Blog Post 2

My first sessions with both groups went surprisingly well. I am so happy I took on the Wednesday group because they were all such cool people and our group clicked right away. I was also pretty happy with the attendance because more than half showed up (4!) We went in the courtyard of West quad because it was so beautiful outside. The group felt so perfect and easy going. We filled out an “all about me” robot which I use for kids I tutor, played never have I ever (which is like a tongue twister for them), did an anonymous questionnaire thing, and we played a challenging hand game. I was really happy because even though I had to leave right away for another meeting, the group stayed and continued to talk/exchange phone numbers after I left.

My Thursday group got off to a slow start and it didn’t feel as perfect, but it was still a good circle. 5 people showed up!! I was so excited. Go attendance!

I got 2 bug bites on Wednesday from cafe chat. I wanted to bring my bug repellent to Thursday’s session but I could not find it. I still started the meeting outside though because I really wanted to recreate the perfect Wednesday feeling. I knew I would get bit, but I didn’t think it would be that bad. I never think it will be bad, but it always is. I think there is something wrong with my blood. Anyways, there ended up being too many bugs and I got a huge bite on my face and it was annoying so I bought it up and this guy was like, “Yeah it’s HUGE.” So then I moved the whole circle inside after we shared our get to know you robots.  

Then I was really itchy so I turned the subject around and had them all guess how many mosquito bites I had. I said I would bring winner’s favorite candy to next meeting but a lot of them weren’t fond of candy. I guess they aren’t that similar to the kids I tutor. They still humored me and played along though. The average guess was 10.8, median 11, and I had 11. (New count is 15 because some big ones turned out to be two/found new ones) I think North campus bugs are more vicious and itchy. Then we did the anonymous questionnaire and played never have I ever. When it was time to go, they all kept talking and stayed to add each other on facebook so I was really happy. I stayed too because I had to wait for the bus anyways and we went an extra 20 minutes so I think we are off to a great start!

I emailed my group Thursday night telling them the winner of the bug bite competition (11 at the time), and the winner texted me after and we had a little convo through text about bug bites so that was cool.

Prior to the meetings, I had them answer a bunch of questions through email (some basic some funny like would you rather...etc) and reply to all so they all got a sense of who each other are. I noticed that when I did it with ELI conversation circles, everyone replied, but with cafe chat, the people who replied were the ones who showed up to circle. This was the same for both groups. I found that interesting because I’m wondering if the other people are ignoring me because even though I made it really clear in the first email to let me know before being absent, no one did. That’s kind of expected I guess because it took me a little bit to get my conversation circle people to remember to do it in the past. I emailed the absent people though and they replied, so I’m glad I’m not being shunned.

ELI convo circles, I used to mail them a letter (snail mail) after circle if they attended, and they would get it before the next meeting. It wasn’t too much work because half the group was absent every week. They seemed to really like that and this nice girl wrote one back to me at the end and it was so nice but now I have 3 circles (2 cafe chat and one ELI convo circle) and more classes and stuff (and they seem to have better attendance), so I don’t think I can do that. However, I came up with a really good idea in the shower to pair one of my cafe chat groups (undergrads) with my convo circle group (grads)like big sib lil sib and they will write a postcard one week, I’ll give it to their sib the next meeting, and I’ll have them take 5-10 minutes to write back or take it home and bring it back. I would have them send one letter a month, and receive one letter a month.  I’m not sure about it yet though because people are always absent. The only way I could think of to counter this is to have two weeks where we write it (people can make it up the next week), but some people miss many in a row which is annoying but I’ve learned to expect it. I would write a letter to whoever doesn't have a letter though. I’m not sure if I’m gonna do this yet. I’m still thinking about it but I think it would be a really fun idea and I would bring my sticker collections and pens to the meetings for them to use. I have always wanted a sibling so I think anything that does big/little is really exciting.

The only thing I’m concerned about right now is my north campus group getting dry because north campus has nothing so there is nowhere for us to go. The restaurants and stuff are further north and even if it wasn’t so far north, it’s not meal time when we have circle and there are no snack places like bubble island.  When I asked them in the questionnaire what they like to do on north/have always wanted to do on north they all looked at me and one guy was like, “what’s on north” and I was like you’re right. I know past facilitators regretted staying in the same place but I don’t think we have anywhere to go. Maybe I’ll set up a scavenger hunt around Pierpont or something next next week when my class is cancelled so I have more time before circle.

I think the most valuable thing from Carson’s visit was that he taught us not to worry about things before they happen. It’s good to be prepared and have backup plans, but we shouldn’t over stress ourselves out or get in the way of a good conversation. What makes a genuine conversation is one that just flows and you don’t have to plan out every word before you say it.