Fall Term 2010

Korrin B.

September 26, 2010 - 2:27 PM

I guess it is about that time that I start giving a preview of my fall term. Wow, I cannot believe that school starts tomorrow. Summer just flew by and I have a feeling that my second and final senior year here at the University of Oregon will as well.

This term, I am taking three classes, working three jobs, researching and writing my thesis, and, of course, throwing myself into more community involvement. I mean, it's all about building the world up one community at a time, right? I must do my part.

One of my classes will be with me all year. I am embarking on the second year American Sign Language sequence. This class is taught by a deaf instructor and should be great for immersing myself more into the language. My other two classes are both Honors College colloquia classes. As Honors College students, we are required to take five of these diverse, discussion and writing-based classes during our time at the UO. They are limited to about twenty students each, so there is a nice personal feel to them. I have taken two so far at the UO and then petitioned to have one of my study abroad classes count for a third. The last two I took were Visualizing Queerness and Mental Illness in Literature. This term I will be taking Assisted Reproductive Technologies and Global Topics in Energy Policy. I think what I love about the colloquia requirements is that they force students to take classes out of their focused study area. They open up new possibilities and are always such interesting topics. I'm looking forward to the two I am taking this year.

As for jobs this year, I will continue to be a student blogger for the Annual Giving Program, of course! I am also going to be working with PPPM Internship Director, Rhonda Smith, as another job. I will be helping get the internship website together and find funding options for students who get offered unpaid internships. My third job is with the American English Institute (http://aei.uoregon.edu/) at the UO. In this position, I will be helping tutor students in English as a second language. I am really excited to get to meet all of the AEI students and learn from them, while helping them learn as well.

Working on the thesis is pretty self-explanatory and I'm sure I will blog much more about it in the future, so this brings us to community involvement. I must admit that during my time at the UO, I haven't been super involved with on-campus groups and activities, but I sure have been involved in the Eugene community. I really enjoy getting to give back to my community while learning ways to put my education into action. This year, I will be a member on Lane County's Community Action and Advisory Committee. CAAC makes recommendations on federal and local anti-poverty policies to the Human Services Commission. It also monitors the progress of Lane County's 10-year Plan to End Homelessness. I think this will be a great group to learn from, give back to the community with, and meet people who might be interested in my thesis work on homelessness. I will also be helping again with in-kind donations for Project Homeless Connect of Lane County (http://homelessconnect.org/), so expect to hear about that again! I am also hoping to do some volunteer work with FOOD for Lane County and St. Vincent de Paul.

Ok, so, with that general outline of my fall term complete, I am ready to start school tomorrow morning! Well, kind of.