Student Views

Wow, I think I could write about five or six blog posts on the last few weeks… life has been pretty ridiculously busy lately. I means, seriously. I say that a lot but I really feel like about a week ago I was the busiest I had ever been in my life. Ever. And that’s saying a lot. So needless to say, sleep (and blogging) has taken a side line for a bit but it’s all for the greater good of SEAK, my job AND school!

One of the most exciting things was the culmination of a semester of planning in the Youth Environmental Summit on October 24. My boss, coworker and I planned (and enacted along with the help of awesome SEAK volunteers) an amazingly successful environmental summit for high school environmental groups. Around 160 students (100 MORE THAN LAST YEAR!!) gathered at SU to learn about current issues and how to be more effective activists as well as to just socialize and learn from other high school environmentalists. It was crazy planning for so many people but our hard work totally paid off in the end.

Another awesome development that’s been keeping me busy: SEAK, along with some activists in Austin, has also been running a campaign against a proposed nuclear plant in San Antonio and Georgetown’s recent decision to officially support it. It’s a pretty complicated issue involving government transparency, water rights, and energy rates but SEAK has been trying its hardest to take strategic actions asking the City to reconsider its stance on the plant and on nuclear energy. I’ve been busy making press contacts for that, ceaselessly hounding newspapers, blogs and even the Austin NPR station to cover us. And we’ve had a few hits! Here’s a blog entry from ReEnergize Texas.

A shot of the press conference in front of the WilCo courthouse.

Connor and Harrison posing in front of the ironic fallout shelter sign…

So, I’ve also been running around getting my forms filled out and signed for study abroad next semester. BUT it is now officially official! I’M GOING TO MEXICO CITY!! I absolutely cannot wait to go. If I let myself think about it too long, I get so giddy that I can’t focus. I mean, I get nervous too, no doubt. The program I decided to go on is direct enrollment in a Mexican university, meaning I’ll be taking all my classes in Spanish along with native speakers and such. Ahh! If I’m not fluent by the end of May, I’m obviously hopeless.

And then, on a more fun note of course, last weekend was Halloween! I feel like the excitement of Halloween skips over middle and high school but it’s sort of like Christmas on the SU campus. I absolutely love seeing everyone’s costumes - people here are so creative and most prefer to come up with their own original costumes rather than buy one from the store. One of my friends and her boyfriend were a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle… together (i.e. she was the shell and he was the turtle and she rode around on his back) and another group of friends were the characters from Sonic the Hedgehog.

My roommate Lisa and I as Red Hat Society Ladies. The tattoo is left over from a nineties costume the night before.

My angsty 90’s outfit and Kristi’s Juno costume for Pis In Disguise ADPi date party

Co-blogger Eric and I celebrating Halloween in the admissions office Saturday morning. Yes, I gave a campus tour in fairy wings…

So life has been pretty hectic, as you can see. And now that life is getting back to normal, I’m not really sure what to do with my new found free(ish) time.

BUT all the crazyness… it was worth it. No matter how busy or stressed I get, it’s pretty easy to remind myself that everything I do, I love. My job at the Office of Civic Engagement, working with SEAK and even doing my homework - it’s all stuff that intrigues, enlightens and inspires me and I wouldn’t give it up for anything. Not even sleep.