tuesday evening

Yesterday, I stopped by the APASD Mental Health Forum "Silent Battles", which was interesting on so many levels. There were so many things that I could identify partially with, but not wholly because I am not the typical Asian American. Even though my father was born in Japan, I don't consider him to be an immigrant, probably because he identifies as American first and foremost - and that kind of cultural issue often shapes a lot of AA kids' lives.

There were a lot of other points brought up that really got me thinking about my own life, but due to the fact that I ran off to a core meeting and then dance practice, most of the details are fuzzy again. I was reminded of a friend of mine who's had a lot of issues in her life, and realized that she could benefit from a lot of what was going on. I was also shocked to catch myself thinking of things in my past that I'd forgotten about. I kind of want to see a counselor just to see what I'd remember. But for the most part I cope pretty well with my life, and I don't need to rehash all that's happened in my life at this point in time. At any rate, the event was a lot more meaningful than I had expected it to be!

Other side notes:
+hip hop is fun when you actually know what you're doing!
-No offense to my major advisor, but I really wonder why the university pays you to do (or not do) what you do
+VOICES hoodies are here!
-I am getting the "AHHH PANIC!" feeling because I can't possibly fit all of the city planning related courses that I want in now that I'm going abroad. Italy is the chance of a lifetime and in the long run I'd regret not going to Italy A LOT more than not taking those classes, but still....every thing has its flip side.
-I watched last week's greys anatomy and the meredith monologue that shes gives to christina at the end of the episode.....I can totally relate to it. I hope that does not make me whore-y like her, haha.

Cold Feet

Every so often I get cold feet about Italy because there's a lot of things I'm missing out on at Cal, and this is one of them:

CP 290b/190a
Neighborhood Planning with Youth and Schools: The Y– PLAN

Course control #: 13571
Time: Monday 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM and 1 hour/week of teaching at high school site for 10 weeks
Location: Wurster Hall, Rm. 214b
Instructor: Deborah McKoy, PhD debmckoy@berkeley.edu, Wurster Rm. 324

The 2008 Y-PLAN Project: This course is an exciting opportunity to work with local Bay Area policy makers and educational leaders to connect the efforts of regional planners in West Contra Costa County with local high schools in Richmond. Local leaders, including Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, the West Contra Costa County Transportation Advisory Committee (WCCTAC), and city officials in El Cerrito and Richmond, have requested that Y-PLAN assist them in constructing a meaningful role for youth and public schools to transform San Pablo Avenue into a family-friendly, vibrant corridor.

Overview: The Y-PLAN (Youth – Plan, Learn, Act, Now) is an interdisciplinary course and an award winning initiative where students in urban planning, design, education, and other related disciplines learn how to engage youth as genuine stakeholders and participants in local planning projects. After an initial teaching preparation phase, UCB students work side-by-side with high school students for ten weeks teaching them fundamentals of community development by engaging in real world planning projects. Readings and seminar discussions focus on theoretical tools in participatory planning and teaching, complementing the practical application.

UCB students ("mentors") will gain proficiency in:

• Applying core planning principles of community and economic development and land use planning, while emphasizing the mobilization of community and the creation of an informed citizenry
• Mentoring youth in conducting physical, economic, and social analyses of their community
• Teaching and communicating ideas effectively

In this course, UCB students will mentor high school students to:

• Conduct community based research along the San Pablo Avenue Corridor
• Develop a community/regional plan for WCCTAC and local planning processes in El Cerrito and Richmond
• Present a final multimedia proposal to project clients detailing the youth findings and proposals

** No prior city planning experience necessary!**

Requirements:

• Participate in Monday seminar discussions, lesson planning, and project development
  • Work collaboratively in teams to prepare weekly activities by building/modifying existing curriculum
• Fieldwork for one hour/week at regularly scheduled times TBD, based on CP290B student schedules
• Participate in on-line journaling
• Final reflection paper (10 pages)

Questions? Email Ariel Bierbaum, Project Coordinator at arielb@berkeley.edu
http://citiesandschools.berkeley.edu

Human Tetris

I was really annoyed until Annie sent me this tonight:

I'm so not getting this paper done.

"not my job" = not my problem?

Getting saddled with things in organizations that I'm involved in that aren't necessarily part of my duties has been happening a lot lately and my response has been varied. Sometimes I am happy to help someone out, and at other times I want to scream "THAT'S NOT MY JOB!"

If I had more time tonight, I'd ponder all the reasons why I do and don't feel compelled to do other people's jobs, but it basically comes down to this: is someone else supposed to be responsible for this? If yes, why aren't they doing it? If it's because they are completely swamped and haven't been procrastinating, then I'm probably inclined to help. If not, then count me OUT, yo! Another stipulation I tend to add onto things is the amount of advance warning. If i've got less than 12 hours notice...it probably isn't happening.

The nature of the rapport I may have with the person requesting helps a lot too. If you really need help and I like you and you're asking me specifically for help, I'll do everything I can. If you're blaming the whole board or (worse yet) asking someone else to ask me FOR you, however, I don't feel badly turning you down.

The medium in which you approach me helps too. Don't fucking text message me. And don't send a text message that has directions for another person in it. Catch me in person or at a meeting (ie PLAN AHEAD) or PICK UP YOUR PHONE AND CALL ME. Especially if it's something you want me to do "right away"!!!!


I'm busy. You're busy. So don't act like I should be guilty for being busy, or like I MUST have time to do your work just because you don't have the time. I'm not taking studio but I do have numerous commitments!

Sigh. There are a lot of other reasons why I do and don't things and i realize that this rant makes me sound really bitchy and anal retentive but I do believe that there is a certain amount of ettiquite (aka RESPECT) that should be given in these situations...

Good news!

According to my BPSA General Orientation Guide, writing about my experiences in Italy and once I get back will help me cope with "culture shock".

I love how they explain culture shock in great detail (even including a letter from a school psychologist) in this thing, as if we don't know what it is and have never experienced it before. I have mild symptoms EVERY TIME I move back home or back to Berkeley (I usually need 3 weeks).

And um....moving to a city of 100,000, giving up my car, and living in a high rise matchbox with another chick at age 17? Yeah, I might have already experienced a bit of this "culture shock" they speak of.