I can't think of anyone famous or nearby that I would honestly like to be for a day. However, I would really like to get to know a totally different culture from the inside. Through visiting, studying, reading books, and talking with people you get to scratch the surface and learn from the slant of your own cultural background, but through truly being another person, you would automatically understand the language and customs and how things came to be accepted as they are. I would like to see the world through completely different eyes so I can have a broader perspective and a more understanding heart. That would be the ultimate total immersion experience. :)
Showing posts with label experiment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label experiment. Show all posts
Monday, April 18, 2011
Day 6
A picture of someone you'd like to trade places with for a day
I can't think of anyone famous or nearby that I would honestly like to be for a day. However, I would really like to get to know a totally different culture from the inside. Through visiting, studying, reading books, and talking with people you get to scratch the surface and learn from the slant of your own cultural background, but through truly being another person, you would automatically understand the language and customs and how things came to be accepted as they are. I would like to see the world through completely different eyes so I can have a broader perspective and a more understanding heart. That would be the ultimate total immersion experience. :)
I can't think of anyone famous or nearby that I would honestly like to be for a day. However, I would really like to get to know a totally different culture from the inside. Through visiting, studying, reading books, and talking with people you get to scratch the surface and learn from the slant of your own cultural background, but through truly being another person, you would automatically understand the language and customs and how things came to be accepted as they are. I would like to see the world through completely different eyes so I can have a broader perspective and a more understanding heart. That would be the ultimate total immersion experience. :)
Monday, March 21, 2011
Needles Internship
It's been almost a month now, so I think it's just about time to finally post something about my current life. I took a semester off from school to complete an internship as an Interpretive Park Ranger in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park 75 miles south of Moab, UT. I started February 20th and will be done June 10th.
What does that mean?
I get to wear a cool uniform, talk on a radio, drive government vehicles around, manage the campground, collect entrance & bookstore fees, answer questions, answer phones, go on hikes, create and present a campfire program, represent the U.S. Government, and live in one of the coolest places on earth with some of the neatest people.
No, it's not all sunshine and the romantic "National Park Ranger" ideal - sometimes I don't know the answer, sometimes the visitor center hours drag on, sometimes I feel smooshed under the bureaucratic policies, sometimes I miss my family and friends back home and even feel lonely out here in the desert...
...but then a little kid rushes up and asks me a question about coyotes, "Ranger, Ranger!" or I wake up before the sun and watch it paint an ever-changing liquid masterpiece across the sky, or I stand at the edge of a canyon mid-way through a run and listen to my own heart beat in the contented silence broken only by wind and birdsong, and I realize how lucky I am to live out here in the land of glowing rocks. I mean, I live in a National Park! When am I ever going to get this opportunity again? That's all the motivation I need to savor it.
Besides, it's not hard to love this place. Every hike is refreshing. It seems like there is no end to the trails or the things you can learn about this area- and no end to the questions, either. I spend a lot of free time/slow visitors center hours/project time just reading up about the natural & cultural history of the area, the whims and ways of the desert and life itself. It's like school, but so much better because I'm not doing it for a grade, and the parameters are so wide and the interest so keen!
I don't know if this internship will lead me to my life's mission or just help me become confident in my ability to manage a cash register, but either way I aim to help other people out, have grand adventures myself and learn as much as I can about this amazing place. :D
What does that mean?
I get to wear a cool uniform, talk on a radio, drive government vehicles around, manage the campground, collect entrance & bookstore fees, answer questions, answer phones, go on hikes, create and present a campfire program, represent the U.S. Government, and live in one of the coolest places on earth with some of the neatest people.
No, it's not all sunshine and the romantic "National Park Ranger" ideal - sometimes I don't know the answer, sometimes the visitor center hours drag on, sometimes I feel smooshed under the bureaucratic policies, sometimes I miss my family and friends back home and even feel lonely out here in the desert...
...but then a little kid rushes up and asks me a question about coyotes, "Ranger, Ranger!" or I wake up before the sun and watch it paint an ever-changing liquid masterpiece across the sky, or I stand at the edge of a canyon mid-way through a run and listen to my own heart beat in the contented silence broken only by wind and birdsong, and I realize how lucky I am to live out here in the land of glowing rocks. I mean, I live in a National Park! When am I ever going to get this opportunity again? That's all the motivation I need to savor it.
Besides, it's not hard to love this place. Every hike is refreshing. It seems like there is no end to the trails or the things you can learn about this area- and no end to the questions, either. I spend a lot of free time/slow visitors center hours/project time just reading up about the natural & cultural history of the area, the whims and ways of the desert and life itself. It's like school, but so much better because I'm not doing it for a grade, and the parameters are so wide and the interest so keen!
I don't know if this internship will lead me to my life's mission or just help me become confident in my ability to manage a cash register, but either way I aim to help other people out, have grand adventures myself and learn as much as I can about this amazing place. :D
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
New Year, New Post
So here's one New Year's Resolution I should probably make: update my blog every once in a while! Yup, this is my first post in... well, too long. Lots has happened since then!
I won't fill you in; I'm starting fresh with 2011.
But first, a few pics from Christmas Break! (These are the later ones that didn't make it onto Facebook. I have dozens more if you're interested!)
Hanging out in the New House (SOOO many movies- what else can you do when it's cold & dark starting at 5:00 pm?) 
Hiking/Scrambling Ice Box Canyon with Chris & Joseph. River Road to the Slickrock Bike Trail in just over an hour of near-vertical ascent. At points, we had to use ropes, NRS strap-belt harnesses, or climb on railroad spikes someone pounded into the rock. Awesome!
Christmas Eve Nazarene Feast ("hippie food" courtesy of yours truly ;)
Slush & Shanghai: a Hazlett Holiday Tradition
A fun visit by the 5 crazy Coleman cousins :)
Snow on the red rock (view from the Sand Hill where we went sledding & even got the Andrews' van stuck!)
Two cutest baby sisters. Check out Holly's dance moves! ;)
New Year's Eve party w/the Singles' Branch
I have rather goofy (but attractive!) best friends ;)
And a very cute baby sister who loves to play outside in the snow with me!
So basically, LIFE IS GOOD! And I love being home.
BYU Winter semester classes started today, but I am kind of not missing it at all. I needed a break from school and the Provo bubble, to be honest. Now I am excited to spend time with my family & friends at home for a few weeks before heading out into the wilderness to explore a potential career option and get some real-world experience.
Besides, see what I would have had to leave behind?
Friday, January 8, 2010
Lefty for a Day
The other day, I found myself in class sitting between two left-handed people. I noticed that notebooks, scissors, can openers, books, etc. are really not made for left-handed people, and they bump elbows with the right-handers around them. It must be very awkward for them to try to fit in with the "world" things that are made for right-handers. Today, I decided to try an experiment: switching my dominant hand for the day.
The hardest thing was definitely writing Chem 106 notes, including logarithms, many different formulas, graphs, charts, and paragraphs. I think I'll post a picture of those notes; my writing got better, but not much throughout the day. Another very difficult thing was doing my hair & make-up: I am so grateful to be low-maintenance, because otherwise that could have been quite an ordeal. LOL
An interesting quirk I discovered is that although I do most things with my right hand, I peel oranges, open water bottles, and pour liquids into a pan using my left hand.
When I first started writing left-handed, my hand automatically started at the right side of the page. I decided to let it go and see what happened. I realized something very strange: it was much easier to close my eyes and write mirror-style, right to left and backwards. It's like writing with my right hand, only flip-flopped. I think that way was less confusing to my brain and muscles. However, when I opened my eyes and actually watched what I was writing, there was a confusing tug-of-war between my eyes/logic and my hands/feeling. The eyes won out- I had to focus more to write left-to-right, but I could read it better. It was familiar; recognizable. It made me think about the whole heart part vs. smart part dilemma- do you trust your feelings, or go with the logical way? Here, there were only two choices. I am somewhat sorry to say that I went with the logical way- and I feel like I conquered something, and yet lost. It was a queer feeling.
The reason writing was so difficult is because I haven't developed those small muscles for it. My left hand is as good as my right when it comes to typing and weaving, and better when it comes to playing a guitar or peeling an orange- but when it comes to writing, I just haven't given it the years of practice.
I wonder what would happen if I did. Would I devote some tasks to the left, some to the right? Is ambidexterity subject to routine like the majority of human behaviors? Once, I changed the way I fold my arms by concentrating on doing it the "wrong" way so many times that it became the "right" way. Hmmm...
I wondered about this in Spanish class, so naturally it led to wondering about what it's like to be bilingual. Does a bilingual person reserve one language for certain situations? Is it possible to learn two equally, and then use them equally? This is something I'll keep wondering about... and perhaps someday I'll experiment with this, too.
The hardest thing was definitely writing Chem 106 notes, including logarithms, many different formulas, graphs, charts, and paragraphs. I think I'll post a picture of those notes; my writing got better, but not much throughout the day. Another very difficult thing was doing my hair & make-up: I am so grateful to be low-maintenance, because otherwise that could have been quite an ordeal. LOL
An interesting quirk I discovered is that although I do most things with my right hand, I peel oranges, open water bottles, and pour liquids into a pan using my left hand.
When I first started writing left-handed, my hand automatically started at the right side of the page. I decided to let it go and see what happened. I realized something very strange: it was much easier to close my eyes and write mirror-style, right to left and backwards. It's like writing with my right hand, only flip-flopped. I think that way was less confusing to my brain and muscles. However, when I opened my eyes and actually watched what I was writing, there was a confusing tug-of-war between my eyes/logic and my hands/feeling. The eyes won out- I had to focus more to write left-to-right, but I could read it better. It was familiar; recognizable. It made me think about the whole heart part vs. smart part dilemma- do you trust your feelings, or go with the logical way? Here, there were only two choices. I am somewhat sorry to say that I went with the logical way- and I feel like I conquered something, and yet lost. It was a queer feeling.
The reason writing was so difficult is because I haven't developed those small muscles for it. My left hand is as good as my right when it comes to typing and weaving, and better when it comes to playing a guitar or peeling an orange- but when it comes to writing, I just haven't given it the years of practice.
I wonder what would happen if I did. Would I devote some tasks to the left, some to the right? Is ambidexterity subject to routine like the majority of human behaviors? Once, I changed the way I fold my arms by concentrating on doing it the "wrong" way so many times that it became the "right" way. Hmmm...
I wondered about this in Spanish class, so naturally it led to wondering about what it's like to be bilingual. Does a bilingual person reserve one language for certain situations? Is it possible to learn two equally, and then use them equally? This is something I'll keep wondering about... and perhaps someday I'll experiment with this, too.
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