Immigration Clinic in Half Moon Bay

Thursday 12/4

Myself and two other girls from Notre Dame drove down to an Immigration Clinic in Half Moon Bay in the same location as Table of Plenty. As soon as we got there we were immediately split up between different tables and sat down with a lawyer. As I sat to wait for the people we were going to be working with I spoke to the lawyer I was first assigned with. I learned that all the lawyers that were there were all volunteers and were not immigration lawyers. It was interesting that even older people go out and volunteer.
The purpose of the immigration clinic was for undocumented locals to apply and reapply for their DACA application for legal residence here in the United States. The first person I worked was named Irma and I didn't really have to translate because she had been living in Half Moon Bay for years so she spoke good english. I felt like I did more work in the second appointment. I worked with a different lawyer and actually needed to translate. It was a good experience because I heard first hand peoples journey to get to the United States. It was interesting to see how many times people tried before they got to the United States.
What we talked about I can specifically say because the instructions were that we had to keep their information confidential. But I enjoyed translating because I learned a lot and got to practice my spanish. It made me realize what people go through and made me appreciate life and that I have my whole family together because a lot of people leave their families behind.
I was a little upset though because I wasn't able to attend the Table of Plenty like I thought I would. I spoke to Jim earlier in the immigration clinic and I mentioned to him that I was going to leave soon because I wanted and needed to be a part of Table of Plenty. But he mentioned to me that the clinic needed help and that I should just stay and that our professor would understand. I stayed for the entire clinic and they were extremely thankful for our help. After the clinic I ran over to table of plenty but I was too late. I walked in while they were cleaning up. But I definitely plan to do Table of Plenty next Semester.

Back to Kindergarden Oct.28

On October 28th,

My friends and I attended the event called Back to Kindergarden in the Sky Lounge in New Hall. The reason we decided to go was because the name sounded interesting. I was curious to see what would we would do that will remind us of going back to kindergarden. Walking in I was shocked to see how little amount of people showed up. It was all upperclassmen, which were the ones who put on the event. Not a lot of people showed up overall.
The event was to make lanyard keychains. It was really hard because it had been soo long since I had made them. But once I got into it, I was able to make many. Overall it was fun, they had little snacks for us to eat while we were there and we got to know some of the RA's and their friends. We spoke on how to become RA's in the future as well as becoming more involved in Student Leadership. It was a small event but it allowed me to reach out to upperclassmen. It also made me realize that a lot of events that are posted around campus take a lot of time and money to put the event together. When people don't show up, its kind of a waste because they are fun. It made me feel like I should make an effort to attend some more events if I have the time.

Backpacking Trip Reflection

Black Mountain Trip

Starting off the trip, I honestly was not excited about going. But I kept a optimistic mindset because if I kept it in my head that I did not want to be there I knew I wasn't going to enjoy my time. The ride there wasn't that bad. I was just tired from staying up late the night before so I took a nap in the van. 

Once we arrived there, the first thing I felt was the heat. I knew this hike was going to be rough. I have never been backpacking til this day and I didn't feel prepared. The start of the walk was not bad because it was a flat and downhill walk. Once we got to going uphill, I didn't think I could do it. I felt all the weight of my backpack and complained to myself that I shouldn't have packed so many things. I really did not have a lot in my backpack but it felt so heavy. It was extremely hot and I did not focus on anything else but my breathing. All I thought was, "We're almost there." 

When we arrived to the site I was relieved. I had made it alive. We started to unpack our backpacks and  go to building our tents. It was my first tent that I had put up on my own. My parents usually do it when we go camping. When all our classmates we took a break and then walked to watch the sunset. The sunset made the whole journey up there worth it. It was silent and all you could hear was the wind blowing. I thought it was funny how close the deer were to us and how they would walk around us like we didn't see them. At night, I was really excited for bed. I was tired but was not able to sleep. All I could hear at night was the crickets. I would look and see how the stars lit up the sky. It made me actually see the stars. 

The trip back to the car was a lot faster and easier and I was so happy. Overall the trip was good. I do feel like getting to the camp site was hard. And I felt like our class should have done some type of hiking trip before hand to prepare our bodies. 

Backpacking Gear

This is what I have on campus, not including my clothes.

Tucker, Journey Chps. 8-11 Reflection

Tucker, Journey Chps. 8-11 Reflection
Origins from five to seven million years ago from Africa shows traces of human life that we have genetic roots with apes that have spread throughout countries. These species evolved to walk on two feet like we do, to be able to survive and move around. Then their brain sizes started changing, the bigger it got the smarter it got. The size of a grapefruit is really small but that size allowed them to make stone tools. The bigger their brains got the smarter and more skilled they became. It reminds me of something I read a long time ago that the smaller an animals brain is the more they sleep. For Example, cats are small animals therefore they have very small brains, my cats sleep soo much, its crazy. But I feel like if they had bigger brains like a wildcat or a tiger they would have more skills and be more active throughout the day. 
The things that make us humans are three main things, bipedalism, increased brain size and behavioral flexibility. I didn't really understand the symbolic consciousness section but that is what allows us to be creative and show our imaginations. The book uses DNA as a way of describing how cultures were passed DNA but in the sense of paintings. Knowledge was passed down through written generations for survival. This knowledge has now spread throughout Earth. Because our ancestors from Africa had many survival tools and knowledge they were able to quickly adapt to different environments which made it is easier to travel across lands and survive. Agricultural civilizations grew because humans began to interact and learn from river valley settlements. 
Before our existence the land was very rich but now because of us the oceans, atmosphere and earths soil is damaged. Which I think is a main problem right now in our time. We have problems with global warming, pollution and more importantly right now a serious drought. I think the problem is that we take from the land more than what we need.

Tucker, Journey: Chp. 1-7 Reflection

Tucker, Journey: Chp. 1-7 Reflection

The writer definitely pulled me in with the first couple of sentences, I was really trying imagine deeply experiencing earth's beauty. I was kind of mind-blown when it said that everything around us is it's own universe, even us human beings. I found it interesting and kind of scary that every universe has a beginning, middle and end. It makes sense because eventually things end. But it makes me wonder what the end of our universe will look and feel like. The universe and the functions of part bodies are kind of a like. They both have two parts that contract to make a whole. In the sense of our bodies our heart and lungs expand and contract, which they said is how the whole universe works to. These first chapters is pretty crazy and all connect in a way. It talks about a lot of different things that was needed form and put together a universe. 

From what I've read I'm understand that we are basically like stars. In a universe there are galaxies and within those galaxies there are a bunch of stars. And since our world is considered a universe, then our countries are like galaxies, must mean that we, humans are like stars because we live among these countries. I also believe galaxies clusters are like the different cultures we have because we all have a different meaning of where the center of our universe is. Different religions and cultures believe the center of the universe is different base on what they worship and believe in.

I also found the section on stars very interesting. I never knew how stars were made and I didn't know that stars could die. What I learned from these chapters is that everything in the universe somehow connects, whether it's the galaxies and stars or the solar system, they all are connected.