The Journey will be Amazing!

Last night I ended up having a very restful sleep. I went to bed early and had an extra 30 minutes because class started at 9:30 and 9:00. I ended up sleeping until 8:00 and then getting ready and leaving by 8:30. At breakfast I had my regular. The weather today wasn’t too cold or too hot. It was a little overcast but that made all the other colors pop.

Beautiful contrast of colors.

Today in class we discussed our readings and a video that was about intersectionality and identity. I never really thought about how there are certain identities that can intersect. Like how in the Ted Talks we watched an individual who identified as both black and a woman. She received discrimination at a job because of these two identities and explained how at the job they said they had hired black men and white women so they were still being fair. However, she is a black woman so it didn't count.

We categorized ourselves into three points of the "Big Seven" which are the seven identities a person can have. The Big Seven are race, gender, sex, age, religion, and class. Then we were told to get out of our seats and meet with our groups we were put into yesterday. Within our groups we chose three of the seven identities and chose which ones we think about the most or are most aware of. After choosing three things we each explained to our groups why we chose them and their significance in our lives. After that we switched papers with someone and had them cross out one of the identities. Then handed it back to the original persons. We were then asked what our life would be like if we didn’t have to have that identity in our life. For example, if race was the one crossed off then that would be a life where your race was not acknowledged or judged you based on it. This was a very interesting survey and allowed me to gain a new perspective on how I view my own identity.

K.A.T.E. group!

We took a field trip to the Congdon Street Baptist Church and learned about the walk out of November 18th, 1968. Where they walked outside of class to this church. This walk out was to promote a better learning environment for African American students and specifically was directed at the Pembroke admissions. This walk out lead to 12 points being formed specifically for African American students.

When it was time to grab lunch, we took it to the Sara Doyle’s center for women. This was a center created for women by women. The atmosphere of the building was so comforting and peaceful. There were couches and comfortable seats to sit at where you could pull out a book about issues of identity to read, or enjoy a cup of tea. This center was established at Brown in 1974. I’ll make sure to stop by again before I leave.

After that we went to a workshop on learning how to listen with the lovely Robin Rose. She began class b telling a little about herself and explain how when she was growing up people would always ask her what she wanted to do with her life she wasn’t always very sure. She even admitted that in graduate school she still wasn’t sure. So, she said a great response to that question is “I’m not sure but the journey is going to be great.” I really liked that answer because often we feel so pressured to already have our lives decided at such a young age. As the years go on we learn more and more about ourselves.

During the workshop, we learned how to listen. We learned how to make sure the person speaking in a conversation asks questions, and repeats what the person just said so that the speaker can clarify any misunderstanding. I think this method of listening is very useful and the world would be a much better place is everyone used this in discussing controversial topics or conflicts. I think that instead of trying to pick out the inaccuracies of someone’s argument we should try our best to try and understand them first. They should also do their part to try and get us to see things from different perspectives.

After that great workshop, we thanked the professor and went onto the next. This workshop was about our leadership styles and which styles work best for us in certain situations. The styles were divided into four different types. The types were: North, South, East, and West.

The North style of leading was very authoritative and assertive, whereas the South was more empathetic and more willing to listen to other opinions. The East were more open minded, and dreamed bigger. West was more practical and detail oriented.

Throughout the set of scenarios and situations that were told to us we moved to different sides of the room. This made me realize that there isn’t one leading style and that they bleed into each other. I also think that your leading style adapts to the people around you. What me and my cohort found interesting was the fact that we all went to different styles for our dominant style. I was a North, Esmerelda was a South, Zunarah a West, and Bianche an East. In a way, you could say that even though our styles are very different from each other, as a team it balances everything out, and we are able to use each style efficiently