I missed the second week of Aya. I had to get my wisdom teeth removed so I had to take time to recover as my Jaw was extremely swollen and it was hard for me to speak. I was there on Monday but I had to leave thirty minutes early in order to get X-rays of my teeth. As the week passed I wondered what activities and speeches were being given during the time I was gone. I asked my peers what we did and what I missed and I got the biggest FOMO of my life. But the week finally ended, and I had mostly healed. It was time for me to come back to Annenberg. I was nervous yet excited. I was worried that in that week I was gone my peers formed connections that I unfortunately missing out on making. I was worried that I would have missed far too much and be far too behind my peers to even catch up. Anxiety crept up on me on my car ride to USC, uncertainty written all over my face. But I was wrong. My friends welcomed me back openly and my professors were understanding and sympathetic to my circumstances. I tried to bounce back as much as I could and I hope I succeeded.
For communications this week I was facilitator. I worked with Maya and Juan for this discussion. Our text was “What’s civic about Aztlan?”. Haven been written by my professor there was a twinge of pressure I felt in order for me to properly decipher and digest what I was reading. I thoroughly enjoyed my reading about Aztlan and understanding exactly what the word meant to the people of the South Western United States but specifically the Chicano people. Understanding how Aztlan was used as a symbol for reclaiming one’s ancestral history and honoring where you came from is a truly noble cause. Aztlan changed from being the rightful home of the Chicano people to a symbol of belonging and making your presence established despite what was taken from you. The concept of Aztlan is inspiring and I am glad I was chosen at random to read this article, looking at it closer for my facilitation questions truly allowed me to understand the message that was trying to be conveyed by Lopez.
We also had the alumni panel this week and there were a lot of important ideas shared with us. We got to hear previous cohorts perspectives on what Annenberg was able to do for them and inspire us to continue pushing. Despite nearly all of them getting rejected from USC itself they bounced back and were able to land on their feet, they’re all very successful and making names for themselves as we speak. The panel allowed for us to build connections and taught us that despite being nervous or unsure of ourselves now it’s important to invest in ourselves and take that risk for the sake of our future. I also got the privilege of being in the news room this week. Because I was absent for so long last week I missed the broadcast and didn’t get the opportunity to see the news room. This weeks broadcast I was fortunate enough to be allowed and inside and see a little bit of the production and behind the scenes that comes with a news broadcast. I volunteered to be an anchor for nexts weeks stories as well. Honestly, there’s no words for the amount of experiences AYA allowed me to have in such a short amount of time. Next week is our final week at Annenberg, and Thursday is our graduation. It’s a bittersweet feeling to know that this will all be over so soon. Four weeks is so little but so long at the same time and it’s surreal to know it passed so quickly. I’ll be eternally grateful for the skills and opportunities I was allowed to have here at Annenberg Youth Academy
Communicating Change 