Today was a big day for my internship. Since I joined the East Liberty Development, Inc. staff in early September, another intern, Carlyn, has been planning the biggest tree plating in Western Pennsylvania. This required a ton of planning, a very early morning/long day and about 150 volunteers. The day went very smoothly, and 115 trees were successfully planted on the median of East Liberty Blvd. between Highland Avenue and Negley. While I did not get to plant a single tree, I did get there 3 1/2 hours early to set up. I also got to sign in volunteers and meet a lot of press people. I met a lot of cool people who were affiliated with ELDI and spent a lot of time being in awe of the fact that I got to help plan and pull off such a huge and exciting event!
So why did we feel the need to plant so many trees? ELDI was involved with getting rid of a traffic lane on East Liberty Blvd going each way for bike lanes, and the trees are great for creating a calming effect on traffic. So our hope is that not only will East Liberty Blvd. have great astecic appeal, but bikers will be safer.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
The Strip(s)
The Strip. It is interesting how the phrase conjures up two very different images in my mind.
On the one hand there is the Las Vegas Strip of my hometown, my childhood. A place that is simply all glamour and glitz. An example of American commerce at either it worst or best depending on who you are talking to. It is fleeting and inconsistent. Sure, the hotels and casinos stay the same (well, at least until they blow them up to bring in something new), but the people do not. A community of the random. A population of individuals simply stopping by for a quick vacation or random weekend.
Across the country there is another type of strip. The Strip District of Pittsburgh. A place also dependent upon exchange and people, but unlike the Vegas Strip, this row of being is not simply a place of transition but a way of life. Elderly men and their sons sit in front of coffee shops conversing about the Steelers and the random events of the week. Italian women pace behind tables full of desserts and set aside the best cannoli for their weekly customers. Young couples stroll up and down the street with cloth bags filled with fresh, locally grown produce.
The Strip district is place where people live not just visit. It has a heart that is rooted in community and celebrates life. One could argue that the Las Vegas Strip celebrates life. But it is a different type of life. It is a life that is dependent upon emotional highs and lows, and short-lived pleasure. Instead the Strip District builds up a community that is interwoven and involved. It is about contentment in the ordinary and the beauty of the common.
The Vegas Strip will always have a place in my heart. It is after all the place where I have spent high school homecoming dinners, taken visiting family and friends, and seen white tigers strolling down the street. Truly it is a place of magic and memories. However, it lacks the life of Pittsburgh’s Strip. It fails to capture the satisfaction that can be acquired by simply living and embracing the community around us.
On the one hand there is the Las Vegas Strip of my hometown, my childhood. A place that is simply all glamour and glitz. An example of American commerce at either it worst or best depending on who you are talking to. It is fleeting and inconsistent. Sure, the hotels and casinos stay the same (well, at least until they blow them up to bring in something new), but the people do not. A community of the random. A population of individuals simply stopping by for a quick vacation or random weekend.
Across the country there is another type of strip. The Strip District of Pittsburgh. A place also dependent upon exchange and people, but unlike the Vegas Strip, this row of being is not simply a place of transition but a way of life. Elderly men and their sons sit in front of coffee shops conversing about the Steelers and the random events of the week. Italian women pace behind tables full of desserts and set aside the best cannoli for their weekly customers. Young couples stroll up and down the street with cloth bags filled with fresh, locally grown produce.
The Strip district is place where people live not just visit. It has a heart that is rooted in community and celebrates life. One could argue that the Las Vegas Strip celebrates life. But it is a different type of life. It is a life that is dependent upon emotional highs and lows, and short-lived pleasure. Instead the Strip District builds up a community that is interwoven and involved. It is about contentment in the ordinary and the beauty of the common.
The Vegas Strip will always have a place in my heart. It is after all the place where I have spent high school homecoming dinners, taken visiting family and friends, and seen white tigers strolling down the street. Truly it is a place of magic and memories. However, it lacks the life of Pittsburgh’s Strip. It fails to capture the satisfaction that can be acquired by simply living and embracing the community around us.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Anarchy at the library...
Complete chaos. That perfectly described my experience on Monday night when my internship supervisor (Rose) and I headed with 47 lovely refugees to the local public library. Prior to loading the massive school bus that would be taking us to our destination, Rose tried to describe bus and library protocol to the group using rudimentary English and other students as translators. The truth is no matter what she said or how she said it, nothing would have prepared this group (or me) for what laid ahead.
After unloading the bus and making sure no children were left on the bus (seriously with 30+ children on the bus it is bound to happen sometime soon), our massive group bolted into the tiny library thus producing the biggest commotion that suburban library had ever seen. Kids were running around grabbing books, DVDs, and coloring sheets from who knows where. More than half of them were scurrying back and forth between the children’s section of the library to their mothers who were chatting loudly at the library’s front desk to each other as they waited to procure their newest connection to American culture – a library card.
Despite the evening causing me to run around like crazy woman as I tried to set up e-mail accounts, Google Burmese soap-operas, find musicals on DVD, and make sure the kids were not going to give the children’s librarian a heart attack, it was truly a beautiful experience. Growing up I went to the library once a week and I love the opportunities, conversations, and worlds that were produced by its contents. It was truly wonderful to be able to connect these families to a place that has been such a large part of my life.
Moreover it was great seeing the families get plugged into American culture. From the popular children’s book When You Give a Mouse a Cookie to the Black Eyed Peas Elephunk album, these people who have been displaced from their own homelands were gaining the tools necessary to connect them to their new American life. Even the death glares the library’s other patrons shot at the group could not bring down the sheer joy I had on my face. How could you not love the beauty of the scene? Yes, the night bridged upon anarchy, but it was about people overcoming their past and carrying on their lives. It was simply amazing.
After unloading the bus and making sure no children were left on the bus (seriously with 30+ children on the bus it is bound to happen sometime soon), our massive group bolted into the tiny library thus producing the biggest commotion that suburban library had ever seen. Kids were running around grabbing books, DVDs, and coloring sheets from who knows where. More than half of them were scurrying back and forth between the children’s section of the library to their mothers who were chatting loudly at the library’s front desk to each other as they waited to procure their newest connection to American culture – a library card.
Despite the evening causing me to run around like crazy woman as I tried to set up e-mail accounts, Google Burmese soap-operas, find musicals on DVD, and make sure the kids were not going to give the children’s librarian a heart attack, it was truly a beautiful experience. Growing up I went to the library once a week and I love the opportunities, conversations, and worlds that were produced by its contents. It was truly wonderful to be able to connect these families to a place that has been such a large part of my life.
Moreover it was great seeing the families get plugged into American culture. From the popular children’s book When You Give a Mouse a Cookie to the Black Eyed Peas Elephunk album, these people who have been displaced from their own homelands were gaining the tools necessary to connect them to their new American life. Even the death glares the library’s other patrons shot at the group could not bring down the sheer joy I had on my face. How could you not love the beauty of the scene? Yes, the night bridged upon anarchy, but it was about people overcoming their past and carrying on their lives. It was simply amazing.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
ELDI Update
It's been a while since I've updated, so here goes.
I had a meeting today with the small business person at ELDI where my internship is. To make a long story short, there is a big meeting next Wednesday and depending on how this meeting goes will depend on how much there is for me to do with the small business department at ELDI. So hopefully things will get worked out and then I'll be put on some big projects for small businesses. My internship really hasn't picked up at all, but this meeting going well would mean that I'll have more to do.
Other than that, there's not much to say. Brandon's birthday was on the 8th, so we bought him a cake and surprised him with that. Then I forced him to let me take a picture of him with the cake. So here's a photo for that:
I had a meeting today with the small business person at ELDI where my internship is. To make a long story short, there is a big meeting next Wednesday and depending on how this meeting goes will depend on how much there is for me to do with the small business department at ELDI. So hopefully things will get worked out and then I'll be put on some big projects for small businesses. My internship really hasn't picked up at all, but this meeting going well would mean that I'll have more to do.
Other than that, there's not much to say. Brandon's birthday was on the 8th, so we bought him a cake and surprised him with that. Then I forced him to let me take a picture of him with the cake. So here's a photo for that:
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Well Hey!
Since my fellow two bloggers have taken the time to introduce themselves, I suppose it’s time I do the same. My name is Ray, and indeed I am participating in the Pittsburgh Semester. Since we are somehow in our third week already, it is important that you get to know me quickly. So, in narcissistic fashion, here is a blog post dedicated to me and my interests.
I am a junior at Geneva College. I am 5’10, 190 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. I am a sleepwalker who, according to reports from conscious witnesses, leaps out of bed and begs his invisible tormentors to stop shooting him (don’t worry, I have warned my new roommates). I grew up in the Pittsburgh area, about 5 minutes from Kennywood Park, America’s Finest Traditional Amusement Park. Roughly a month ago, I asked a wonderful woman to spend the rest of her life with me. And she actually agreed!
Emily and Kim have done a great job so far in describing different aspects of the Pittsburgh Semester, especially with their internships. Honestly, the internship opportunity makes the Pittsburgh Semester a very unique experience, as it gives students the chance to truly explore their fields, and perhaps their vocation. I would like to tell you about mine. This is where my story gets a little confusing, and perhaps interesting, but mostly just confusing. I have taken an internship with the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, the second largest newspaper in Western Pennsylvania. Am I a communications major? No. Am I an English major? No. Am I one of those “undecided” people wandering through college, patiently awaiting a direct calling? Well, you’re getting warmer. Actually, I am a History major. Needless to say, I’ve had an unusual trek through collegiate academia. I started out wanting to be a pastor, bailed out and went to community college, came to Geneva undecided but with a growing interest in writing, tried some English classes, worked on the school newspaper, ended up in education, felt a lack of passion for teaching, and finally turned out to be a History major with the intent of going to graduate school for journalism. Wow, it looks even worse when it’s written out like that. Obviously, if I’m to get into a graduate journalism program, internships are vital. The Trib seemed like a great place to start. Though I haven’t done anything of much significance in my time there thus far, it is exciting, and even rewarding, to be out in the field.
Anyway, that’s probably much more than you needed to know. But, I wanted to get familiar with you before I write in more depth about my experiences here. I vow to always be honest and forthcoming in my posts, and my hope is that, by the end of the semester, the stories of my time here will bless you wherever you may be on life’s path. Until next time…
-Ray Judy
I am a junior at Geneva College. I am 5’10, 190 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. I am a sleepwalker who, according to reports from conscious witnesses, leaps out of bed and begs his invisible tormentors to stop shooting him (don’t worry, I have warned my new roommates). I grew up in the Pittsburgh area, about 5 minutes from Kennywood Park, America’s Finest Traditional Amusement Park. Roughly a month ago, I asked a wonderful woman to spend the rest of her life with me. And she actually agreed!
Emily and Kim have done a great job so far in describing different aspects of the Pittsburgh Semester, especially with their internships. Honestly, the internship opportunity makes the Pittsburgh Semester a very unique experience, as it gives students the chance to truly explore their fields, and perhaps their vocation. I would like to tell you about mine. This is where my story gets a little confusing, and perhaps interesting, but mostly just confusing. I have taken an internship with the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, the second largest newspaper in Western Pennsylvania. Am I a communications major? No. Am I an English major? No. Am I one of those “undecided” people wandering through college, patiently awaiting a direct calling? Well, you’re getting warmer. Actually, I am a History major. Needless to say, I’ve had an unusual trek through collegiate academia. I started out wanting to be a pastor, bailed out and went to community college, came to Geneva undecided but with a growing interest in writing, tried some English classes, worked on the school newspaper, ended up in education, felt a lack of passion for teaching, and finally turned out to be a History major with the intent of going to graduate school for journalism. Wow, it looks even worse when it’s written out like that. Obviously, if I’m to get into a graduate journalism program, internships are vital. The Trib seemed like a great place to start. Though I haven’t done anything of much significance in my time there thus far, it is exciting, and even rewarding, to be out in the field.
Anyway, that’s probably much more than you needed to know. But, I wanted to get familiar with you before I write in more depth about my experiences here. I vow to always be honest and forthcoming in my posts, and my hope is that, by the end of the semester, the stories of my time here will bless you wherever you may be on life’s path. Until next time…
-Ray Judy
Sunday, September 7, 2008
more internship goodness
here it goes...
Last week I had my first couple of days at the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council (GPLC). The branch of the GPLC that I will be interning for is the Families for Learning division located in Prospect Park outside of Pittsburgh. In the family literacy program, children develop language and literacy skills with the support of their parents or primary caregivers, who also have the opportunity to improve their own skills. This program includes the following four elements: adult education, parent education, intergenerational literacy activities, and early childhood education. This program can literally lift families out of poverty. What is especially exciting about this location is that it specializes in serving refugee and immigrant families who come into the Pittsburgh area.
Being the lowly intern that I am, I will have an array of responsibilities that include, but are not limited to:
- Providing Early Childhood Education to refugee children participating in the ESL program.
- Planning and instructing Interactive Literacy Activities during the Family Literacy Classes.
- Providing one-on-one tutoring to adults or school age children who are ESL students.
- Assisting in developing and maintaining collaborations in the community.
- Developing and instructing theme based managed enrollment mini classes to ESL adults.
- Participating in relevant professional development trainings.
So far I have only had a limited exposure to the site, but I am looking forward to the challenges and experiences that lie ahead...
Last week I had my first couple of days at the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council (GPLC). The branch of the GPLC that I will be interning for is the Families for Learning division located in Prospect Park outside of Pittsburgh. In the family literacy program, children develop language and literacy skills with the support of their parents or primary caregivers, who also have the opportunity to improve their own skills. This program includes the following four elements: adult education, parent education, intergenerational literacy activities, and early childhood education. This program can literally lift families out of poverty. What is especially exciting about this location is that it specializes in serving refugee and immigrant families who come into the Pittsburgh area.
Being the lowly intern that I am, I will have an array of responsibilities that include, but are not limited to:
- Providing Early Childhood Education to refugee children participating in the ESL program.
- Planning and instructing Interactive Literacy Activities during the Family Literacy Classes.
- Providing one-on-one tutoring to adults or school age children who are ESL students.
- Assisting in developing and maintaining collaborations in the community.
- Developing and instructing theme based managed enrollment mini classes to ESL adults.
- Participating in relevant professional development trainings.
So far I have only had a limited exposure to the site, but I am looking forward to the challenges and experiences that lie ahead...
Internship Goodness
Last week was another new one. We had our first day at our internships on Wednesday and our second day on Friday. I am interning with East Liberty Development Inc. (ELDI) on the east side. East Liberty does a lot of bricks and morter type development for their community. I have two supervisors, Emily and Nate. Both of them are really relaxed and care a lot about what they do. The other neat part is that they are just a few years older than me.
Right now my biggest responsibility is to finish up whatever their old intern, David, didn't. So my biggest task is to continue the cigarette butt campaign that he started. This includes getting people to agree to empty cigarette butt recepticles near their businesses. I also need to install the cigarette butt dispensers and do a couple scans after they are installed to see how many butts were not put in the recepticle. I am also doing some normal intern stuff like getting a bunch of addresses for mailing out the annual reports.
So far I am feeling very optimistic about the internship. I am excited to get involved in what East Liberty is doing in their community, as it is very visible via the buildings and projects they have already completed. They also have a lot of exciting plans for the future, and ELDI is in a very exciting growth period.
-Emily
Right now my biggest responsibility is to finish up whatever their old intern, David, didn't. So my biggest task is to continue the cigarette butt campaign that he started. This includes getting people to agree to empty cigarette butt recepticles near their businesses. I also need to install the cigarette butt dispensers and do a couple scans after they are installed to see how many butts were not put in the recepticle. I am also doing some normal intern stuff like getting a bunch of addresses for mailing out the annual reports.
So far I am feeling very optimistic about the internship. I am excited to get involved in what East Liberty is doing in their community, as it is very visible via the buildings and projects they have already completed. They also have a lot of exciting plans for the future, and ELDI is in a very exciting growth period.
-Emily
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