#3 - Really Catch a Wave When Surfing

I definitely thought that the first thing I'd cross of my list this year would be not eating cheese for seven days. Turns out, I seriously cannot do it.

I realized on Monday I had not eaten cheese for two days without even trying, so I decided that I'd go Sunday to Sunday with no cheese.  I'd say the hardest part was not putting cheese on sandwiches.  I love cheese.  Then I went to the grocery store Monday afternoon and bought things to make quesadillas.  Damn. But I didn't make them.  The tortillas still sit empty on the shelf.  Then on Friday, I grabbed a burrito after beach volleyball practice.  There was no cheese on or in the burrito, but there was a bit melted on top of the beans, which I really wanted.  So I ate around the cheese.  Until I realized that I was just eating around the yellow cheese and totally eating the white cheese also sprinkled on.  And then I remembered that I had eaten a piece of pizza the night before when out celebrating a new San Diego friend's 30th birthday.  Then today, I was talking to Angela about my failed efforts.  Her phone dropped the call as her train went underground and when I got back to my desk, K Rob had left me a snack.  "K Rob, what are these?"  I yelled to the other room.  "Cheese puffs," he responded.  Eff.  Apparently I will not be healtifying my diet by giving up cheese.  Ever.  (The cheese puffs were delicious.)

So instead, my first list item completed was to actually catch a wave when surfing!  Last semester I bought a Groupon for the Ocean Beach Surf and Skate shop for a 3-hour surf lesson.

Quick history:  I once tried surfing in Lake Michigan in New Buffalo.  The waves were too small to do anything.  I then went surfing on my road trip with Nader in 2011.  Since moving to San Diego, I have gone for a few times with John and Dan but just really jumping over and getting beat up by waves while holding a short board.

Today, I took a lesson.  Travis and Timmy spent the first hour discussing center of gravity, staying in a low position, and having us practice our balance.  What a super helpful way to start even thinking about surfing.  Plus, I totally want an Indo Board now.

Then, we slowly peeled on our wetsuits and headed for the 60-degree ocean in 65-degree weather.  Lucky for me, wetsuits are awesome, and I have a pretty high cold-and-wet tolerance thanks to my 10 or whatever years of teaching swimming.  (Never in that cold, obviously.  The wetsuit did most of the work.)

It definitely took me a while.  Travis and Timmy helped us catch the waves at the right time.  It took me many tries but then I finally found my groove and was able to actually stand and ride a few waves, one all the way to the shore.  Such a cool feeling.  And then my arms and legs turned to slugs and I couldn't get more than a knee and one foot up.  It's cool though.  I'll be here a few more years to keep practicing!

Lesson learned:  Take a lesson.

#86 - Make a Real Whiskey Sour

I love whiskey.  I love it.

I hate that most the things it is commonly paired with at bars is sweet.  Jack & Coke = delicious but sweet.  Jameson & Ginger Ale = also delicious but sweet.

So a couple years ago, I had a friend who gave up soda for Lent.  But then he found a few loop holes and drank a little soda anyways.  I got mad, so I told him that I'd give up soda too, and I'd be more committed to Spite than he was to Catholicism.  Yeah, I'm a little mean.

But I won.

During that time though, I went to NYC.  I was seriously puzzled on what to drink.  So I picked up whiskey sours - even though most whiskey sours are really whiskey sweet & sours and so loaded with sugar it hurts a little.  But then, we went to this one bar in Brooklyn, and the bartender said, "Our whiskey sour is a real whiskey sour, made with, like, egg whites.  Are you cool with that?"  Hell yeah, I'm cool with that.  It was delicious.  Not too sweet.  Just whiskey & sour and delight.

Ever since, anytime I see a legit whiskey sour made with egg whites and a homemade mixture instead of pre-made, I get it.  West Coast Tavern in North Park in San Diego has a great one.

But then at home, I stick to Jack & Coke, Jame-o & ginger, or just whiskey & water or on the rocks.  Why couldn't I just learn to make a real whiskey sour?

Today I did...  With the help of my chef-tastic roommate Kevin.

I made simple syrup.  (Now I know why sour mix tastes so sweet.)

I chilled a martini glass.

I pulled an egg white and shook it in a shaker.

I added ice, rye whiskey, lemon juice, lime juice, and simple syrup.

I shook them up.

I served it with a garnish of lemon peel.

It wasn't perfect looking.  I probably shook it a bit too much, meranguing the egg white a bit too much, but it tasted just right.  Well, maybe a little strong.  But overall, lovely.  And easy.  As long as I have simple syrup pre-made, some lemons & limes, and some whiskey, this will be my drink of choice.  If not, we're back to whiskey on the rocks and weening myself to Scotch.

#46 - Volunteer for Another Race

So I was just reading through my list to figure out which one to do next when I realize I had already done this one but I didn't count it.  I guess it's just something I do now, which was exactly my intention.  Yay!

I volunteered for the Soldier Field 10 Mile May 26, 2012.  I really wanted to run the race but was short on funds so I volunteered instead.  I got there at 5:30 am, met some fellow volunteers, took some pictures of the field, and then headed out to my post.

My highlights of the day were...

Around 6:15am, hanging out alone at my post, I checked my facebook.  I saw I had a comment on a post from Chris Ogden.  I checked the comment.  It said, "Do your best Jagger."  I looked up, saw a few more volunteers a hundred or so yards away and then a giant line of cars waiting to park for the race. I then danced, alone, like a fool.

My post was to warn people of a grate on the path.  Lots of people faked like they tripped anyways to make me laugh.  I think I did every time.

Then I saw Zann and Holly.  Well, Zann saw me and yelled and waved for a good 30-45 seconds.

Somehow I missed Laura Masters.

It wasn't quite as inspiring as the marathon but it was still a bunch of fun.

My Goals and My Career

I’m not sure my students really realize how difficult it was for me to leave my job as the Aquatics Coordinator at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), a small, commuter Hispanic Serving Institution set in urban Chicago.  I had a completely different experience, an experience at the time I would have labeled ideal.  I went to the University of Michigan (UM), a large, public, residential, research institution in a college town.  I loved Michigan.  I loved my courses, the campus, Ann Arbor, the football games, my friends, and the celebration of diversity.  I started working at NEIU as a short stop along my career path, a place to get some experience so I could move on to a top tier university.  I had no idea that I would stay six years and that my experiences at NEIU would inspire me to return to school to learn how to better serve the actually diverse student population on a campus like NEIU’s. 

UM celebrates and encourages diversity.  The university was even involved in the Supreme Court case that determined how diversity is allowed to be considered in admissions.  However, while I attended cultural events and had friends of various races and religions, I did not fully understand the concepts of privilege and social justice until I worked at NEIU.

NEIU is a Hispanic Serving Institution and the student population is just over forty percent white, with Hispanic students next with over thirty percent, then followed by black students, Asian students, and “other.”  These statistics are NEIU’s most shared and are impressive in terms of ethnic diversity but they also miss some of the other diverse populations, such as grouping Middle Eastern individuals with white students; not distinguishing between Asian, Pacific  Islander, Indian, etc.; and completely missing aspects of the diversity in age, traditional versus nontraditional students, first- and second-generation Americans, first-generation students, religion, and so on.  


It was not until I had this comparison that I realized my privilege of being a white, middle-class American, with two parents who had master’s degrees.  I learned about my privilege when my students would simply tell me, “Megan, that’s such a white person thing to say.”  At first, I didn’t know how to respond.  Soon, I knew exactly how to respond: “Tell me what you mean.”  I went from embarrassment of the subject of race to genuine curiosity.  

I learned even more when traveling with my students to conferences and events.  I took a road trip with a recent alum who is Palestinian.  The first day, he was pulled over by a police officer in Nebraska.  I couldn’t find my registration or proof of insurance.  He panicked when the officer went back to his vehicle.  I shrugged and explained that I just didn’t have it.  The next day we were approached by police in Colorado on a college campus for socializing with a group using trees for slacklining, apparently against the law in that town.  The third day he was pulled over again.  This time in Arizona.  Again, I was unphased.  He couldn’t figure out why I was so calm.  We simultaneously realized it because I was a white female from the midwest with no negative driving record.  Because of my privilege I could stay calm.  No officer was going to hurt, arrest, or harass me.  My friend, on the other hand, could easily be mistaken for Mexican, and in Arizona, that meant he could be asked for his “papers” and questioned, and when the officer found out he was Middle Eastern, that could be worse.  

I soon realized my own arrogance in wanting to be at a tier-one institution, a place with a prestigious name and reputation.  I wanted to be known for being smart, an academic, someone who deserved to be at such a place.  My experience at NEIU taught me that there is so much more to learn about the world than what is visible at prestigious universities.  I wanted to give myself and my abilities to a prestigious universities.  I neglected to think about what the university could give me in return.

I now wish to only be at small universities with a high percentage of first-generation college students.  While I already talked about how NEIU had more dimensions of diversity than that, this one seems to carry many of the other dimensions with it.  Students like those at NEIU taught me so much that they deserve thoughtful, “educated,” professional faculty and staff who want them to succeed in and after their college careers.

I want to be one of those faculty (or staff) members.

I started my doctoral degree in hopes of becoming more informed on how to serve these students.  In particular I want to find ways to increase collaboration in out-of-the-classroom learning for faculty and staff, instead of competitiveness; to find ways to encourage mental health awareness, acceptance, concern, and care, instead of fear and shame; to find ways to increase retention and student success during and after college, preparing students personally and professionally for the worlds they are about to enter.  I want to do all of this in the context of a diverse campus.

Specifically, I may return to my home office of Campus Recreation.  I find that recreation is a healthy and social way to encourage all of these professional goals.  In addition, my Campus Recreation colleagues tend to keep a genuine network of professionals who value their jobs and continue to grow their offices, their field, and themselves.  

I may decide to go into another area of Student Affairs or perhaps the office of the vice president.  I may want to spread both my research and studies as well as the wonderfully contagious, energetic attitude of Campus Recreation.

I may decide I want to become a faculty member.  I love to have direct contact with students.  As I move up in administrative roles, my direct contact may decrease and I may want to become faculty, where I can keep those relationships.

From my actions as a faculty or staff member, my students learn how to be people and professionals after college.  They then go on to further impact their communities, the nation, and the world.  

Golden Eagles, you inspire me.

Now go inspire yourselves.

#39 - Start a PhD Program

During my life I have said both "I would NEVER run a marathon" and "There's no way I'm going to go get my PhD."  I wonder if I've subconsciously challenged myself to do anything else time consuming, exhausting, and difficult!  I hope not because man, this is going to be another tough challenge... and probably a bit more time consuming than that silly marathon!

Last fall I applied to 5 schools: Loyola University in Chicago, Vanderbilt University, the University of Michigan, the University of San Diego, and the University of Texas at Austin.

I was actually planning to apply in the fall of 2010 but I soon realized that I needed to do a LOT of homework to even choose which schools to apply to, let alone complete the giant applications.  I was looking for a school where I could get a PhD within the area of Higher Education without having to focus in Academic Affairs.  I didn't mind if my time would be split between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs but I am 95% sure that I am a Student Affairs person through and through (75% of that 95% being Campus Recreation).  I wanted to take my work experience and my master's studies and push them further, particularly in the areas of mental health awareness, first-generation students, LGBTQAI students, collaboration, and out-of-the-classroom learning on diverse campuses.  

My first rejection was from Loyola.  I was genuinely surprised.  I really thought I'd get it.  I was bummed and relieved at the same time.  I knew that if I got in somewhere, I wouldn't be staying in Chicago.  That was a strange feeling.  But I also didn't want to stay in Chicago.

My second rejection was from Vanderbilt.  I guess I wasn't really surprised.  I thought I'd at least get an interview.  I mean, I'm a smart girl.  I did well on my GRE.  Oh well.  I guess Nashville wasn't for me...  I was really hoping for an excuse to at least visit though.

Next I was rejected by the University of Michigan, my alma mater.  I wasn't surprised but it was at this point that I realized that I had been rejected from 3 out of 5 schools... and just hadn't heard back from the other 2.  I had a little awareness crisis, that maybe I was not as smart as I thought I was.  But then, Michigan is a research school and I really didn't want to do research as a profession, so it wasn't a good fit.  But then, did that mean that Texas wasn't a good fit either?  Basically, I was freaking out a bit.

I was then asked to interview at the University of San Diego.  Well, what a great excuse to visit San Diego and my lovely friends there.  Then I read it again and saw that we would be doing group interviews.  Weird.  I panicked about what to wear.  Dino & Karen helped me.  (Light grey suit with a sea green flowy tank under.  Thanks, Dino, for the feedback and Karen, for the last-minute shopping trip!)

The interview was actually pretty cool.  There were about 30 of us and they put us in groups of 5 or 6 and had the faculty rotate from room to room interviewing the groups, giving each person a turn to answer.  It was a great chance for us to show our strengths, personality, and ability to work with a group we didn't even know yet.  Plus, we could not-so-secretly root for the other people in our group because feasibly we could all get in if we banded together and did well.  Plus, the faculty seemed genuinely interested in us as students.  That seemed unusual for a doctoral program.

It was only a week or so later that I heard I got in.  I GOT IN!  Yay!

Soon after, I accepted.  I sent in my check.  Tonight was the first night of class.  It seems like my first semester will be pretty manageable as I took a leadership course for my master's program.  (Oh, my program is Leadership Studies with a focus in Higher Education.  And yes, the faculty are unusually interactive in a wonderful way.)  The next few semesters though... whew, lots of work ahead!

Oh, so you stuck around to hear about what ever happened to Texas?  Apparently they never received my resume or transcripts.  The two easiest things to send in.  Seriously, that application was probably 13 pages or so.  But they leave it up to the applicant to use a log in to make sure Admissions has received everything.  I did so about a week after the application due date.  Good thing I already love USD!

Oh yeah, and my campus is BEAUTIFUL!

#40 - Move to a New State

I'm a Cali girl now!

I got into the University of San Diego and then the planning was on!

Dino & K Rob helped me find a new place.  I'm living in Hillcrest, a hipster / gay neighborhood of San Diego.  Love it.  I have 2 roommates right now: Caroline and Shaheen.  Awesome.

Thank you, thank you to the wonderful people who helped me with my move...  Angela & Christina for physical and emotional support.  Norris & Nora for lunch and then helping me actually pack and clean.  Ed & Edric for a pizza dinner and then taking my stuff.

And OF COURSE Jerry Krone for sharing my drive from Chicago to San Diego with 2 cats and a lot of stuff in tow.  We spent a good 5 days together and were even sad to part!  It was an amazing trip and I am SO happy to be here!

#37 - See 3 Academy-Award-Winning Movies I've Never Seen

Oops.  I remembered this one wrong and instead of three, I watched TEN.

And instead of listing them chronologically, I am going to list them by preference, top ten list style.

10. Out of Africa (1985), watched 4/14/12
I put this at number 10 because I had to look it up on Wikipedia to remember it.  Now that I do, I remember I really liked it.  I learned a little.  The characters are great.  It's based on a memoir.  The acting is superb.  If this gives you any hint, I really enjoyed all 10 of the movies I watched.

9. Chariots of Fire (1981), watched 7/25/12
I probably should have put Out of Africa before this one.  I didn't really like it.  I was expecting to be motivated to lace up my running shoes.  Instead I was like, "Oh."  And I love sports movies, Olympics movies, running movies.  Huh.

8. Million Dollar Baby (2004), watched 2/24/12
I had put off watching this movie.  I think it's because it came out so close to Cinderella Man.  Though, I didn't watch that one either.  This is a little weird because I also love boxing movies, particularly The Power of One, The Fighter, and When We Were Kings.  However, The Power of One and The Fighter are about so much more than boxing, When We Were Kings is about real boxing, and I assumed these 2004 and 2005 movies were just about fake boxers.  Then I watched Million Dollar Baby, and... Wait, what?  What just happened?  I don't want to ruin it for anyone but if you think it's just about a fake boxing lady, you're wrong.

7. The English Patient (1996), watched 4/8/12
I know where my reluctance in watching this movie came from: "Seinfeld."  Definitely.  If Elaine hated it, I would too.  Screw everyone else who loved it.  In reality, I liked it but wow, holy depressing.

6. The Last Emperor (1987), watched 2/26/12
This was a lovely movie.  Biopic of biopics.  Just beautiful.  I also learned a lot.  And I loved that they did such a good job making Puyi so multi-dimensional as well as love- and hate-able.  I left with the impression I am sure the creators intended: how bizarre it must have been to be in that position.

5. Terms of Endearment (1983), watched sometime in June 2012
While this movie is notoriously depressing, so much of it is really funny.  Shirley Maclaine is amazing.  Really, the parts that stayed with me were hilarious.

4. Gandhi (1982), watched 3/25/12
Gandhi quotes have always been some of my favorite, especially, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."  However, this biographical film taught me so much about him and his actual actions that matched his words.  The story is incredible.  His struggles with staying pacifist during such difficult times are really intriguing.  I also learned a lot about the conflict between India and Pakistan.  This film inspired me to add Gandhi to the list of individuals I plan to learn A LOT more about (joining Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Harvey Milk).

3. The Artist (2011), watched 2/3/12
When I was making this list, I was thinking about how much more modern this movie is than the rest on the list.  The ironic part of that is that it's a black-and-white, silent film.  I remember everything about seeing this film in the theater.  I was in Ann Arbor, visiting my parents as my dad had just had heart surgery (preventative, really, he's great).  We were driving to the theater when I got a call from my director telling me that one of our on-campus colleagues had committed suicide.  My mom suggested we do something else but sitting in a dark theater, quietly watching a silent movie seemed like exactly what I wanted to do right then. Then, the production was beautiful; the acting is spectacular; and the story moves along quickly.

2.  Chicago (2002), watched 3/5/12
I thought I was going to hate this.  I don't know why.  I even like musicals.  Kinda.  Live ones, anyways.  But this movie was awesome.  There was so much grit.  And the musical numbers were done so similar to what would be on the stage, especially "He Had It Coming," the song about killing dudes who deserved it.  It was really, really good.

1.  Platoon (1986), watched 5/24/12
This movie is so much like recent war movies - except, those movies hadn't happened yet.  This movie helped establish the genre of effed up war movies.  I may have particularly enjoyed it because there were so many actors in it who are doing completely different things now, like comedy.  So strange.  Very intense.