Minority Camp

So I went to this "Multicultural Alliance of Change Leadership Retreat" this past weekend. I like to lovingly refer to it as "Minority Camp". At any rate, I kept a journal during the 3-day retreat, since I knew all of you were dying to hear about it, and I didn't want to forget any details. So, without further ado, here is my journal!

Day One

We loaded up the bus from Towers around 5:30pm. I got on pretty early, and I sat toward the middle near an attractive sophomore who looked like the black guy from High School Musical. His name was Nate. And also, much to my excitement, another white girl sat by us! I was so relieved there was another white person on this trip. So naturally, I studied her face, her features, wondering what the hell minority she could possibly be. My guess was American Indian. Then I couldn't help but wonder what people thought I was...

But they didn't judge. And that's what I like about this group of people. Everybody was so easy to make friends with. Nobody excluded me because I was white (on the outside, haha). Color really didn't matter. It wasn't like JM where there was totally obvious segregation going on. No crowds of loud black chicks clustered, with their backs turned, at the bottom of the stairs, and no groups of Hispanic girls gossiping in Spanish across the hall from the black girls. We were like recyclables - aluminum cans and plastic bottles and glass containers, co-mingling.

I use that phrase because we have a recycle bin outside my room with big letters that say "CO-MINGLE".

I've always wondered how that works though. Why is it okay to mix the bottles with the cans? And what happens when people forget to take the caps off their plastic bottles?

Something to think about.

Anyway. We got to Camp Manitou, which is actually pretty ritzy for a summer camp. No run-down shacks for living quarters or latrine toilets here. We're camping in style.

After a delicious dinner of pulled pork sandwiches and CAKE, we played an introductory game of "My name is Loquacious Lacey, this is Jilted Jeremy, etc." Except somebody accidentally said "Jizzling Jeremy", and it was pretty much the highlight of the night. I was the second-to-last person to go in this game, and I only forgot 3 out of 35 or so names. Not bad, I'd say.

Then me and my bus clique (which consisted of me, Nate the HSM guy, the other white chick (whose name is Becca), and a black guy named Emeka) decided to go exploring. We went into the equipment shed, in which there was a boat; naturally, we all sang "I'm on a Boat!" Then Emeka played baseball with a rubber chicken, and... we decided that we had had enough of the shed.

I climbed a tree. I fell out of the tree. We sat on a bench overlooking the lake and chatted about astronomy, the Loch Ness monster, and viral Youtbe videos. Also, we took goofy Facebook pictures (WHICH YOU CAN SEE HERE: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/album.php?aid=106599&id=503824588&ref=mf ). You know, average kid stuff.

In conclusion - Day One was awesome. I really like everyone here, and I can't wait to legitimately do stuff. And before I end today's entry, here are a few fun facts:

1.) There are no blinds on these windows. Changing is a wee bit awkward, since there is a large group of people outside my cabin at this very moment.

2.) Minorities make up less than 5% of the UWEC student body.

3.) I was right. Becca is American Indian.

Day Two

I woke up early in the morning. I'm not sure what time, since I had turned my phone off to conserve battery, and there are no clocks in my cabin.

Some more about the cabin: The beds looked comfy, but they really weren't. They were incredibly noisy to shift in, and there was a lot of shifting. Finally, at about 7:30, I decided that I had had enough shifting and went to go shower.

And once again, I am pleasantly annoyed to find showers larger than the ones in my residence hall. Oh, mini tangent - so I love the free stuff festivals at the beginning of the year. Not only did I get free pens and cookies, but I also got some free travel-size shampoo and conditioner from a local hair salon. Needless to say, it came in handy.

After my shower, I had a semi-decent breakfast of "McManitous", or, kind of burnt egg sandwiches and yogurt. Then we sat around for a very long time. We were supposed to have this crazy jam-packed schedule full of student presentations, videos, and activities. We were supposed to start at 9:30. We didn't get around to our first student presentation until 10:30. Which was fine, yet not fine because I was expecting this retreat to be more like a business conference with structure and strict schedules. Instead, we had several hours of recreational free time.

But first, let me tell you about the presentations. There were five toal, each about a different facet of leadership, like communication, setting a model example, and encouragement. They were fun. Most of them included teamwork activities and such, but my favorite one was where we each had a sheet of paper taped to our backs and everybody had to write one nice thing about each person. We got to read them afterward, and it made my day. I got a couple of silly ones like "I love your braces" and "You look like Wendy from The Shining".

Quick mini-tangent! There were at least 3 or 4 of us at the retreat who are my age or older who have braces. I always get really excited when I see people my age with braces. I feel less alone inthe world.

But then I also got some really nice compliments, too. It's so weird; these people have barely known me for a weekend, and they already have me figured out. "Entertaining", "You speak your mind", "funny", and, my personal favorite "You have great chatter". I'm assuming that means I say interesting things...? Right...?

Okay, backing up to the early afternoon. We had 3 hours of free time before dinner, so I went canoeing for the second time (the first time was at Quarry Hill on that little pond with a bunch of 3rd graders, so that doesn't count). I was in the back, steering. We raced another canoe, and we lost but it was totally unfair because their steerer was a guy with huge arms.

Then after canoeing, I played badminton and realized that I'm not as good as I thought I was. Then I drank hot cocoa and watched the boys play football until dinnertime.

Dinner = lasagna + brownie = EPIC NOM!

And then we had the Talent Show. That was super fun. A bunch of boys danced to "Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely" (complete with a break dance finale), one guy juggled, one girl did fortune telling, and a couple of people sang and danced Native American tribal songs.

I gave a speech. Naturally. No, it was not my Creative X piece from last year; I wasn't sure how popular my horribl(y funny) Asian stereotypical barsita would be... So I did a "prose" piece from a cutscene of a videogame (You can see the original scene that I did here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfnD05NR1bg). It was rather depressing, but people actually came up to me after the show and were like, "Hey, that was relaly good!". That surprised me a lot. I was expecting an awkward silence after a piece of me pretending to have a conversation with myself, but today I learned that it's not just speech and theater nerds who can appreciate a decent dramatic performance.

It was a good day.

Day Three

I woke up to several alarms going off within twenty minutes of each other, and after being thoroughly annoyed by this, I heaved myself out of bed and made my way to the dining hall for my last meal. It was pancakes. And after lying in the sun for a few minutes, I packed up and proceeded to an open field for our final few activities.

I think today was the most productive day all weekend. We all wanted to get out of here by 11 to get home on time, so we actually started things on schedule. We shared our life stories in pictures, filled out surveys, and chose our peer mentors. My mentor's name is Dawn. She's very nice, she studied abroad in Rome, and she's a business major like me. That's why I chose her. Kind of like a double-hitter - business and multicultural mentor.

Then we all got on a bus and went home. One side note: the town of Bloomer is mega-frightening. Quite possibly the shadiest and most run-down small town I've ever seen.

All in all, I'm really glad I went on this retreat. It was a lot more fun than I ghoutht it would be, certainly less structured, and while I idn't really learn a whole lot that was new, I had fun doing it. And as with most things that I do, the people I was with made it all worthwhile.

Das Ende! Thanks for reading. :)

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Orgs

So last night I went to a couple of meetings for various organizations. I went to a different one last week, B.U.S. (Beta Upsilon Sigma, the Business major fraternity), but I decided not to do BUS since they meet on Wednesdays, and I work on Wednesdays. :(

But! I am going to join Eau Claire's chapter for SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Managers) and LEADS (Leadership Education something Development something). LEADS was REALLY fun. We didn't do a whole lot, but basically it just seems like one big crazy party all the time. Plus I got free pizza, free Pepsi, and a free pen. What's not to love?

What we did at LEADS is we all got a sheet of paper, and we had to find as many things in common with three random people as possible in 2 minutes. That was our first "icebreaker" activity. Then we had another activity where we all had these quotes, and we had to find a group of people with the same quote. There were 3 outcasts, and the lesson was that "Even if someone doesn't quite fit in, let them be a part of your group anyway". Irony Time: The quote I got was "We must be the change you want to see in the world."

Now Gandhi was a nice man, don't get me wrong. I'm just sick of hearing "Be the change you want to see!" all the time. If I had a nickel for everytime I heard a speech of any kind reference either Gandhi or that quote, I would be a rich lady. I dunno. I just really have something against it. I hear it too much.

And then we were informed that LEADS is just a big social group dedicated to... dada... leadership! Yay. It sounds REALLY fun. I'm pretty excited. We get to go to Action City (which is kind of a big theme park type thing around here)!

And then I went to SHRM, which was much quieter. I felt a little out of place because A) I was a freshman and B) I'm not an HR major... yet. But I will be. Most likely. There were only about 5 of us who weren't HR majors. Granted, I'm still (hopefully) in the College of Business (I haven't applied yet; I need to take a couple more boring business-related courses first), but... whatever.

Factoid: The VP of EC's SHRM is also named Lacey. I am determined to take her spot. In a couple years, there is going to be another VP Lacey. But for right now, I'm settling for co-chair of the Recruitment Committee. Which I think is slightly awesome. I mean, sure, our committee is the smallest out of all the ones available, because apparently nobody thinks advertising is cool, but still. It will make me important if I for sure get co-chair (or even chair, which could happen... maybe???).

SHRM is business attire for all meetings. I didn't bring a lot of business casual clothes with me, but I'm going back home in a week and a half (gosh, I feel like I was just at home... and then I'm going back again... hmm), so I can get more. Plus, when I go back home, all the really cute fall merchandise will probably be on clearance now! Sweet deal! So, Mom, if you're reading this, we're going shopping next weekend.

I'm also planning on joining AIESEC, which I don't remember what it stands for, but it's like an international education thing, which could potentially hook me up with interships abroad. Sweet deal. And I'm also looking at the Model United Nations Club. I've heard about model UNs before, and they sound cool but they also have the potential to sound really boring too, because politics make me want to kill myself. I'll check it out though. Hopefully anyway. I have to take tomorrow off in order to make it to the meeting.



Oh, I suppose now I'll tell people about my job. I work in the dishroom at the cafeteria on upper campus. I've only worked once, but it wasn't so bad. You get used to the nasty after like two minutes. Plus I like the speed of it all. I mean, getting paid $8.50 to do more or less nothing at the library was nice and all, but the time goes by a lot faster when people are like "MOVE MOVE MOVE!" and stuff is happening all over.

I work today.

I suppose that's all I have to say about organizations and work for now. Until next time!

First Game

Okay so I was totally gonna update on my first day of class and all those other fun "firsts", but now the moment is kind of lost right, so here's a summary of my first week of classes: So far, it's pretty boring. I hate listening to "Here is the class syllabus and classroom policies..."

I have one lecture class with 250 people in it. One of my other classes has 65 people. This does not bother me, especially since the 65-person one is an econ class and it's rather boring, so I can just sit in the back and doodle. HOWEVER, the text book is WAY easier to understand than that piece of crap I "read" in AP Macro...

Anyway. So on Saturday, the Blugold Marching Band had its first performance, and the football team had its first game (we won, 21-7). And honestly... I like high school football games better.

I was told upon entering Carson Park that nobody goes to UWEC football games. Saturday's crowd was pretty good (although it cleaned out by halftime...), but... uh... yeah. JM's crowd is ridiculous, and they actually pay to watch!

It really made me miss JM. Like I don't miss much from home, but every now and then something dumb will pop up and I'll be like "... Oh. I miss that."

Anyway. Since most of you reading this are/were in band, I'll tell you about band. Which I feel like a total hypocrite talking about because by no means am I a "bandie" (I just hang out with lots of them... =/). But I'm standing on the field, making eye contact with this random chick in the crowds (focal point!), and I'm seeing this mess of blue and gold, and I'm like, "... This isn't right." Where is my black and/or red sea? Where is the massive, jam-packed crowd of people cheering? There is nobody clinging to the fence. There are no emo kids making out by the concession stand. There are no gangsta 12-year-olds picking a fight with each other. It's very... calm.

By the way, guard drill for pregame is really lame. And we don't do anything. Not that anybody ever really gives a crap about the colorguard anyway (which is fine by me...), but... geez. I miss that tick-tick thing we did at JM.... Whatever.

And aha... yeah. Nobody really cheers at the UWEC games. I think we had tailgating, because I think I saw some lawn chairs and a grill in the Carson parking lot, but it was nowhere near as cool as JM's (um, by the way, I hope Class of 2010 is keeping up with the excellence that was our TG!). Where is Kurt running around with a giant flag and our trash can drummers???

Ohhh, high school football was so much fun. I can't wait to come back for homecoming. :)

Mmmm, some stuff happened, points were scored, and then the BMB performed. It was fun. I love performing. I mean, I know I'm no good at guard stuff, and yet, here I am, least nervous out of a group of 24 girls. I guess I'm lucky; I very rarely get nervous for anything.

First song went well. That's the only song we have finished, so I guess it should have gone well. Second song, I know I did horrible on, but I get the feeling I'm not alone on that, since we never practice it. Third song... we have no work, so we just awkwardly marched on the field. Yay! The band looked cool though. They run! It's funny!

If you want the video go here, then click Sept. 5 video in the upper right hand corner. http://www.blugoldmarchingband.com/09camp.html. Oh, and I guess there are pictures of band camp too, but I don't think I'm in any of them. As for the video, if you're wondering where I am, once the band sets in, around 30-40 seconds, I'm just to the left of the 50-yard-line, girl in the middle. And around 1:40, I'm the single guard member a few steps left of the 50.

Ummm... I was gonna say a lot of stuff about what I miss from Rochester. Like I mentioned, high school football games... JM guard... actually CHEERING for my team, even if I didn't watch a single second of the game...

Oh yeah. One thing I REALLY miss. During the national anthem, when we scream out "ROCKETS!" I really miss that. I secretly wanna do it during the anthem when we play it at Eau Claire. But the version of Star Spangled Banner we play is really slow and pretty sounding, as opposed to a more "pep-band-y" feel that we had. And it would be really awkward and probably in poor taste.

... I better be impressed at JM Homecoming.

I also really miss the 2nd Street Caribou Coffee. I don't even know why. I hardly ever went there. Parking was terrible. But the inside is so cozy, and there's always plenty of people to watch from the window facing St. Mary's. I went to the 41st St Caribou way more than I went to 2nd St, but... I miss it more. Go figure.

And I miss Target. There is a Shopko within walking distance of campus, but... Shopko scares me. Or at least the one in Rochester does, so I'm always really nervous about going to the 'Ko in EC. I've only been there like twice, but... still... gives me the willies.

At any rate, I'll be back home in about a week, so I'm looking forward to seeing as many Rochesterites as I can nex weekend. And study hard and all that BS. I know it's tough. The educational part of high school blows. ;)

Until next time...

Appearances

Today's Blogging Blugold post is inspired by outward appearances.

So, I'm sure a lot of you when you packed up for college, you all packed up your cute clothes, maybe a pretty dress or two, your pretty-but-painful shoes, and a bunch of makeup and hair accessories. I did. Maybe you packed for college with the "I'm gonna look supercute every day!" mindset in your head. I did.

Most days in high school I dressed to impress. Well, maybe not impress, but I did try to look decent 90% of the time. Like, I would never go out in sweatpants. I wore makeup almost every day. I blow-dried and even sometimes "did" my hair.

Now? Hmmm... not so much. My friends have all seen me wear absolute crap, and I will go out and have breakfast or lunch in my absolute crap, and it's not really a huge deal. Then again, most of that was for band camp, and nobody looks good at band camp, so I guess it's not so bad. Maybe things will be different once classes actually start (tomorrow!). Then again, maybe not. I get the feeling I am going to be super lazy on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I have my 8:00 class, and just go to it in my pajamas and shower later.

Because, honestly, who do I have to impress here? It's not like I'm a single girl, "on the prowl". Maybe if I were single I would try harder. But I'm not, so I don't care.

I have not blow-dried my hair since I got here. I have not put any sort of product or effort into my hair. I've worn makeup... hmm... twice? since I moved in. And I don't even wear contacts half the time!

This is not to say that I've turned into some huge slob though. Well... maybe a little. But the thing is... it's true. Nobody gives a crap in college. It's nice.