It's late. I'm tired. Here's what happened last week. It was a great week and the debate was awesome. It went better than expected and I actually enjoyed doing it. I learned a lot about myself. Also the talent show was a huge success. I love everyone here. So many people sang various SEGL versions of pop songs and wow it was awesome. We are all so quirky and amazing.
Who built the ark? Noah. Noah. Who built the ark? Brother Noah built the ark.
Monday:
Intro to Immigration. Intro to Campaign.
Lesley, Liberty Party vs. Tracy, Freedom Party
Chief of Staff Caity
Liason Megan
Prep Audrey
Team Members Aaron, Jorge, Trevor, Everett, Isabel
Plan meetings for E&L on Wednesday
Tuesday:
School meeting. Continue the discussion about cliques and leaving in small groups.
Flex Period: Financial Fitness with Heather
Wednesday:
Spent the whole day traversing DC, meeting with various people.
First thing in the morning, met with Congressman Martin Heinrich from the 1st congressional district of NM and his chief of staff Steve Haro.
Met with Megan, Audrey, and Isabel at Starbucks in DuPont and we researched for a while. Then we went to Pew Research Center and met with Mark Lopez, associate director. Fact tank. Then we went to Brookings and met with Audrey Singer. Check out Ms. Singer's recent blog about immigration on the Brookings website. Yes, we met with her. We are that legit!
Amazingggg day!
Thursday:
Major venting session in English. Everyone was pissed about the workload and upset with everyone's lack of compassion. Fortunately we got the work load changed.
Otherwise normal day.
But we are starting to act like the movers and shakers that we will be in the future.
Friday:
Debate this afternoon! It was so successful.
We had an hour and a half of prep and I was definitely prepared. Everyone got to submit questions to the town hall style debate and everyone asked a different pressing question. Skeleton's in the closet came out and added some interesting elements to the debate. Tracy had some issues in the beginning so he tag teamed and Will took his place. Will is very articulate, so for debating with little preparation he did an awesome job. You can vote for the winner on the website.
Went to Yogato with everyone after school.
Saturday:
Prep for Talent Show in French Class
Interesting English discussion about race. Noah always likes to make us think.
Prep for the Talent Show all day.
9 PM Talent Show! Amazinggg! There were so many songs about us as a group and it was truly remarkable. I really do love everyone here. We are all so quirky and amazing.
Sunday:
Went to the Climate Rally on the Mall. Saw Passion Pit and John Legend. It was really cool. We wonder what Woodstock was like. Was it anything like the even we witnessed today?
It was yet another great week. One month left. I'm starting to cry already. I love this place. Love it!!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Week 10 - Just like a waving flag.
We've had yet another amazing week here at SEGL. Yes, I'm aware that I over use the word amazing. But honestly, there really isn't a better way to describe this program. It's simply amazing.
Monday:
Today was the due date for our rough drafts. We were allowed to use morning E&L to work on the paper. Those two hours were insane. We worked during the whole period and got all our work done. I like working under pressure. Maybe that's why I like journalism. Hmm.
During math class Anne Baker came to speak to us about the importance of math in everyday life. I'm beginning to think that I might actually need this stuff. The funny thing was that she's actually an HB grad. I noticed her class ring and we have the same one since she went to my high school. She's also the best friend of my little sister's best friend's mom. Small world.
We had exercise block with Henry. It's brutal but so worth it in the end. We played soccer in our normal park. Unfortunately, we had a little run in with the Capitol Police. Apparently that park is still Capitol grounds so we aren't allowed to play there any more. We have to run down to the reflecting pool to play now.
Also, Maylen finally cooked for us! She made us salmon tikki masala. It was sooo good. I hope she cooks for us more often.
Tuesday:
Today was another ordinary day at school. We all got our edited rough drafts back. They were very harshly graded, but we need to see that in order to make them the best that they can be. This week will be crazy. Somalia deadline is drawing near!
During Flex, we finally had our financial fitness class with Heather. We learned the basics of budgeting, credit cards, and salaries.
Wednesday:
Today was an amazing day! On our walk to school from Robek's, we saw our first major protest. The Vietnamese-American Community of Massachusetts was protesting against communists.
For E&L, we worked on our Somalia project. So much time has been devoted to this. The rest of the semester will be similar. We only have 3 more case studies left. To break up the monotony of paper writing, we took a trip to the State Department to meet with THE people in charge of counter-piracy initiatives. We met with Robert Maggi and Peter Hearl. They provided us with a lot of insight into our papers. At the end of the session, Isabel, Kyra, and I were jumping for joy because we figured out the angle of our paper. Finally! After that we got a tour of the 8th floor which is where all important State events are held. We got to go out on to the balcony and snap a few pics of the great view. I felt so patriotic. Basically it was an incredible day!
Thursday:
Today we continued to freak out about Somalia. Why on earth did we pick a legitimate failed state to write a policy document about? It's so difficult to fix since it already failed. It feels like we need to save the world.
We had Chinese class again. This time we talked about Chinese holidays. We don't learn as much language rather culture. It's still fascinating though.
Friday:
We worked all during last period E&L and we finished our papers and turned them in at 6 pm sharp. We are done finally! In other news, today's Robbie's birthday so this morning as he left the academic we chased him down the street, hugged him and then serenaded him with happy birthday. I think we scared some people. Oops.
In the evening, we went to Good Stuff for milkshakes and sat on the Supreme Court Steps. Typical Friday night. It's our little tradition.
Saturday:
Beautiful day.
During English class, we worked on the final touches of our policy document. It should be ready to send out early next week.
We went to Old Town Alexandria and walked around. I shopped and walked around with Caity, Emily, and Kyra. Those 3 are definitely yaya sisters. It was such good bonding, especially lunch at the little sushi restaurant.
Sunday:
Typical chill Sunday full of homework.
Now onto yet another busy week. We will be studying immigration in one of our last case studies.
Monday:
Today was the due date for our rough drafts. We were allowed to use morning E&L to work on the paper. Those two hours were insane. We worked during the whole period and got all our work done. I like working under pressure. Maybe that's why I like journalism. Hmm.
During math class Anne Baker came to speak to us about the importance of math in everyday life. I'm beginning to think that I might actually need this stuff. The funny thing was that she's actually an HB grad. I noticed her class ring and we have the same one since she went to my high school. She's also the best friend of my little sister's best friend's mom. Small world.
We had exercise block with Henry. It's brutal but so worth it in the end. We played soccer in our normal park. Unfortunately, we had a little run in with the Capitol Police. Apparently that park is still Capitol grounds so we aren't allowed to play there any more. We have to run down to the reflecting pool to play now.
Also, Maylen finally cooked for us! She made us salmon tikki masala. It was sooo good. I hope she cooks for us more often.
Tuesday:
Today was another ordinary day at school. We all got our edited rough drafts back. They were very harshly graded, but we need to see that in order to make them the best that they can be. This week will be crazy. Somalia deadline is drawing near!
During Flex, we finally had our financial fitness class with Heather. We learned the basics of budgeting, credit cards, and salaries.
Wednesday:
Today was an amazing day! On our walk to school from Robek's, we saw our first major protest. The Vietnamese-American Community of Massachusetts was protesting against communists.
For E&L, we worked on our Somalia project. So much time has been devoted to this. The rest of the semester will be similar. We only have 3 more case studies left. To break up the monotony of paper writing, we took a trip to the State Department to meet with THE people in charge of counter-piracy initiatives. We met with Robert Maggi and Peter Hearl. They provided us with a lot of insight into our papers. At the end of the session, Isabel, Kyra, and I were jumping for joy because we figured out the angle of our paper. Finally! After that we got a tour of the 8th floor which is where all important State events are held. We got to go out on to the balcony and snap a few pics of the great view. I felt so patriotic. Basically it was an incredible day!
Thursday:
Today we continued to freak out about Somalia. Why on earth did we pick a legitimate failed state to write a policy document about? It's so difficult to fix since it already failed. It feels like we need to save the world.
We had Chinese class again. This time we talked about Chinese holidays. We don't learn as much language rather culture. It's still fascinating though.
Friday:
We worked all during last period E&L and we finished our papers and turned them in at 6 pm sharp. We are done finally! In other news, today's Robbie's birthday so this morning as he left the academic we chased him down the street, hugged him and then serenaded him with happy birthday. I think we scared some people. Oops.
In the evening, we went to Good Stuff for milkshakes and sat on the Supreme Court Steps. Typical Friday night. It's our little tradition.
Saturday:
Beautiful day.
During English class, we worked on the final touches of our policy document. It should be ready to send out early next week.
We went to Old Town Alexandria and walked around. I shopped and walked around with Caity, Emily, and Kyra. Those 3 are definitely yaya sisters. It was such good bonding, especially lunch at the little sushi restaurant.
Sunday:
Typical chill Sunday full of homework.
Now onto yet another busy week. We will be studying immigration in one of our last case studies.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Week 9 - Somali Stress
Time is going by so quickly. We are more than half way done. It's unreal. I don't want this semester to end.
So this week was major work on our Collaborative Policy Document Week, culminating with the "Murder Boards" on Friday. It was on whirlwind of a week though.
Monday:
We started the week off with a visit to the Carnegie Endowment on International Peace to meet with Peter Reed, VP of Communications. We discussed the think tank itself as well as policy document writing. It's a big task but once the paper is published there is a lot of reward. It's also really satisfying knowing that you came up with a solution to a world problem. Not many people can say that they've done that.
After school, we all rushed straight home to get ready for PE block. Every Monday after school we now go to the park to play games with Henry. This week we did Henry's exercise boot camp and then played a fantastic game of Ultimate Frisbee. It's so much fun! You should definitely try playing it if you have never before. It's great.
Tuesday:
Today, I ran school meeting. Noah commented on my interesting leadership style because instead of calling on everyone during each of our discussions, I let the person whose topic we were discussing lead. I found that system to be much more efficient.
Also, we got a new staff member today. Her name is Sarah and she's Robbie's best friend from Harvard. She's so cool and I'm really glad to have her at the school.
During Flex period, we watched Henry V, the movie. Earlier in the year we read the play and on Friday we will be seeing the play. Of course we had to watch the movie as well.
Wednesday:
For E&L today, we spent the whole day at George Washington University's Gelman Library as special guests. The library isn't open to the public so it was a privilege that we were able to use their resources for our Somali pirates project. We started the day in the dorm though with a mini public speaking lesson. We discussed how horrible our impromptu speeches were and we examined good speeches from our past presidents. After that short session, we metroed to GW. First thing in the morning, we had a library overview with the head librarian David. He was so nice and funny, especially in his attempts to get rid of the stigma that comes with being a librarian. Unfortunately that didn't work out so well. The rest of the day was spent researching Sea Law with my partners Kyra and Isabel. It was a really productive day.
Thursday:
Today we had our first Chinese class during our Chinese and Arabic Block. Our teacher is Megan Linzer and she is the Chinese teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School which is the best high school in America, according to US News and World Report. It was a fascinating class. We were introduced to China, some culture, and we even learned how to count.
Back at the dorm, everyone was scrambling to get everything ready for the "Murder Boards." Everyone's nervous, but I think it's just hype. I mean, after all, it is Henry...
Friday:
Today was an extremely busy day. We had morning meeting at the dorms and then we had 2 hours to prep for the "Murder Boards." After hurriedly prepping, we all walked to the Shakespeare Theater to see the play Henry V. We got there early so we were allowed to walk around and locate food. Jorge and I walked around China Town. It's not a town at all though. It's more like a China Street. After walking around, we enjoyed the play. We had front row seats on the thrust. They were awesome seats! The play was awesome as well! After the relaxation of the play, we ventured back to school and had a quick discussion about it. We then settled into our seats for the infamous "Murder Boards." Basically, each Somalia group prepared a policy briefing which we presented to our panel of experts: Henry, Noah, and Gray. Each of then proceeded to completely tear apart our presentations. It was very helpful in gauging what other research we have to do. It also gave us the experience of working under pressure which is extremely important in the real world. Each exercise or activity that we do here is so applicable later in love. That's one of the many things that I love about SEGL.
Saturday:
This morning I took the ACT at a local high school. Standardized testing is stressful, but necessary. I just hope that I did well.
Once I got back from testing, I went to Good Stuff Eatery with Kyra and Isabel so we could discuss our document and get a break from the house. It's tough living basically on top of each other all the time. Sometimes you just need a little break. We didn't do any group activity today. We all voted to stay home and just come and go freely (with signing out and groups of 3, of course.) Everyone was tired and stressed and just wanted to relax. Saturday was a chill day. It was nice. In the evening, we played a rousing game of Mafia. I love playing that game. We always get so into it. It's great!
Sunday:
Yet another lazy Sunday. I'll be up late tonight working on my Somalia project.
So this week was major work on our Collaborative Policy Document Week, culminating with the "Murder Boards" on Friday. It was on whirlwind of a week though.
Monday:
We started the week off with a visit to the Carnegie Endowment on International Peace to meet with Peter Reed, VP of Communications. We discussed the think tank itself as well as policy document writing. It's a big task but once the paper is published there is a lot of reward. It's also really satisfying knowing that you came up with a solution to a world problem. Not many people can say that they've done that.
After school, we all rushed straight home to get ready for PE block. Every Monday after school we now go to the park to play games with Henry. This week we did Henry's exercise boot camp and then played a fantastic game of Ultimate Frisbee. It's so much fun! You should definitely try playing it if you have never before. It's great.
Tuesday:
Today, I ran school meeting. Noah commented on my interesting leadership style because instead of calling on everyone during each of our discussions, I let the person whose topic we were discussing lead. I found that system to be much more efficient.
Also, we got a new staff member today. Her name is Sarah and she's Robbie's best friend from Harvard. She's so cool and I'm really glad to have her at the school.
During Flex period, we watched Henry V, the movie. Earlier in the year we read the play and on Friday we will be seeing the play. Of course we had to watch the movie as well.
Wednesday:
For E&L today, we spent the whole day at George Washington University's Gelman Library as special guests. The library isn't open to the public so it was a privilege that we were able to use their resources for our Somali pirates project. We started the day in the dorm though with a mini public speaking lesson. We discussed how horrible our impromptu speeches were and we examined good speeches from our past presidents. After that short session, we metroed to GW. First thing in the morning, we had a library overview with the head librarian David. He was so nice and funny, especially in his attempts to get rid of the stigma that comes with being a librarian. Unfortunately that didn't work out so well. The rest of the day was spent researching Sea Law with my partners Kyra and Isabel. It was a really productive day.
Thursday:
Today we had our first Chinese class during our Chinese and Arabic Block. Our teacher is Megan Linzer and she is the Chinese teacher at Thomas Jefferson High School which is the best high school in America, according to US News and World Report. It was a fascinating class. We were introduced to China, some culture, and we even learned how to count.
Back at the dorm, everyone was scrambling to get everything ready for the "Murder Boards." Everyone's nervous, but I think it's just hype. I mean, after all, it is Henry...
Friday:
Today was an extremely busy day. We had morning meeting at the dorms and then we had 2 hours to prep for the "Murder Boards." After hurriedly prepping, we all walked to the Shakespeare Theater to see the play Henry V. We got there early so we were allowed to walk around and locate food. Jorge and I walked around China Town. It's not a town at all though. It's more like a China Street. After walking around, we enjoyed the play. We had front row seats on the thrust. They were awesome seats! The play was awesome as well! After the relaxation of the play, we ventured back to school and had a quick discussion about it. We then settled into our seats for the infamous "Murder Boards." Basically, each Somalia group prepared a policy briefing which we presented to our panel of experts: Henry, Noah, and Gray. Each of then proceeded to completely tear apart our presentations. It was very helpful in gauging what other research we have to do. It also gave us the experience of working under pressure which is extremely important in the real world. Each exercise or activity that we do here is so applicable later in love. That's one of the many things that I love about SEGL.
Saturday:
This morning I took the ACT at a local high school. Standardized testing is stressful, but necessary. I just hope that I did well.
Once I got back from testing, I went to Good Stuff Eatery with Kyra and Isabel so we could discuss our document and get a break from the house. It's tough living basically on top of each other all the time. Sometimes you just need a little break. We didn't do any group activity today. We all voted to stay home and just come and go freely (with signing out and groups of 3, of course.) Everyone was tired and stressed and just wanted to relax. Saturday was a chill day. It was nice. In the evening, we played a rousing game of Mafia. I love playing that game. We always get so into it. It's great!
Sunday:
Yet another lazy Sunday. I'll be up late tonight working on my Somalia project.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Week 8 -- Home
This week was our first week back from break! It was great to see everyone again. My family was reunited. Finally. But, I just need to highlight one amazing thing from break: The Newseum. If you are ever in DC, you must go to this museum or you will have severely missed out. Jorge and Aaron can attest to that because I dragged them along with me on Saturday and Sunday of last weekend.
Sunday:
Okay. So Sunday, we all arrived back in DC. It was a normal evening with dinner and a dorm meeting.
Monday:
Monday was the day that we chose our topic for our Collaborative Policy Document, one of three capstone projects of the semester. We chose the topic of Somali Pirates and Sea Law over Nuclear Proliferation. It was very close, but the pirates won because they are way more legit than nuclear weapons. We also had to get back into the swing of homework and school work and everything. I'm not looking forward to it.
Tuesday:
Every Tuesday we have school meeting, but the exciting part is: next week I'm leading school meeting! Excitement! We also had our Passover Seder. Kyra organized everything because she loves the food. Madame led the Seder and everyone really enjoyed it, especially the kosher grape juice. It's great that we are able to experience so many cultures, religions, life styles, and ideologies while we are here in DC. It makes the whole experience that much better.
Wednesday:
All day Ethics and Leadership! In the morning, we were split into our specific groups and then we worked diligently on gathering information for our policy document. My group, Isabel Kyra and I, is studying law of the sea. After lunch we had Lissa Muscatine come speak to us. She is Hilary Clinton's speech writer. She was a really interesting speaker and I'm so glad we could have her speak with us about the Clinton's and speech writing and working in the White House. After Ms. Muscatine's talk, we were split into groups to work on our Social Entrepreneurship projects, another of the capstone projects. In the small groups, we helped each other strengthen our ideas for our projects. I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do and it's so exciting. I cannot wait to get the ball rolling on this project.
Thursday:
Happy April Fools! In spirit of the day, I had paper feet dropped on me from the second floor because I hate feet. Thanks guys. Great joke. :-) My neighbors were in town for the Cherry Blossom Festival so I got to have lunch with them which was great. It's always fun having visitors, so feel free to visit me any time! We haven't started the Chinese portion of Arabic and Chinese, instead we are practicing public speaking. Everyone had to give an impromptu speech that was video taped. Some time next week we will be analyzing our public speak styles... oh boy.
Friday:
Sick Day! 10/17 were sick so they cancelled school. I was sick so I slept and watched movies. The healthy kids spent the day chilling on the national mall.
We were supposed to volunteer at the soup kitchen but that didn't happen because of the illness. We still did get our catered meal from the soup kitchen people though.
Saturday:
Everyone was feeling a lot better. In the morning, Bill McKibben spoke to us about climate change and his mission with 350.org. I feel more inspired and now have a need to participate in this movement. Look out for this next year, AP Environmental class. In the afternoon, we went to the Cherry Blossom Festival. There were thousands of people and it was insanely crowded. But the cherry blossoms were beautiful so it was worth facing those monstrous clouds. We hung out on the mall all day and it was super fun. I love hanging out with everyone because they have become some of my best friends. In the evening, we watched a fireworks display and walked around all the magnificent monuments. I love this city! It's beyond amazing.
Sunday:
It was Easter. I spent the day with my DC relatives. I went to mass at St. Alban's and then to brunch at some old English place in Maryland. It was a fabulous day with beautiful weather!
That's all for now. I'll keep you updated on my exciting life here in the district
Sunday:
Okay. So Sunday, we all arrived back in DC. It was a normal evening with dinner and a dorm meeting.
Monday:
Monday was the day that we chose our topic for our Collaborative Policy Document, one of three capstone projects of the semester. We chose the topic of Somali Pirates and Sea Law over Nuclear Proliferation. It was very close, but the pirates won because they are way more legit than nuclear weapons. We also had to get back into the swing of homework and school work and everything. I'm not looking forward to it.
Tuesday:
Every Tuesday we have school meeting, but the exciting part is: next week I'm leading school meeting! Excitement! We also had our Passover Seder. Kyra organized everything because she loves the food. Madame led the Seder and everyone really enjoyed it, especially the kosher grape juice. It's great that we are able to experience so many cultures, religions, life styles, and ideologies while we are here in DC. It makes the whole experience that much better.
Wednesday:
All day Ethics and Leadership! In the morning, we were split into our specific groups and then we worked diligently on gathering information for our policy document. My group, Isabel Kyra and I, is studying law of the sea. After lunch we had Lissa Muscatine come speak to us. She is Hilary Clinton's speech writer. She was a really interesting speaker and I'm so glad we could have her speak with us about the Clinton's and speech writing and working in the White House. After Ms. Muscatine's talk, we were split into groups to work on our Social Entrepreneurship projects, another of the capstone projects. In the small groups, we helped each other strengthen our ideas for our projects. I'm pretty sure I know what I want to do and it's so exciting. I cannot wait to get the ball rolling on this project.
Thursday:
Happy April Fools! In spirit of the day, I had paper feet dropped on me from the second floor because I hate feet. Thanks guys. Great joke. :-) My neighbors were in town for the Cherry Blossom Festival so I got to have lunch with them which was great. It's always fun having visitors, so feel free to visit me any time! We haven't started the Chinese portion of Arabic and Chinese, instead we are practicing public speaking. Everyone had to give an impromptu speech that was video taped. Some time next week we will be analyzing our public speak styles... oh boy.
Friday:
Sick Day! 10/17 were sick so they cancelled school. I was sick so I slept and watched movies. The healthy kids spent the day chilling on the national mall.
We were supposed to volunteer at the soup kitchen but that didn't happen because of the illness. We still did get our catered meal from the soup kitchen people though.
Saturday:
Everyone was feeling a lot better. In the morning, Bill McKibben spoke to us about climate change and his mission with 350.org. I feel more inspired and now have a need to participate in this movement. Look out for this next year, AP Environmental class. In the afternoon, we went to the Cherry Blossom Festival. There were thousands of people and it was insanely crowded. But the cherry blossoms were beautiful so it was worth facing those monstrous clouds. We hung out on the mall all day and it was super fun. I love hanging out with everyone because they have become some of my best friends. In the evening, we watched a fireworks display and walked around all the magnificent monuments. I love this city! It's beyond amazing.
Sunday:
It was Easter. I spent the day with my DC relatives. I went to mass at St. Alban's and then to brunch at some old English place in Maryland. It was a fabulous day with beautiful weather!
That's all for now. I'll keep you updated on my exciting life here in the district
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