Kirstyne “Kirie” Lange has been selected as an intern for the Sadie Nash Leadership Project (SNLP) in New York this summer. For the next nine weeks, she will be blogging for The Campanil about her experience.
Having been in New York for almost a week and a half, I have noticed how easily it is to assimilate into the culture here. Fast walking, crowded trains and enjoying a nice slice of pizza seem so normal.
I also understand some of the slang now:
- “Feel some type of way” would mean “feelings towards something or someone”
“Mad” means “hella” (popular in the Bay Area) which translates into “a lot”
“Tight” means “mad/angry” and “YO!”
From observation, shouting “Yo, I’m mad tight right now!” simultaneously with a hand clap is a clear expression of extreme anger. While I refuse to use “yo,” I have caught myself saying the words “mad” and “hella” interchangeably.
The first week of dean training wrapped up well. By Friday, I had to start dragging myself out of bed even though I was extremely tired after the first week. We broke down our own emotional barriers to understand that there is greater depth to youth work and by role playing, we were prepared for things that have and will come up with Nashers this summer.
My first weekend in the City was AMAZING! Had a small gathering on Friday with a few of the deans and it was nice to get to know a little more about everyone. On Saturday, I headed out to Elizabeth, New Jersey to visit a friend that I had met when I came to New York in Summer 2007 for the Youth About Business Program. On Sunday, my roommate participated in a show at Le Poisson Rouge in the East Village. It was a great spoken word and musical compilation called The Striver’s Row Presented: The Deans List 2 that provided nice exposure to the spoken word community in NYC.
This second week has started off well and we received our dean groups. I have 8 Nashers that I’ll get the chance to meet with three times a week. During those days, I’m responsible for creating 18 sessions of 45 minutes long activities I’ll need to plan for the duration of their 6 week program. The courses I’ll get to sit in on are “Image as Power: Women and Girls in the Media” and “Protest, Protect & Poetry: Feminist of Color Politics.” Both courses will be great and I will of course share more about them later on.
The additional benefit to this week is getting technical work done, drumming up ideas for 90 minute workshops and fun dean group activities. To anyone who has suggestions or great topics of interest, please share!
The space that I am sharing with these amazing women has made training a remarkable experience and has allowed me to grow, open and begin a transformation that will continuously evolve as the weeks progress over the course of the summer.
To keep up with Kirstyne, you can follow her on Twitter @QweenKirie.
Read more of her related posts here.
If you’re a member of the Mills community who’s interested in blogging about your summer adventures, contact miu@thecampanil.com for more info.
