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.
My final week of training wrapped up well and dedicated a lot of time preparing for the start of the Summer Institute. While my initial meeting with fellow Nashers was fun, the Fourth of July weekend has left me in suspense for what the program truly had in store. I stayed out all night, slept all day and woke up with enough time to head out late afternoon to explore.
My roommate and I went for a walk to Central Park. Since we had only covered the south end up to 90th Avenue, we continued venturing farther. We then came across one of the “Sing for Hope” campaign pianos at a park plaza.
Central Park was incredibly nice though the Stay Off the Grass signs were mostly ignored and we were often hassled into taking a bike tour. We came across small-time park magicians, local musicians and professional roller-bladers. Really New York-like; it was like all the things I’ve seen in movies and heard of in pop culture about this city. We also saw two of every city emergency vehicle arriving on the scene when a kid got hurt at the playground. Eventually I’ll walk through the entire park, visit the zoos and dedicate a weekend to the arts for museum visits.
Overall, this experience just got even better now that I have the opportunity to work with the other young women. I feel blessed.
The first day of the Summer Institute was amazing. There are third year, second year and first year Nashers who I am very excited to get to know the next six weeks. Though the day felt long, it was amazing to see many of the young women embracing the space. The conversations and challenges they will make for themselves and their communities are nowhere near what I was learning until I reached college.
The courses I’m sitting in on are also coming along well. Though this week was just an introduction to the program, the young women have certainly set the tone for their expectations for the courses. Tomorrow is our Healing Retreat at Princeton University and I’m very excited to see how things go.
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.
