"A terrible thing to Waste"

The lack of entries on my blog this past week does not in any way indicate my state of mind; on the contrary, I've been using my brain cells in all sorts of ways...Spent a day having orientation at the university. The information was useful and cleared up the confusion many of us had. Figuring out prereqs, GEs, etc. It's a really huge school so you need to know what you're doing to navigate your way around successfully. I've gone to small schools most of my life. The cafe food is good! There are several cafes with different types of food. I have eaten all kinds of things in the various schools I've attended: from hard nyoyo and strongi, to veggie burgers and scrambled tofu.

And my summer class is still going on. We met on Wednesday to have our customary discussions, lecture, and group time. Still haven't written my paper (which is 40% of the final grade)--can anyone say procrastinator out loud please? The good news is now I have a topic and some material I got from the public library. Also discovered I can access the library that belongs to a grad school in my 'hood so I'll be making a run there soon. Talking of public libraries, that's one of the impressive things about this country--they're free, resourceful, and accesible. Used to go check my mail there before I owned a computer.

Being a Mac fan, one of my objects of desire is one of the new laptops. I'll be taking advantage of my student discount for sure. Also want to join some professional organizations and museums coz they have deals for students. I was recently at a museum and was on a floor viewing pictures of black American freedom fighters and leaders--many I didn't recognize. There was a lady giving some teenage kids a tour so I stuck around to listen to the speech. Then it hit me how much I don't know about the history of black America. After Black History Month is over, the story of past and present struggles disappear into the background. The only book I own on the topic is "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" There are so many judgements we make on groups of people without looking at where they're coming from. I hate it when people do it to me, so I need to make an effort not to guilty of the same. Got to learn more history and expand my thinking, in the words of the United Negro College Fund, " A mind is a terrible thing to waste."