Dear Blogger,
Everyone in Oberlin is asking me if my semester was worth it.
Here's my answer:
It was the most fun I've ever had at school and actually learned anything.
Steve
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Weather Systems
Dear Blogger,
Here's my final shot of the city:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20471837@N08/sets/72157603353662424/
I guess that's all we're gonna see of the city for now.
Go Green,
Steve
Here's my final shot of the city:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20471837@N08/sets/72157603353662424/
I guess that's all we're gonna see of the city for now.
Go Green,
Steve
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The White Elephant in the Room
Dear Blogger,
So I’m officially done in the city. All I have to do is leave tomorrow morning. I’m helping Kari get to the bus station so she can leave, and then I’m taking David’s WTFWJD hat to his co-op. And then I’m done with the Chicago Center.
I’ve taken the necessary goodbye photos of the apartment and my friends and the neighborhood.
We had a wrap-up session at the classroom today. It was really sad for me to go to. It’s been such a great time here. I want you to know that.
They asked us questions about what happened to us while we were here. Some people told funny stories about riding the CTA, and the people told touching stories about their internships, and we saw the student teachers that we hadn't seen since September, and we all said what we thought the experience meant for us. I said that I learned so much and that I barely scratched the surface of anything I saw. All kinds of surfaces that I might not have been able to scratch in Albion. And I got to spend time with a group of people that want to learn the same things I do. And that I love the people here, the people in the Chicago Center and at Haymarket Co-op and in Hyde Park, and the people in Oberlin and the people in Albion and the people in Ohio, and the people at the BPFNA, too.
It all just kind of comes out at once, y’know?
Ani and I were talking about this on the way home from the center. There’s a lot more we could have done, but we realized we didn’t do some of those things because we didn’t have the time. I did some great things while I was here. And there’s always next time, right?
I just have to leave and go back to Oberlin. And post my final photo album, post a few more things for you here and there, and then it’s all over.
So pay attention for a little longer, please.
So I’m officially done in the city. All I have to do is leave tomorrow morning. I’m helping Kari get to the bus station so she can leave, and then I’m taking David’s WTFWJD hat to his co-op. And then I’m done with the Chicago Center.
I’ve taken the necessary goodbye photos of the apartment and my friends and the neighborhood.
We had a wrap-up session at the classroom today. It was really sad for me to go to. It’s been such a great time here. I want you to know that.
They asked us questions about what happened to us while we were here. Some people told funny stories about riding the CTA, and the people told touching stories about their internships, and we saw the student teachers that we hadn't seen since September, and we all said what we thought the experience meant for us. I said that I learned so much and that I barely scratched the surface of anything I saw. All kinds of surfaces that I might not have been able to scratch in Albion. And I got to spend time with a group of people that want to learn the same things I do. And that I love the people here, the people in the Chicago Center and at Haymarket Co-op and in Hyde Park, and the people in Oberlin and the people in Albion and the people in Ohio, and the people at the BPFNA, too.
It all just kind of comes out at once, y’know?
Ani and I were talking about this on the way home from the center. There’s a lot more we could have done, but we realized we didn’t do some of those things because we didn’t have the time. I did some great things while I was here. And there’s always next time, right?
I just have to leave and go back to Oberlin. And post my final photo album, post a few more things for you here and there, and then it’s all over.
So pay attention for a little longer, please.
Congratulations,
Steve
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Nearly There...
Dear Blogger,
I gave my presentation, officially titled as The Last Garden Spot in Chicago: Civil Rights and American Nazis Come to Marquette Park, today. What a wordy title.
It went really well, as far as any presentation that I can give can go. The time slot was cut back from 30 minutes to 20, which was okay. I just talked faster, (which I cannot do unless I’m under pressure, which is weird. But we had thirteen people presenting—so if we’d kept it to thirty minutes, that’s around seven hours. We kept it to six, with lunch and a few breaks here and there), and I cut out some of the more fancy-hey-lookit-me-I-did-extra-research details.
And for those of you that are interested, I cut out the part about the interplay between class and race, for the most part. I alluded to it, but we have to remember that I was only giving a thirty (twenty) minute presentation. Race & class are pretty complicated stuff, and I’d only create more questions than answers, so I avoided it. (And when I was putting together the Power Point, I kept creating more and more slides... it was more trouble than it was worth.) Though, I did keep the idea of the internalization of racial boundaries and the overall impact these two groups had on one another, and, more importantly, Marquette Park. Fascinating stuff.
It was a great project to work on. I enjoyed the topic, I loved working on it, I formed a close relationship with my teacher Leesa (she wrote her masters about community organizing in the Southwest… truly a great resource), I uncovered some kind of scary and weird stuff about how people act, and I re-interested myself in learning at school. And possibly some ideas for FURSCA, if I’m still thinking about that.
And it’s finished!
I’m finished.
And here we are.
But there’s more to come. I still have to say goodbye to these people and the city. It’s not going to be fun at all. Everyone’s leaving on Wednesday.
I gave my presentation, officially titled as The Last Garden Spot in Chicago: Civil Rights and American Nazis Come to Marquette Park, today. What a wordy title.
It went really well, as far as any presentation that I can give can go. The time slot was cut back from 30 minutes to 20, which was okay. I just talked faster, (which I cannot do unless I’m under pressure, which is weird. But we had thirteen people presenting—so if we’d kept it to thirty minutes, that’s around seven hours. We kept it to six, with lunch and a few breaks here and there), and I cut out some of the more fancy-hey-lookit-me-I-did-extra-research details.
And for those of you that are interested, I cut out the part about the interplay between class and race, for the most part. I alluded to it, but we have to remember that I was only giving a thirty (twenty) minute presentation. Race & class are pretty complicated stuff, and I’d only create more questions than answers, so I avoided it. (And when I was putting together the Power Point, I kept creating more and more slides... it was more trouble than it was worth.) Though, I did keep the idea of the internalization of racial boundaries and the overall impact these two groups had on one another, and, more importantly, Marquette Park. Fascinating stuff.
It was a great project to work on. I enjoyed the topic, I loved working on it, I formed a close relationship with my teacher Leesa (she wrote her masters about community organizing in the Southwest… truly a great resource), I uncovered some kind of scary and weird stuff about how people act, and I re-interested myself in learning at school. And possibly some ideas for FURSCA, if I’m still thinking about that.
And it’s finished!
I’m finished.
And here we are.
But there’s more to come. I still have to say goodbye to these people and the city. It’s not going to be fun at all. Everyone’s leaving on Wednesday.
Goodbye Friends,
Steve
ps- if you want to know more about my directed study, as there is still more, just let me know.
ps- if you want to know more about my directed study, as there is still more, just let me know.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Goodbye, Sunlight
Dear Blogger,
Today was my last day at work. I can't believe it! Where did the time go?
The question everyone is asking: did you enjoy it?For the most part, yes, I did enjoy it. In a strange way, I really did. I think it really comes down to the kids. Those kids.
I've certainly gotten over my bitterness that you may have picked up on, during the early parts of the semester. In a program like the Chicago Center, I think that the limits of the program are pretty clearly the limits of the individual student. Everything we do here, we get guideline from our teacher, and then we have to get our own crap done. (Some people don't like this, but I really appreciate the complete necessity of imagination to learn.) So in this respect, I'm still a little disappointed with my internship, but in reality, I'm secretly (no longer secretly) angry that I didn't take the internship search more seriously and look into the other options I had.
But like I said the first time, I really did like the program, so in the end, I'm glad I got stuck in Sunlight. And more importantly, I'm no longer disappointed with myself for not being able to escape that place and going somewhere else.It's a skill, I think, to take something that completely sucks and doesn't take you the way you want it to take you, and so, you have to take it wherever you want. That's stupid when I say it out loud. (Who wrote this? Dr. Seuss?)
That having been said, what was the best part?I guess I could say the kids. But I don't know what part of that's true, really. I mean to say, I don't hate any of them. I could never say that, because it wouldn't be true... they did all sign a gigantic card for me and quite a few of them were sad to say goodbye to me. And some of the younger kids didn't seem to understand that I was probably never going to see them again. (It's strange, because I remember thinking this from when I was younger, but I think it's hard for young children to separate that the people they associate with school aren't always part of the school. For example, one kid was talking to me about something that happened on Friday, something involving pizza, I think. I was never there on a Friday, and I told him so, but he didn't quite understand that I only exist there for three days a week. It's very strange.)
I was talking to my teacher, Leesa, about this. It seems like I put myself through a lot of stress that wasn't necessarily worth anything in the end. I had to keep fifteen-or-so kids from destroying one another for forty minutes. I liked helping the kids with their homework and hanging out with them, but I keep coming back to the stress. It just seems like we, the tutors, kept pushing the kids on one another when we got sick of them. And I feel terrible saying it, but the kids were a lot of stress a lot of the time.
I was talking to my teacher, Leesa, about this. It seems like I put myself through a lot of stress that wasn't necessarily worth anything in the end. I had to keep fifteen-or-so kids from destroying one another for forty minutes. I liked helping the kids with their homework and hanging out with them, but I keep coming back to the stress. It just seems like we, the tutors, kept pushing the kids on one another when we got sick of them. And I feel terrible saying it, but the kids were a lot of stress a lot of the time.
But why?
We were the ones keeping them in that room. We were the ones telling them to sit down for four hours. Was it our fault that they were misbehaving? I'm asking myself, right now, what exactly were we trying to accomplish? This is the curse of social work that I'm going to spend the rest of my academic life trying to escape.I guess in a round-about way, I've vaguely answered the question that it was a good experience for me. But it's a vague answer. I don't want to leave such an important storyline from my time here as unanswered. So I will tell you this: I have an immense amount of respect for Ahmad. For every ounce of sweat I dropped, he dropped three ounces. And for every hour I spent in that room, he spent four trying to make up for Ruphina's shortcomings as a boss. That's a good guy, right there. I respect him.
Wizard People, Dear Reader,
Steve
Saturday, December 1, 2007
FAKER!
Dear Blogger,
I've got another photo album for you!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20471837@N08/sets/72157603313465261/
It's what happens when the hippies go crazy in 1968, and Mayor Daley doesn't know what else to call you. This is the shortest set yet, but I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve, okay?
I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not,
Steve
I've got another photo album for you!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20471837@N08/sets/72157603313465261/
It's what happens when the hippies go crazy in 1968, and Mayor Daley doesn't know what else to call you. This is the shortest set yet, but I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve, okay?
I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not,
Steve
Friday, November 30, 2007
Chicago Nazis
Dear Blogger,
I recently watched a video called Chicago Nazis, a straight-up single-camera documentary about the Nazis in Marquette Park. Two guys just followed the Nazis around while they were preparing for some demonstrations. It's one of those gut-wrenching, ohmigod-these-people-are-terrfying-and-they-are-just-normal-people sort of things.
It is probably the best resource I've had on the Nazis so far, at least, in giving a good record of what they were like, and what drove them to by who they were.
But I also found some good YouTube videos that were helpful. For some reason, I can't embed these videos, so here are the links, yo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbhVuBlj4Hg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LIwRwG8S3w
Someone let me know if they're not working.
Let's Rock This Candy Shop,
Steve
I recently watched a video called Chicago Nazis, a straight-up single-camera documentary about the Nazis in Marquette Park. Two guys just followed the Nazis around while they were preparing for some demonstrations. It's one of those gut-wrenching, ohmigod-these-people-are-terrfying-and-they-are-just-normal-people sort of things.
It is probably the best resource I've had on the Nazis so far, at least, in giving a good record of what they were like, and what drove them to by who they were.
But I also found some good YouTube videos that were helpful. For some reason, I can't embed these videos, so here are the links, yo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbhVuBlj4Hg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LIwRwG8S3w
Someone let me know if they're not working.
Let's Rock This Candy Shop,
Steve
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