Student Government Retreat 2009-2010

Saturday's Student Government retreat rocked my socks.

I woke up bright and early (what's new?) Saturday morning to help Ben and Sam prepare the Marshall Room in Christensen Center for a full day of fun (the retreat went from 10 A.M. to approximately 6:15 P.M.). We ate breakfast together (coffee and morning buns from St. Martin's Table, a enviro-conscious, social justice-oriented restaurant/bookstore close to Augsburg), and then hunkered down for a long day of learning and games.

I had to leave the retreat a little early to let Per out (where's a dog-sitter when you need one?). Once I got home, though, I became sick and passed out for two hours. My theory is that I was so excited, so hyper during the retreat that I forgot to eat. I had only a bun, a cup of coffee, and a single piece of pizza (albeit, a delicious piece from Pizza Luce) the whole day. That might sound sufficient, but with a metabolism like mine, that's not nearly enough to fuel my craziness.

Anyway, here is just a sampling of photos from the event, all courtesy of Paul Robison (the StuGov Public Relations Officer):

Playing the "Wa" game (WA! WA! WAAAA!)

Our little corner of fun. From left to right: Kelly Daugherty, Ashley Abbate, me (Ali Rapp), Alison Witt, Brittany Kruger, Jamie Krumenauer

Phil Hernandez taught us proper parliamentary procedure

Playing the "My friends ____" game outside

Ali (Rapp) and Alison (Witt)! We were partnered in an introduction-exercise. What did we learn about each other? Alison (Witt) hates mayo and animal print, and I love both those things. We have in common, however, our tendency to spill food all over ourselves.

Sam Smith (Day Student Body President) led us through an analysis of Student Government's mission statement and its goals for the year

The junior Senators convened to discuss issues important to their constituents. From left to right: Alison Witt, Tom Thao, Juve Meza, Brandy Hyatt

For the rest of the photos (there are a lot), check out Homemade's Flickr stream!

Auggie at a Glance - Shannon Backes

From the October 2, 2009 issue of the Echo:

You hear it all the time from Augsburg faculty: studying abroad is the coolest thing since sliced bread, and anyone who doesn’t go at some point during the typical four-year program is not only limiting his or her job prospects, but wasting a perfectly good opportunity for cheap travel. Still not convinced you should see the outside world? Then read on about Shannon Backes, a junior Auggie who spent last spring and summer studying in Germany.

Shannon, a Spring Lake Park High School alum, had never been outside the Western Hemisphere. Even as an International Business major with a German minor, she’d confined herself to the Caribbean and Mexico, where her language skills proved useless—that is, until last spring, when Shannon decided to drop everything and brave the unknown in Germany.

Shannon’s study abroad experience was somewhat unconventional. She enrolled in the Duale Hochschule Baden-Wuerrtemberg Mosbach, a university originally for employees of major German companies, which had since adopted a more typical higher-education model; and instead of taking four courses for the entirety of the semester, she took nine courses total, each lasting only a week or two. Half of Shannon’s classmates hailed from all corners of the globe, including Singapore, Russia, and France, and the other half were native German students, though all classes were taught in English.

After her semester of study, Shannon remained in Germany to help her university become more English-friendly. She was granted a paid internship with the university’s international office, creating English syllabi for courses offered to international students, and enhancing the university’s website to include more English-language pages.

And for those who would write off Shannon’s experience as somehow less stimulating than, say, a trip to South Africa, Shannon insists it’s the little things that challenge one’s preconceptions of how people are supposed live. For example, many of us wouldn’t think twice about leaving our heating or air conditioning on while we were out—we want to be comfortable the moment we step through the door, after all. But in Germany, Shannon explained, everyone always shuts off their heating systems if they step out, even if it’s unbearably hot or cold outside, for the lone, but noble cause of conserving energy. It’s something we may not normally think about, Shannon continued, but once the conditions change, it’s hard not to notice. And even though Shannon had gone abroad with considerable German-speaking skills already under her belt, she still felt slightly out of place with native Germans: “There were so many things I wanted to say, but in German, I don’t know if it will come out the same way…even telling a joke…is it an American thing?” Yet, she insists the best thing to do is talk anyway, even if others laugh, because students who take risks while learning a language ultimately learn more than those who don’t.

Shannon’s most poignant advice was for students who believe they don’t have to go abroad to learn a language, or a culture: “It’s almost like talking about somebody you’ve never met before.” It’s not until you go abroad and put a face to the name, she continued, that you learn what the culture is really like.

Though Shannon expects she won’t be able to go abroad again before she graduates this spring, she still serves as an excellent model of someone who took initiative, and left her comfort-zone, to experience something different. It would do us all well to follow her lead.

The last week in photos

P.S. Thinking about what I should be for Halloween...

To keep people from stealing the department's pens, Carly and I taped balloons to their tops, and finger-painted a cup to put them in.

A page out of my History of U.S. Foreign Relations textbook. It's very interesting, but very dry.

Snow snow snow...

Snow by Gateway Center

Ulises with the Coming Out door

I came out as a cat for Augsburg's Coming Out Week

Per after getting a belly-rub

Mitch and Per asleep on a Sunday afternoon

My lunch with the Iraqi delegation

Twenty minutes ago, I finished having lunch with two men who were part of a delegation from Iraq.
Whoa, right?
I know.

So here's the story. Like I mentioned in yesterday's entry, Minneapolis is now a Sister City with Najaf, Iraq. Somehow, Augsburg played host to a delegation from Najaf, who came here to speak about a project called "Water for Peace," and to foster cultural respect. My class, History of U.S. Foreign Relations, was allowed to have lunch with the delegation. Most of the students in my class sat against the wall, or at tables with other classmates. I, on the other hand, ended up sitting at a table and holding a conversation with two of the Iraqi men.

This is a great story so far, no?

Our conversation began with small talk about school, and what I'm studying. I don't know how we got on the subject, but I told him (I spoke mainly with one of the men; the other seemed less comfortable using English) that I studied in Japan two summers ago, and suddenly the mood of the conversation did a 180. His smile faded, and he said something to the extent of: "I admire the Japanese. After [World War II], they managed to accept democracy, and other things, but still retained their culture. I hope [Iraq] can do the same." He also said something like "The war has badly affected us. Our water is in very poor quality, undrinkable..."

It was only after we said our goodbyes and our thank yous that I realized I was soaked in sweat. I was also shaking. Since the lunch ended a half hour ago, I've been trying to figure out why I was so nervous--and I think I've got it: I'm not ignorant to the devastation of war--to buildings, people, or culture. I read about it, hear about it on the news...But I've never had someone whose life, city, and culture has been threatened, devastated by a war my country started, tell me how it feels. The reason I was sweating, the reason I was nervous, was because I was embarrassed.

This is why I love Augsburg. It's the type of stuff I learn outside the classroom that affects me, as a human being, the most. And Augsburg makes that kind of stuff, like having lunch with Iraqi politicians, activists, and professors, possible.