And the moral of today's story:

I need to buy a planner.

Invisible Children: What now?

My coach group met today and had a really great conversation regarding the Uganda Event our Madison LC hosted this last Thursday...From our meeting, we decided that our @ network can do more, lots more, to spread awareness. We have a huge tool, a network to 91 different countries, with passionate, motivated students interested in bettering the global future. The question is, how can we utilitze it?

We started brainstorming and came up with an idea I'm dedicated to making a reality. How can we educate people, Aiesecers, not just within the US, but throughout all the @ countries on this issue? How can we have a direct impact and spread awareness worldwide??

Here's the idea:
We have members traveling to different LCs all over the world. If we can somehow purchase a massive amount of Invisible Children videos (which in itself is a fundraiser for Uganda awareness by the makers of the documentary) and send them with willing exchange participants so they can host Uganda events in the @ countries they will be visiting, we will potentially be spreading awareness of this under reported crisis on a large scale level, to people just as passionate and motivated as ourselves.

This is just the tentative idea. We need to work out the kinks, figure out fund raising ideas to purchase a massive supply of these documentaries. Anyone interested in getting this going with me, comment away.

I'd like to get this rolling before the semester ends. i plan on taking a documentary to the Hong Kong @ers and setting up an event just like ours on that end of the world.

How many people can we impact?

Mid semester thoughts

You're thrown into these schedules, you go from one thing to the next, not knowing where you'll be in the next few hours without pulling out the old calendario, scrambling to finish up what you are already a week behind on, losing track of time and place and feeling a bit zombiesque. I've attempted to impose some sort of regularity to this semester. I've failed. There's definitely a sense of disconnect, in many junctures. Things change, friends move, come back, go abroad. They come back changed, or maybe they're exactly the same, and its you who's changed. Families change, the dynamic changes, expectations change, responsibilities accumulate. The city stays the same, but the people that define the city and what it means to you are missing.
Case and point:
I've just been in Madison too long.
It's time to get away.

A little questionable...

So, Tanj and I were walking back from a rough day of econ... Walking to and from class, we see these odd-shaped specimens scattered on our path, some whole, some smashed up, but due to sleep deprivation, in depth convos, the hustle and bustle, we never process the peculiarity of these objects..until today. On our walk back, we witness a man scattering around collecting them, and then hurrying off into the distance. We try to follow him, but he disappears out of sight. This is when we decide to tackle the mystery of the questionable fruit. We return to the main path scattered with these oddly shaped, lime green...fruits?. We look up...there are no trees in sight growing them. Tanja is brave enough to pick one up. It's a bit sticky. It smells like a tangerine. We take it home for further investigation.



Not difficult to cut, but perhaps unripe. The inside smells like a pumpkin. What is this thing?! Someone out there has got to know...I will not rest until I find out the mystery of this questionable fruit.

New hardest part about Ramadan:

I can't take study breaks to get food.
There's no valid reason to get out of this chair.
my one solid excuse is gone.
Procrastinating has hit an all time low.
Weird.

Blogworthy: A revelation

"I win by means of nothing but logic, and I surrender to nothing but logic" (Atlas Shrugged)

When I read this book, this quote really stuck out at me. It was a concept I found fascinating at the time- to be able to make all decisions based on logic, control all emotions, and think with a clear head 110% of the time.

Well, sorry to burst that pretty bubble, but I don't think in absolutes. And perhaps those that do have a far too simplistic view of the world. While you may try to have a completely objective view, emotions WILL play a part, personal experiences WILL affect your decisions, your world view WILL determine the decisions you make. While decisions you make may feel completely justified by logic, chances are, a part of your decision was also based on instinct, a gut feeling, a subconscious SOMETHING. We just aren't smart enough to consciously process everything that goes through our mind into making decisions.

And who is to say that's a bad thing?

I've learned that:
-I thrive on my PASSION. If I'm not passionate about something, I won't do it. And the word passion doesn't fall completely in line with a solid, tangible explanation for decision-making. It's just there.
-I am not rash, irrational or naive, nor do I make decisions without extensive thought.
- I don't have hyper-sensitive emotions that I follow blindly, nor do I blindly follow the opinions of people in my life that I trust.
-Making decisions based on a label or theory that, because of the Land of Academia and a little concept called Group Think, you feel you should agree with takes the crucial aspect that differentiates humans,CRITICAL THOUGHT, and throws it out the window. Plug yourself into an equation, add some numerical analysis bullshit, and out pops generic thought number 1257. HMMM.
-I reject romanticism as a way of life...Then again, I believe realism overly simplifies the world. There's a grey area in between, an area which requires a mixture of both logic and instinct. That is where I fall.
-I am not a genius; I'm no where close. But you know, that makes me work twice as hard to figure shit out. So I won't approach things I don't know about with an egotistical, judgmental, absolutist attitude based on some preconcieved notion of what is RIGHT and WRONG. THAT would be naive.

So, that's it. Yes, I'm going to Hong Kong. Yes, I love AIESEC. Yes I am passionate about both, and plan to dedicate myself to both, to a point where it may seem irrational, naive, and spontaneous to some.

Tough.