Already done with week 3. There is just one more week left. As this week went by, I realized how much I didn’t want this program to end. Each day I spent at the program felt like a new journey filled with learning and growth. I am grateful for the experiences and connections I have made, and I am looking forward to making the most of the final week.
Monday-
We began this day by viewing the headshots Professor Rogelio took of us. He explained how, out of three pictures, he chose one that he thought most represented us in some way. Soon after that, he had us explore the visions we have for the year 2060. We used AI as a form of seeing, and we explored how the world around us can enhance our way of seeing and planning the future. After class, we had a free period due to a mishap. Me and my friends and I used this time to get started and finish up some work we had. We spent this time both working and joking around. We talked about our schools and the different things we have hope for in life. We had a good time getting to continue learning more about each other. Soon later, we had lunch. We ate and continued talking. We stayed at our table and didn’t walk around this time due to one of our friends having his ankle sprained, and we didn’t want him to walk around much on it. We also received our cameras from Professor Allan on this day. Even though I had one, the rest kept experimenting with it and taking pictures, so we all just decided to do so as well. Me and my friend had fun taking pictures of each other and laughing about how they would come out.
Tuesday-
As this day started, it became true that we have one more day, then soon the last week. On this day, we had AYA alumni come talk to us about how much the program helped them in their career choices. They went on about how they created memories during the program, how they became close with the people around them, and how they created a chance to see how the program does indeed have a great lasting impact. They established good connections with people who still have contact with them, and they gave an inspiring talk about how you don’t always get into the college of your dreams. The majority of them were rejected by USC. Them saying this really left me to think because my greatest fear in life is to disappoint both myself and the people that care and help me get into college if I don’t accomplish my goal of getting into either UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, USC, UCSC, or UCLA I know for a fact that I’m going to feel like a failure since it would be my failed attempt to be a first generation college student in my family. This realization has motivated me to work even harder to achieve my goals and prove to myself and my supporters that I am capable of success, regardless of the obstacles I may face along the way.
Wednesday-
As this day began, I was both excited and saddened by it being the end of the third week. On this day, I had the chance to experience being inside and helping out during the production studio, where we had lots of fun laughing with the 15-second wait of the anchors looking at the camera and smiling. Every time we would have to do that, it would just be dead silent, holding back our laughs until we could let them out. I never would have imagined myself helping to join this time of thing because I am very awkward when it comes to trying to talk and laugh with other people. I haven’t really had the opportunity to get to know them very well, but all in all, I had lots of fun with the people who were also inside the studio.
As the end of this program approaches, I have had the chance to become more liberal about things. I had the confidence to make new friends and talk to them like I’d known them for years. I felt really close to them, and it has made me realize that I have a voice that I should let be heard. I should stop being scared about what anyone thinks or just the fear that everyone around me hates me or wishes for me to go away. These are things in my head that have developed over time. This program allowed me to be more free to talk and make bonds, and these bonds led to freedom as we explored the campus together and were able to go to the library after the program on Wednesday with my friends. We walked around, took pictures, looked at all the little details, had meaningful conversations, and everything was as I would have ever wanted. Till the next and last journal for next week.
Communicating Change 