Ninth Week-Term 1

Monday:

Today I attended my first official Rotary luncheon (District 1060). Terry Bond, my original contact whilst still overseas, was my acting host for the day. Might I say, a lovely group of people, indeed. We dined on soup, bread, sauce-covered delicacies, and jovial conversations. I had the unique privilege of being the only female at the table. The men, all seemingly long-time friends, threw jibes at one another and gave each a 'good ribbing'. I was well entertained.

The speaker was Paul Carvell, Chair of North Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce. He spoke of infrastructure, job prospects, the uniqueness of N. Warwickshire commerce, and the social aspect of their growth (or lack thereof, depending on your perspective). Very intriguing, I must say.

Mr. Carvell said something particularly interesting toward the end which resonated for days... still is, as a matter of fact. He speculated that if The Tube was a city planning proposal for London today, it would probably fail. A feature of London that is so ingrained in the minds of people, a truly wondrous transportation system, that it is near impossible to imagine the metropolis without. Yet, he speculated that, given the mentality of the people today, counter arguments of a fairly rational nature would kill the project in its infancy. "We already have good roads, plenty of cars, taxis, even a bus system. Why do we need to sink more money into a massive project that will tear up neighbourhoods and put people out?" Food for thought...

There were also plenty of attorneys at the table. This set my mind wondering and I became temporarily lost for pondering the traditional attorney tag, "You don't have to answer that." Why is it so important for an attorney to say such a thing? Perhaps it is because we standard, run of the mill humans have a compulsion to answer direct questioning. If so, why do we have such a compulsion? Is this, yet again, some throwback from our childhood? As children, we're [practically] punished if we don't answer a direct question from an adult. I can certainly pull up a number of instances from my own experience. We are taught it is the polite thing to do, after all. And let's not forget, politeness is the cornerstone of a healthy society... blah, blah, blah.

Tuesday:

I was treated to a movie today with two other lovely postgrads from my course. We saw Captain Phillips. Exposé on the movie. On my own, I had no desire to see this movie. I vividly remember the news coverage of this event. I remember the animalistic excitement of Americans replaying the Navy Seal actions against the Somalian pirates. I did not want to suffer another story of murder-turned-American pride. However, my curiosity was peaked after hearing the excited reviews from others. So I attended.

Tom Hanks was everything Tom Hanks is. We wished nothing, but the best for his character, because we did not see Captain Phillips, we saw Tom Hanks.... and we Americans adore Tom Hanks. Yes, I too, like to watch Tom Hanks on screen. So the hero factor was a certain.

But what about the bad guys? We hate Somalian pirates, right? I mean, we revelled in their deaths, after all, when the news came through the wires. 

Oh contraire, mon frère. The four unknowns cast as the pirates were magnificent on the big screen. The directing was superb on their parts. The close-ups and disquieted, piercing glares were all the more shocking on screen, and we loved them. We fell in love with our nemesis and found ourselves lamenting their deaths. We knew it was coming, but we hoped all the same. Their deaths created a shock that washed over the theatre. As can happen with a well told story, we saw the human in the monster, just before the final stroke.

Wednesday:

What is this? It is beautiful, but what is it?
Musicians' compulsion to play together. To bond over a shared language, but it's more than familiarity. It's an excitement. It's finding someone who also speaks your language, but has improved upon it. The Other wants to express those improvements, put it all out on the table. Then you come with your improvements. Spread them out for listening pleasure or pain. A mystery until experienced. The product of a musical cocktail, equal parts compulsion and desire, stirred with pride, and a twist of fear.

"Your language is different from mine."
                                          "It's called harmony."

I woke up today from a fully orchestrated dream. I composed another song while dreaming. Haven't done that in..... I don't know how many years.

Then I promptly fell asleep in another morning lecture. Such is life.

Thursday:

Footnotes from Postgraduate Land:

• "There's something positive to be said about low investment (education), small return (job)."
• "The guy in front of us has very impressive ear hair."
• "It's always about assumptions."
• "What we now have is a formula for murder."
• "Look at your suffering. Begin there."
• "discovery -> knowledge -> power -> control"
• "Psychology is mostly irrelevant. It's an academic parlour game."
• "If mechanism is rubbish, what about cyborg science?"
• "You ever commit a move so familiar you must take pause to revel in the sweet state of familiarity? You should."
• "I find long-slumbering players privately waking & quietly, insidiously sneaking out. I hope Crazy stays slumbering."

Friday & Saturday:

Decided to give everyone a treat and cook a (semi)traditional Thanksgiving dinner. It was well worth it.

Rotary Club of Southside Corpus Christi official send-off

Last Wednesday (9/11) I talked with the Rotary Club of Southside Corpus Christi, my sponsor club.

It was quite different from my talk to the Rotary Club of Corpus Christi the previous week. For one thing, my first talk was more a brief introduction to my year abroad. My second talk, however, was an in depth look (but not quite dissection) of my proposed work and the community of Coventry, UK.

I like that each club has a different ambiance, or atmosphere, or feel of the people, if you will. Attending different meetings seems to be an easy way to experience the variety within the membership.

After I talked to the Southside club about what I plan to accomplish this next year in Coventry, I was met with warm smiles, heart-felt wishes, invaluable advice, and an overwhelming feeling of support. Support for my academic desires, personal & professional pursuits. My mentor Dr. Miguel Moreno even attended. We were also interviewed by a local news station. I didn't catch our coverage later that evening, but I'm sure it was perfectly representative of our focus and purpose.

And now for the time I've been waiting for all year.... I finally get to be excited about my adventure!

Talking Heads and Firm Handshakes

The last Ambassadorial Scholar welcomes the first Global Grant Scholar

(RE-POST FROM September 6, 2013)

Today I gave my first Rotary talk. It was to the Rotary Club of Corpus Christi in my sponsor District 5930. This was a good event to make because I really got to see how Rotarians in my city like to do things. It wasn’t too terribly different from other luncheons I’ve been to, but then again, I’m one of those people that’s made a point of going to a lot of events & luncheons.

I find it funny that so many people feel the need to ask if I (or whoever is speaking) am nervous. I try to answer truthfully when asked, but I don’t know how many people actually believe me. The answer is usually, “Not anymore than usual.”

I’ve been public speaking since I was 11 years old. I was lucky enough to go to an unusual elementary school for 5th & 6th grade, in the Texas Hill Country. We were small and both classes were taught together with 2 teachers – maybe 20 students total. Our 6th grade teacher’s (Mr. G) philosophy on education involved hands-on learning. We had traditional classes during the day, of course. We also ran our own business, The Fifth And Sixth Grade Incorporated. We ran a snack shop after school and made our own games to sell.

For one class a week, maybe more, we would go to our work shop behind the school building, next to the playground, and build our games. One of our biggest sellers was the “Weather Rock”. The rock consisted of a Limestone rock hanging from a wire frame. We drilled a hole in each rock and built the frames (I think sometimes from discarded barbed wire, everyone had barbed wire lying around, and every kid knew how to handle it). Instructions came with the rock. I don’t remember them all, but things like
If the rock is wet, it is raining.
If you can’t see the rock, it is foggy.
If the rock is hot, it is sunny.

The humor of such a simple item from a pre-teen group of entrepreneurs was always well received.

In the 6th grade I was elected the snack shop manager. As an 11 year old, 6th grader, it was my duty to meet the Lance Snacks truck with the assistant manager (a 5th grader) for our weekly order. It was up to me to decide which snacks to sell in our shop and how much to price them. This means that at 11 years old I had to track our shop’s sales, know which items were doing well, which weren’t, and what the students (customers) were asking for. Then I had to determine how much each item cost from the distributor and determine a reasonable mark-up that would be sellable to the students, but still turn a good profit for our organization. You think I’m making this up? Not a chance. Mr. G was always there to help us through it, but he had a way of making us want to try it on our own. Every student had a job and we ran the organization like a democracy, every voice counted, and when need be, certain ideas were taken to a vote.

But what does this have to do with public speaking, you ask? In order to sell our products (and our organization) we traveled around to Rotary meetings, hospital fundraising events, town hall meetings, and the rest to talk about our organization. Sometimes we were there to donate money, sometimes to ask for money. Our public speaking training took place during occasional Social Studies classes or after school. We practiced “a firm hand shake”, eye contact, word emphasis, and the subtleties of linguistic turns.

It was the best education and I have been thankful ever since for Mr. G’s brilliance in education. Almost all of us went on to graduate in the top of our classes throughout high school and college.

The 5th & 6th Grade Incorporated

You know, I never heard of Mr. G winning an award or formal recognition. But he sure had the admiration of the community and his 20 years of students.

The Sun Sets On One Day And Rises On Another

(RE-POST FROM August 30, 2013)In two weeks I leave my home on the beaches of Gulf Coast Texas to pursue a life unknown in the country side of England. To be more precise, I’m continuing my academic pursuits at the University of Warwick in Coventry. I was offered a rare opportunity to expand my research in rational decision making with a team of fascinating people, in a newly developed discipline, nestled in a city of perplexing circumstances.

I developed this blog to share experiences and insight.

How did I get this opportunity?
Short Answer: Hard work, Little sleep, Lots of emails
Long Answer: I will let the Rotary members of District 5930 answer that.

“Megan is the first recipient of a Rotary Foundation Global Grant for District 5930, generously sponsored by the Rotary Club of Southside Corpus Christi and District 5930 with application assistance from PDG Marilyn Spencer and District Scholarship Sub-Committee Chair Tiffany Hull. The Rotary Foundation Global Grant will fund Megan’s 2013-2014 year abroad to attend graduate school at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England and earn a Master of Science degree in Behavioral Economics. She will be hosted by District 1070, located in the East Midlands of England. Part of Megan’s tenure will include conducting a unique investigation into the employment disparities in Coventry. Initial measures show some populations suffering higher unemployment rates than others, in particular young, degreed college graduates. Findings from this research have the potential to improve employment placements in other cities, as well as for other habitually under-employed populations: the disabled and elderly, for example.

“Megan grew up between Texas and Northern Mexico. She holds a dual B.A. from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Psychology (Cognition) and Philosophy (Logics) and is currently a research graduate student in the Psychology department at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.”

¡Hasta luego Texas!
Good morning England!