Set Big Goals

As I stapled and re-stapled Set Big Goals around the boards of the bulletin boards that lined the halls of middle school 331 of the Bronx today, I looked around at an empty shell.

NY public schools were released for summer yesterday and what was yesterday a working machine comprised of teachers, students, staff, and parents; was now just empty rooms with empty desk, stacked up books and old poster boards today.

In one weeks time the school will once again be transformed, and students again will fill the school for summer school.

....

Driving in from Queens to the Bronx today to get to the school (yes I was driving, scary I know), after getting over the fact that there is so much water in NY, and i crossed one F'n large bridge today in slow traffic, I got to see my first glimpse of the different boroughs since I arrived here last Saturday.

I don't know how to describe it. I didn't see much to be honest.

As for the school, you can read about a pretty accurate description about it here. The coolest thing about the day, I think was seeing some of the amazing resources this school had!! The two classes i was setting up had Smart Boards for chalk/white boards.

Slowly discovering the capabilities of a smart board felt like opening a present wrapped in many different layers of tissue paper.

First I obviously was drawn to the speakers attached to the sides, then the USB ports, then the projection screen.

Then came the real goodies.

The interactive smart markers and erasers that allow students and teachers to 'draw' on the board as you would a normal white board, but with electronic ink that shows up on the screen, just as if you were drawing on a blackberry. The smart makers make the lines magically disappear, and with the simple press of a marker tip on a projected web page- links can be followed.

Its probably the coolest thing I've ever seen in a class room in my life.

...

As for Institute. Its pretty amazing being living and working with hundreds of smart, motivated, and inspirational people who all share a common interest of education.

Dinner conversation on education policies is not uncommon and tonight i found out my roommates professor last spring was Richard Rothstein, author of Class and Schools. I saw him speak when he came to Madison at the end of January, and he shook up my thoughts big time.

I also saw the founder of Teach For America, Wendy Kopp, speak last night. She proposed this grand idea in her undergraduate senior thesis.

Here I sit 21 years old...

Bitter Sweet Beginning

June 2007 :Guatemala City -->Quito -->Midwest -->Queens: June 2008

I checked in over 500 people today..well not me me, but my team!

Other notes:
-probably 40% of the people i've run into while around Queens so far were speaking spanish.
-I've met many crazy passionate people already.
-My dorm is HUGE, puts old Ogg to shame.

homegrown goodness

Going off the whole 'nomadlife like a coffee shop' thread from some time ago...

Tommy has made it at last to nomadlife and has some interesting thoughts on how to save the world (fade in dramatic super hero music).

I recently fell upon this beauty, and though I'm not sure if I'll be eating 100% local-food next school year...I'm going to set some goal and stick to it.

Hopefully I'll fair better then my goals in my side bar. Summer hasn't been so nice to the Goal tracker thats for sure.

sneak attack

Change of pace

As my month of unemployment slowly comes to an end, many changes are happening in my life- like always, huh?

I'm unpacking my life once again, from the past 5 months- condensing into two suitcases, and packing up my life again to head to NYC on Saturday for my job with Teach for America Institute Staff for 7 weeks. I was more excited when I got the job back in March, now I'm almost dreading it...and wondering why I keep moving away from the people I love.

It's really hard.

On a different note. I'm officially not running for LCP.

This past semester in AIESEC was the hardest thing for me to get back into after abroad, and I'm not sure if I ever fully did. Telling myself I'd 'take it easy this semester' turned into what seemed like weekend after weekend of stressful meetings and talks, late night conversations, and at times isolation.

What was AIESEC for me for two years was no longer there, yet the new generations were having (i hope) just as meaningful as an experience as I had for two plus years with the org.

I really do believe in AIESEC. How could I not? It single handedly gave me the most amazing experiences of my life. It flew me to NYC to plan an Alumni Event for over 400 people; it gave me a team of over 20 people to lead through a semester of events; it put me in front of 5 different classrooms daily filled with Guatemalans wanting to learn from me; it brought me to Guanajuato, Mexico for 21 days of extended spring break *cough* I mean leadership development; it gave me friends from all over the world and allowed me to travel all over central and south america visiting them.

I've thought about how AIESEC is a 'head fake' (last lecture- randy pausch). You put 100 idealistic, optimistic, hardworking and forward thinking college students in a room together with the end goal of changing as many peoples lives in the world as possible, and you get a beautiful thing. Sure you change peoples lives, probably not at the scale we'd like to see, but what you really get is 100 people who learn a shit ton about working together, talking together, creating something, leading, following, and learning- all with these crazy opportunities to meet people all over the world.

The head fake, is the cool part.

That's the beauty of AIESEC in my opinion.

So for everyone reading this who has been part of my AIESEC experience, it has meant the world to me. For everyone reading this still in Madison and is part of that 100- I hope to everything i've just said that you'll take advantage of what you have in front of you. We've built it, it's silly not to use it.

I'm not sure what is in store for me next year within AIESEC, and only time will tell.

For right now, I've got my bags to finish packing, and a plane to catch. My full (professional) attention is on Teach for America right now, and will be for some time.

3 weeks of Dreams

when it rains, it pours

33 minutes...

Two miles later and I've run my first profesional race...or i mean i've drank my first legal beer, i mean first race...uh. Regardless- I'm back in Wisconsin and spent the day at the locust street fest with the pops and bro doing the Beer Run for 2 miles in crazy run for your life you should take cover rains.

11am the sun started to hide behind the clouds as we bought our first beer to get ready for the 1130am start of the race. As we sipped at our beer the sprinkles started to fall, followed by a steady rain, until the entire couple hundred crowd was screaming at the top of their lungs, jumping around in the can't see 2 inches in front of your face rain- waiting for the start.

Laughter, watered down beers, soaked to the bone and drenched undies made up a wonderful morning followed by a fabulous afternoon of street bands, beating sun, and brats in Milwaukee.

It was like mifflin, but legal.

It's weird to be home. I miss Sara, and not being able to say my every thought to her at any moment. I miss everyone from the past three weeks. I miss speaking spanish. I miss guatemala. I miss El Salvador. I miss Central America- hell I miss latinos, and I could go back in a heart beat.

The feelings from last summmer came back in a flash and they aren't easy to ignore.

NYC is 2 weeks away and excitement is there, but hidden at the moment.

For now I'll bask in the warm summer Wisonsin breeze, in the company of family, and where everyone has my same accent.

Well that´s one way to do it...

There are many ways to do El Salvador, and after backpacking for 2 weeks, cold showers, and waiting on end for people not knowing what the heck is going on...Sara and I checked our selves in to a 5 star hotel for two nights of pampering and fluffy towels and massages.

Pool side hammocks, water falls, room services, and fluffly white towels- not exactly ´seeing el salvador´i know...but boy was it nice.

And to get our true El Salvador fix, AIESECers picked us up this morning bright and early at 830 and we headed to the grocery store to stock up on snacks and cold drinks and then we were off to the beach for the day.

But when we go to the beach, we go in style. Pulling up to a Ranch owned by a couple of family friends. We had our choice of pool side with hammocks and coconuts, or a hop skip and a jump away to the black sand beaches, roaring waves, towering cliffs, and lush green tropical souroundings.

My body´s burnt but my spirits are high...

Que Chiva

Its been raining in El Salvador for the past week, but when sara and i got off the beautiful pullman bus today, the sun was shinning and the El Salvadorian heat beat down on our faces. Por Fin.

As we waited in the parking lot for the aiesecers, we felt rest assured and safe when we saw that the guards are even more intense here than in Guate.

oh police man with the big ass machine gun, how you comfort me. kinda.