Reflection: weeks 9 & 10

Weeks 9 and 10 were a little different than past weeks in the way that instead of doing eye-openers we have been working on our advocacy projects. 

In week 9 we started out by learning about advocacy.  We did this by getting into groups and teaching the class different topics related to advocacy.  This was an interesting way to learn and an interesting way to teach as well.  Most groups did some kind of skit to illustrate their point.  I learned that advocacy is not a service and that it doesn't always have to be really confrontational.  It was interesting learning about the barriers to advocacy because they all made sense.  I think I'm most guilty of not knowing enough about an issue, but that is something I could totally change if I just took the time! 

We also found our political leaders online and all of their contact information.  Something that surprised me about this was they that they did their email.  Most representatives didn't have an actually email address, but more like this blank form you would go to their site and fill out.  I guess it makes sense considering how many emails they must get, but I was kind of just expecting to find an email address like any other individual would have. 

In week 10 we watched the first section of a documentary called "Unnatural Causes".  The section was called "In Sickness and In Wealth" and was about health and how it seems to be directly correlated to wealth.  It's pretty upsetting to see how life expectancy goes down with level of income.  It was also a really big eye-opener to see how much stress is put on people who earn less, or people who are in less control at their jobs.  I never expected that.  When I think about stress, I definitely was thinking that the hospital CEO must be under a lot of stress, way more than a janitor.  It was crazy to find out that that's not the case.  My book kind of ties into this as it's talking about how we are constantly stressed because we are constantly working for security.  I guess I can see that a CEO with more security than a janitor would have less stress.

 
We also discussed the upcoming photo essay.  This is a pretty cool idea!  I can't wait to see everyone's ideas.  Photo essays should be used for more projects in more classes.  It's way more interesting to not only the person completing the project, but also for those viewing it!  I plan on making naturally cleaning solutions out of things like baking soda and vinegar and testing how well they clean! Pretty exciting stuff!