A Male Advocate for Women's Rights

      Today, in one of my favorite classes, Sociology of Human Reproduction, we had the pleasure of one of the greatest guest speakers I have heard. (It could be that earlier in the week I experienced on of the worst.)
     Mohammad Naeem is, as I've experienced and read in my life, a rarity. Not quite a unicorn. Perhaps a narwhal- we know they exist, but who sees them?
      He is an advocate for Women's Rights. He gives talks to world leaders about Women's Rights issues and gender equity. He is a 2013 graduate of Stony Brook University. He is a male. 
      Lately in the class, we have been discussing more about the male role in reproduction. Men and abortion, men and birth or pregnancy, men and gender equity. Where is the male voice?
In some of the studies we discussed, the majority of men felt like they had no voice or place politically or otherwise in abortion or the birth process. More importantly they really hadn't thought about abortion or pregnancy much before their situation now.
      An interesting study in Sweden, which consisted of older men, were the men actually had thought about it. They had found a voice. A place.
     Mohammed came to this path because of this class, yes, but also his mother. She was a victim of gender based violence. He felt powerless as an 8 year old, watching his mother be hurt by his father. He served as her council in trial at the age of 18 against his father.
He believes that women in these places, a widowed mother of six, women living on mere dollars a day, victims of violence, they don't need a handout that many try to give. He said they need hope. The oppression they have gone through have diminished their own hopes, desires, and dreams. They need them back.
      He encouraged his mom to get economic independence. She is now a chef to the Afghan ambassador at the UN here.
     Many men and women, if they have not been victims themselves know a victim of this violence. I know a few, one woman in particular I think of. I won't say her name, but her strength and optimism is inspiring. She is one of the few people I admire.

So why is it that we seem to overwhelmingly hear from the women?

Why is it that men aren't well represented in Women's Rights, gender equity, reproduction, and abortion?

I hope that the men in my life would have something to say on these issues and topics. If they don't, then they should start thinking about it. Even if it doesn't feel like you have a place, make yourself a place.
Mohammad Naeem said a very striking statement. He said "All silence, in any form, is disempowering." 
It's disempowering to everyone. Even yourself.

No Posts For March?

Whoops. 
I'm trying to be good. I swear. 
I have a lot of good ideas for this blog. Lots of big things on the horizon.
Well, really just the one pertaining to the blog. The rest are for me.
Recently, whilst the Alaska Bear was with me and the roomie in the city, he bought me a cookbook (possibly my favorite type of book) at the Strand Bookstore, otherwise known as a heaven on earth.
This cookbook is called International Night, it's a collaboration between Mark Kurlansky and his daughter, Talia. Once a week for 52 weeks, Talia would randomly point to a place on a spinning globe. Wherever her finger landed is what the theme for the night would be. From Sweden to Niger to Hawaii.
Not only do I plan to follow their adventure from the book beginning this summer 2015 til the summer of 2016, for each country I'll continue the creativity by creating a 'dream vacation' for the place.
I'm hoping it will inspire me to take one of these trips (or all of them) as well as cook some new and exciting foods.

              It feels nice to have a new and exciting project in the future, school has been keeping me busy and it seems as I get more comfortable here I take on more responsibilities. I have now moved from staff writer at the Stony Brook Independent to Copy Editor. Exciting and more work. But I enjoy it.
              Sometimes, I'm not convinced I need to be here for a journalism education, mostly because I'm sure that you need one to be a journalist, though it is nice to have. But then I remind myself: I'm not really here for that. I'm here for the opportunities. I'm here for experience. That is what will help me.
             At the end of the day, Stony Brook and the Island are just stepping stones, making my path easier. It will be me who creates a life and a career for myself by simply being myself and finding my niches. Finding what makes me unique and using that to create and do good work.

Alaska remains as ever not in the least a stepping stone but rather a strong bow that shot me here. I'm forever grateful for being an Alaskan.

Busy Beats Bored

This semester is chugging along. This is both good and bad.
Good that it's going by so quickly. Already the birthday weekend with my roomie in the City is upon us and soon the visit from the Alaskan Bear will be here! (I'm just a tad excited)
Bad because it feels like I'm falling over my feet, attempting to squeeze every task in just in the nick of time. Clamoring as gracefully as I can to stand on my feet and breathe as I'm normally gasping for air, drowning in homework, responsibilities, articles, news, exams, practice, and a sea of social events.
Hopefully spring break will be a temporary life vest. 
Despite these tremulous feelings, I'm actually feeling quite successful in my writing for class and for The Stony Brook Independent. It's all going swimmingly.
My hope is to drag myself ahead and on top of the game, but does this ever really happen in the life of a student?
Maybe a student who always does assignments way before they are due or one without other responsibilities. Maybe one who doesn't do anything at all.
But for me, I always work better under pressure. I like having deadlines. Do I usually work to the wire in a frenzy caffeine induced terror- yes. Does it produce good work? Generally. Typically not with studying for exams, but with writing, this is very much the case.
Procrastination is key.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm pretty sure I have a quiz tomorrow to study for. And an exam on Wednesday.

Valentine's Day: A defense

Today is not a day for one who is "single" to lament on their relationship status. It is not meant as salt in the wound. More important, it is not meaningless. 
It is a day to celebrate love and affection for all. NOT just romantic love, but the love you have for others.
This is the day of the Feast of St. Valentine and here is some "history" that might get your head out of where ever it may be:

In legend that appeared in 1493, St. Valentine of Rome was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers forbidden to marry and for ministering for persecuted Christians. It is said that he healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius, of blindness. A more fantastical ending to this story is that before his execution he wrote a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a final goodbye.

Geoffrey Chaucer and the High Middle Ages are among the first to associate the day with romantic love, expressed by flowers, candy, and cards called Valentines. St. Valentine's keys can be given as an invitation to unlock the giver's heart or to small children to ward off St.Valentine's malady, epilepsy.

Remember this is LEGEND and in any sort, it is where the modern day holiday evolved from. 

Stop feeling sorry for yourself and hating a day of love. Who cares if you don't have a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, partner, friends with benefits, or what have you to be disgustingly mushy with! Love yourself, be happy with friends, and literally treat it like any other day- maybe with a little more chocolate.

Back to the Island, Followed by Alaska.

Update on the "Blizzard": It seems Alaska is following me. Or the Island is trying to make me feel at home.
Storm Juno (any relations to Juneau?) gave us a couple feet of snow, but I left my mukluks at home- just my luk...I promise I'll try to do better with puns.

My resolutions are getting a slow start. I got so sucked in to my return to the home of my heart that I forgot to keep up on the things I started in my school life. The resolutions are underway, I assure you. You're even reading progress on one of them right now.

On my mind lately, possibly due to the tedious hours traveling across the US and back, is this weird time in life; It's as if I have two lives. Some how, some where, do they meld into one?

I have my life here on the Island. Where I go to school, have friends, (will have) a job, and am looking for apartments/abodes off campus. It's where I shop, do chores, have brunch with my lovely roommate, and explore new places.
Then I have my life in Alaska. It's the place I grew up, where I have my supportive family, loving boyfriend, my extended family of friends, and my beautiful dog, Izzy. There's a lot more than just memories there. It's where I laugh and explore. I do all the things I do in Long Island, but with a different scenery and different people. It's a familiar and friendly life. It's the one I miss and I'll always miss. But it's the one I will visit.
As my studies progress and I settle my sights on short term goals, long term goals, and apartments the impending meld or disintegration of my current multiple lives becomes a monster in my closet. I don't want to look at it, but I know it's there.
A logical pat of my brain (it's there, somewhere) tells me if I were to look, it won't be that bad. I'll always be Alaskan and it will always be a place I call home. But there are opportunities out there, some far away from Alaska, that shouldn't be missed because I'm too scared to leave.

A month goes by fast

Way faster than I anticipated. Blogging is harder work than I thought.
I have my last final at 8 AM tomorrow morning and will be returning home shortly for month.
I'm looking forward to seeing my family, my boyfriend, and my friends; I've missed them all so much. I've missed the food (especially the Thai food), the snow, and what is quite possibly one of the only remaining Blockbusters in the US. I'll miss my wonderful roommate and my friends here, but I'll see them in about a month, give or take.
I've already started thinking about my New Years Resolutions. First on the list (as always) KEEP the resolutions going beyond January 3rd. This is the most challenging by far.
Then the list is beginning as followed:

• Keep in better contact with my friends thousands of miles away and my family. I've done alright, but I'd like to do better.
• Blog more! I'd like to evolve it and make it more enticing. But really the goal is just MORE.
• Form a workout habit. (They say this takes three weeks? Four weeks? I'm not sure. I'll let you know.)
• Get involved with another organization on campus. 

And it is continuing to grow. I hope everyone is already dreaming up their resolutions. Why wait for the New Year? We still have the rest of December 2014 to light a new fire underneath us. 

Getting Back To Normal

After an unintentional few weeks hiatus from blog posting, here are some brief updates on life as a student on The Island: 

 (note these are not in chronological order, but in the order my head groups them in)

• Trip to ProPublica and New York Daily News was an amazing success. I heard thoughts on the future of Journalism from Editor-in-Chief of ProPublica, Stephen Engelberg. At NY Daily, I picked up some tips on what it takes to get hired.
• I went on another trip the next weekend, this time I visited CBS and Al Jazeera America. Sat in the 60 minute screening room talking to executive producer, Jeffery Fager, and toured CBS studios and control room. At Al Jazeera America, which is only about a year old, we met with Marcy McGinnis, Senior Vice President of newsgathering and former professor at SBU. A very successful and informative trip, I'll be writing a blog post about the Professional Friday experience.
• After that trip, I stayed in the city WITH a friend. We were going to go to free night at MoMA, however the line went down multiple blocks and around the corner. Proving my economics teacher was right- nothing is ever truly "free". (Again, another post will be all about the hilarious time I had in the city.)
• Halloween came and I partied as Fire Bird at a small get together. Did some salsa. A successful night. 
• Got the Tinder App for fun- after pressure from the roommate. Though I'm not single, it's proved to be a fun experiment, maybe I'll write a news piece on it. 
• Been attempting to go to Toast again for the past two weekends...this weekend we WILL be successful!

As to why I haven't posted in a while: School has been busy, as the semester comes to a close, everything seems to pile up. It's at that time in the semester where everyone needs a break. I'm hoping after this next week is over, I won't feel that way. Next week there are two group project due and a test, so it won't be a stroll in the park. 
Will post soon- thank you to any one who reads this.