• Find a 1-bedroom apartment that is spacious and well-managed.  No more cramped studio apartments that feel so suffocating!
• Attend more programs and events on campus.  I always forget just how much I love attending cultural events (like the Drag Show, which was a highlight of the year), lectures, community projects and so forth and it is so easy for me to let homework get in the way of engaging in the OSU campus as an actual student!  I keep forgetting I am a student here, too!
• Study in the library or at the Interzone Cafe.  Studying in my room does.not.work.  I get distracted and spend the whole evening visiting blogs, checking e-mail and refreshing webpages over and over and over... I could probably accomplish just as much work in half as much time if I remove myself from my living environment.
  
• Bike more.  I still have many bike paths to explore in the Willamette Valley and I really want to do the covered bridge tour next year!
• Speak up!  When I attend meetings (like CIRT), I just sit quietly at the table and take notes.  I never ask questions, offer my input, or speak!  It's so silly and when we do case studies, I always beat myself up because I know the answers or the resources who should be involved, but I just sit there!  I need to get over the fact that I feel still like a paraprofessional and challenge myself to take risks and offer my perspective.
• I need to set some perimeters for my GTA.  I can't keep working more than 20 hours a week and I can't keep letting some people in the office treat me the way they do.  I need to earn and expect respect and hold people accountable when they do disrespect me (which happens more than I care to share... I've just gotten myself to an apathetic state now where I ignore it)
• I need to try some things I am not naturally attracted to, such as working in student leadership and activities.  I really need to push myself to try because it is so easy to stay in my comfort zone.  Hopefully D.J. being on my committee can help me get more involved in the MU programming council or something.
• Do not procrastinate on my portfolio.  Okay, I know it is going to happen, but I need to start working on it in the fall (especially since I have 6 free credits from my internship in the summer).  Actually, I need to start doing the reflection pieces in the summer

ifeelgoodlost

-----------------

I attended two portfolio defenses today.  All students must create and defend a capstone portfolio.  The defense process is two-hours, with the first hour a public presentation, and the second a closed-door session, where apparently your committee grills you about the competencies and tries to break up down...or something like that.  I don't know - it's a mystery.

I was expecting the process to be more formal, but the opening presentations seemed rather casual.  Don't get me wrong - they did a great, great job - but it was not what I was expecting, somehow.

I definitely feel 100% committed to the idea of creating a web-based portfolio after seeing the presentations today.  Neither individual chose to do one and as an audience member, I really would have liked the chance to see their reflections, see coursework artifacts, see evidence of their competencies, and so forth.  Naturally, some people are probably not so comfortable with putting everything on public display, but I want others to share in my experiences.  So forward on with the website!

-----------------

My mid-program review is on Thursday, May 1.  I have assembled a pretty darn good committee: T.B-T, D.J. and D.S. (let's see you try to break that code, E.S!), even though no one can ever fill the voice of DoSL J.B.  I am glad to have two committee members with a lot of expertise and experience in my area of specialization (campus crisis management, tentatively titled) and one committee member who always reminds me to look at the bigger picture.

-----------------

I leave for Scotland in 25 days!  Oh sheet!

The permeation of Christianity throughout institutions of higher learning in the United States is expressed and disseminated through the structuring of the university calendar, curricula, physical facilities, on-campus dining services, symbolic and attitudinal expression, and institutional policies.  Through these formal and informal institutional and social messages and practices, Christian culture is reinforced as “normal” and university, thereby marginalizing the experiences and values of members not of the dominant religious culture. 

Christian privilege and cultural favoritism can cause members of religious minority groups to feel discriminated and oppressed because of their spiritual identity, often with serious implications: “Victims of marginalization and systematic oppression are susceptible for the effects of internalized oppression, whereby they internalize, consciously or unconsciously, attitudes of inferiority and ‘otherness’ (Blumenfeld, 2006, p. 6).  The internalization of inferiority can have adverse affects on a student’s self-esteem, attitudes towards members of the dominant culture and their own religious community, and identify development (Blumenfeld, 2006).