Education Reform.

During yesterday's class discussion we looked over the "Writing Revolution" article and I found it fascinating. One of my passions is figuring out how the public school education system can change itself to better educate our future. Mostly in a health/ sexual health area, but in general I feel all subjects need a little work. That's really all I want to say on the matter, or I'll be here for hours.
So instead of listening to me rant I thought I would share this video. I feel it's important and somewhat relates to the revolution article.
It's long, but if you have the time I highly suggest it.

Topics on Topics on Topics.

So I've come to notice I'm a little late in the game when it comes to sharing my topic. I sometimes forget that I have this blog to write in and well this happens.
I know we have already turned in our topic proposals, but I'm going to put mine here if any of you have insight or good ideas of where to find information.
So a little bit about my background will help in making this topic idea seem not so random.
When I went to Oregon State for the first three years of my undergrad, I joined this group called Every1. It stood for Every 1 person sexually assaulted is 1 too many.

http://studenthealth.oregonstate.edu/every1
(not the most exciting website but I thought I would share it.)

We were a group of peer educators that went around campus and gave presentations to our sports teams, Navy/ROTC, sororities and fraternities and so on. We lectured on the prevalence of sexual assault on campus, what consent is and what consent is not; as well as the difference between healthy and non-healthy relationships, how to help a friend, and where to find resources. We sponsored events like Take Back the Night, Speak Out, and SAAM (Sexual Assault Awareness Month). We were also the ones responsible for providing free condoms  (Condom Hot Spots) and other safe sexual health tools. We worked hand in hand with MARS which is Male Advocates for Responsible Sex.
These were the best three years of my life. If someone had told me in high school I would be working with population and advocating for survivors of sexual assault I would have thought they were crazy. But it happened and I love my work.
One of the things that really struck my interest, and at the same time, boggled my mind was just how unaware of 'birth control' fellow students were. They were unaware of the different types, they were unaware of the effective rates among different forms of birth control. What really worried me was that women didn't know they had options. There is more to life than condoms and pills. They were unaware that through our student health we could gain free birth control. We had access to so many options that were not getting taken advantage of, because men and women did not know.
One of the things that would always get me the deer in headlights look was the statement that "Men are just as responsible as women in terms of their sex life's birth control methods." It was something that seemed to go unmentioned in relationships. I just wanted to scream at them to talk about it!
And because of this, it got me thinking about the sexual health topics they were taught in high school  Or in life. Or lack thereof.
 It's because of our lack of communication on this important topic that high school and entering college freshman have no knowledge of their options. Abstinence only doesn't work and we know that. You tell a 16 year old not to have sex, they're going to have sex. Of course there are exceptions to that rule, but in majority that is how it is. So if we teach them how to do it safely and where to find resources to do so we might see a great change.
People are unaware of what kinds of methods there are, and where that method came from. People don't know the history or the benefits/implications of each option and that is critical to making an educational decision.
So I want to use this class as an opportunity to look at the most prominent forms of birth control and where they came from. How they came into use. Some of that information goes way back unto Ancient Egypt. It's all very fascinating. And I would like to tie in to that the ways of how this information is taught throughout our education system and just how problematic it is to keep information like that from youth. (Just look at the teen pregnancy rates.)
This is something that I am very passionate about and I hope maybe you can gain something from me furthering my research.
I am sorry for this ramble, and I hope it makes sense.

Journals.

I don't talk a lot in class. And I mentioned today that is due, in large part, to the fact that I am trained to be a listener. I allow others to do the talking. Especially in an open setting such as our class. But that's not to say that my mind isn't always constantly thinking and creating points valid for discussion. So here I just wanted to touch on the article "On Keeping a Journal".

Keeping a journal has always come naturally to me. I have always been writing stuff down for as long as I can remember. So it was interesting today to hear the other voices in the class and how the idea of journaling was somewhat of a second language to them. Or how their way of journaling is so much different. Someone made the comment that her journal was of artifacts such as maps and appointments. So much different than mine, but so very cool.

I am one of the few people in my life that keeps a journal, and to this day I always think of something my mom would ask me as a kid, "You still writing in that thing?"
Yes mom. Even today, I am "still writing in that thing."
Even she was impressed that I kept at it.

So it's safe to say that I really identified with the article.
Some of the quotes I pulled from it, that really stuck out to me were:
"Keepers of private notebooks are a different breed altogether, lonely..."
This one jumped out, because of the word lonely. I wouldn't say that I'm lonely, but in my line of work nothing is meant to be talking about. Everything is internalized and that really comes out in my compulsive need to write, and journal. Just so I can get everything out. 

"I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be;"
This just kind of speaks for itself. I feel as though that is something everyone can relate to. But with journals, as she mentions in the article, are a way for you to keep in touch with the people you used to be.
She states, "...keeping in touch are what notebooks are all about."
A nice reminder of where you started, where you came from, and just how far you have come. 

I found myself while reading this article, also jumping back the Atwood's introduction and remembering things that she wrote about why people write. And when I read this [the intro] I found my self thinking about my own journals, and my own poetry and it was all relatable. Some of the reasons I write, she mentioned.
Such as, "To record the world as it is. To set down the past before it is all forgotten. To excavate the past because it has been forgotten...Because I knew I had to keep writing or I would die. Because to write is to take risks, and it is only by taking risks that we know we are alive... To express myself. To express my self beautifully... To celebrate life in all its complexity...To give back something of what has been given to me."
That section blew me away and I adore it. It's comforting to know there are people out there who write for some of the same reasons I do.
And it's also comforting to know that there are people out there that find journaling just as much of an escape as I do.


And because I just wrote this incredibly long rant about journals and how much I love journaling, I am going to share a picture of my journals with you guys. One dates back to as early as 7th grade.

Today's Group Disscussion.

I found todays group discussion to be rather helpful. It was nice seeing and gaining understanding to somebody else's way of writing. To often we tend to take our way of doing things and deem it the only way that works. In most everything in life, and writing is no different. At some point you find your flow and what makes you tick and that becomes your way. Your signature. Your voice.

In today's discussion my group and I, introduced our ways of writing to one another and though we found commonality in our choice of procrastination, our last minute ways of preparation are drastically different. Even so, despite how our work becomes complete, the end goal is just that. Complete. We all strive to create a solid piece of work that is understandable and in a way successful.
It was nice seeing the different view points, and was comforting to know I'm not the only one at a computer lab till dawn  the day before a paper is due.
The world of writing is so varied, wide and complex it's helpful to get insight into another persons world in terms of the way they approach writing.
I appreciated today.

Blogging. The Ultimate Assignment.

Having this class use a blog as an assignment is the bees knees.

“A blog is only as interesting as the interest shown in others.” - Lee Odden