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Friday, September 23, 2011

The Magician

This Wedsenday was the start of a new school year for Intercultural Life! We had our first artist, Gabriela Garcia Medina, come to campus. As a new Intercultural Educator I was a little nervous about how the whole event would go and how things went, but when Wedsenday came along I was pumped to meet Gabriela!

On Tuesday night, I spent some time checking out all of her poetry. As I was sitting there in my pajamas getting ready for bed reading through all of her poems, I was truly amazed. This woman had a talent! I couldn't wait to meet her on Wedsenday.

Once Wedsenday rolled around, I watched the clock very closely so I wouldn't be late for dinner. Jesse and I got to dinner a little bit earlier than everyone else so we sat there by ourselves for a bit. After a couple of minutes, a cute nicely dressed (Her outfit was adorable!) woman came in with Lupita. It was Gabriela. She greeted us with a spunky hello. I noted very quickly that she was the type of person that was bubbly and didn't have any trouble saying what was on her mind.

After everyone had gotten there, we began dinner. I was super excited because Gabriela was vegan, which meant that the whole meal was vegan (aka: I could eat it). I was a little anxious about Catering making vegan food, but the food ended up being delicious.

During dinner we had some nice conversations about what inspired Gabriela to travel around visiting colleges doing spoken word. She talked about how she opened for Black Eyed Peas and Pitbull. She told us that she realized she wanted to do work with colleges when one guy had asked her to open for him and he paid her fifty dollars. At the time, she thought this was great! When she realized how much she had been paid, she thought about how she could do this for living. It worked out for Gabriela. She has a talent and a love to write and share her poetry. She is good at it, too! So that is how she began her career.

After dinner we all headed over to cox snow for the show. The atmosphere felt perfect there. The lighting and the closeness of the stage made the show much more intimate.

Once everyone had arrived, Gabriela started the show. One of the first poems she read was her poem called "Magician". She talked about how her parents were able to turn something into nothing. Even when her parents didn't have much money, they were able to make a feast for their whole family. One of the things she said really struck with me. She described how she wanted a tree for Christmas, but her parents really couldn't afford one. A christmas tree was a luxury. When Gabriela woke up for Christmas; however, there was a tree with lights and ornaments. Her mother had made a christmas tree out of a plant. As a child this was like magic to her.

As the night continued she shared many poems with us. Her performances invoked a plethora of feelings from the audience. We laughed at her Lingerie poem. We felt despair when she shared her poem on 4 women in abusive situations. Some of us felt sympathy for her when she described how she couldn't cook.

By the end of her first couple of poems the audience ,including me, had grown to love Gabriela. She seemed like this powerful woman. She was funny, artistic,and compassionate towards life.

As the night came to a close she gave us a background story to her last poem. She told us how she had a stalker who had written her all of his deepest darkest secrets. Because of this, she felt compelled to share with her audience her deepest darkest secrets. She said she wanted us to see her beyond her performance, but as a human being that is not always perfect.

I won't reveal what she said in her last poem because you just had to see it, but her last poem was the most meaningful to me. She made me, as well as many of the audience members, feel a little closer to her. She was no longer just this performer on a pedestal, but she was a human being that we could relate to. I really appreciated this last poem.

Ultimately, I loved having the chance to meet Gabriela, and hope that we can bring her back to campus so more of you can see her great performace!

Have a lovely friday!
Shelby

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

The End of Summer is Just the Beginning of Autumn

In this post: titles that were once considered as names for love ballads.

More to the point: While hot days, cool nights, bugs chirping and hissing, and the occasional smell of a nearby grill may still be in effect for students summer is pretty much over. The first classes have passed leaving some running for the administration office to "fix" their schedule. Books have been bought and found for lower prices elsewhere. Yes, it's officially autumn. Which means we in the Intercultural Life office are back to work.

Yay.

And while the summer has chipped away all but the most base of work ethic there's still a lot to be excited about with the return of the Intercultural Life team. New employees for one. Most of the office seems new, as we have lost three Intercultural Educators and our beloved Sarah. Oh sure, we still have Brandyn running around but now your Intercultural Life office comes with a new administrative assistant, Graci, and two new Intercultural Educators, Shelby and Lupita. Returning for a second year is Jessie, and someone I'm forgetting.

Oh well, it's probably not important.

And I expect all of our readers to stop by the office and give a fond hello to Graci. Also, don't tell her why you're doing it. Nice to keep the office on its toes.

Alright, so we have a new team of interculturally competent educators but what does that mean for you, dear reader? After all, why should you care what the office is plotting and planning? Maybe because we're plotting and planning the best year ever!

Well, best is a relevant term. But it'll still be an awesome year.

Why's that? Because with our new eyes looking over our schedule and knowing the needs and wants of the student body we've come up with a pretty rocking year. And yes, I just used the word "rocking". Don't ask me why. Already the activities are starting. Come Friday, September 9th, Intercultural Life will be hosting a Welcome Back BBQ in the backyard of the CMCC House. The menu looks amazing (hint: there will only be kabobs until I get there and then y'all are out of luck) and it'll be a great way to make new friends! There's no reason not to go!

The BBQ begins at 5:00 pm and if you want to attend please, please, please sign up in the office (located on the second floor of Maytag between Housing and Counseling) or at the Activity Fair which will be Wednesday night in Maytag. All you need is your ID so we can estimate how many people will be there.

There are a million awesome things happening this year and even cynical old me can get excited so you should too! Go to the events! Encourage your friends to do it too! Hassle them if you have to!

Because if you don't go to our events, who will?

Your certainly-not-panicking-about-graduation-already Intercultural Educator,
Izzy