Post #1...

Blog Post #1... a little late. Since this was a post that was meant to go up before we had our first Chat Café sessions I'm going to treat it as such and talk about some of the things that I was nervous or confused about and excited for.

I was pretty worried about feeling like I had no idea what to talk about. This seemed to be a fear of a lot of us when we all got together to talk about it on Wednesday. What do you say to a group of strangers who are expecting you to some extent know whats going on? Suddenly we're in the midst of this somewhat academic, somewhat social space and you are there at the helm, expected to steer it to these student's expectations. That is if they show up, which was also another major concern.

 It was not even something I had considered truthfully before reading the blog posts of the students from last week, though it perhaps should have been. Being a junior I know how stressful college life can get, even at the very beginning of a semester. Syllabus week seems to be mostly a myth to me with professors who want to jump right into their subjects. Sure the first day you might go over the syllabus together, but then its right onto your first two hundred pages of reading and 7 response papers. Having lead a slightly larger group of students in one of my student orgs I've already witnessed how fast 10 people can become 3. So and so has an exam and another person's work schedule changed and Larry just doesn't feel like coming. Can you really blame any of them? I certainly can't. So how do you get a group of people to make what you are all doing a priority? I have several different theories surrounding this involving various forms of bribery, community building, and a sense of responsibility. I'll get back to all of you about the various successes and failures they bring through the semester.

I was about to start another paragraph about my fears of seeming too removed from the group, or out of touch with what their needs/wants are but I realized I've already spent the majority of this time talking about my fears and worries when I had made a claim in the beginning that there were things I was excited about. What am I excited for? I think it is especially important to take a moment when you're feeling fearfully and worried to also feel excited. I'm excited to meet new people and talk about different cultures. I'm excited to learn and to teach. I'm excited to see my school from another perspective and I'm excited to show my own perspective.  I'm really hoping there will be a sense of unity within my group at the end of the semester, and I'm excited for the chance to build that unity.

-Emma