From South to North(West)

Currently I am a legislative intern for the Washington State Legislature. I work in the office of Senator Kohl-Welles from District 36 in Seattle….and I’m LOVING it!  However, this comes at a huge surprise. Usually grassroots organizing and direct services are my passion with social justice efforts but I just couldn’t ignore the reality that policies really impact any kind of grassroot work.

So you might be wondering what I do? It’s from 8-5 Monday thru Friday and I am in the office the entire time tracking and monitoring key bills, attending committee hearings, meeting and answering constituents, and also doing my own research.

There are about 70 interns total…50 in the Senate and 20 in the House and we come from colleges all over Washington. We all had to apply…it was rigorous with an application, resume, essay, interview and timed writing assignment but Academic Advising gave me so much support I never felt overwhelmed by it all!

It has been great to be challenged by being around people with very different political views than my own and having to really practice explaining my position. Great practice in fact. I am looking forward to our big mock hearing where we get to pretend to be Senators and have to actually debate some real bills on the floor…..

The new school quarter is upon us! I am humbled to have been chosen as one of the 70 new interns from across the state for the upcoming 2013 Washington State Legislature. I will be working in Senator Kohl-Welles’ office, who is based out of Seattle. Her district encompasses most of downtown, plus a few outlying neighborhoods from varying socio-economic levels.

I am really looking forward to seeing how she works with representing such varying experiences and people. Most of us have a critique of government, a deep hope for it, or are just apathetic. I hope to more deeply understand how it actually works, versus my idea of it.

The holidays were good- visiting family from the south and then coming back to the Pacific Northwest is always a trip. It is no joke- the Western coastline is on the whole, extremely progressive compared the Gulf Coast where I grew up. We recently passed legislation here in the state legalizing gay marriage and marijuana! Whoa!

I would have never thought that would happen in my lifetime if I had stayed in the south.

It was a hectic end to the school year though- I did an Independent Learning Contract around the economics of the occupation of Palestine and ended up experiencing some intense emotional whiplash upon return ( I was in the West Bank for about 2 weeks right before the recent attack on Gaza and Operation Pillar of Defense by Israel) and really struggled to get all my work done as I had originally outlined it in my contract. However, my professor and contract sponsor who  I had been meeting with weekly for an hour or two, was a huge support for me and one day he just looked at me straight in the eyes and asked, ” What kind of papers would actually help you process this experience?”

I was shocked that he was willing to be so flexible but he just said that this contract is about me having the opportunity to better understand my learning style and process- and take ownership of that. Awesome!

So instead of writing a huge long research paper, I did a much more focused one that outlined specific physical manifestations of the occupation with corresponding economic impacts of Palestinian farmers. Along with some longer reflection papers and a big presentation open to the campus community (with about 50 people in attendance!), I began to understand how to take a huge ida, and parcel it down into categories with linking themes. I did this with the greater understanding that my research is not over; I just did one part of it. This helps me to understand how I could one day eventually write a very well researched book or academic journal article that would take months or years of work-but most importantly, how to break the project down intelligently.

So all in all, what an amazing quarter! I had the opportunity to travel to Occupied Palestine and throughout Israel and learn first-hand, how the occupation works and why, from varying perspectives but based in human rights and what that means in practice. Now, I embark on a journey into the world of policy making. 2013 is making out to be an interesting year….

Hello!

Turns out, the last three posts that I thought got published didn’t go through so you will see a few back posts in the coming week.

We are in Week 9 which means the race to the end and I am working on wrapping up my final paper and project around my Independent Learning Contract. It was titled, ” Case Study of the West Bank Economy: Race, Ideology and Imperialism” and I recently returned from a two-week delegation to Israel/Palestine where we met with human right groups all over the West Bank in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Israel.

It was life changing and I am focusing my final project on a few public presentations ( you will do many presentations at Evergreen) and writing my final paper regarding economic inequality between Palestinian and Israeli farmers due to the occupation.

I also got word that I will be a state Senator intern for the upcoming 2013 Washington State Legislative session! I am very excited and nervous and know that it will be an amazing experience to see how policy is made.

We also had a wonderful anti-oppression training in the Writing Center today that I helped facilitate. We discussed what oppression is, how it manifests, and what our roles as peer tutors are in addressing it in the Writing Center.

Tonight is going to be a very sweet poetry event at Tradition’s Cafe ( a great all fair-trade and organic cafe downtown) with all female poets performing! My director of the Writing Center, Sandy Yannone and my friend Mimi will be two of the feature poets! I can’t wait!

 

Actually, the race doesn’t begin. Evergreen isn’t a very competitive learning environment-it is much more cooperative and centered around group learning. However, the race has begun in the sense that fall quarter (we are on the quarter system here: fall, winter and spring) has started and my schedule is already packed!

A typical week for me this quarter looks like this:

Monday: homework, friends, homework, club meeting for Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression student group

Tuesday: homework, work at the Writing Center 2-6, club meeting for Mid-East Solidarity Project

Wednesday: Economic/Excel workshop, various club responsibilities, work at the Writing Center (homework? seeing friends?)

Thursday: work in the Writing Center 11-5….then Olympia Dance Co-op! (free form dance to a live DJ every thursday night…it is like 5 Rhythms and movement meditation)

Friday: Staff meeting, homework, FRIENDS!

Saturday: whatever I want- there are usually awesome events happening on campus and in the area….this weekend is the Olympia Arab Festival that I am volunteering for!

Sunday: Church at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, poetry workshop, grocery shopping, and dinner/hanging out with my roommate and some homework.

I do homework for about 40 hours a week, work at my job as a peer writing tutor for about 15 hours,  and activities with clubs for about 5 hours.

I don’t have  class this quarter(hence the many hours of homework because it is my class) because I am doing an Independent Learning Contract (ILC) for 16 credits called “Case Study of the West Bank Economy: Intersections of Race, Ideology and Imperialism”. I’ll talk more about it in another post.

Most students at Evergreen have class time for about 12-15 hours a week and are expected to do 1-2 hours of homework per credit. So for a 16 credit program (which is very common) you are looking at up to 15 hours of class time plus 32 hours of homework…..you are looking at a 47 hour school week before adding in time with clubs, friends, and taking care of personal needs. Whew!

Things can get hectic but what is great is that most people are pretty relaxed and passionate about what they are learning, so the vibe isn’t stressed and depressing. Especially at the beginning of the quarter-it is awesome to hear about all the cool interdisciplinary programs your friends are in. For example, I have friends in programs dealing with:

Public Health and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa
Math, Physics and Animation
Mt. Rainier and Environmental Policy
Introduction to Natural Science
Making Effective Social Change
American Indian Sovereignty
Food, Health and Sustainability
Power in American Society

The list goes on! Check out the academic catalog if you haven’t already….choosing your program is the hardest decision to make because you usually just pick on for 16 credits.

http://www.evergreen.edu/catalog/2012-13/index

Some folks do a mix of 4, 8 and 12 credit Evening and Weekend studies which can be great, especially if you have to work during the day, but you don’t get to bond with your classmates as much as you do in a 16 credit program.

If you have any questions about what it is like to juggling school, a job, friends and extracurriculars, just comment! Everyone’s experience at Evergreen is pretty different based on their interests, so I would love to hear yours and share what is happening here.

Whew! O-week (orientation week) is under way and it is so exciting to meet all the incoming students, both freshman and transfers, because everyone is interested in such a variety of things. I met a student who wants to study psychology, theater, and English while he is here and he grew up in Taipei! Another person I met is doing the Mt. Rainier program (which I took 2 years ago!) and has a similar dilemma that I had: to be a scientist or not to be? My path led me to not being one because I realized in that very program, that I prefer to engage with policy and people than plants and labs. The program entailed field plant biology, park management (we got to work with Mt. Rainier park rangers for two-weeks while camping out on the mountain!), environmental history and policy. One of the most memorable programs I took because it is what led me to taking more political economy classes as a way to engage with social change. Evergreen can be like that….a winding path…..definitely not straight….

Howdy! (er….hello…)

 

I am currently in Austin, TX where my Dad, stepmom and baby bro live. I grew up in Houston, but after I graduated college, my Mom moved to Seattle, so now when I go back to Texas, it’s Austin all the way. Visiting Austin always reminds me to open doors for other people, to value sunshine, wear tank tops and flip-floppies, and eat as much delicious meat as I possibly can. Once I am back in Olympia (Oly), it’s layers, hot coffee, vegan-this and vegan-that, boots, and romantic indie-music to match the grey weather. I’m sorry. I can’t help but love all the underground, lovey-dovey, crooners that come out of the misty northwest.

Also, I am trying to figure out class logistics for the coming quarter. I am trying to write an ILC (independent learning contract) that will allow me to study Israel/Palestine (cause I am going to the West Bank for two-weeks in October/November as part of an Interfaith Peace Builder’s delegation) and also be in the program “Public Health and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa”. I want to be in that program at least part-time because a) I LOVE the professors, Tom Womeldorff and Nancy Anderson and b) I think U.S. citizens don’t understand African history enough to know what effective aid could actually look like. I am interested in international relations and specifically U.S. foreign and economic policy, so I want to take the opportunity to learn more about Africa before I “finish” my undergrad degree. I say “finish”, because is learning ever really over? Ok, that was cheesy. But whatever.

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