#604 words

6th of June

I had such a great day today! I feel like I’m finally getting a better idea of what I want to do after I leave university. Which is what I hoped to get out of this trip so I am very happy right now. We had two meetings today; first with John Mathers who works with the British Design Fund and then Safoora Biglari who works with a charity called One Young World. We met with John Mathers at the V&A Museum. This was very good as we got the chance to see one of their new exhibitions as well as (in our break between meetings) fo and see the other nearby museums. I enjoyed having the time to do this as it meant we got to see more of London’s well-known sights. When explaining his pathway to us John explained how his degree in law gave him good transferable skills but also made him realise he didn’t want to be a lawyer. The fact that he didn’t go straight into the job he is now was very reassuring. I find it really helpful to have it reinforced to us that we don’t need to know what we want to do right away. In this day and age someone will have multiple jobs and move sectors too. Whilst we were looking around “The Future Starts Here” Exhibition John came and chatted with each of us to give us specific advice. I thought this was very kind of him and useful as I was able to talk about his studying and MBA which I have considered. Later on, we met Safoora at One Young World. She also had a bit of a false start as she struggled to find a sponsor to allow her to live in the UK, she is originally from DC. She told us all about the work that she and the charity did and explained the different ways we could get involved. Leadership isn’t really something that I had thought about doing before, but the company sounds very interesting so meeting her has given me something else to think about. Unlike some other people we have talked to Safoora loves living in London. Her enthusiasm for the city really helped me to see the appeal and has only given me more confidence that I may want to work here for a couple of years in the future.

Positives V&A Starting to get a clearer idea on what I want to do

Challenges Making sure we didn’t get side-tracked by our activities during the break in order to make it on time for our next meeting (we did, but there was so much to see at the museums that it was a shame to leave).

Did I do anything for my goals? Networking – Both of the alumni we met today were so lovely (everyone has been really) and I plan to keep in touch with both of them as they were both so kind in offering their assistance for the future. Confidence – I’m definitely getting more confident and can see it in the way I’m starting to think about my future. Independence – I’m considering living here now after graduation in order to get work experience. The very fact that I’m thinking about living in a different country from my parents (even if they would be in Scotland) highlights to me that I am becoming more independent.

Sunlight had never felt more warm. Hector joined Altung and Lymsleia as they exited the cave and the warm rays of the midday sun piercing the trees seemed to wrap around him. He took a deep breath of the fresh air, but instead of giving him the refreshing feeling he expected, his emotions remained in turmoil.

Altung must have seen the pain in his eyes. “I’m sorry about your village, Kid. If we had been a bit sooner…”

On the anthropocentric to ecocentric spectrum, I would place myself somewhere between preservationism and ecological sensibility, but definitely closer to the latter. My family never really make a big deal of “green” practices, but my upbringing was still more environmentally friendly than some. We always reuse plastics like water bottles and grocery bags, and make sure to recycle, but there was other care for the natural world as well.

I was homeschooled until 7th grade and I spent a lot of my time at home outside. My mom is a childcare provider, and my house is the daycare center! I was always around other children, and of course they liked to play outside as well, so we had plenty of time to get dirty running around the backyard. My mom had two rose bushes growing and we always tried to keep the rest of the gardens looking nice as well. My mom was into flowers and I was into homegrown food, so we each had garden areas. We stayed busy keeping the grass away from the other plants, watering when needed, pruning, etc. We had a good mix of plants like mint, tomatoes, hot peppers, marigolds, lantana, and more! Our gardens relate to ecological sensibility because we are knowledgeable and respectful of the greenery, but still use it in a restrained manner, usually for food or just a pretty sight.

Being form Phoenix, time outside is limited depending on the temperature. Summer days were spent zooming across the slip-n-slide and watering what plants survived the heat. Spring and fall (not that Phoenix really gets all four seasons) are more bearable and if I wasn’t gardening, I was likely to be found in the sandbox. Our sandbox was really just a desolate patch at the end of our backyard. My mom had been trying to get grass to grow but between the lack of nutrition in the dirt and all the digging my my brother Nick and I did, there was no way anything would live so the excavation went on! Some of the holes we dug were big enough to fit in comfortably, which concerned my mom because she didn’t want one of the younger babysitting kids to walk over and fall in.

I was always barefoot, ALWAYS. The summer before starting 7th grade at a real school I literally had to practice wearing shoes. Before that I was always in the house or in the backyard so the only times I would wear shoes for more than an hour was at church or if i wanted to go grocery shopping with my parents. I would take my shoes off in the car and as soon as I got to my friends house so it was really life-altering to have to wear them for 7 hours at school, sometimes I even took them off in class. I had never been on any major outdoors trips, or even gone camping, until this past summer, but I still feel that I have a connection to the outdoors. Thanks to me and my mom, the house back in Phoenix now has several potted plants, always dried flowers, and if there is a special occasion, sometimes fresh flowers as well.

Not sure what to call this but its a bit more romantic than what I thought I’d end up writing.... 

Nicole raced down the path from her house, tears streaming down her face. Her father was done waiting for her to finishing grieving and has signed a marriage contract between her and the Duke of Walton. She could not believe her ears when he had told her.