Listen, Learn Society's Cycle and then Eat Cupcakes

Second day at Brown University! Some would say this is nothing to celebrate but for me this is a huge deal. I have never been out of state before and having this experience is a huge deal for me, so I shall be celebrating by rewarding myself with frozen yogurt. Today’s class session was amazing for me, I felt that I could really connect to others and share my experiences. Our morning session was about listening skills; Professor Kisa Takesue led the session for us today. We went the main components that a good leader needs when listening and the different things that go into each one consists of. The first part was about non-verbal communication, how body position, eye contact and movements. Then there was interacting verbally having open ended questions, close ended questions and summarizing in the end, this shows that you care and are paying attention. Lastly, there was the ability to give and receive feedback, which is an important skill for any leader to do.   

Our next session was about social construction and how that has affected us in today society, how this leads to us defining ourselves on a day to day basis, This was an amazing session, we went deeper into overtime how society has placed women and people of minorities.  Nobody can answer the question as to why a person came up with the social construction, people just did and overtime people just tend to follow what they were taught, becoming a cycle overtime. The hard part is breaking this cycle because our whole world was built around that cycle, so changing your world is harder for others than some. A cycle like this is an insidious process that will be very hard to break but doesn’t mean we will not try.  Tomorrow we have a workshop diversity development; how our communities have affected the way we live or are today. I am very excited for this workshop because we will be going into a deeper analysis of our lives and share our stories.

Tonight we also went to cafe with Jenny, this was fun and with Jenny great personality it is welcoming presence that we all need to make our days better. We went to a cafe called The Duck and Bunny, amazing cupcakes!! It was delicious, I will definitely be waiting soon. The day was easier today and I think it will get even easier as the days go on but I am enjoying myself and I cannot wait for the university tours. 

The Duck and Bunny!

Jenny running away from camera

Beautiful delicious cupcake