stark difference from the rocky start and I can’t wait to see where we go next!

The Gray Area: A World of Meaning and Uncertainty

The ASRC is a community of complex minds that can have intense and in-depth conversations about seemingly meaningless topics. This is because in the mindset of arts and sciences there is always doubt, there are always questions, and there is never one solution. Everything in our world is complex and debatable because we tend to recognize that right and wrong are only relative. We have to be comfortable with the possibility that we are probably wrong about a lot of things. Our worldview is in the gray area of relativity and uncertainty. So instead of embarking on a journey for a destination or conducting an experiment for a conclusion, we are always on a quest for truth in which every bit of "truth" we may find is subject to scrutiny and will only generate more questions than it will answers. This is the mindset of human creativity in the arts and sciences that is full of uncertainty, paradox, wandering minds, and critical debate. This is the foundation of our community worldview in the ASRC.

If you can picture an environment in which there are always questions and rarely concrete answers, then you are imagining the first floor of Taylor Hall in the ASRC dorms. It is honestly pretty hard to tell the students we are going to or we have to do something without being ready to provide them with the "why".
Common questions when mentioning a program or activity:

• "Why do we need to do that?"
• "Why would I want to do that?"
• "What is the purpose of this?"
• "What do we have to gain from this?"

As you can imagine, it can be pretty challenging for me to propose anything to a group in the gray area without feeling like I have an answer to these questions before-hand. And the only way that I can really convince these inquisitive thinkers that something has a purpose is if I genuinely believe that it does myself. This is because they recognize that what I tell them won't be a concrete answer, but how I convey my response will indicate whether I really do believe in it or not. It is hard to fake meaning and purpose when you are in the mindset of human creativity with a worldview in the gray area. This is what is truly wonderful about my community though. The living and learning comes a lot easier when we have to find a "why" before we care about the "how" or want to do the "what". If there are two common LLC values that the ASRC will consistently display it is definitely: intellectual curiosity and love of learning. Those two values make our world go 'round.

Black Sheep --COE Week 6

 Community Headline: Black Sheep

 This week one community member said something to me that shocked me at one hand but at the other hand didn’t surprise me at all. After attending our weekly table topics he said “it seems like we are the black sheep of the group.” I asked why he felt that way and his excuse was that all the other groups have similar majors and plus we are so far away from the communities. He said that he felt like our group was all the left overs that didn’t fit in a particular group so they just grouped us all together.

I was surprised at this comment because it felt like this member didn’t enjoy being in our group, but that wasn’t the case at all. He was simply giving his observation and then hypothesis of why we are this way. My answer to him and to all the other people who might see us as the black sheep of the Living Learning Communities is that we are and we are proud of it!!

The black sheep describe an odd or disreputable member of a group. The way the phrase is described gives a negative feeling to the black sheep, but really it just means different from the rest. The idea of a black sheep came because it was harder to dye the black sheep’s wool than the white sheep’s; making these sheep less valuable. Yet the old nurseries rhyme “Ba Ba black sheep have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir three bags fool,” just shows that the black sheep is very valuable as it produces more wool, or in our case more diversity.

My community is full of diversity and I believe that is why we flow together so well. Though we are different than a traditional community we are not afraid to embrace our diversity and show the others that we are here just like the rest, to achieve our goals and become a valuable member of society. The COE community may be the black sheep of the group but we say “There is nothing wrong with that!”

>Brittney<