Ceramics Workshop Posters

Today I successfully printed and posted 75 posters all around campus for my Ceramics Workshops (with the help of my friend Tami--posting posters is hard work!), and I've already gotten 5 emails from interested students! I always assumed that most people don't notice these kinds of posters, but these certainly seem successful:

The poster was created by Shahzeen, a fellow freshman at Haverford. Isn't it pretty? The border is especially unique--I certainly would not have been able to design this! 

I'm getting so excited for my clay class. I'll update you as the workshops get going. In the meantime, I'm coming home on Friday for Spring Break--can't wait to see all my friends and family!

Tidbits From a Month Without Posting

Hey Friends!

So I haven't posted for a month--with good reason. It seems I've had one major project after another--essays, applications, and workshops. On top of that, I was sick last week.

Okay, so I've been doing work. But that's so vague. So I'll give you a quick run down of the details.

In Computer Science class, we made websites for one of our labs. I really enjoyed it; I already had some experience in html/css coding so I got to write some more advanced codes to get extra credit. You can't really tell how fancy my code is by looking at the website, but I'm darn proud of it anyway.

Here is the homepage for my website.

Also, this website has a detailed version of my weekly schedule. So if your skeptical of my crazy college work schedule like Nancy (I know, it's hard to believe you have more work in college when you go to class fewer hours in the day) you can see my schedule here.

As you may or may not know, I was chosen for Haverford's Dining Center Development Committee. We were supposed to start meeting last November, but the director resigned before we could get started. So I contacted one of the managers, and eventually got in touch with Bernie, the head for both Bryn Mawr and Haverford.

We've met three times so far, and It's been great! We made a few positive changes and have gained a better understanding of the way Dining Services works. I'm so excited about this that I even requested to work at the Dining Center. Though I never thought I would work in food service again, I feel good about working at the DC because it will allow me to make the food I'm eating even better. Say hello to one of the newest DC workers!

I am also very excited about the ceramics workshop I will be holding at Haverford after spring break.

If you read my previous posts about James House, you'd know about my frustrations with there being no left-handed-friendly wheels and the obvious dirtiness of the studio. So I wrote a grant proposal to get a wheel and teach classes.

The picture above shows the room back in October. It looks a lot better now--it's been painted, and my friend Tami and I spent two hours cleaning it a few weeks ago. As soon as I get the room arranged as I like it for my class, I'll take an updated picture.

Lastly, I've been working hard on applications the past few weeks. A few weeks ago, my AMA application was due. What is an AMA? It's an Ambassador of Multicultural Affairs--I'd be a member of a team of upperclassmen designated to guide and befriend a particular freshman hall next year. Particularly, my job would be to teach freshmen about culture--at Haverford and in other contexts. It's kind of hard to explain in a short amount of space, but if you have questions, I'd be happy to answer them!

A few days ago, my internship application for the Weaver's Way Farm Education Program was due. This internship would give me the opportunity to work and learn on an urban organic farm. One of Weaver's Way's farms is at a homeless shelter, so I'd also get to teach the children of the families living there about farming!

This is a competitive program fully funded by Haverford. The college will even pay for my Summer Expectation, or the money that the school expects me to earn during the summer. In other words, Haverford would pay $2300 towards my tuition if I get the 10-week internship. Money is not the reason I'm applying of course, but I wouldn't get an opportunity to do such an internship without the funding. Most likely, I'd have to take a low wage job in something I'm not interested in and isn't related to social justice or helping the poor. I've been there and done that--I don't see the need to repeat the experience!

Whew! That was a long one. Enough about me--What are you up to?

A New Year and A New Semester!

I'm excited to finally be falling back into the rhythm of my school life at Haverford. The first few weeks of classes classes were extremely hectic, and here's why:

I pre-registered for these classes. . .

Foundations In Social Theory
Applied Calculus with Modeling
Introduction to the New Testament
Comparative Politics

They all seemed to work out in my schedule, and they were all subjects I hadn't tried before or wanted a better understanding of.

However, these are the classes I registered for and am now taking. . .

The World of Computing
Quaker Social Witness
Critical Issues in Education
Applied Ethics of Peace, Justice, and Human Rights

I shopped eight classes total--I went to four classes a day for the first two days (The first day I went to class for six hours straight so I had to bring my lunch with me!). And slowly narrowed down the list of classes. Amazingly, all of the classes I wanted to take were lottery classes that I hadn't pre-registered for, so I wasn't in the initial lottery. These lottery classes had two lists of students: the students with a spot in the class and the students on the wait list. Because I just showed up the first day I wasn't on any lists--I had the lowest priority.

Luckily though, because so many other students are shopping too, there is a significant amount of movement on the wait lists, and I got into every class that I wanted. I don't know what I would do without shopping week. It's hard to imagine having to sign up for classes and go in blind--I'm obviously not great at predicting the best classes for myself!

I'm really enjoying my classes so far; so I'm sure I will write more about them later. Feel free to ask any specific questions about my classes. I'm happy to answer them!


Oh, and because it's a new semester, I'd like to once again invite any of my readers to subscribe to my blog. This way, you get all of my blog postings automatically sent to your email account. That way, you never miss a post! Just type your email address into the Subscribe By Email Box in the right hand column of the page.

Food Waste Friday: Saving a Fork and a Banana

I haven't touched my blog in almost a week! After posting so frequently the week before, this feels very wrong. Anyway.

Today is Friday, and I wasn't planning on writing a post today. To be honest, I've felt overwhelmed this week, especially with getting my classes in order. I'm running into a similar problem I had last semester, and I thought it wouldn't happen again, so it's been frustrating. However, I was inspired tonight to write about my food waste after a few unique occurrences.

I went to dinner at the DC (Dining Center) with my friend Tami. Afterwards, they were having an a cappella concert in the lobby area, where I got to see my friend Miriam sing (I actually have two friends named Miriam who are both sophomores in a cappella groups--pretty awesome!), which I really enjoyed. As we walked towards our dorm after the concert was over, Tami noticed a fork sticking straight up in the ground.

Haverford students, why do you do such silly things?

We plucked the fork from the ground and returned it to the DC. While rescuing a fork isn't exactly the same as preventing food waste, it is preventing waste. Students are constantly removing cutlery, plates, cups, bowls--you name it--from the DC. This costs the school money, because they have to replace it. This requires the DC to spend money replacing silverware instead of providing food. Maybe if students stopped removing such items, the DC could increase the quality of food with the money they'd save. Just a thought.

After returning the fork, we set off once again. I had to stop by the library, and we saw something interesting in the entryway: a banana and a cup of cereal sitting on the floor. I find this very strange. I understand you aren't supposed to take food in past this entryway into the main library, but is it necessary to leave it lying on the floor? Put it in your bag, backpack or something. So I snatched it up.

The banana looked decent, so I kept it. Tami pretty much disallowed me from eating the cereal--and all her talk of bacteria convinced me. However, I did decide to sprinkle the cereal outside for the birds and squirrels and recycle the cup. Much better than letting this stuff go to a landfill.

When I got back to my room and read Kristen's Food Waste Friday post, I was inspired by an extra call to action she included at the end of her post, urging others to think about their own waste. I loved the analogy she used, commenting about how a snow drift is made up of millions of tiny snowflakes. Little things add up to be big things. Every action you take to prevent food waste counts.

I wasn't planning on mentioning my small food failures this week, but Kristen reminded me that small things do matter. I dropped a piece of my broccoli on the floor in the DC. I refused to eat a mushroom I found in my mixed vegetables. I bit into a rotten apple and had to throw it away. I had to toss that cereal. On their own, none of these things seem like a big deal. But picturing these bits of food in a pile,  it'd add up to a quantity equivalent to good sized snack. And thats just this week.

Some people have implied that it's silly I even bother to write about my waste--In comparison to many Americans, I waste very little. But to me, food waste matters. If even slightly alter one person's thinking on the subject, I will be happy.

Today I. . .

Today I went to Defiance with my mom. It was really cold, but it was a good day for taking pictures.

I got to see the ponies! This is Scooter (left) and Cricket (right).

I couldn't get Cricket to look at the camera, so I had to get creative. I took this one through a peephole.

Around the side of the barn, I was able to get a full body shot of Cricket! But the next one I tried to take, she hid her head behind the wall.

Can you see my dog in this one? She's running at me.

I tried to take one closer up, but she was too fast for me!

Bear never gets bored when we're here.

She likes to bother Cupid, a much older girl. But Cupid reprimands her when necessary.

 This is where the ponies live.

I really like this old log cabin.

Bear and Cupid sniff around by the pond.

A relaxing day--exactly what I needed before going back to school!

Food Waste Friday: Pantry Edition

A while back I noticed that one blogger participating in Food Waste Friday, liveandlearn, went through her pantry on Food Waste Friday, which I thought was a great idea! Kristen at The Frugal Girl also recently cleaned out all of her kitchen cabinets. So for this Food Waste Friday I'm posting some of our pantry waste.

I did waste some canned spinach, but I don't have a photo. It was a pretty small amount (there is never much spinach left after you squeeze out all of the water!) I've actually never eaten spinach from a can before, but I honestly thought it was awful. I attempted to make some spinach and artichoke hummus (I've made hummus twice quite recently), but I think the canned spinach ruined the taste. This might just be because I'm used to using frozen spinach in dips and other recipes. I'm also not a huge fan of vegetables from a can as it is, and the spinach rudely reminded me of this.

But on to the waste with pictures. . .

First I have cereal gone bad. The corn biscuits were bad when we got them--they expired in 2010. The Crispy Rice was opened quite awhile ago and had a funky taste, so I composted both of them.

This one made me really sad. I wanted to use some of this flour, but the "Best By Date" was July 2009.  It looks fine, and was stored inside another container, but I'd be scared to cook with it.

I know flour has a lot of uses aside from baking--I'd use it to make PlayDoh if I knew any little kids that'd want it, but I really don't. I've yet to compost it because I'd like to find some use for it. Do you have any ideas? I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have!

A Note of Encouragement: The Struggles of a Jalapeno Plant

When I was away at school, my mom did a lot of rearranging. One of the new things I noticed was a plant in my bedroom--a scruffy-looking jalapeno pepper plant. It came from the garden I planted last summer, which was mostly destroyed by our puppy Bear in early September.

Just in case you've never met her before. She's a sweetheart most of the time, but in the past when she's gotten bored or frustrated she's been a bit naughty and done things like. . . well, tear up my garden.

Anyway, this jalapeno plant went through some rough stuff. When I got home, it looked beat up and dying. But I've been caring for it and watching it. Slowly, it is coming back to life.

Watching this plant grow has been an unexpected source of encouragement for me. At first, I was skeptical that it could be saved. But day after day, I've been amazed as it continues to recover. If plants can survive such trauma, perhaps we as humans are more durable than we might think. Maybe a little bit of patience and time could do wonders for our seemingly never-ending struggles.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Comment below!