Two week update

For the past two weeks, there hasn't been a lot of planning concerning the trip going on. The make-up of the trip participants has changed slightly, just because people's plans have changed, but the new participants seem to be a lot of fun. Two weeks ago, our training focused on getting to know our co-leader better by playing a version of the Newlywed Game. Kristen and I were SO close to winning!

This past week, we had representatives from the Multicultural Center (http://mcc.osu.edu) come and speak to us about the different identities that all of us have, whether it be race, gender, socioeconomic level, sexual orientation, or anything else. Understanding our own identities helps us to become better leaders, and also will help to realize that every person on our trip - participants or the people we work with at Camp Heartland - have their own set of personal identities that define who they are. It was a really great chance to get to learn a lot about our co-leader, in addition to learning a lot about some leaders from the other trips. It's cool how the trip trainings have created a community between the leaders for all of the trips.

Outside of trainings, all of the leaders for all of the trips have had to write to op-ed pieces in the form of letters to the editor; one concerning the issue that our trip is addressing, and one on an issue of our choosing. I wrote mine on how poverty changes the way that HIV/AIDS affects people and another on how public schools don't deserve much of the criticism that is leveled against them. These op-eds will be used in next week's training, which is on being an "expert citizen."