Sorry for the long lapse in posts. I had a few crazy busy weeks, then a depressing one or two. Now that things are back under control...here I am! My internship has started, I'm about to leave for the annual RESULTS conference in DC, I get to see my friend Joe for the first time in about a year, I'm living alone, and things are pretty good overall.
This week at my internship, I've been learning about poverty simulations. They seem really cool and interesting. I get to witness my first one next Friday. The simulations run about three hours long, and they simulate a month in the life of someone living in poverty. Participants are randomly assigned roles, and volunteers play the parts of people working at services these people will need (mortgage company, school, community action agency, etc). Each week is 15 minutes, separated by 5-minute "weekends". Each week, families have to take care of basic things like going to work, paying bills, feeding their families--all while dealing with crime in their neighborhood, lack of money, long lines at service agencies, job loss, lack of funds to get to the places they need to go, etc.
I met with my supervisor, Kelcie, this morning. We had a great talk about what kind of experience I have and what I can do at PRI. I'm really excited now about how I'm spending my summer. There's a chance that PRI may need to make their own unique simulation model; I'm hoping I can help with that if it comes up. If not, I'll be working on grant-writing, volunteer recruitment and management, research, etc. It should all be great experience for me.
I may be taking a sort of last-minute road trip out to New York with my friend Evan who I met freshman year at K (He was a senior at the time. Now he's in a PhD program at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor getting paid to do what he loves [chemistry]). So I'll be in DC this weekend, New York next weekend, and California the weekend after that. It also looks like I'll be back in California at the end of August; I think I'll be taking the train out there.
I didn't get the straight A's I was hoping for this last quarter, thanks to B+ in African Studies, but I think I'll survive. I'm looking forward to taking a seriously fun course load in the fall (Intro to African Studies, Photography II, and Intro to Creative Writing), leading the circus club, and seriously squeezing every drop of value and fun out of my senior year of college.
Maybe I'll even post again semi-regularly. We'll see. :)
