First Official Week!

Hello all! This is Maria writing again! It’s been a super exciting week, and I cannot wait to share it with you! First, I will start by saying I got an internship!! That’s a huge relief off my shoulders. I will be interning at an organization called Girls in the Game. Girls in the Game is an organization that teaches young girls how to live a healthy lifestyle. I will be involved in a lot of organizational stuff as well as getting some hands on experience and interactions with the girls! I cannot wait! Because I have not started my internship yet, I had this past Monday and Wednesday free. I got a chance to explore my own neighborhood (Hyde Park) and go to Chinatown. I am proud to say I ate my entire meal in Chinatown with only chopsticks J I had never done that before, sooooo I was pretty proud of my myself.

Some of the beautiful buildings at the University of Chicago!

 

                On Tuesday we had our seminar, where we learned about Peace Circles. Peace circles are a type of restorative justice practice that is being implemented throughout Chicago, especially in the schools. It was a really rewarding experience full of trust and respect. I definitely felt closer to the other students in my seminar. This experience sparked my interest, and I would love to learn more about Peace Circles and restorative justice during my time in the city.

                On Thursday, we had our ISP (Independent Study Project). For the first part, we went to Mikva’s Challenge. Mikva’s Challenge is an organization that challenges high school students to become active in the political process.  For the second part, we went to a rally against Women’s Violence. We got to participate in a flash mob there! Even though we did not know the dance very well, it was pretty cool! There were a couple speakers after the flash mob and then everyone marched a couple miles to a dance party. SO AWESOME.

Two girls from the program learning the flash mob dance!

 

                On Friday, we had core class. For the morning session, we went on a trolley ride throughout parts of the city. We went to the west loop, Bridgeport, and Taylor Street, just to name a few. It was a heated trolley, so it was nice to stay warm and be able to see parts of the city J For the afternoon session, we discussed the demographics of our neighborhoods. It was interesting to learn things about where we are living. Hyde Park is such a cool and interesting place, which you could see just by looking at the maps. After discussing the demographics, we watched a documentary by Oprah called Louder Than a Bomb. It is about Chicago high school students that work hard throughout the school year to compete in a spoken word poetry competition. The documentary was really amazing and made me look at poetry in a different light, as something that can be therapeutic. However, by the time the film ended, it was already 5 pm on a Friday night. To top if off, they said that we were going to discuss the film after. I was so ready for a nap! But instead of discussing, one of the students from the film walked through our door! I was so surprised and overwhelmed! I thought he walked right out from the TV! So that made the extremely long day totally worth it J We had a chance to ask him questions and learn about where he is now. Once again, SO AWESOME! 

I feel like this has been a really long post, so that is all for now! I cannot wait for all the adventures planned for next week :)