Study Abroad Reflection—Australia Summer 2010

While getting on to the plane headed for Australia, scared wasn’t a strong enough word to describe my emotions. Of course the excitement of anticipation was mixed into the thoughts speeding through my mind, however, fear of the unknown seemed to triumph the positive. I had no idea I was about to embark on a journey that will change my perspective on the world and on myself.
So many fabulous adventures took place during my time in Australia. The program I was in consisted of 16 students from different universities all across the United States and two professors, one from Long Island University and the other an Australian native that resided in Cairns. We spent three weeks on three different islands staying at University driven research stations. On each island we learned the ecology through journeys with our professors. We created research questions, developed an experiment, ran the experiment, analyzed the data collected and presented our completed projects to the class the night before we left for the next island. In between our data collections we were free to explore the islands by ourselves, either through hikes, snorkel trips or boat trips out to the flats. We stayed one week on each island and spent the remainder of time in various towns up the coast during our travels to the different research stations.
The research stations were fabulous accommodations. I seemed to find myself being slightly more adventurous than I believed myself to have been. There were numerous (too many for me to count) occasions when I found something interesting and it was quickly followed by “Michele, put that down it’s poisonous”. I discovered some instinctive survival skills (or my Man vs. Wild obsession finally paid off) after a couple of classmates and I got lost on Orpheus island for 5 hours when we decided to hike up the mountain without the trail just to get to the highest point of the island (yea I scaled a coconut tree for water and a tasty treat). I mingled with folks shooting a series for national geographic. (highlight of my trip to Straddie island by far was helping identifying fish caught on film!!!...Well I was hogging the field guide in attempt to memorize as many species of fish as possible). I went on night snorkels, chased down sharks, came face to face with the biggest sea turtle I have ever laid eyes on, snorkeled in stingray infested waters and completed research projects on the most amazing natural wonder of the world. As much fun as I had on my adventures on the islands, I believe the moments that impacted me the most was the exploring of historical cities and finding the courage to strike up conversations about Australian culture and history with locals (especially on Straddie). North Stradebroke Island’s population mostly consisted of aboriginal peoples. While it is mostly against their beliefs to share too much information about their culture with those not related, I was able to learn enough to understand where they came from and their current day struggles.
I learned more in Australia than I planned. Yes, I was ready to learn a new culture. I knew I would encounter more species of marine life than I knew existed. I knew the adventures would last forever in my memories. What I did not expect was the discovering of the new me. A me that was always there and fighting to come out but never had the courage to break through. I found the excitement that can occur when I step out of my comfort zone. When I break free from a pack and discover the world by myself whether it was wondering off on an island to find an echidna or striking up a conversation with a complete stranger. The new adventurous slightly less afraid and extremely more confident me will serve well in the upcoming adventures of my life.

Final Paideia Reflection

When I joined Paideia I had no idea what I was getting into. Literally I didn’t know what the curriculum consisted of or how the program worked. I was a freshman seeking something more from my education. As a freshman I felt well plugged in with extracurriculars; I was in clubs, sports and had an abundance of friends from an array of educational disciples. However, I was worried about my educational growth. I talked to some upper classman about my concerns and immediately Paideia was suggested as a solution. They broadly explained the concept of Paideia to me and I agreed to try it hoping it would satisfy a hazy need I was feeling.
Three years later, I appreciate what Paideia has done in my academic endeavors. Paideia served as my liberal arts outlet. Even though we attend a liberal arts school and have the opportunity of expanding our knowledge past the standard curriculum for a given field, little integration of subjects actually occur in the classrooms. I was able to learn about subjects not typically encountered in my major classes but the most impactful lesson was being able to add a psychological or scientific perspective on the topics I would never relate to science. We actively engaged in conversations about issues, everything from governmental or political debates to social problems in school systems. Paideia opened my eyes to new topics and just how interconnected different fields of study are. It let me grow academically and forced me into opportunities I was not aware I could obtain in college.
Paideia forced me to expand my cultural experience further than I was planning. Each semester we were forced (harsh word but honestly I would not have attended half of the activities I did if it were not for the required end of semester reflections) into attending an event that did not pertain to our field of interest. By the end of Paideia (the past couple of semesters) I actually had difficulties choosing between the wide array of activities I attended to reflect on. Each experience brought me into a new understanding of the world around me and taught me just how little I actually knew.
The first semester of Paideia was interesting. I spent a majority of our meetings attempting to blend into my surroundings while a few of my cohort members fussed over a controversial topic. I had the urge to step in and mediate the conflict but I typically just sat back and enjoyed the show. Our group size reduced slowly over the semesters. It was disheartening to watch our group dissipate because our diversity of viewpoints followed suit. However, the smaller group size was not necessarily bad. Much of the arguing reduced and more productive conversations were allowed. I became more comfortable sharing my opinions in class, not sure if that was due to actually being able to find a break in a conversation to input my thoughts or from the certainty that my thoughts would not be immediately rejected by at least one member of my cohort or simply because I became more confident in my opinions. It is quite possible it was a mix of the three, regardless of the reasoning I changed in my role from the passive listener to the engaged contributor.
Paideia is a great program aimed enhancing our education. I enjoyed the deep conversations I had with my cohort and the perspective of education I obtained. I hope to further my lessons from Paideia as I move on to further my education by reaching out to different fields offering my scientific background as advice to understanding the world around us differently.

TOMS shoes

I was eagerly awaiting the Shilling lecture featuring TOMS shoes founder Blake Mycoskie. Mostly I was intrigued to hear from the brilliant mind behind, in my opinion, the most evolutionary marketing plan in history. I was first drawn to the shoes when I noticed the growing trend on campus (I became a fan of the concept but I tend to veer away from trends, I do not own a pair of TOMS). My research on TOMS shoes unearthed a portion of the population criticizing Blake’s business model and his intentions. I could understand the concerns of exploiting western ideal and dominance, promoting a dependence on a wealthy nation. In my opinion the company was just assisting a nation so that it can grow on its own, not creating dependence but promoting opportunities for development. Anyways I was eager to hear Blake face the controversy head on and give his thought process to the development of a philanthropy based company. Before he walked out my friends and I were making bets on if Blake was going to be sporting his famous shoes or not. I was convinced he would be (and he was, why not?). I was pleased that Blake’s personality matched his philanthropic outlook on life. He seemed like a down to earth guy that had nothing but good intentions, integrating two passions of his (building companies and helping others). I was very impressed by Blake’s speech and responses to the student answers. I understand he most likely have heard, pondered and perfected those answers over the past four years. The questions the students asked were also quite impressive. I have little to no background in business so my corners of the company were not quite to the extent of some other students. I also think it is brilliant psychologically to channel peoples' need to be perceived as "good". By buying myself these pairs of shoes I am giving shoes to those in need in Africa and now all my friends will know that I contributed to the good of humanity. Brilliant! Besides the benefits of marketing to the luke warm philanthropist (as you may recall from previous blogs I refer to those who do for show as luke warm, ie luke warm Christians etc. Also I am not implying that all people who buy TOMS are luke warm, I am simpling pointing out the appeal of TOMS to those that are luke warm) I admire Blake for setting a good example to the younger generations to incorporating helping of all humankind into every aspect of their lives even to in running a company. In my opinion the most intriguing question asked was why has it been a few years since TOMS has become a thriving business and Blake still has not sold it and has made no interest in selling the company. When I heard this question I was shocked by the absurdity, I wouldn’t want to sell a company that I put all my heart into for several years especially one that has such a revolutionary business plan. I later learned that Blake has become successful by establishing companies and selling them when they reach a point of success. So the concern was more that he had no experience with maintaining a company. I think that Blake handled the question well without coming across as refusing to sell his baby. He expressed that he wouldn’t want to sell his company to just anyone, whoever becomes in charge must have the same intentions in mind as his when he developed the idea. Over all I was pleased with the lecture. I was slightly annoyed that the “lecture” part was just a narrative of the TOMS idea (I did my research so I already knew the back story). But Blake’s witty and charming personality shined as he recollected his epiphany which made the lecture interesting and personal.

Lets talk about Brown Symposium 2011...

Think—Converse—Act: The Salon and its Histories. When I heard the title of this year’s Brown Symposium I had a mixed reaction. First I got very excited, I enjoy conversations, listening talking, learning sharing ideas, what isn’t there to like about the most common form of human interaction? Second I became slightly confused. What exactly was going to be talked about? Are they going to talk about conversations? Slightly redundant in my book but I guess it could be interesting…I think? Unfortunately my choosing of events to attend was limited by some previous obligations. I wanted to attend a lecture but instead was only able to attend two separate salons. The salons were quite interesting. I had absolutely no idea what to expect when entering. It seemed like we were going to observe a conversation between a panel of experts. But it quickly became apparent that the audience participation was going to weigh heavily on the conversation. The panel slowly dispersed into the audience as the conversation continued. To be completely honest I busted out laughing when the first panel member wondered off the stage in the middle of the conversation (my initial reaction was that he lost interest and decided to just leave). I am still conflicted by salon. First of all the setting just seemed to not work to carry on a productive conversation. With such a large audience people could not share their opinions in a timely manner which resulted in extreme repetition of opinions (which got frustrating about the 20th time you hear the exact same statement worded in a different fashion). Second of all I got slightly confused by the point of the salons. I think the topics were interesting but didn’t see how it related to the symposium, then I figured it was the actual act of the conversation rather than the topic…right? I believe my favorite part of the salon was people watching. Ok, so I am prone to people watch in any public setting, but at this symposium my people watching radar was going bazark. There were a ton of interesting observations to be made with so many people sharing strong beliefs in front of a vast audience of strangers.

The first salon I attended was the Science, Religion and Arts. This topic always interests me as both a student of science and as a Christian. The prompt of the topic was a picture described as Onkle Mouse. A picture of a super genetic mouse inside a cage surrounded by eyes (one can assume they were the eyes of the scientists who created the mouse). During the conversation I came to the conclusion that everyone has their opinion and nobody can necessarily tell someone else their opinion is wrong.

The second salon I attended was the Technology, Education and Arts. This conversation seemed to attract a lot less community members and more students and faculty. What struck me as interesting during this conversation was the seeing the different perspectives of students (who must use this new technology and adapt to a new way of learning) and the professors (who have to adapt to teaching with the new technology). I see the struggle in both sides of the spectrum. Professors must be willing to stay up to date with technology and convey information that is centuries old in a new format. And students must adjust their old habits of learning to the new formats the teachers are using. I think just like anything else there are pros and cons to new technology. Pros being a greater wealth of knowledge can be available at your fingertips, Cons being a society that is crutched by technology, and lets face it no matter how high tech something is, technology is just not reliable. I think the real controversy lies basically in human behavior. We are evolutionarily designed to adapt to our environments. That’s how we got to where we are, well me at least, sitting at my laptop striking keys that form shapes on a screen that link together in a cohesive fashion that others have learned how to decipher. Soon about to hit a submit button that will transfer my thoughts to a cyber world where all can read and reflect on my solitary opinion on some, what someday will be an arbitrary topic. Human behavior will adapt to our new world and crazy phangaled machinery that a self proclaimed genius insists will change the way human beings think, act, and learn. However, humans have also became slightly resistant to change. And yes I agree I am a creature of habit. I like my old beaten up books I have read a thousand times, with my highlighting, underlining and random notes I wrote to friends in the middle of a boring class. That is where the fuss lies. They don’t want to change their brains. They don’t want to change the way they think or act or converse. But the truth of the matter is that everything changes us. Our brain has a high plasticity; it is always changing (again, would you rather be reading this on a cave wall?)But regardless of how resistant people are, they will eventually change. It’s what we do, how we live.

So yes I did get something out of this year’s brown symposium. I got to listen to a bunch of people’s opinions, engage my own thoughts on the issues and thanks to Paideia convey these hopefully cohesive thoughts to my wonderful cohort members.

Hope Alliance

I was highly surprised by the turn out of the event. I myself had not heard of the event until it was brought up in Paideia so I was surprised to see so many people there. When I first heard about it I actually did become particularly interested. I feel like I grew up slightly oblivious to issues in the world that did not pertain to me (Before you judge, my high school had a lot of racial tension and gang issues, so homosexuality issues took a backseat to the violence I was exposed too. I learned not to ask why someone started a fight). In fact I do not believe homosexuality issues came to light in my view of problems with the world until attending Southwestern. The first seminar I attended was the Gender Identity seminar. We discussed encounters people have experienced with homophobia and heterosexism. I was quite surprised by the stories. As I mentioned before coming to Southwestern, I was never placed in a situation where someone shared haste toward another person due to sexual orientation. I have heard people refer to things as “gay” as one student pointed out, however, me being slightly ignorant toward the derogatory intent never really thought much of little statements. Since coming to Southwestern, my eyes have been open toward the issues homosexuals must deal with but I do not believe I quite grasped the extent of the issue. I am lucky enough to have a group of friends that do not discriminate or judge others. By living in a bubble of no hate I feel like, as many people probably do, that I live in my own happy world where everyone loves everyone and even though we are aware evil exists in the world it is not our battle to fight. After the seminar I feel like I gained a little confidence to say something when I hear a derogatory statement. I am sure that nipping the little comments will have a dramatic effect, it certainly will not fix all the discrimination but calling someone out for being disrespectful can help the process of cultural acceptance. The second seminar was equally impacting in my life. Being on sports teams (swimming has always been coed) and having an older brother, I have constantly heard coaches call out little boys for not being a “man”. I remember when I was little and a coach yelled at my teammate for acting like a girl (he couldn’t do a full minute of “man” push ups). As I finished I screamed at the coach that I found it highly insulting that my teammate’s lack of athleticism lowered him to my supposive level when I clearly was stronger than him (for the record I completed the full minute doing “man” pushups). I then noticed coach’s persuasion pushed my teammate to completing the task. I find it sickening that society uses the threat of become inferior to a woman as motivation. The seminar we attended reiterated my feelings.
I am very pleased we attended the seminars as a cohort. It opened my eyes to issues at hand and made me slightly more confident to step out of my comfort zone and stand up for respect of all mankind.

On campus and Off campus festivities

For my off campus event I decided to attend the Dia de los Muertos (day of the dead) celebration at the Mexican American Culture center in Austin. The day of the dead celebration is Mexican holiday that celebrates the life cycle of the decests. To be honest I was not too excited about going to this event. I had no idea what it was about and frankly I was not interested. However, one of my friends really wanted to attend as an extra credit opportunity for an anthropology class and I somehow got suckered into driving. I found the celebration quite interesting. We got there just in time to listen to a live band JEZ y Los Texas Wranglers (I think I spelt that right) and walk around viewing the shrines. The shrines are constructed for the loved ones that have past in celebration of their life. They varied in elaboration and content but mostly included pictures and material possessions of the deceased. During the day of the dead celebration it is typical for the family members to cook the favorite foods of those that have past and present it to their grave during the festivities. The celebration was a lot of fun with loud music, people dancing and a lot of traditional Mexican food (I can’t forget some of the awesome costumes people were wearing). I have never seen anything quite like it before. It was interesting to see how a different culture honors those they have lost. In a way it seemed to act as a coping mechanism, to celebrate rather than grieve. I feel like sometimes I refer back to the out of sight, out of mind, mind set when it comes to those I have lost in my life. But that has a lot to do with the culture I was raised in. I appreciate the Mexican culture for taking a day out of the year to celebrate those lives. I also enjoy how the community can come together to celebrate this tradition.
For my on campus event I attended a Diwali celebration. A bunch of students put on a little festival featuring traditional Indian music, delicious Indian desserts, and Henna tattoos. This was an amazing experience because before that day I never heard of Diwali. One of my friends was the coordinator of the celebration and filled me in on what she said the biggest holiday celebration in India. This celebration known as the festival of lights is a five day celebration. Each day represents a new philosophy to celebrate (I apologize; I do not remember what each of the five days represent). I had a grand time visiting, celebrating with my friend and walking away filled with more knowledge that I was not expecting to gain. This experience taught me two very important things, that the American education system does little to help expand the knowledge of other cultures and that there is hope because even the youth are interested in sharing their culture with others. I was slightly disappointed and partially embarrassed that I never heard of this holiday before. I always thought myself to have a well rounded education but lately I have been finding massive gaps in my knowledge when it comes to worldly cultures. I figured since America took so much pride in being a melting pot, learning about the world’s cultures would be an important aspect to teach in schools. There is a lot to be said and desired in the education system but it is refreshing to know that what knowledge we may lack is made up by people willing to share their heritage.

When attending these events I did not realize how closly related they were. They are completly different but I have come to the same realization at both. Sometimes I get too caught up in my own life to realize what great opportunity for expanding my knowledge of the world and humans in general, I am able to have. And there are many times I take for granted living in America. It is easy wanting something more, something different but I believe so much can be learned in America through the culture overlaps that are just not feasible in other countries. Of course it takes extra efforts to seek out these opportunities but some are closer than you realize.

End of the Semester Reflection Fall 2010

Here we are again expected to look back at a semester that flew by way too fast. I find this time of year refreshing. Taking a second to take a breath and realize just how much we did. It is shocking to think that next semester is the last one. Capstone is going well, we are starting to run trials on our tadpole experiment after the thanksgiving break. I am excited that all our work prepping for this experiment is finally going to pay off. It will be a ton of work running the trials and collecting data but I cannot wait to get going. I feel like a broken record thinking we will start trials any day now but there was so much prep work to get done in the lab I guess it makes sense that it took a semester to complete it all. My personal project, well in conjunction with another person, is making progress as well. We are still in the designing phase of the experiment and it seems to be coming along with few bumps. I am thrilled that next semester will be slightly less hectic so I will be able to devote all my time to the project (really what I was urning for all along but stupid classes that I had little interest in have been stealing my time and my sanity). I am looking forward to enjoying my last semester in college doing what I love, research. As for our Paideia discussions, they were fun and thought provoking as usual. I like how we always go off on some tangent that ultimately relates back to human behavior (hey that’s our groups topic, funny how that works!). Personally this semester I feel like I had a difficult time competing for speaking time (I promise I am working on that, its just a little annoying and frustrating when all my ideas are expressed by the slightly louder people, then when I actually get 2 seconds to speak I just sound like I am repeating what someone else already said). I am pleased by our discussion of animal research and analyzing a poorly executed article. I was struggling with a way I could talk about my capstone that would initiate some sort of conversation. I personally could talk about tortoises, tadpoles, learning and predatory reactions all day long if I have a listening ear, but I did not think the cohort would appreciate my ramblings. So the idea of animal research struck me as I was casually rambling and a friends friend scolded me for testing on animals. I was amused by her perception of what animal research was and the reasons why I am a careless soul for torturing a poor innocent being. Naturally I wanted to find how she came to such an absurd conclusion about research. I think it was very evident by the articles that I found on the web that most of the available articles are against the subject. Needless to say it was very difficult finding a non biased article about the subject. When I searched for an article to share with my cohort, I intended to find an article about animal research more aimed at learning about animal behaviors. However, when I stumbled on the current article I felt that it was right to share it. Unfortunately it was the only article I could find that at least attempted to be impartial (although poorly done so and only at the beginning). Anyways I knew that we had such a diverse group of opinionated people in our group that some sort of debate about animal research would begin. I hope everyone learned a little something about the issue even if they have no opinion on the matter. This semester was great even though it was a little more hectic than planned. I am looking forward to one last semester with my Paideia people.