VEISHEA Service Day

            Just last Saturday a group of us had the opportunity to participate in a VEISHEA service day project. All across campus and in the Ames community students and facility were doing their part to make a difference.  In case you aren’t familiar with VEISHEA, it is an annual celebration held each spring here at Iowa State.  It is meant as a showcase of ISU and the community and happens to be one of our oldest traditions.  One of the many activities that take place during the weeklong celebration is the service day.  Our group signed up for the Project Linus blanket making initiative.

            Almost a dozen of us Hixson scholars spent the morning at the Ames public library where they had piles of fleece fabric and a box of scissors. After a short awhile there were probably close to forty or fifty people working together in small groups to make tie fleece blankets.  The coolest part about this service project knowing that the blankets we were making were going to children who may have suffered a traumatic experience.

            I thought it was amazing to have so many people all across the Ames community taking time out of their day to try and make a difference.  I couldn’t help but smile all day while getting to spend time with good friends and even making new ones.  I encourage everyone to take advantages of opportunities like these, it is not something you will regret.

~Easten

Fun fact: VEISHEA was name in 1922 by a professor. It is actually an acronym for the colleges at the time.

Veterinary Medicine

Engineering

Industrial Science

Home Economics

Agriculture

Strategies for Success

            When I had the opportunity to visit my high school and speak to a couple classes about the Hixson Program they was one thing I stressed most; how ready I wasn’t for college academia. I thought I was going to be able to float through college courses just like I did in high school.  I believe this is a common mindset that can be damaging to a college career.

            Too many students have to retake a remedial course or are forced to drop out and even miss out on attaining a degree. They tell us there are three major factors influencing student success; Ability, Personal, and Circumstance.  They have group together the individual factors that contribute to student success.

            Socio-economic status, family situation, and geographic location are factors that are grouped under circumstance.   These are condition that we must live within and where we have come from. This includes everything from ethnicity and family background to even having a job in order to support a family while getting an education.  These are factors we have little or no control over but have a significant role in influencing our experiences.  These factors often influence our time and energy, both of which are important for college success.

            Placement test scores, ACT/SAT, and high school records are listed as ability factors and noted as being previously attained.  What is important about these is the difficulty required to change these once they have been determined.  We cannot go back and improve our high school records and placement test can only be taken so many times. These factors can play a significant role in our futures.

            Self-perception, attitudes, problem solving, values, and behaviors are all under the category of personal factors. This is by far the most controllable of the three factors.  We have the ability to motivate ourselves to maintain confidence and practice critical thinking.   I believe these factors included under personal can make up for almost all of the other factors.

~Easten

The ISCORE Experience

            On Friday March 2 I attended a couple of the sessions offered at the Iowa State Conference on Race & Ethnicity located in the Memorial Union.  I thought it was a great experience and forced me out of my comfort zone a little.  I had the opportunity to hear about teaching rationalization, listen to a inspiring keynote speaker, and even participate in a workshop facilitated by a fellow Hixson.

            “Teaching Rationalization Critically: A Course on Constructing Race and Ethnicity” was presented by Michael Benitez.  This was the first session I was able to attend and it was not exactly what I was expecting.  I wasn’t sure if it was suppose to be directed to persons interested in HOW to teach about this topic or it is was more of a informational/promotional presentation about the UST 321x course.  Michael dove into what type of things he does in his course to have the most benefit to his students.  I thought the strategies he was using made of a lot of sense but seemed like they would be difficult to implement on a small scale as a peer mentor.

            Next was the lunch and the keynote speaker; Grace Aiko Obata Amemiya.  Lunch was interesting and involved things like vegan wraps with peanut sauce and vegetarian stir fry looking vegetables.  They also had Thai tea, rice pudding, and fried bananas!  It was pretty good and I couldn’t argue with the price.  Grace was born in California in the 1920’s and was a college student studying nursing when Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7^th, 1941.  Being of Japanese decent, Grace and her family we moved into internment camps.   Although her family and Grace herself endured many hardships for several years she stills feels no bitterness toward the United States government.  Her message was meaningful and Grace herself is one to admire.

            The last session I attended was, “When Race Becomes More Complex: Giving Light to Racially Mixed People “Bill of Rights” and one of the presenters just happened to be a fellow Hixson; Thao Nguyen.  I was only able to attend the first part of the presentation but it was definitely getting more intense and I was sad to leave.  It was becoming more discussion based and relied less on people actually presenting.  It address some issues that we are all faced with and not always as aware of.

            Overall, great day and an excellent learning experience! Looking forward to spending more time at ISCORE next year.

~Easten