Year-end reflection as promised
I know this is a little late in coming, but I want to take a few moments to muse on some of the things that have happened to me this year and some of the things I’ve learned. For starters, reflection is a really powerful tool that allows me to evaluate what went right and what I can improve on in the future; good things and pitfalls to avoid and things like that. So this is it-it’s not really organized but it may contain something that you can relate to or that you might find helpful for yourself, or it may explain a little bit some ways that I’ve changed, if you’re ever curious. To be perfectly honest, it’s all shamelessly self-centered, and it really is more for my benefit than yours, so I’ve cut it for your convenience.
I guess the starting point for this reflection is really last summer, working for IRIS. I started there randomly, after the president of the organization called me on a recommendation from an old employer. I was intimidated by the thought of an actual internship, especially in a field I was completely unfamiliar with, but I jumped in and it turned out to be an amazing blessing. I worked on placing 20 Nigerian students in host families across Iowa and general preparations for their arrival; I had no idea what to expect when they got here. I knew little about Africa (and, to be honest, cared very little for it beyond general humanitarian concerns) and nothing about Nigeria beyond the name. Luckily, meeting the kids for the first time meant a steep learning curve during the week that we spent together in Washington, DC. I became really attached to them, as you may have noticed. One thing, though, is that I was a little shy-I wasn’t sure how to approach them or how to get them to ask questions of me or think critically about what they were doing. In retrospect, I think we could have done a better job as an organization of encouraging that kind of thinking, and I could have worked harder at building individual relationships with each of them during that week. I might not have learned as much as I did had it not been for the more outgoing kids like Danny, Michael, and Rejoice. In particular, Danny was the one who explained to me all kinds of cultural aspects of Nigeria, including some of the traditions of his ethnic group, the Kadara people-so I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for basically getting me hooked on Nigeria. And that was my summer: with a bang, many of my plans for the near future changed. Maybe instead of going to graduate school right away, I would join the Peace Corps?? My ambitions for the long-term, however, remained unaltered.
So I started my first semester at Harvard very nervous and rather intimidated by the brilliant (and on the whole, very nice) people by whom I was surrounded. Making friends I could rely on was hard at first, but after The Game I knew I had a solid group of people from my dorm, Hollis South, that would stick with me and I with them. Beyond that, I made a lot of friends through the activities in which I participated. I was very grateful for Strong Women, Strong Girls, which kept me busy during the week and without which I might never have escaped the “Harvard bubble.” I was encouraged by my co-mentors, our co-directors, our assistant directors, Alice Lee (who became a mentor to me after fall training), and many others. Working with our girls at the Kennedy-Longfellow challenged me in ways I’d never expected-it took us quite a bit of troubleshooting to identify all our problems and then develop best practices to deal with them, and we had the added difficulty of an unreliable site facilitator. Nevertheless, I think we had some kind of impact on our girls. In any case, they were sad enough to see us go that they gave us all gifts (taken from our supply box, naturally). I’ve learned some new disciplinary tricks to try out while working with kids, and I’ve become really determined that I can and should help empower young women and girls. The other organization I was heavily involved in was the College Democrats, a diverse gathering of liberals from around the country, and Canada, who campaigned rigorously throughout the fall and then had a huge party after the election. They kept doing stuff-Conversations with the Candidates, a Liberalism and Leadership Skills Summit, which was amazing despite low attendance-but I sort of dropped off the face of the earth to them because I discovered a couple of things. 1) I’m not outgoing enough to “network” and claw my way to internships and jobs in that field; 2) I was forcing myself to be passionate about something (politics) that’s a much more indirect route to the impact I actually want to have on the world than other options; 3) I would have to make too many choices that would compromise my integrity and sense of morality. I just don’t have the skills and desires necessary to really make my being a politician worthwhile. So that is what happened with that; thank you, College Dems, for helping me learn this about myself! And I mean that sincerely-they are full of good people, but I don’t think I’m really cut out to be one of them. Another activity I got involved in second semester was HDAG (Harvard Darfur Action Group). I got to work with some very driven people for a very worthy cause, and I hope that anyone reading this cares about or would like to learn more about what’s going on in Darfur and what we can do to help. Shout-out to Sarah-Catherine Phillips, our divestment chair from the Kennedy School of Government, who is an incredible person and I hope I can be as brilliant and on top of things as she is when I am a grad student; and another shout-out to Trevor and Joanna, an amazing and inspiring partnership. So these are the extracurricular highlights from the year.
Academically-the moment you may have been waiting for?-Harvard is really not too bad, guys. I figured out pretty quickly how to do/not do my readings in a way that I could still survive section, and I also discovered the gem that is the African languages program. Again, just randomly, I started Yoruba (a Nigerian language, but there are nearly 400 of those) and fell in love with it, to use a cliché. My professor also told me that I was really good at learning languages, and I thought, “Maybe this is a skill I can put to good use.” I learned that sometimes “rot” (as dear FAS Dean Jeremy Knowles put it) can charm a social science/humanities TF, but other times you have to watch out because they are really looking for strong analysis, even if it is framed in rot. In my second semester, I had an absolute blast in my Shakespeare-themed expository writing class; my preceptor was incredible (I think I may have mentioned that he wrote a book) and worked so hard to help me improve my writing. I also loved my history class on ordinary lives during the American Revolution; my professor was wonderful and probably the nicest person ever, and my TF loved me and wanted me to be a history major-and you have to understand, that gives a warm and fuzzy feeling on a campus packed with geniuses. Last but not least, Religion and Society in Nigeria with Professor Jacob Olupona was nothing short of mindblowingly awesome. Prof. Olupona is basically my hero, and he’s a super-fascinating character with great stories and ideas. And everything I learned in that class was directly applicable, very hands-on, especially with the elections in April, and it was basically what I should have known before the Nigerian kids arrived. I talked with them about what I was learning, and they seemed pretty proud of me. “You’re becoming more like a Nigerian every day,” Danny joked (I hope he meant that in a good way).
I realized at the end of the year how much I learned from my roommate, Renee. She’s black and from New York City and South Carolina, and I cannot begin to express how wonderful it was to be her roommate. We got along very well; her family was very kind to me; and through her involvement in BlackCAST (African American theater company) and BSA (Black Students Association), I was able to see for the first time what it is really like to be a black American. I was shocked at the discrimination that still exists and the racism that African Americans really do have to put up with even as members of the Harvard community, and black culture was explained to me in a way that softens some of my hard feelings toward misogynistic rappers and hip-hop artists. Because of this, being Renee’s roommate was a transformative experience that I hope has made me a better person.
So what have I learned, in general terms? I’ve learned to be independent and get along in the big city. I’ve learned to advise myself and make tough decisions on my own. I’ve learned to generate innovative ideas that push the boundaries of the norm, and I’ve learned to look for the resources I need to meet my goals. Often, they are all available to me, and it’s just a matter of putting them together in the right way. I’ve learned the language of organizations. I’ve learned the importance of using and developing the skills that I have, and I’ve learned how to listen to myself as well as others better. I’ve learned that I care about other people, that I want to care about other people and establish relationships with them, and that I want to be a loyal person who will go to any lengths to help her friends. I’ve learned that I didn’t need to bring all that stuff to school, especially all those pens. I’ve learned to analyze. I’ve learned to write an academic paper that builds an argument rather than listing reasons. I’ve learned that I love working with young people and that I’m fascinated by education and women’s issues. I’ve learned that languages and communication with different cultures is key. I’ve learned that I can learn from everybody around me. I’ve learned to be a mentor and be mentored. I’ve learned that there are some risks it’s okay to take, and now I’m ready for them (Adventureland, here I come!). I’ve learned about how beautiful and diverse Africa is, and I’ve learned that that’s where I want to go. People there live with hope instead of cynicism, you know? There are real communities there. And they want progress-perhaps I can provide them some of the resources needed to move in that direction. I’ve learned about social entrepreneurship and servant leadership, and I’ve decided that’s what I’d like to do. And finally, anti-thanks to Harvard, I’ve learned that you don’t have to be married to someone in order for it to be okay that you like them and they like you back. You just have to keep building and building on both sides of the wall until the heights coincide… and if it takes a few years, that’s okay. Yeah-I’ve learned that a lot of things are okay.
So, at the beginning of the year, this was me: Kay Thompson, Iowa, government and history major, future president???. At the end of the year, this is my plan: Kay Thompson, Iowa, African Studies with secondary field in international relations, citations in French and Yoruba, year of thesis research in northern Nigeria looking at civic participation among young people, director of Strong Women, Strong Girls, activist, ethnologist, public servant. If possible I would like to add Program Directors’ Certificate and perhaps English as a second language teaching certification. Beyond that, I see work with Peace Corps and nonprofits, a master’s in international development (or a PhD in Anthro/Soc?? They pay you to get one), and freelance nonprofit work involving community building and women’s and youth leadership training in developing countries and areas. There are still many details to work out, but I have a strong support network and I think, with the help of others, I can make good on this inspiring and enlightening first year of college.
Also, if you know ANYONE in the state of Iowa who lives outside Ames, I need you to CALL ME right now!!! kthanks. Have a super weekend! :D
I guess the starting point for this reflection is really last summer, working for IRIS. I started there randomly, after the president of the organization called me on a recommendation from an old employer. I was intimidated by the thought of an actual internship, especially in a field I was completely unfamiliar with, but I jumped in and it turned out to be an amazing blessing. I worked on placing 20 Nigerian students in host families across Iowa and general preparations for their arrival; I had no idea what to expect when they got here. I knew little about Africa (and, to be honest, cared very little for it beyond general humanitarian concerns) and nothing about Nigeria beyond the name. Luckily, meeting the kids for the first time meant a steep learning curve during the week that we spent together in Washington, DC. I became really attached to them, as you may have noticed. One thing, though, is that I was a little shy-I wasn’t sure how to approach them or how to get them to ask questions of me or think critically about what they were doing. In retrospect, I think we could have done a better job as an organization of encouraging that kind of thinking, and I could have worked harder at building individual relationships with each of them during that week. I might not have learned as much as I did had it not been for the more outgoing kids like Danny, Michael, and Rejoice. In particular, Danny was the one who explained to me all kinds of cultural aspects of Nigeria, including some of the traditions of his ethnic group, the Kadara people-so I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for basically getting me hooked on Nigeria. And that was my summer: with a bang, many of my plans for the near future changed. Maybe instead of going to graduate school right away, I would join the Peace Corps?? My ambitions for the long-term, however, remained unaltered.
So I started my first semester at Harvard very nervous and rather intimidated by the brilliant (and on the whole, very nice) people by whom I was surrounded. Making friends I could rely on was hard at first, but after The Game I knew I had a solid group of people from my dorm, Hollis South, that would stick with me and I with them. Beyond that, I made a lot of friends through the activities in which I participated. I was very grateful for Strong Women, Strong Girls, which kept me busy during the week and without which I might never have escaped the “Harvard bubble.” I was encouraged by my co-mentors, our co-directors, our assistant directors, Alice Lee (who became a mentor to me after fall training), and many others. Working with our girls at the Kennedy-Longfellow challenged me in ways I’d never expected-it took us quite a bit of troubleshooting to identify all our problems and then develop best practices to deal with them, and we had the added difficulty of an unreliable site facilitator. Nevertheless, I think we had some kind of impact on our girls. In any case, they were sad enough to see us go that they gave us all gifts (taken from our supply box, naturally). I’ve learned some new disciplinary tricks to try out while working with kids, and I’ve become really determined that I can and should help empower young women and girls. The other organization I was heavily involved in was the College Democrats, a diverse gathering of liberals from around the country, and Canada, who campaigned rigorously throughout the fall and then had a huge party after the election. They kept doing stuff-Conversations with the Candidates, a Liberalism and Leadership Skills Summit, which was amazing despite low attendance-but I sort of dropped off the face of the earth to them because I discovered a couple of things. 1) I’m not outgoing enough to “network” and claw my way to internships and jobs in that field; 2) I was forcing myself to be passionate about something (politics) that’s a much more indirect route to the impact I actually want to have on the world than other options; 3) I would have to make too many choices that would compromise my integrity and sense of morality. I just don’t have the skills and desires necessary to really make my being a politician worthwhile. So that is what happened with that; thank you, College Dems, for helping me learn this about myself! And I mean that sincerely-they are full of good people, but I don’t think I’m really cut out to be one of them. Another activity I got involved in second semester was HDAG (Harvard Darfur Action Group). I got to work with some very driven people for a very worthy cause, and I hope that anyone reading this cares about or would like to learn more about what’s going on in Darfur and what we can do to help. Shout-out to Sarah-Catherine Phillips, our divestment chair from the Kennedy School of Government, who is an incredible person and I hope I can be as brilliant and on top of things as she is when I am a grad student; and another shout-out to Trevor and Joanna, an amazing and inspiring partnership. So these are the extracurricular highlights from the year.
Academically-the moment you may have been waiting for?-Harvard is really not too bad, guys. I figured out pretty quickly how to do/not do my readings in a way that I could still survive section, and I also discovered the gem that is the African languages program. Again, just randomly, I started Yoruba (a Nigerian language, but there are nearly 400 of those) and fell in love with it, to use a cliché. My professor also told me that I was really good at learning languages, and I thought, “Maybe this is a skill I can put to good use.” I learned that sometimes “rot” (as dear FAS Dean Jeremy Knowles put it) can charm a social science/humanities TF, but other times you have to watch out because they are really looking for strong analysis, even if it is framed in rot. In my second semester, I had an absolute blast in my Shakespeare-themed expository writing class; my preceptor was incredible (I think I may have mentioned that he wrote a book) and worked so hard to help me improve my writing. I also loved my history class on ordinary lives during the American Revolution; my professor was wonderful and probably the nicest person ever, and my TF loved me and wanted me to be a history major-and you have to understand, that gives a warm and fuzzy feeling on a campus packed with geniuses. Last but not least, Religion and Society in Nigeria with Professor Jacob Olupona was nothing short of mindblowingly awesome. Prof. Olupona is basically my hero, and he’s a super-fascinating character with great stories and ideas. And everything I learned in that class was directly applicable, very hands-on, especially with the elections in April, and it was basically what I should have known before the Nigerian kids arrived. I talked with them about what I was learning, and they seemed pretty proud of me. “You’re becoming more like a Nigerian every day,” Danny joked (I hope he meant that in a good way).
I realized at the end of the year how much I learned from my roommate, Renee. She’s black and from New York City and South Carolina, and I cannot begin to express how wonderful it was to be her roommate. We got along very well; her family was very kind to me; and through her involvement in BlackCAST (African American theater company) and BSA (Black Students Association), I was able to see for the first time what it is really like to be a black American. I was shocked at the discrimination that still exists and the racism that African Americans really do have to put up with even as members of the Harvard community, and black culture was explained to me in a way that softens some of my hard feelings toward misogynistic rappers and hip-hop artists. Because of this, being Renee’s roommate was a transformative experience that I hope has made me a better person.
So what have I learned, in general terms? I’ve learned to be independent and get along in the big city. I’ve learned to advise myself and make tough decisions on my own. I’ve learned to generate innovative ideas that push the boundaries of the norm, and I’ve learned to look for the resources I need to meet my goals. Often, they are all available to me, and it’s just a matter of putting them together in the right way. I’ve learned the language of organizations. I’ve learned the importance of using and developing the skills that I have, and I’ve learned how to listen to myself as well as others better. I’ve learned that I care about other people, that I want to care about other people and establish relationships with them, and that I want to be a loyal person who will go to any lengths to help her friends. I’ve learned that I didn’t need to bring all that stuff to school, especially all those pens. I’ve learned to analyze. I’ve learned to write an academic paper that builds an argument rather than listing reasons. I’ve learned that I love working with young people and that I’m fascinated by education and women’s issues. I’ve learned that languages and communication with different cultures is key. I’ve learned that I can learn from everybody around me. I’ve learned to be a mentor and be mentored. I’ve learned that there are some risks it’s okay to take, and now I’m ready for them (Adventureland, here I come!). I’ve learned about how beautiful and diverse Africa is, and I’ve learned that that’s where I want to go. People there live with hope instead of cynicism, you know? There are real communities there. And they want progress-perhaps I can provide them some of the resources needed to move in that direction. I’ve learned about social entrepreneurship and servant leadership, and I’ve decided that’s what I’d like to do. And finally, anti-thanks to Harvard, I’ve learned that you don’t have to be married to someone in order for it to be okay that you like them and they like you back. You just have to keep building and building on both sides of the wall until the heights coincide… and if it takes a few years, that’s okay. Yeah-I’ve learned that a lot of things are okay.
So, at the beginning of the year, this was me: Kay Thompson, Iowa, government and history major, future president???. At the end of the year, this is my plan: Kay Thompson, Iowa, African Studies with secondary field in international relations, citations in French and Yoruba, year of thesis research in northern Nigeria looking at civic participation among young people, director of Strong Women, Strong Girls, activist, ethnologist, public servant. If possible I would like to add Program Directors’ Certificate and perhaps English as a second language teaching certification. Beyond that, I see work with Peace Corps and nonprofits, a master’s in international development (or a PhD in Anthro/Soc?? They pay you to get one), and freelance nonprofit work involving community building and women’s and youth leadership training in developing countries and areas. There are still many details to work out, but I have a strong support network and I think, with the help of others, I can make good on this inspiring and enlightening first year of college.
Also, if you know ANYONE in the state of Iowa who lives outside Ames, I need you to CALL ME right now!!! kthanks. Have a super weekend! :D