Shake the World

I have been here in India for one month.  There have been many highs during this time coupled with a few lows as well.  My health was impeccable for the first three weeks and then I fell very ill.  I woke up one sunny Friday with a high fever that kept me bedridden for nearly 48 hours.  I cannot remember a time where I had been so sick that I could not even read or watch Netflix but that is just how sick I was.  A few days after my fever broke my leg muscles were so cramped that I could barely walk, a rare and very uncomfortable secondary symptom of a high fever.  The real kicker came when I woke up and discovered that my hands and arms were covered in a red rash that left my hands and feet with a strange tingling sensation.  At that point, I was told that I needed to go to the hospital to ensure that it was nothing serious.  This was both overwhelming and reassuring.  I knew that I would get the care I need but the thought that it might be s...

Privilege.  It can be contorted into such a dirty word.  If anyone dares to point out our privilege, we are immediately put on the defensive.  I have to admit, I have been one of those people who would be highly offended if someone were to call me privileged.  This has slowly been shifting though, as I have chosen to change the lens at which I look at privilege through. I have been granted many privileges in my life.  The cornerstone of this privilege is that I do not need to think about my privilege unless I choose to do so. There have been times I have felt undeserving about the privileges I have received as I have not earned them.  Instead of feeling bad about my privilege, I can acknowledge it, and use it to support those who have not seen the same privileges. Last week we hosted nearly 100 journalism students on campus.  They toured the campus, observed classes, and asked poignant questions during a Q & A session.  At one point,...

I have been in India now for 4 days.  After a long and emotional journey, I touched down in Bangalore at 2:30 in the morning.  I nervously walked through immigration and grasped onto my passport as sleepily I went through security to make my official entry into India.  There's no way to describe how I felt walking through the airport to baggage claim then out into the city with no WiFi, but I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw a driver waiting for me, the first person who greeted me in this country.  Despite my zombie state, I was wide awake the whole 2-hour drive to my final destination, in awe of what little I could see of this country from the backseat of the car.  To summarize, I saw construction lights that hung to illuminate people's homes, roadside shrines to various Hindu gods, chai waalers setting up their stands, and about 30 stray dogs along the way. Embracing the forced opportunity to observe the breeze... I am settling in well.  ...

Simple words that hold big meaning.  Mahatma Gandhi's words have echoed through the decades and inspired leaders and citizens to strive for peace in times where there was little to be found.  While I am no world leader or tenacious activist, I have drawn upon Gandhi's words as one source of encouragement as I move on to the next chapter in my life's adventure.   Tomorrow I will begin the long journey to a "Haven of Peace" at the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project in Bangalore, India.  It is here that I will experience India for the first time, a journey I have been yearning to take since I was a young girl.  It is here that I will experience what it is like to live with just the essentials.  It is here that I will test out how many days I can get away with using dry shampoo, even though I think I have already mastered that skill.  It is here that I will face challenges I have yet to concoct in my mind, and I have an active imagination....