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.