Chicken Finger Friday without Chicken Fingers

Today we started class with a quick discussion on the challenge course. Overall it seemed as if everyone enjoyed the course but did take back a few things. First many thought that it was a great way to explore different leadership styles. The next comment the ladies made was about listening to others ideas and make sure everyone felt included. Finally everyone could agree that we learned a lot about each other like that be how they lead, how they deal with problems, and how they communicate.

Next we all welcomed the guest speaker Jennifer Madden who taught us how to speech in public situations. She stated that 60% of what people get from a message is all based on how one is dressed, body language, hand gestures, and movement. The next 30% is in what you say to the audience and how you say it, so making sure not to use filler words is one example. The final 10% is from ones purpose to give the speech; the why.

Ms. Madden also taught us about how if we feel nervous we can do a power poses. Now a power pose has been shown to raise testosterone which makes people feel empowered and lower cortisol which relieves stress. Striking a power pose for two minutes in a private place before a big speech, an interview, or anything that is causing you nerves can help.

After our lesson from Ms. Madden we all began our Lunch & Learn for the day; and today was I am a Feminist. Our goal was to go up to someone and ask them to take a sign with a poster that read I am a feminist. After making our beautiful signs we began our journey to find a group of people to ask. I walked up to a group of three pre-college program boys and asked them to define feminist for me. Then I asked them if they would consider themselves one. The answer was yes, and they were very willing to take a picture. It was a fun experience because it allows for a new perspective on a topic that is talked about enough.

Next we regrouped and began class with the human knot challenge. This is when everyone gets into a circle and grabs a random persons hand from the opposite side and then someone else’s hand with the other. After everyone was connected we had to detangle everyone form each other without releasing hands. We were not able to complete because we ran out of time but we got pretty close. It was pretty cool because half of the girls were girls I did not get to work with at the challenge course so it allowed me to take a peek into how they lead.

Finally we ended class with a discussion on feminism lead by one of our TA's, Ashley. She spoke

about what feminism was, the different types of feminism and a few of the movements within feminism. As well as we made our own definition of feminism. It was a really nice lecture because it also felt like a conversation between a group of friends.

Disclaimer: During the Brown dinner we had a while back I was informed that they would possibly have chicken fingers on Fridays. These legendary chicken fingers are often “fought about” and I was looking forward to them today. Sadly, today on Friday July 28^th 2017 there were no chicken fingers. So if you ever wonder if they still have chicken fingers on Fridays during the summer the answer is no.