Using class for real-life application, take one: a face-threatening act. December 6, 2009

I just met someone who took a class from my teacher (we’ll call her Fiskars), and thought she was talking about some elements of the class that she disliked, she wasn’t saying anything terribly negative about Fiskars, either. We agreed on most things about the class, but finally I had to say something about Fiskars.

I didn’t know the girl I was talking to at all, so I didn’t know whether she was the type who would have liked Fiskars or not. Plus, since she was talking pretty positively about the elements of the class but carefully avoiding the subject of Fiskars, I thought I had pretty good reason to believe that she might have liked Fiskars.

However, I couldn’t resist. She said something about transcriptions and I said “yeah” noncommittally, gearing up to risking my face… then I said “yeah, not a big fan.” Of course, the girl thought I was talking about transcriptions, which was my fault, so she had to say, “oh, I actually rather liked them,” and I had to say, “oh, me too… I was talking about [Fiskars].”

I was so wrapped up in being nervous about my face that I can’t even remember how she responded. I guess that means I didn’t have to save my face afterwards, though.

It was an interesting interaction. Finally, I was able to have the presence of mind to realize what was going on while it was actually happening, and to observe myself in the process.

Friends in high and unlikely places September 22, 2009

So sometimes, I tend to get extremely overwhelmed by barbershop. Mostly, this is because i have no idea how to convey to people how much I love it and how much it means to me. Also, it seems a little strange that it’s so specific. Like, I could be just in love with singing in general, or by karaoke or something, but no, I have to be utterly obsessed with barbershop. It’s just weird.

However, in the barbershop community, it is completely normal. I challenge you to find someone in this organization who is just sort of so-so about barbershop. Someone who can say “eh, I can live with or without it. It’s just sort of a hobby.” No. That’s not the way it works. You may not be obsessed with it when you enter the org, but you sure as hell are after two months, if not after one visit.

So, here is my absolutely fantastic barbershop story for the day.

About a year ago, this woman in my chorus said something like, “oh, you’re going to Evergreen? You should look for this police officer who sings barbershop, Tom or Tim or something… I can’t remember his last name.” Of course I thought, “well, gee, isn’t that specific,” and I didn’t try too hard to find him. Plus, their uniforms just say their last names, so I didn’t have much to go on, and I didn’t want to go to Police Services and ask for some guy who sang barbershop. ha.

So today I was sitting at the Student Activities fair with my roommate. I was representing the CPJ and the Police Services booth was right next to ours. She pointed at the officer who was at that table, and said that she’s heard him sing at this drug and alcohol presentation thing she’d gone to, and that he was quite good. Then I heard the EIC and biz manager of the CPJ talking to him and calling him Tim.

Long story short, once everyone left, I said to him, “so, I hear you sing,” and he said, “yeah,” and I said, “do you sing barbershop, by any chance?”

He said, “Barbershop is my life.”

And with stars in my eyes, I’m sure, I said, “meee toooo!”

Thus began a long conversation during which we discovered that we know many of the same people, but it turns out that he’s actually WAYYYY high up in the organization and so is his wife, so he’s, like, friends with the lead of OC Times and stuff, and coaches by ex-director’s quartet and stuff.

MY GOD am I excited. I never want to talk to people at Evergreen about Sweet Adelines, because let’s face it, it’s just weird. Sequins and energetic faces? Definitely not Evergreen-ish. So I cannot tell you how amazing it is to have this resource and be familiar with this guy. Unfortunately, it’s led to a bit of a stalking tangent on my part, so I found this video of his quartet (two of the members are former Kings, which means that they have won International before. Five times, in fact. SO amazing). Enjoy :)

… and I just read back over that post, and it’s awful. I think the more excited I get about something, the less articulate I am. So, I’m sorry about that. But I’m not going to change it because you all deserve to see my blunders.

The past can be the future. Why go back? September 18, 2009

Introducing the first thing I have posted on my wall (REAL wall, that is–NOT Facebook) since I have moved into my apartment:

The very first issue of the Cooper Point Journal (CPJ), the paper for which I am the print managing editor (there is a web managing editor for, obviously, the web edition). The CPJ is a weekly publication put out by the CPJ student group, but more broadly, it is a paper by and for the students, which is most important. The CPJ accepts any type of content from anyone enrolled as a student at the Evergreen State College, which is very cool. We have two advisors, but they don’t have any say over what goes in the paper (nor does any other faculty member). The student group is comprised entirely of students who put out the web and print publication, as well as students to manage and maintain the business side of things. We only receive a certain amount of funding from the Student Activities department of the school, and the student activities funds come directly from students through tuition, so the paper is quite literally BY the students, in all senses. Students in positions of responsibility receive a learning allotment most weeks of the quarter, which enables them to spend the time that they do at the CPJ.

The CPJ is not a “job,” and we do not get “paid.” We don’t even “work.” We have responsibilities, and are held accountable for those responsibilities by the mere fact that we are members of the organization. We don’t need to know a certain amount before coming into a position at the CPJ (seriously, I am a managing editor after only 3 years of being involved in journalism of any sort; that tells you something), but we are encouraged to learn while we’re at the CPJ–hence the designation of the CPJ being a “learning laboratory.”

Anyway, as my position indicates, I am responsible for the print edition of the paper, which is weekly. The first paper came off the presses today, and I got to watch it happen. I was given a copy right then and there, with that picture on the cover that I took and the cover design that I did. I was (and am) so proud of that thing.

So… why do I feel guilty? The thing about the CPJ is that, since we don’t “work,” we don’t have hours, so technically we are at liberty to leave whenever we want. But since we are responsible and accountable for certain tasks, they should be priority. Plus, there is always the chance that more may come up, or tasks may be delegated, and there is the real looming responsibility of the actual publication. So “leadership” (the business manager, associate business manager, editor in chief, associate editor, web managing editor, and print managing editor) are usually under the impression that other members will be (or should be) as dedicated to producing the overall result as we are. Well, frankly, sometimes they just aren’t.

That should be fine with us. I mean, technically their position has certain responsibilities assigned to it, and if they take care of those they are free to lead a life. The problem is that we get so caught up in what has to be done, and usually we are so short-staffed, that we feel the need to delegate tasks to these people that somehow have gotten done with their section early.

…Ok, I’m tired of explaining this, so the short version is that there is A TON of guilt-tripping in the CPJ. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone.

I felt the guilt pressure almost all of last year in my various positions, as well as this past summer when I was at home having a normal life when everyone else was at the office having responsibilities in which I was expected to take part or share.

So though I never told anyone when I came back this year, my ultimate goal is to never guilt trip someone. If someone is done and says something like “…so…I think I’ll head out now,” I can respond with no more than, “all right. If you find you have more time, let us know if you’re free and we can give you something to do.” That’s it. Because I am so fed up with these people being presented with that situation of someone wanting to leave and saying, “well… ok… it would be great if you could stay a while longer, because there’s a lot left to do…”

What BS. Suck it up and do some work yourself. Last night was production night, and I felt like I did a ton because we were short-staffed and people left. And I was fine with it. I am at the CPJ because I have an extreme passion for journalism. And I want that passion to show through my drive and motivation to put out a quality paper without too much perfectionism. Actually, I can’t imagine what it would be like if we had a full staff. What would I do?!

Our advisor once said, when we were anticipating the switch to our primarily online medium, that “Jo can put out a print paper by herself. So what you guys need to focus on is the website.” And, though that probably wouldn’t be something I’d prefer in the heat of the moment, it sounds a little daringly awesome.

It won’t happen. The CPJ is a students’ paper, not a student’s paper. [If you don't understand that line, please leave this blog. Now.]

And I don’t want it to happen. I am so caught up in the awesomeness of the ‘voice of the students thing’ that I never want to give that up. Why would a publication function any differently?

It seems like every time I find something new about Evergreen, I react to it like I did when I got my Mac: Why would ever go back to how it/I was before? In fact, that happens with many facets of my life.

Why would I ever go back to a school that gave grades and pushed a competitive learning environment?

Why would I ever go back to a life without barbershop music?

Why would I ever go back to being involved in a newspaper that wasn’t by and for the people?

It’s so important. I realized this when the EIC was working on launching the website today. Before, I had been rather caught up in how the site would look, and how it would function, blah blah blah, just so that people would want to look at it and come back to it and become a member of the site, etc. But now, I want it to look very rustic and work-in-progress-like, so that people will instead come up to us and say something like, “btw, that website of yours… uh… sucks.” Then, I will be able to tell them [quite honestly, mind you], “I’m so glad you think so! We would love to have your expertise, or at least some input about it!”

Does that sound dorky? Because I think it sounds really exciting.

La-la-la-la-lovely August 15, 2009

I just finished making a batch of delectable wheat-free almond spice cookies. They’re positively amazing, not to brag or anything. They’re better than any of the wheat-free cookies I’ve ever had, and better than any of the cookies I’ve had made with rice flour, which is very heavy and leaves a questionable aftertaste. I found the recipe in one of my mom’s Yoga Journals and made them with millet flour, tapioca flour, and potato flour starch, along with many spices and sugar and yumminess.

Turns out, they’re not as good the next day. But I remain impressed with myself that I actually got off my ass and made something that I’m proud of. yay me!

I’ve been so extremely lazy lately. I’m housesitting and don’t have internet at the house, so all I can do is walk the dog and play with her, read, and watch tv, and I can write articles if I happen to get an assignment.

Ew. I’m sitting in a coffee shop and all these people are around me with whom I went to school for various years are talking and they’re loud and sigggghhhhhhh. I’m pretty sure they all go to U of I now. And this girl is dressed like she’s a freshman in high school, yet she just announced that she’s “technically a junior” in college. She dropped one of her majors and moved up, apparently. I am SO glad I don’t have to worry about all that crap. People give me funny looks when I tell them I don’t have majors or grades or anything, but it is a complete blessing.

You know that science class you took in high school, with that science teacher you didn’t particularly care for, in which you had to memorize all those chemicals and then get tested on them, where you have to pass in order to receive a very meaningless letter grade that is your ticket to the next dull, tedious class that you may or may not have any interest in? And then, to your horror, it continues in college! College, where you are supposed to be able to choose whichever classes you like, and you are guaranteed to like them since they fit your major! But noooo, you have to go through more and more meaninglessness with those stupid required classes that may or may not have anything to do with your desired path of study and subsequent career, but you are assured that “at some point” they will be relevant, just like many teachers in high school told you that “one day” that math would come in handy. ha.

I love my school.

Waiting is the hardest part December 10, 2008

So right now, I am lamenting the fact that my suitemate started blasting her incredibly annoying music MUCH too early. Well… it was, like, 9:30 ish. But still, I intended to sleep til 11! Maybe it was karma… it’s probably for my own good… but the annoying music? Not the best way to get the point across. (*Curses the heavens*). Seriously, it was like screamo Native American music. WTF, mate?!

Anyway, seriously, it was probably for the best. Now I have my own, really awesome, music on (Cat Stevens–who can argue with that?!) and I’m working up to revising an essay and working on the first draft of my self evaluation. 

In accordance with Evergreen’s unique system, they skip the whole finals week thing in lieu of Evaluation Week. Yes, it’s deserving of capitals. And for those of you who may be from other schools, and may be thinking, “psshhhhh, it can’t be worse than what I’m undergoing for finals week!” think again. Eval Week is at least as strenuous.

Before I go all out in describing what Eval Week entails, understand that this is specifically for my program and most other freshman programs I have been hearing of. Other upperclassmen have had other experiences, but for the most part I think the administration tries to keep things uniform for freshmen. 

First, one must put together a portfolio for the class. This is usually a binder with everything one has ever been handed, ever completed, ever written, etc. For me, this includes handouts, “sincwas” (seminar in class writing assignments), essays (we have four), and critiques of our and others’ essays, all in chronological order. 

Lovely.

brb

Tell me, where do the children play? December 7, 2008

I’m back! things are incredibly hectic here. This is a summary of what’s been going on… it was originally an email to my lit teacher from back home : )

My class is very good… It used to be absolutely amazing, and then it got a little monotonous, but it will pick up. My seminar leader IS definitely amazing, though, and I couldn’t hope for better. I recently talked to him to see if I could stay in his seminar next quarter, because I don’t like any of the other three teachers as much at all. Communication goes a looong way at this school! My schedule is like this:

Tuesday AM: Lecture or workshop. If it’s a lecture, it means that one of the teachers (we have 4) stands up and talks about how the book we’re reading relates to his or her general field of study. One of the teachers is an anthropologist, so when we were reading Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe), she talked about what culture meant to people and how it is formed. If we have a workshop, it means that we break into small groups (4 or 5 people) and discuss specific aspects of a book, like how the language works, or how metaphors add to the text as a whole, or comparisons and contrasts with other things we’ve read. 

Tuesday PM: Seminar. This goes much like our lit discussions last year. The group is about 20 students plus the seminar leader, and he does as little “leading” as possible. We pose questions that came to us during reading, and then talk about those, and discuss and sometimes argue. More specifically, we look at the characters and their actions, decisions, and words (since the class is called “Character Studies.”)

Wednesday AM: Writing Seminar… possibly my favorite class time in the whole week. We have an essay due every other week, usually about 4 or 5 pages long. So one week, half the seminar (group A) will submit their rough drafts, and the other half of the seminar will critique the papers and make comments. The following week, group A gives the seminar leader their final drafts, and group B submits their rough drafts, etc. It is SO helpful and interesting to see everyone progress!

Friday AM: Seminar.

Friday PM: Lecture or wrap-up session. We have cookies and tea and we talk : ) it’s great! Sometimes we watch a movie instead.

Life is great outside of class too : ) a couple weeks ago I got a position on the newspaper staff. I applied for three: Copy editor, letters and opinions coordinator, and page proofer. I got the position of page proofer and I love it! I didn’t even know when I applied that it was a paying position, but it is! I’m still not sure how much it pays, but I’m just happy to have a little income, so anything is nice. The paper comes out once a week, and I pretty much only have a task on production nights, which is Wednesday… so on Wednesdays I’m working on the paper until at least 3 AM. But it works out perfectly because I don’t have class on Thursdays! Also, I look at the pages once they’re printed, so I don’t have to be looking at a screen the whole time, which I love. 

Dorm life is good too… I live on the top floor of the highest dorm, which happens to be the highest point in Olympia : ) All I can see out my window are the tops of very green trees, which is so calming. There are only five people on our floor, which is nice and quiet. The top floor is reserved for high schoolers who come and stay the night, so we get to meet a few of them and encourage them to come to Evergreen. The food is not as good as any of us hoped, but there are a few options, so we can usually find something we’re happy with. 

I don’t have as much spare time as I hoped… we have at least one book to read every week and an essay to either write or revise (my dad still helps me with essays! it’s so great!).

California Dreamin’. July 16, 2008

I am back. And wishing I wasn’t.

California was simply amazing, except for the smoke, smog, and fog. But that’s to be expected, of course.

I flew down to Phoenix because my mom was in Sedona. We spent a few days there (it was SO hot… but very pretty and relaxing) and then headed over to California on Route 66, which I’ve always wanted to explore. There’s still more to see, but I loved the bits and pieces we saw. We even caught a gun fight (staged, with blanks) at a ghosttown along the way.

We arrived in SoCal to stay with my mom’s stepmother in Corona Del Mar for three days. I felt suffocated in about five minutes. My step-grandmother (or whatever she would be called) was nice and all, but no matter how much my mom and she talked about healing past wounds and staying in touch and recovering friendships, I could still feel the tension and the fake assurances that all was right. She kept talking about how she is so proud of how she can honestly say she didn’t break up a marriage (my grandmother and grandfather’s)… but saying that like it’s the truth doesn’t make it true. Not from the eyes of all parties involved, anyway. I didn’t even know my grandfather, and I still thought it was all just talk.

To top it off, her house was chalk-full of ornate, foreign, expensive things that I was constantly afraid to break. When she spoke, she had to mention the race of anyone she was talking about (like, “then this nice Mexican guy helped me with my groceries!”)

Anyway, we weren’t in her company for the full three days that we stayed there – we got to go on day trips to Los Angeles and Disneyland and such.

I wasn’t prepared for the awesomeness I was going to face in LA. And I’m not just elaborating on this part because my new godmother might read my blog; I really had the most amazing time.

First of all, my godmother wasn’t my godmother when I first met her. She was just my mom’s high school buddy; I knew little of her except that she and my mom closed a few bars (haha). She worked in radio and had since high school, but I didn’t really know what that meant. I can’t say that it felt like I’d known her forever when I met her. At the time, we were just there to pick up a couple tickets to Disneyland. We went to her radio station headquarters (95.5 KLOS in LA; it’s amazing) and ended up getting a tour, meeting the DJ we’d heard in our car just minutes ago, and drooling over all the Johnny Depp posters in my mom’s friend’s office.

I was still dazed as she canceled her afternoon plans, led us to her convertible, and started on a personal tour of LA. We cruised every famous boulevard and avenue in the downtown area and ate at The Ivy. Didn’t see any celebrities, but it was still totally fantastic. Later mom and I went to Venice Beach and wandered around… it wasn’t very crowded, which was really nice.

The day after that was our Disney Day. Actually, we just managed a half day. We fit in all the rides we needed or wanted, with the exception of the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride. That ride is closed right now… funny story. Apparently, they’re having to reconstruct all the boats because they no longer float. And that’s because people as a whole have gained weight since the ride was built, so the boats couldn’t accommodate the successive heavier generations. Ah, humanity.

The fireworks were canceled, due to winds at higher elevations. It ticked us both off, because that’s almost the whole reason we went. Well, not really. My mom grew up in Anaheim, so she says she practically grew up at Disneyland and had to revisit it. And also, the last time I was at Disneyland, my great-aunt was all paranoid, so she made me wear a harness, attached to a leash! I was mortified, even at 5. So I had to go back when I wasn’t all plagued with embarrassment.

Oh! And also, we went to hear the barbershop singers on Main Street… because I sing in a women’s barbershop chorus and I wa

The next day we left my step-grandmother’s house, ’nuff said. We were able to meet up with my mom’s friend again that night, which was when she became my godmother. And as anyone would say, she’s the best around. She’s been texting me ever since and I miss her like crazy! But she’s my excuse to go back down to LA, and soon!

So we headed up north, to San Fran. We stayed with relatives in the area and then went to the city to get haircuts from another of mom’s longtime friends, who worked in the Castro district of SF, which was very cool. Took a trolley to Pier 39 (very touristy, but there’s a GREAT fudge shop there!) and back up, stopping at some retail district with a cool name that I can’t remember. I went shopping, which I’d been waiting to do for the whole trip before that. I don’t normally like shopping, but for some reason it’s better at unfamiliar stores, when I don’t know where anything is and I don’t know my fellow shoppers, or the clerks, or what I’m going to get.

Then, we got sushi, which I had also been waiting and waiting and waiting to eat. On our way up from LA, we passed a “farm” (if one could call it that), where they raised cows for slaughtering, and I decided then that I could live without meat. I don’t mind killing animals (that sounds really harsh, but I just look at it as something humans have always done; there are certain animals of which there are plenty in the world, and in some ways they’ve always been meant to be food for us), but I am so opposed to those environments in which they raise the animals that I could stay away from the meat. But sushi is different.

I never ever ever thought I’d like sushi. But this year I started eating it. It’s like the perfect food – it’s as balanced as any food could possibly be (except for the overdose of sodium from the soy sauce…), what with the veggies and the protein and everything, it’s very filling, and it just tastes soooo good. I’ll admit that I’m a total tempura junkie, too (bbbaaaaaddddd….), but that’s ok. It’s still vegetables, right? haha.

Ok, so… sushi. My mom’s friend used to live in New Orleans, but got displaced because of hurricane Katrina. She’s going back to ‘nawlins’ soon, so hopefully I can visit her for Mardi Gras or something.

We then left San Francisco and headed way north. This whole way, we couldn’t go along the coast because of the forest fires, which was a major disappointment.

Article about TESC (The Evergreen State College) June 30, 2008

This was written for a regional high-school newspaper with a selective staff. It’s a compilation of the optional essay I wrote for my application to the college, and another informative feature-like article I wrote about it.

In a bubble of ignorance, believing that school was supposed to be about competing for grades, doing meaningless homework, and taking even more pointless tests, I was frustrated when I visited Evergreen. Why couldn’t I have been left alone, left to choose a ‘traditional’ college and complete my education in a more ‘normal’ way? I could have persisted with learning little, retaining little and being unenthusiastic about the whole process.
Luckily, there was another alternative. After two weeks of debating with myself and discussing with my dad, I jumped. It was a leap of faith– faith in myself, and faith in Evergreen’s spectacular system (or refreshing lack thereof).

Almost every institute of higher learning proclaims a “one-of-a-kind” education of some sort. But Evergreen has the genuine raw appeal of a completely non-traditional atmosphere, though it’s definitely not for everyone. It is intriguing to students who have never questioned their school’s method of awarding grades or percentages.

Through high school, we’re trained to “strive” for the A, or maybe to accomplish “just” the B. But as anyone who has taken at least a semester of high school knows, the definition of a letter grade changes in every class. Do you really have to reach for that A in choir, like you do the one in math? Maybe you’re psyched for a C in history, but disappointed by a C in chemistry. With all the ambiguity and shape shifting of grades, it’s a wonder that we still put meaning in them. Then again, it’s so ingrained in all students that we just accept it.

Not at the Evergreen State College. No letter grades are assigned, no numbers. Nothing that could be misunderstood or misinterpreted. Teachers instead write complete, comprehensive evaluations of students and their work throughout a quarter. They can choose to give full, partial or no credit for a program.

Evergreen doesn’t require as much academic prowess and scholarly willpower as it does creativity. I have an unlimited imagination, but never has it been applied to designing a college education. In an institution which allows this and encourages it, the mind is freed of meaningless worries such as credits, grades, and mere memorization. Instead, a swiftly growing and maturing brain will engage in more important processes, like internal discussion, developing ideas and opinions, self-analysis, and self-discovery (partly through self-doubt).

Evergreen’s program system clears things up for those of us who were frustrated by having to jump from learning about DNA to reading Moby Dick in two hours. What if we could connect the two based on something they may have in common?

In a program, all types of classes—arts, sciences, social studies—are all tied together around a central theme. Usually, there are two to five professors who each specialize in an area within the program. They all collaborate and share their expertise.

The students’ environment is collaborative as well. When they don’t have to compete for a grade or “setting the curve,” there’s much more energy for sharing opinions, knowledge, and backgrounds.

Authors of what we call the “Great Books” believed that this was always what learning was supposed to be about. Why, then, didn’t education remain such a quenching and enlightening process? Obviously, most people are probably not meant to write books, which, thousands of years later, are still memorable enough to be called the “Great Books.” But how and when did education become so untrustworthy that tests of knowledge were developed? When did it become so discrete that we could measure the amount of it in a letter grade? When, in fact, did education become a measurable quantity at all?

There exists a college where one’s own schools of thought matter most. Personal concepts can be applied to a learning environment where there can only be endless rewards– the introduction of new thoughts, which develop and are reapplied. This means a cycle of win-win collaborative learning situations in discussions, ideas and personal growth.
There is so much to look forward to at Evergreen. Aside from its unique perspective on studies, it doesn’t lose any exciting opportunities available at other colleges. There’s so much to get involved in and so many choices to take advantage of in clubs, sports and the arts. Many activities were not options for me in high school.

I have attended a specifically college prep school for the past six years. Needless to say, it wasn’t prepping me for the type of learning I will embrace at Evergreen. No, the Coeur d’ Alene Charter Academy has been training me in the ways of the traditional college, where I would spend even more tedious hours fighting for that weird letter A that really represented nothing.

Then again, it’s not like there’s an Evergreen Prep School. And because of the whole diploma thing, high schools need a way to quantify how much a student has supposedly learned.

I’m confused by the awarding of letter grades for tedious memorization and regurgitation of textbook knowledge, and by what, if any, relation these grades have to learning in the first place. Evergreen opened my eyes to this disconnection, thankfully. In attending Evergreen, I’m especially anticipating seeing the world unrestricted by the blindness caused when education is made into a monotonous, unimaginative chore. Evergreen is a breath of fresh air after struggling to find inspiration in a traditional school system.

The Evergreen State College: www.evergreen.edu