I signed up for Norwegian 101 for a couple of reasons. First, now that I was in the College of Arts and Sciences, I was required to take a year of language courses. Second, as I stated in my Honors 100 HW1, I've had the desire to get closer to my Norwegian roots for a long time. And third, I missed one of my favorite Honors Advisors, Kim Kraft, who had moved to the Dept. of Scandinavian Studies and decided to follow her over and see what was going on over there.
(See Year 4 to learn why I stayed with the department and added another major). |
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One of Many was an a campus-wide interfaith effort organized by myself and my good friend and colleague, Regan. We had taken Religion 201, Introduction to Western Religions together, and noticed that a lot of our classmates were wanted for a space to discuss their specific experiences with how their faith and student identities intersect at UW. We hadn't seen many school sponsored opportunities for such conversations up to that point, so we decided to create our own. Regan and I (and a couple of others, at first) applied for and received the Husky Seed Fund Grant to pay for a venue, catering, a website, and promotional materials. We created a diverse team of outreach coordinators, public relations representatives, designers, and panelists, and put together and evening of guided round-table discussions on faith, school, and how they all fit together. Being the co-project manager of One of Many, besides being a personally fulfilling accomplishment, provided me with plenty of professional development skills such budget management, event organization, and how to keep a team on task.
With over 90 students in attendance, One of Many was a huge success! Even though the food we used to attract participants never arrived (remind me never to book Panera again), folks stayed the whole time and there was never a quiet moment or lull in the discussion. We even had to (politely) kick folks out when we were leaving because there were groups still there exchanging numbers and stories. |
In April 2019, the Dept. of Communication flew me and a few other students down to the City of Angels to spend a few days with UW COM alumni and learn about the life and career moves that brought them there. After meeting with professional screenwriters, I came back more motivated than ever to dedicate myself to creative work.
(If this was MySpace, the classic Jonas Brothers hit L.A. Baby would be playing as soon as you opened this page) |
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I spent a month over the summer on the island of Södermalm in Stockholm attending Stockholm Pride, learning about the city, getting to know my classmates, practicing and expanding my Norwegian language skills, defrauding my and racking up serious credit card debt. Stockholm Pride is a unique collection of workshops and lectures centered around the global struggle for LGBT equality. Don't worry, they still party, but only after the simultaneously hard and hopeful conversations. I celebrated turning 21 at Stockholm's Pride Park with many of my new (now close) friends. Our group even got a cool nickname from the locals at Pride, the Seattle 16.
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