This Friday, I attended the movie showing of The Human Element, a film about environmental change occurring at a rapidly increasing rate.  Unlike most climate change awareness documentaries, however, this film took a more interesting and personal approach (in my opinion) that resulted in a more impactful message.  It highlighted both the current and future impacts that climate change is having and will have, respectively, on everyday, working humans.  For example, the film features a small fishing community that faces the harsh reality of a future sea level rise threatening their business and livelihood.  It also focuses on the victims — in addition to those fighting against — the blazing wildfires that have been wracking California for the last decades.  However, the film isn’t all negative; the final message of the movie is about how the human element, which has been throwing the other elements out of whack, could be the key to bringing all the other elements back into balance if it works to change its habits.

This Friday, I watched Pick of the Litter with GRF Maggie.  This documentary was all about how the dogs in the Guide Dogs for the Blind program are selected and trained to become official guide dogs for individuals who require visual assistance.  The process is a lot more rigorous than I was expecting, but it makes sense; after all, these people will be putting their full trust and even their lives in these dogs’ hands (or paws, to be more literal).  Cuts — or as the program likes to call them, career changes — occur at almost every step to ensure that only those dogs that have the mental fortitude for this job are kept.  For example, Potomac, a dog that seemed to have a calm demeanor, had a lunging problem; that is, he would go for anything on the sidewalk that distracted him.  This resulted in him getting cut from the program quite early, as that kind of behavior is a red flag since individuals who need visual assistance could not handle that kind of jerky action.  All in all, the film was awesome (even though it was sad at many parts) and gave a glimpse into a very impressive service program.

Last Saturday, I watched Episode 5 of the Queen’s Gambit.  To be completely honest, this was my first time attending one of the Queen’s Gambit’s showings, and jumping in halfway through, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  However, I was still able to understand most of what was going on, and I still found it very interesting.  Maybe it’s time for me to go catch up on the other four episodes before the showing of Episode 6, so I can enjoy it even more!

I thought the short discussion after the showing was a good idea.  It wasn’t too long to feel intrusive; it was just short enough to make sure everyone was on the same page about what was going on in that episode.  We also clarified a few concepts during that time such as what a fork in chess is, which was pretty relevant considering it was the name of the episode.  Since it appeared in both a metaphorical and a literal sense during the episode, this clarification was very helpful.

This part Friday, I had the opportunity to watch Kiki’s Delivery Service hosted by GRF Tom with about 20 others in the Rose Scholars program.  This activity was reminiscent of an event last semester where we watched My Neighbor Totoro, and I was always hoping that another Ghibli film would be shown during this program.  I was thrilled when I saw this event on the calendar and immediately signed up, since I am a huge Ghibli fan!

The story of Kiki’s Delivery Service is all about growing up.  As people (and animals, in the case of the film) mature with time, they move along at different paces.  Even the closest of friends can find that their interests no longer align so perfectly anymore as they change at different rates.  However, the movie really does its best to portray this as not a bad occurrence, instead urging the viewer to strive to apply their skills to the things they want to do rather than stay grounded in the past.

This past Saturday, I attended the chess meet with GRF Bassel.  To be completely honest, I had never played chess before, so knowing how each piece moves differently was the extent of my knowledge.  I had no particular idea about strategizing to achieve victory.  However, this limitation did not stop me from having fun.  I especially enjoyed watching and spectating other matches when my games were over and trying to learn from what other more experienced people were doing strategy-wise.  Hopefully, next time an event like this happens, I’ll be better and actually know what to do to win!  All in all, it was a great way to have some fun and decompress from the stress of the week.

This past Sunday, I attended another calligraphy workshop with GRF Seema.  Once again, we watched some introductory calligraphy tutorial videos, specifically on lettering, and then moved into 30-45 minutes of writing on our own.  At the end, we did some reflecting on what was difficult and what was easy for each of us.

As I said in my last blog post about calligraphy, this was a really relaxing experience; it was a particularly good way to decompress before the next week, which is prelim week and thus packed full of long assignments and tests for many people.  Doing smooth hand motions over and over is certainly therapeutic and helped me relieve some of the stress that had been hanging on me.  I’m excited for a Part 3 at some point!

This weekend, I attended the Pictionary event with URF Maggie, and it was an absolute blast!  I wasn’t quite sure how it was going to work, but we ended up using the Skribbl.io website, which was super fun.  Even with my unfortunate drawing skills, I was happily surprised how many people were able to understand what I was trying to draw.  This was a great activity to relax from the stress of the week because it encourages you to use your brain but is also just super funny, so I hope this is offered again in the future!  I would definitely sign up again!

Last weekend, I attended the calligraphy workshop.  I went in expecting to not be too successful, since I don’t have much innate artistic talent, and my handwriting is pretty messy.  However, GRF Seema was super patient and kind, constantly checking in to make sure we were doing alright or if we had any questions.  In the end, I was able to get through the alphabet using the materials provided to us (although I had to do a little bit of tracing sometimes) and was able to write my name decoratively.

I really enjoyed the event, even though I was nervous going in.  The music in the background was relaxing and eased me into the activity, and the discussion afterwards was good for learning what I could work on next time I try calligraphy.  It was a great way of getting my hands busy while taking my mind off the stress of school, and I hope it is offered again in the future!