A Day of Adventures

I woke up this morning with sore legs. At first I didn't know why but then I remembered all the running I did yesterday during the scavenger hunt. I feel a sense of accomplishment for actually getting some exercise, and I know I keep mentioning it, but my legs have become a lot more muscular than before, which I don't really mind.

I walked into class to find out we were going to do some more walking, which is wonderful, except not when your legs are sore. Before heading out onto our excursions, we discussed our day yesterday and how it made us feel. Like I mentioned yesterday, many people felt empowered and inspired. This led into discussing the readings, which led to another conversation about feminism and womanism.

After about half an hour or so, we began our little field trip around campus. We crossed the street towards the Van Wickle Gate. Every stop we made, Mary Grace would take a few  minutes to explain the historical significance of the place. She explained the many protests that occured within in the Main Green and Quiet Green. She showed us University Hall, as well as the John Carter library. All the sites were incredible, and rich with history.

Exploring campus

We then made our way to the LGBTQ Center for another info session. The place was within the Campus Center, on the 2nd floor. The room itself was incredibly cozy. Despite Brown being incredibly liberal,  the LGBTQ Center is one of the more recently founded centers on the campus It was founded in 2004, and it has definitely come a long way since then.

John Carter Library

Mary Grace gave us a quote at the center to write a reflection on, "Caring for myself  is not self indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare".  This quote was incredibly personal to me,  because learning how to care for yourself requires an immense amount of strength. Society deems self care as a form of selfishness; however one must learn to care about themselves firs before learning to care about others.

We reconvened after lunch and discussed our lunch and learns. My group and I decided to choose the song "Reflection" from Mulan as our anthem because we felt we all related to it. Our TA's created a playlist of our songs, and then as an icebreaker we played a Korean game called 'Kamja', which is incredibly rhythm based and involves a lot of coordination, so I was of course out within the first 5 minutes.

Campus Center

Mary Grace then took us to the First Generation College and Low Income Student Center, aka the FLi Center. There, we met with the wonderful Julio Reyes, who explained what the Center is, and what is has to offer. He also explained his story and how he got to where he is. Overall, it was sa very useful building with many resources.

All the trips made today has definitely raised my awareness of what Brown has to offer. Through all these student resources, one can definitely grasp the care Brown has for their students. It was very eye opening to learn that the root of many of these center was, in the end, intersectionality.

Julio Reyes