Back to Wisconsin in 2 Days!

I am very excited to be back home for a long weekend, starting this Wednesday evening. I just have to get through one more day of field, a class presentation and a paper...not bad, right? I am very glad I've decided to take the Megabus home instead of driving because the weather this week in Michigan is rainy/snowy and I am not eager to travel over 6 hours in it.

Speaking of driving, I was really excited to fill my gas tank up today for just around $20! I heard on the radio this morning that prices have not been this low since 2005, which is great news for me since I am driving to and from Detroit twice a week. My commute seems to have gotten shorter because I'm accustomed to it now. The roads near my field site have also been improved since my first weeks there. I no longer have to swerve around the elevated sewer caps and we actually have a driveway to the parking lot now!

I hope everyone is having fun preparing for Thanksgiving Day. My family and friends are scattered throughout the country and the world this year but I hope you know you are all in my thoughts. 

Be well and eat delicious foods.

Ice Scraper & the State Capitol

What do these two things have in common, you ask? Well, each was an important part of my day and they both remind me of Wisconsin. For the first time in many years I had to scrape ice off my windshield (since I've been without a car since high school) before driving to Lansing for an all-day AmeriCorps training. I learned some useful tips on social media in the morning and how to write better grants in the afternoon. While the training was an overall success, the best part of my day was the trip I took to the state capitol building. It reminded me of the Square in Madison-minus the restaurants and bars...ok, then it was nothing like Madison. Either way, it was fun to take some pictures of the capitol and walk around downtown Lansing before heading back to reality. 

I have an op-ed due on Thursday for my Social Action class, for which I will be writing about an offensive t-shirt on campus that states "Freshmen girls-Get'em while they're skinny." I'm also working with a body image group on campus to develop facilitations for freshmen fraternities and sororities to counter this message that will hopefully kick off next semester. Any ideas on what a counter-t-shirt would look like?

Last night was Creekside's Annual Membership Meeting and we had a great turnout. We held Board elections, approved the revised by-laws and showed a Power Point summing up the year's activities, made by yours truly. I have only a few more weeks in the semester-and I still have to write a grant! I'm also inspired to start a Creekside blog after today's session on social media so stay tuned for that.

I hope everyone is keeping warm as the winter weather settles in. I'm counting down the days until I'm home for Thanksgiving with my family and in Madison to see Tricia! Also, my trip to Spain is fast approaching-Kaela, nos vemos pronto! :)

Be well.

Election Day 2008

Polls in Michigan open in less than seven hours. Voters have already turned out in record numbers across the country and hour-long lines are to be expected throughout the day. It has been so inspiring to hear the stories of first-time voters registering to cast their ballots in this election. I was canvassing in Toledo, Ohio over the weekend and met a 29-year-old woman who is a first-generation high school graduate. For the first time in her life she will go to the polls to make her choice for the next president. These stories are being told all over the country. We are truly living in a historic period, and the U.S.-for better or worse-will look drastically different after tomorrow. 

I hope everyone has a chance to reflect on this incredible moment in which we find ourselves and encourage this type of civic engagement we have seen over the past several months to carry on, after the next president is elected. Our communities are held together by these ties of political participation and we as a nation can no longer afford to remain silent when so many forms of oppression still exist.

Vote people, vote!