The Future Me

Winter quarter is coming up here which means another orientation. I work with a select group of students here on a reciprocal exchange (as opposed to matriculated degree-seeking students) and in part of orientation I have them write letters to themselves that I save and send back to them at the end of their program. I was trying to provide a little more insight or direction because sometimes these students are like, what am I supposed to write? (I forget how much direction you need as a student sometimes) so I was googling some time capsule letter writing ideas and came across this website FutureMe.org.

This thing allows you to write an email to yourself that will be delivered at a future date of your choosing! I don't know why I thought this was so amazing but I did. The default is one year away, so I wrote myself an email that will come next December. Then when I saw that it can be delivered up until 2060+ I wrote myself another email to be delivered right before I turn 40. Why is this so cool?? I am obsessed with it!

In other news, I have had the honor (curse?) to now be included in some of the massive group texts that AJ and his friends have. That's how you know they've accepted you as their own in this generation. The only problem is that it goes off nonnnnnstopppppp! I wouldn't mind so much but I already gchat all day long and don't need distractions from my distractions...

#prayforparis

Most of the advisors were at work late last night, scrambling in the aftermath of learning about the Paris attacks to reach out to our French students, account for our students in France at this time, update our website with crisis/emergency information and wait for confirmation of the support group in order to post and circulate. I was happy to help serve how I could in that time. 

I really, really enjoy helping however I can after disasters- natural and otherwise. I helped in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, I helped in Brooklyn after Hurricane Sandy, and if I had had a way to make it to Nepal after their earthquake, I would have loved to. The atmosphere in places in aftermath like that is astounding- it's how we should always live, with compassion and a willingness to understand and use helping hands. The only problem is that I don't have much to offer. There are usually plenty of people willing to help, but really what they need are skilled technicians and laborers, ones with medical degrees and HVAC clearances and electricians and construction workers. And I'm here like uhhhh I took a CPR and First Aid class in college... But it's been expired for like 6 years now. So sometimes it's nice just to do what you can where you can.

I went to Paris countless times when I lived in France... Either for better flights or to take visitors to to pick people up. I was going to look for a picture but then I realized it didn't matter. What good is a picture of me having fun in a city that was great and happy now that that's passed and they're mourning?

I know I'm really cynical and pessimistic, and all I really think is "so where next?" Because this shit happens all the goddamned time and it gets worse and nothing seems to change, it just seems to keep happening...