Nerd Camp

Second Week Day 1 at Nerd Camp

Day one: On day one of the second week at Global Ethics and Conflict Resolution Summer Symposium 2011 we first of course like we always do every morning had 9 am morning wake up Activity, where I don’t quite remember what it was about because I was half asleep, haha. So after morning Wake Up, we went to the CMA building and had a very debated not very traditional Make The Case where we discussed if a town half the size of Austin should get free Wi Fi, of course you would think “Hey it’s free, let’s go for it!” But we have to look deeper into the situation than that because it could not only help it could also do the complete opposite. I really enjoyed how passionate and into the situation people got but in the end we really didn’t get anywhere because it was so unorganized and heated that everyone just yelled and blah blah blah.

So after the first make the case we had another somewhat Make the Case Activity that wasn’t very traditional aswell. It was about if Box hunting cheatahs is right or wrong. Same situation here, it was so heated and unorganized that a lot of people got angry and frustrated, that we weren’t seeing eye to eye that we got no where and ended up a little flustered with our opponents. But I am very happy to know that even when our debates get out of hand and we get mad at each other, that it doesn’t really affect  our relationships with each other and that reasures me that if I want to speak my opionion that no one will hate me for it or ruin a friendship over it.

After we had lunch had Blog and Video Planning, and I am really excited about my group this week and our ideas, they seem like really good ideas.

Ending the day with good dinner and tired people from all the stressful debating and planning, we had a break and had movie time, which I enjoyed soooo much. And I thank everyone who made a wonderful day like this happen, I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world.

Day four at Nerd Camp

Day four: On day four we had a speaker that talked about hostage negotiations and being a police officer. I honestly thought I would be bored out of my mind, it was completely the opposite. I was so interested in knowing what makes a person keep hostages and the way they think, I was really involved in asking questions and writing notes on different symptoms and reactions to uneasy people. 

Then we had a speaker on Juries, processes, and Public perception of the justice system. Ok really what do you expect from a topic name like that? Well you’re wrong. The speaker Dr. Mary Rose was so enthusiastic and passionate about her teaching that so was I, it isn’t something that I would like to pursue a career in but it was so interesting to learn about something new and something that affects the justice in America.

So overall today was an interesting yet slow, I will never regret learning a new thing about my country and people, and thank you for giving me that opportunity.

Day three of Nerd Camp (sorry for no day two, I was absent)

Day Three: Day three we had a speaker on immigration in The U.S., who informed us on how much immigration has changed over the centuries and even merely decades. I had my own ideas on immigration and most of them were negative because all I knew before is that they were coming undocumented and just tearing apart our nation. But once again my opinions were changed, now I know that actually most immigrants coming into the United States are documented and legal.

We also explored a museum called The Ransom Museum, it was very interesting, a little boring at times but I still learned new things, that I would have missed out on if I hadn’t come to this camp.

Day one of Nerd Camp

Day One: I had many expectations of coming to The Global Ethics and Conflict Resolution Summer Symposium at UT.  All of them were wrong.  I expected to not make new friends, or to be surrounded by people I had nothing in common with.  But as it turns out they’re all just like me, and also very unique in their own ways.  I have learned already so much just from this one day, and have already had a change of mind on multiple things.  I have made so many friends that are interested in some of the things I am, for instance in politics and world wide conflicts.  I hope the rest of this week is just as interesting and hope learn more things that I am going to need in the future.