Author Archives: Rachel Giorgio

Starting a Conversation

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Let me start by saying that I LOVED Professor Henderson, I loved the program, and I thoroughly regret the fact that not more people signed up for such an incredible event.

Prof. Henderson got us talking about privilege – a topic that simultaneously nobody and everybody wants to talk about. I admit that it was very uncomfortable for me at first, being that I, thankfully,  have never experienced discrimination. I felt as though my opinions were not valid, and therefore didn’t deserve to be voiced.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Professor Henderson made me feel more than welcome to speak my mind, and I finally got off my chest the types of things that have been bothering me for so long. I would constantly negate what I had said, saying it was “petty” or “invalid” and every time, she would correct me and remind me that it was a safe space.

So much love. So much respect.

I really wish I could have stayed for the whole presentation. Truly inspirational, and would definitely recommend to everyone. Please come back, Professor!!!

A Timeless Message

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This past Wednesday, I attended a talk by Daniel R. Schwarz providing a more distanced perspective of the college experience. He discussed major hurdles faced by students during each academic year, and told us about how we can personally make the most of our time in college.

One thing that hit home with me was something he said about the value of education in general. He said something to the effect that education teaches you how to listen to other people and formulate your own ideas, and while I desperately wish that were true, I’m not so sure it is. Majors outside the humanities do very little introspective thinking, and as a result, fail to cultivate their interpersonal communication skills. Although science produces brilliant minds, I firmly believe that not all issues can be resolved with cold hard facts, and a functioning member of society must be able to reason with those around them.

So yeah… I guess this biology major is making a case for the humanities.

Go take an English class or something.

 

Everyday Activism

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I was a bit apprehensive going into this discussion, as I’ve never really classified myself as an activist. I’ve fallen into the trap laid out for me by the media and have come to associate activists with radicals, much like how the word “feminist” has wrongfully garnered a negative connotation.

I left this talk feeling very differently. For the first time in my life, I thought of myself as an activist. I acknowledged that I possessed firm beliefs, and that by vocalizing these beliefs, I am effectively advocating for my cause. And this was oddly empowering.

I know that a lot of my opinions aren’t especially popular, but for the longest time, I only ever thought of myself as “different”. Now, I see that by being “different”, I’m actually making a difference, and that gives me the confidence to stick to my guns and continue to profess my beliefs and opinions.

All in all, this was a very empowering discussion, and I encourage others to take a moment to think about what causes they themselves feel passionately about.

The Secret Life of Soil

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This past week, I had the opportunity to listen to a talk by soil scientist, Dawit Solomon. I found the discussion to be very interesting because, although I hope to pursue a career in biology myself, I have never really learned very much about the role of soil in the natural world. As it turns out, soil is incredibly important, and not just because it allows us to grow the crops that sustain us. We learned that significant amount of Earth’s carbon is contained in the soil. In fact, there’s 4x more carbon in soil than there is currently in the atmosphere! This has huge implications for climate change, because if we continue to misuse the land as we have been, all this carbon will be released into the atmosphere, potentially devastating the environment.

Interestingly enough, the speaker touched upon the fact that, although soil carbon could be a tremendous issue, it could also be the solution to the exact same problem. If we can develop better ways to put carbon back into the soil, we could actually start to reverse what has already begun. For me, this really highlighted just how important it is to compost and responsibly dispose of your waste products. I admit that I’ve never entirely understood the importance of composting. I kind of assumed that it just kept unnecessary trash out of landfills, with the useful fringe benefit of being a good fertilizer. I now see, however, that it’s much more than that. By composting responsibly, we can actually help fight global warming by returning carbon back to the soil it came from.

All in all, this was a very interesting and informative discussion.

For the Birds

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Last weekend, I had the opportunity to take a field trip to the Lab of Ornithology to walk the trails and take a tour of the facility’s lab space. I had never actually been before, so I was quite eager to see what it was like. We started off with the walk, and while we didn’t get to see many birds, it was very peaceful and served as an opportunity to center ourselves during this busy time of the semester. There’s just something oddly soothing about being surrounded by birdsong…

By far, my favorite part of the trip was the tour of the actual lab space. Being an aspiring biologist myself, I was really interested to see how an organization like the Lab of O accomplishes the majority of its research. I mean, with millions of bird species and more being discovered every day, the scale of such a project is staggering. Their solution? “Citizen science”. I lost count of how many times they mentioned it, but the basic principle is this: there are so many people in the world with a passion for nature, and while they may not have a formal education in the subject, they still have a wealth of information stemming from personal experiences that they can contribute to scientific exploration. In an effort to tap into this plethora of knowledge, the Lab of O has set up an extensive network of resources where amateur scientists can enter their data and actually contribute to the advancement of the field they love so much.  And I just think that’s so cool. What other field is so easily accessible to the public? I’ve always believed that the only way to get people excited about something is to get them involved, and the Lab of O is doing just that. At this rate, they’ll have the next generation of budding ornithologists in no time.

All in all, it was very cool experience, and I would love to make another visit later in the spring or early summer when all the trees are in bloom. Would recommend.

More Than Just Cook Stoves…

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This past Cafe, given by the one and only Garrick Blalock, prompted a very interesting discussion about just how difficult it is to get a population to change its behavior. Although the talk was focused on the adoption of clean-burning cook stoves in third-world countries, one can easily see how the idea could apply to almost every aspect of our lives. More specifically, we discussed something called the collective action problem. In this social trend, each individual believes his or her own part of the solution is insignificant and so leaves the action to be done by the rest of the group. Now, if everyone has the same idea, we can quickly see how this could become a problem, and nothing would actually get done. The worst part of it, to me, was the sheer scale of the issue. We can educate people all we want and still only achieve marginal results. And even though it’s good to know how effective your efforts have been, it does make the endeavor feel rather hopeless…I’m not entirely sure how we can solve this issue. Perhaps by educating not only about the issue itself, but about the threats associated with collective action? Maybe then individuals would feel more responsible of their actions? I’m not sure…but I’ll leave you with the iconic Gandhi quote, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Shakespeare (Very) Abridged

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I LOVED this performance. Shakespeare may be rolling in his grave for it, but I must say that it was the hardest I’ve laughed in a very long time. Did I learn anything new? Aside from the fact that the man wrote a truck load of plays, not at all. But that doesn’t mean it was without value.

In all honesty, the title of the show is a bit of a misnomer, with most of the shows getting little more than a fleeting mention. The main focus was more so on the antics of the 5 actors, but what a talented group of actors it was. Being a fairly reserved person myself, I’ve always found it difficult to be my own crazy self in front of any number of people. The fact that they did so in front of a whole room simply baffles me… Yeah, yeah, they’re actors, it’s what they do, but I was still in complete awe….

That may or may not be because one of them burped the alphabet, though…

Either way, I’ve recommended this show to every single one of my friends and can’t praise it enough. So much fun 😀

 

Keeping the Momentum

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Momenta Quartet provides a refreshing look at chamber music that not only cherishes the old-world splendor of classical composers, but also champions the new and innovative work of up-and-coming composers. These four incredible individuals have worked hand-in-hand with these composers, commissioning pieces and performing their work in world premiers. Now this may be ignorant, but I had no ideas that such partnerships even existed between musicians and composers. Although maybe that’s because most of the music I’ve played is by men who have long since passed… Either way, seeing this partnership was actually quite inspiring and opened my eyes to a whole other dimension of music.

I’ll preface this next section by saying that, while I’d like to believe I’m a musician, I realistically know a few good songs and the difference between major and minor. Music theory has never really been my thing. I was very excited, however, when the group touched upon something that I had been wondering for years: what about the notes in-between notes? As it turns they have a name – a name which I cannot currently recall, but now thats just as much your problem as mine (you’re welcome 🙂 ). That aside, these unicorns of music aren’t just theories, but real functioning musical devices. In fact, Momenta played a piece for us that used these intermediate tones extensively. I will admit that it wasn’t the most pleasant of sounds – the performance was prefaced with a statement about how the instruments may sound out of tune – but I can still appreciate the thought behind its composition. Being able to compose something resembling a song using tones so inherently dissonant is quite the feat, and I thing that goes for the musicians as well in their ability to play said pieces.

All in all, I was thoroughly impressed by the Momenta Quartet, and I was actually very disappointed I couldn’t attend their actual concert. Bravo.

Love Hurts

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So this past week, I went to a talk about the role of love in today’s society, a topic that is simultaneously one of the most and least talked about in modern times. There’s this pervasive idea of what love is supposed to be like, that everyone hopes and dreams of, but at the same time, those that talk about it are perceived as weak. This is because love, as so eloquently pointed out by Dr. Alvarez, is a social construct. We need to remember that no two people experience love the same way, and none is better than another. Still, what we perceive to be love is an integral part of our society. In fact, love, and the ability to have open conversations about love, is the key to overcoming today’s injustice and bigotry. So many people fight for the rights of one particular group while perpetuating the discrimination of another, when the only way we can really solve any of these problems is to learn to love everyone unconditionally. Easier said than done, of course, but entirely necessary to achieve our goals.

On a slightly different note, Dr. Alvarez also reminded us that love is actually quite painful. It’s not always rainbows and butterflies, and that’s okay. Love hurts. In fact, I can say from my own personal experiences that this pain can sometimes be the only way I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I legitimately care for someone. It’s tragic and magical, all at the same time….

I once had a friend tell me that heartbreak is beautiful, because it showed just how much an individual cared about their significant other. After going to this talk, I’m believing that more and more…

Killing with Kindness

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This past weekend, I attended a screening of “Poverty, Inc”, a fascinating documentary about the devastating effects of well-meaning acts of charity. By showering third-world countries with donations, we are actually smothering their own economies. Growing up, my father always told me that donations will not solve the poverty problem. Rather, it will perpetuate the issue by de-insentivizing meaningful labor. But it’s so much worse than that. Not only are we eliminating all incentives to change, but we are also the very reason why these people are poor at all. The example that brought all this together for me was that of the earthquake in Haiti a few years back. In that instant, yes, Haiti needed help, but by continuing to funnel relief funds into these countries, we started to shut businesses down. Fledgling businesses simply couldn’t compete with the free goods appearing on their doorsteps. We talk and talk about how we want to teach the people to lead and provide for themselves, but we still haven’t take that all-important step back to see if we’ve actually succeeded. It needs to change, but this “charity” so engrained in our society’s culture that to alter it would almost seem a crime. People don’t understand what they are doing, and the only way to actually make a difference is to start educating them. Maybe then, we would be able to acknowledge our wrong-doing and truly work towards bringing an end to poverty.

 

Scholars on Ice

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Yesterday I got to do something that I’ve been meaning to do for a very long time now: ice skate! Any of my friends can attest to the fact that I was excessively excited for this event, but I will admit that it was a lot harder than I remembered it being. The brief lesson at the beginning of the session served as a much-needed refresher, and brought back all those memories of fumbling across the ice as children who barely came up to my hip whizzed by me (Can anyone relate?). My “competition” is a little bigger nowadays, but let me tell ya, there are some talented people in Rose House! You know who you are! When all was said and done, my friends and I left thoroughly de-stressed (if not a little sore) and ready to take on another week of studying and homework! Great event. Would recommend.

iceskating