Orientation

Orientation for ELMAC was today. It was insightful and there was a lot of good advice from former students. A few funny quotes:

"Now, you can take a break in between classes and walk to the B-School, right across the street. You can see very clearly how society values business over education. (laughter) while you see business school students working out on the ellipticals in between classes. But we can take advantage too! The coffee shop there is relatively inexpensive and close by." - Cathy Reischl

About half of the people in the program are married with kids, some married, and a few just out of college like me. It's an interesting dynamic, and I'm excited to see how this will play out in the classroom. I've always loved being with people from different walks of life, so this will be really cool!

Reading a book called "Other People's Words: The Cycle of Low Literacy" by Victoria Purcell-Gates. It's a wonderful eye-opener to the world of the urban Appalachian people (I felt so ignorant when I started reading... I didn't know there was actually a group of people like this in the US). It documents the journey of a mother and her 7 year old son on the path of literacy - both of them could not read anything besides their own names at the beginning of the book. It's amazing to see their progress, but also very disappointing to see how society has failed them and written them off as "failures" before they even begin.

More on the book later!