#ha282

I recently attended the viewing of, “The Hunting Ground” at my hometown high school. I thought that this viewing would be relevant to the course and my research paper due to the fact that we are all women on a college campus.

The documentary shocked me in so many ways. As I was watching I would catch myself with my mouth wide open because I was dumbfounded at the statistics and how common rape is on college campuses. The part of the documentary that frustrated me the most was the fact that colleges try to cover up the incident, tell the victim that they will handle it, but nothing actually happens. A man who raped a woman ended up making it to the NFL because he was a football player and valuable to the college.

The fact that colleges care more about the statistics, enrollment and crime rate more than their own students is what frustrates me the most. Unfortunately, this is the reality on many college campuses all over The United States.

Today’s plenary was not what I expected it to be at all. I am not a STEM major, so I automatically assumed I would not be interested in it at all. I expected a whole bunch of science talk, but it was not like that at all. 

My absolute favorite part of the plenary was when Bobbie mentioned the two questions that her father always asked her, “Is anyone hurt?” and “Can you keep doing it?” Those two questions stuck with me throughout the day, and I asked myself those questions and tried to answer them. 

Today, I had a criminology exam, and I don’t think I did as well as I had hoped, so I asked myself, “Is anyone hurt?” No, no one was hurt, and neither was I. I also asked myself, “Can I keep doing it?” and the answer was, “yes” because not doing well on one exam should not stop me from going after what I want to do with my life.

Sometimes, not having to plan everything out, and go by the book is not always a bad thing, I learned I should go after what I want to do, no matter what obstacles get in my way.

“Are you hurt?”

“Can you keep doing it?”

I found the plenary yesterday particularly interesting and engaging at the same time. For me, it was wonderful seeing three powerful and educated women talking about religion, sex and what was important to them.

What I found most interesting wasn’t as so much what they said. It was the fact that these three women, who have completely different backgrounds and education, were able to speak so highly of their religion and respect each others differences. In a time where there is so much debate and hate in the world, seeing and hearing them speak and laugh together gave me a little hope.

I appreciated the fact that they didn’t try and change our minds, or make us believe something. They gave us the facts. They gave us a little glimpse of their work, and understood that we are independent women and we don’t necessarily have to agree with what they say

I attended Caitlyn Kenney’s “Podcasting and Women” plenary yesterday morning. Caitlyn made so many points, and gave such sound words of advice, I thought I would share my thoughts on it.

First off, Caitlyn was so informative and in love with the topic she was talking about. It made me want to be that in love with what I do. As she would speak about podcasting, and even listen to some of her own podcasts, I couldn’t help but notice that she was smiling. That is what I want when I talk about my career. I want to be proud of what I do, and I also want to be knowledgable in what I do. Caitlyn may not have elaborated how much she truly does love her job, but I could notice it as she was speaking. Hopefully, I will have as much passion in my job as she does with hers.

Bangladesh. That topic and podcast spoke to me more than anything else. The fact that there were two sisters who lived completely different lives. One was married off at 14, and one was working and crushing on a guy. I think her giggle is what made everything okay. Yes, she has lived the toughest life, and I can’t even imagine being in her shoes. But, it made her who she is today. It made her strong, it may not have been the best way to do it, but this is her life. She isn’t sitting at home complaining about how tired or annoyed she is. She is out there working and being independent. When she started talking about the boy she had a crush on, it made everything seem...normal. It made her seem like a teenage girl who gets butterflies every time she sees the boy she likes. It was like nothing else mattered in the world, but those feelings, and that is beautiful to me. I felt that podcast was the best of all of them.

Caitlyn Kenney talked about a lot in that hour and twenty minutes she was here. I want to love what I do, but I also want to be humble while doing it. Life isn’t easy, it is going to be tough, but staying true within yourself is key.