Author: cawep4

Motor Cycle Discrimination- 2nd Day

On the 2nd day, we went to a host of different committee meetings in a wide variety of rooms and buildings. By the end of the day, I had been to 5 different committee meetings, each one different from the last. There were a lot of surprises for me today. A lot of things I assumed about the state congress were not true at all. Contrary to what you read on a general basis, the legislators are very cordial with one another. They all have jobs to do, and being rude to each other based on party lines would just get in the way of doing what they have to do. The clearest manifestation of this is how the committees deal with local bills. Most of what the congress does is not controversial at all, most bills deal with issues that only affect one legislator’s district. So, rather than debate the bill, they do each other a courtesy and immediately vote to give the bill a favorable review and send it to the senate or house floor. This was another thing that surprised me about the committees, the speediness of the committee. I assumed that the committee is the place where the bills are amended and debated and fixed and then sent to the floor for voting. But the committee had decided what they were going to do long before the bill came up for discussion. Even when there was disagreement between the parties, the majority just called for a vote before much debate had occurred, passed it, and moved on. The largest committee meeting we attended was the appropriations committee that decided how much money goes into bills. This room also had the most debate. The bill that was on the docket was one that will make it illegal for parking garages to prohibit motorcycles from parking in them. It also prevented “discrimination of any kind against motorcyclists.” After the author of the bill gave his opening statement, another Senator asked him if he would yield for questioning, he did, as they always do, and asked him a very interesting question/ statement. He said, “This is ridiculous, in this state because of legislation you passed, people can be discriminated against for what bathroom they go to, or what their base identities are, but god forbid someone be mean to a motorcyclist because that’s just wrong, this is ridiculous, why?” The Senator standing was quite taken aback, so he moved on to the next more polite question.

Day 6- Horsing Around

Today was another day of training with day campers and I again got to help our leading activities. The first activity of the day was courtyard art, which included bubbles and chalk drawings on the porch near the dining hall. The next activity was held at Shady Circle, a circle of benches placed in the middle of a shady patch.


Here, counsellors lead campers in a couple of fun campfire style songs to provide a break in the day. Next, I got to help with the horses! The camp doesn’t have its own horses, but has partnered up with a local farm to bring in three horses every Tuesday for campers.  The different activities including petting the horses, walking around with a horse, and painting horse shoes. There was even a cute little baby horse for smaller campers. The last activity of the day I helped out with was Music and Motion. This activity includes songs, games, and  movements to relax the campers. Below is a picture of the set- up along with two Activity Directors; Seth and Sarah.


The campers had lots of fun in this activity especially. This was yet another fun day at camp!

– Fiona

Day 5- Training Time!

Today was the first day at Camp Royall where Day campers arrived. Although the camp hasn’t official started, this week is called training week for new counselors this year. Fifteen campers came from about 10-4 and were paired up with one hands-on trainer and three observing new counselors. I got to help out setting up, leading, and breaking down activities that the campers participated in throughout the day. I first helped out in the Arts & Crafts activity where campers were giving three different crafts with a Disney theme. Below is a picture of the Arts and Crafts Center.


Next, I helped with the Gym activity which helped let the campers get some exercises through walking, stretches and playing with a parachute. After lunch, I helped setting up for a Dinosaur themed evening activity, which in this case was held in the afternoon to give campers a sense of a normal day at camp. The different activities there were so creative and they included a Dino ring toss (pictured below), Dino tag, Dino chalk art, and even Dino yoga!


Then, I was allowed to go around and take pictures of the camp for my blog posts, since unfortunately I can’t take any pictures of the campers. I did find this amazing painted sign in the playground though!

-Fiona

Why Doesn’t Anyone Pay Attention to Local Government?

Day 3

For the past two and a half hours, I was doing some basic data entry for the NAACP records on county boards of election. These next few weeks are very big in terms of local government, as a congressional primary is being held on June 7th. I’m willing to bet a very small percentage of the North Carolina population even knew there was an election; an even smaller one that was informed about the issues/candidates. The general misconception is that people are only affected by national elections, that all the power rests in the executive office. But the issues of inequality starts from the bottom, as gerrymandering and voter ID laws threaten social and economic minorities and skew voter participation. This is the message that Meta was trying to convey to Durham and the rest of the state through the NAACP chapters, and why my busy work was important.

-Rosie

Day 1

smith anderson

I began my work experience by standing at the base of the massive Wells Fargo building and feeling incredibly intimidated. wells fargo.jpg After a few moments, I gathered the courage to walk in and get on the elevator to the 23rd floor. There I met Andy Walsh, whom I was to spend the next 2 weeks with.andy walsh  Andy is a Cary Academy alum that graduated in 2008. Andy went to NC State where he was student body president and the recipient of multiple service awards. Currently, he is a Government Relations Assistant at the Smith Anderson law firm and the President of the Cary Academy Alumni Association. When I arrived on the 23rd floor the secretary called Andy down from his office and he took me on a tour of the building. The 23rd floor is purely dedicated to meeting rooms for clients and the office of the managing partner. This is designed to make clients feel special and give the lawyers an excuse to never clean their desks. Andy’s office is on the 24th floor which is where we went next. The Smith Anderson Law firm has 4 full floors in the building and the views are incredible, but the 24th floor is where everything gets done. Andy introduced me to his four-person team. Dana, Kara, Richard, and Andy make up one of the most effective lobbying teams in the state. While Andy is not a registered lobbyist he still contributes heavily to the lobbying effort. After our tour of the building and after I had met everyone, we went to the General Assembly building or the GA. This is where we will spend most of our time over the next few weeks. This is where most of the Senators have their offices and where the Senate and House chambers are located. Mondays are a very slow day for the Legislature, so after the tours and introductions, we called it a day and I began my 54-minute drive home.

Day 4- Autism in the Media

Camp counselors were arriving at Camp Royall today, which meant that they were doing mostly “get to know everyone” type of activities. Instead of driving out, my day was devoted to learning as much about Autism as I could. I went to the library and picked up these books to use as resources which I spent most of the morning reading in the CA library.

Autism books

Dr. Mac also sent me a link to “Autism: The Musical” which follows the lives of 5 autistic children and their parents as they organize a musical production. This movie was available on YouTube, so I watched this to learn more about the varying types of autism each of these children has. I also found a book in the CA library titled “Born on a Blue Day: Inside of the Mind of an Autistic Savant”, which was the autobiography of Daniel Tammet a man with savant syndrome which means he is not only autistic, but has mental capabilities far beyond the norm. In Tammet’s case, he is able to perform complex mathematical problem in a matter of seconds and associates shapes and colors with numbers. He references the classic movie “Rain Main” in the book which led me to do some research on the movie. Although I was unable to watch it, I read the plot and watched the trailer to find it is a story of an autistic man and his brother. These movies and books are all great example of how the media is an amazing way to raise awareness for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

-Fiona

So I Might get Published


I’m here at the INDY Newsweek HQ and it’s been an incredibly informative day so far.

The day started with a sort of inadvertent crash course on the basics of a newspaper or any sort of news organization, and evolved into a discussion about the basics of journalism as a field. Jeff Billman asked and answered questions with detailed stories and examples, especially about the nature of procuring and editing a story.

The conversation spiraled away and somehow he ended up reading an article of mine I had written a few months earlier about the infamous Shower Club at CA, and he even asked me to write about 3000 words on it by mid June for potential publication, so I’m really excited to work on that!

Now I’m just shadowing an editor’s meeting in which they discuss funding, covers, art and logistics for the publication of the next issue of INDY.

-Rosie

My Cold Calling Adventure

I hate talking on the phone.
Growing up in a world where my communication skills were honed by the written word–something that we have in common with the generation just before telephones–I’m often unsure of what to do or proper protocol in formal phone calls, especially with adults who don’t think twice about it. So having to read from a script I wrote myself was challenging for me and my social anxiety, though the task itself is obviously extraordinarily simple. But busy work like cold calling is integral to a multi-faceted organization like the NAACP, and it was at least informative to see how day to day operations like that work.


-Rosie

Day 3- 133 Acres of Camp

This morning, I cleaned off yoga mats the campers use for an activity called Music and Motion. It was explained to me that since kids on the Autism Spectrum often are very sensory oriented this activity allows them to combine the listening of music with dancing.


Then, Mrs. Allen came by to visit the camp and see what I was working on. Jada, the volunteer coordinator, helped explain what Camp Royall was like as well as how my work is preparing the camp to open in two weeks. After, I began labeling all of the mailboxes for counselors in the staff lounge. Since they hadn’t been used since last summer, I had to dust them off a lot as well. I also helped clean out the kitchen in the staff lounge for the remainder of the afternoon and some of the summer counselors arrived. So far, I have only been working with directors and assistant directors (a group of 15 or so), but there are about 50 staff in total that will be working here this summer.


The actual campsite is gorgeous and the large campsite allows for many animals such as two ducks that are residents year round. Overall, a fun and productive day!

-Fiona

Day 2- Binder Galore

Today at Camp Royall, I worked mostly on sorting out binders as I did yesterday. Once I realized what was missing in each one, I had to find the correct components in the arts and crafts area. Many simple things such as expo markers and construction paper were limited though as the camp relies mostly on donations for their supplies. For the second half of the day, I cut name tags and laminated them for counselors and other staff during the summer. The counselors all ate lunch together, so I enjoyed talking with them about past summers at Camp Royall. They each have specific kids they are really fond of and can’t wait to see again this summer. I wish I wasn’t already busy this summer so I could help out, but it’s possible I could volunteer for a week or two.

– Fiona