Just Another Day in Paradise

"One must work and dare if one really wants to live"

-Vincent van Gogh

Today was another amazing day in Berkeley, California. I woke up earlier than usual to take a jog, and it really felt nice! I think this exercise thing was a good idea haha. Mandy and I met with John and Kristin for a while to discuss Unit 2's summer programming model. It was nothing overwhelming, but it was good information. They mentioned using several community building models, none of which I was familiar with...perhaps I should read up on them?

Instead of eating lunch at Crossroads (pictured below), which has become something of a tradition, we grabbed lunch to-go so we could sit in on a webinar on Hate Crime Prevention and Response. It lasted for about an hour and half, and the speaker really didn't mention any new or useful information. He mainly reviewed the concept of privilege, oppression, and the definitions of bias/hate speech/hate crimes. As for how to respond/prevent such things, he did not seem to add anything new to the mix. He mainly spoke of getting buy from the upper-administration for various programs, assessments, and initiatives; however, in practice the top down method is easier said than done.

Later in the day we met with Dr. Steve Sutton, who is the Executive Director of our department (Office of Student Development). We spent about an hour talking about the usual things one talks about at these kinds of meetings, i.e. Where are you from? What is your assistantship? Why did you choose a career in higher ed? Although the meeting was somewhat repetitive with similar meetings I have had, the item that benefited me the most was his connection with someone at Berkeley's Interfaith Initiative. Hopefully this person will be able to help me in my preparation for my thesis. Especially in regards to the direction I want to take it since the group I was hoping to study decided to decline my invitation. He also seemed to be eager to talk about selecting/surviving a doctoral program. I'm thinking of setting up a meeting with him to discuss this topic since I want to go right into a doctoral program after I complete my master's. Lastly, Steve mentioned that my ACUHO-I cohort (consisting of three people, including me) should right up our experiences and see if we can have it published. This would be amazing, as it would potentially give me my third publication while in grad school...which would be HUHmazing. Anyhow, its late and I'm tired. Cheers!