Reflection: Weeks 13 & 14

Week 13
Advocacy Project:
The next portion of our advocacy project, Issue Overview, was due this week. I was sort of dreading this assignment because it involved research, but then it ended up being very informational and interesting! It can definitely take a lot of time and effort to really gain a thorough understanding of an issue, especially to the point where one is adequately prepared to stand up/debate for it. Because of this, I still find the whole concept of advocacy to be slightly intimidating, but I know it is an important skill to develop!

Tuesday: During the class period, we discussed writing letters to elected officials as preparation for the next portion of our advocacy project. I thought it was interesting that it is recommended to include one's personal concerns and experience with the issue. For some reason I had thought that representatives wouldn't want to bother with personal issues and were more concerned with facts and data, but it was reassuring to be reminded that they are human, too. Unfortunately I think we forget about that the majority of the time!

We also watched "Story of Stuff" with Annie Leonard. It was definitely biased, but since I agreed with what she was saying, I didn't really mind. Overall, I thought it was quite depressing and could hardly believe it when she said that only 1% of stuff bought is still used 6 months later! Ugh, we are so wasteful. I was also really shocked by the concepts of "planned" and "perceived" obsolescence. I do agree that materialism has gotten out of hand in recent years, and it is hard to break out of the cycle. That said, I liked the chart with the correlation of decline of national happiness and increase in production/consumption of goods. Last year was a good reality check for me when I had to pack everything I needed for 8 months into one suitcase and a hiking backpack. I'll admit, however, that once I got back to the U.S. I somehow collected a whole bunch of stuff that I don't really need.

Thursday: We went to Bagley for an orienteering activity! I thought it was pretty fun, and it was great to be outside for the class period, especially since the weather happened to be GORGEOUS that day!

Week 14
Advocacy Project: The next assignment, Letter to Public Official was due this week. I'm glad we didn't have to actually send the letter - I think I would have been rather intimidated!

Tuesday: We had a guest speaker from the UMD Office of Civic Engagement who is also in AmeriCorps. One thing that stuck in my mind was how he talked about remaining neutral when talking to people and avoiding "offensive" words such as "global warming", "sustainability", and even "green" in order to avoid offending anyone. I thought was this very interesting because I think of these words as being intriguing - a bonus! - and it was a good reminder to me that not everyone shares my opinions. It's important to educate people about how to help the environment, not force ideas onto them and make them attempt a change they are not yet ready for.

Thursday: We did a fun activity in class that dealt with re-purposing! Each web group got a random "junk" object and then three minutes to write down as many uses as we could think of. There were a total of 5 objects, and everyone came up with lots of ideas! We definitely had some silly ideas, but there were just as many great practical uses that were thought of as well. I really enjoyed this activity and it was nice to have a break as my other classes seem to be upping the intensity as we approach the end of the semester.

Well, we technically only have one week of class left... wow. I honestly think I'm going to miss this class. I'll admit it definitely wasn't one of my favorites at the beginning of the semester, but I think that was mostly due to the blogging and just adjusting to the format of the class. Now it's one of the most interesting classes I've ever taken!

Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend everyone!

(Picture taken by me: Lake Superior.)