Hello everyone,
I am so sorry that I have not been very active on the blogs in awhile. Fall break did not go as I planned, due to a death in the family. When I came back from fall break, school was moving at an unreasonably fast pace. I was overwhelmed with so much work. Despite all that has happened in a short time period, I am in higher spirits and in a writing mood.
Back to normal programming...
I am here at school for Thanksgiving break because I have a ton of work to do and I would not have the resources, or time, to get it all done at home. Campus is very peaceful, though, so I'm not sad that I am here. I enjoy when the campus is very silent and you can walk freely without fear of walking into someone's path or getting knocked down by a bike. Everything seems to slow down and you can breathe easily. I really love it. Plus, who knew that Stevenson would put on an amazing Thanksgiving meal? The turkey and gravy was amazing with a butter roll, my tummy is beyond happy.
For me Thanksgiving is typically about cooking food, laughing with or at (depending on who came to dinner) family, and sending a flurry of text messages to friends. This year, I called my family multiple times, sent my friends multiple text messages about why they were important to me, and now I am writing a list of random things I am thankful for (which you will have the chance of reading). I think self-reflection is the key component of change. You must look at the positive around you and focus on those. We can get so lost in the negativity circling our lives and we forget to breathe and think of something positive. I am writing this article as a list because lists give me some sort of structure since my thoughts are typically jumbled. I will try to keep the list around 20; the first 10 will be very serious, while the last 10 will be silly.
20 Reasons to be Thankful:
1.I am thankful for having a strong support system back at home, which includes my family, old friends, old teachers, and people in my community. I know that they are rooting for my success.
2.I am thankful for my mother, who listens to me no matter what time of the day it is. I have called her at 3:15 am to ask her what cough medicine she gives me when I am sick because I forgot.
3.I am thankful for my father who taught me how to be strong, independent, and not afraid to speak my mind despite what anyone has to say.
4.I am thankful for my little brother who supposedly looks up to me, but I look up to him to remind myself constantly that I am simply a child at heart.
5.I am thankful for my older sister who taught me that the most important person in my life should be me.
6.I am thankful for my college friends who constantly challenge my ideas, who are growing up with me, who understand the struggles I have with my identity, and all the laughs that we have shared together over the smallest things.
7.I am thankful for being a student at Oberlin, because I have learned so much about myself through my classes. (Plug: try to take Peace and Conflict Studies, Sociology of Gender, and any Africana Studies class or CAST classes, those changed my life.)
8.I am thankful for being a member of OCDC (Oberlin College Dialogue Center), which allows me to be a mediator/facilitator for people/groups on campus. I also work with very diverse people from many backgrounds who have taught me so many things.
9.I am thankful to have a community here on campus like ABUSUA (Black Student Union). ABUSUA is becoming a second family for me and I admire everyone there who are all leaders. ABUSUA has created a safe space for me that allows me to be honest with myself, vent to people, heal with them, and gives me the fire to fuel my passion for justice when it comes to Black and Brown people. I regret not becoming a part of this group my freshman year of college, but I'm more than happy to be a part of it now.
10. I am thankful for all the events that happen on Oberlin's campus. I have been to many talks and workshops this year and I am so glad I did. As a freshman, I was very shy and did not want to go to events alone. As a sophomore, I still do not want to go to events alone, but I realize that I am never alone because I find people who are very similar to me at the events. Now I just go to events by myself if I can't find a friend to go along. Best decision I made this year.
11.I am very thankful for hot showers.
12. I am thankful to whoever invented Sudoku puzzles, because I love to do them when I am bored.
13. I am thankful for poetry, because it is a way for people to show who they are in a very creative way. Plus, writing is very hard and I admire writers.
14. I am thankful for Decafe's chicken noodle soup, vegetable barley soup, creamy vegetable harvest soup, and red pepper soup.
15.I am thankful for music and the many ways in which I interact with it.
16.I am so thankful that I discovered dark chocolate with raspberry bars here at Oberlin. I don't think I can ever go back to milk chocolate. It doesn't taste the same.
17. I am thankful for the cheesecake at Aladdin's eatery on College St.
18. I am thankful for Amazon with their speedy delivery service and cheap prices.
19.I am thankful for good phone service. (Make sure to get Verizon Wireless or T-Mobile here at Oberlin.)
20.I am very thankful for all the beauty that nature has to show me. I love it all.
