ERICA: New Opportunities to empower women!

So, along with taking Women & Gender courses this semester, I met up with a good friend/acquaintance from high school (who graduated 2 years before I did and knew mostly from others who spoke highly of her), Carlisha Williams, who is a former OU graduate with 2 degrees (at the sweet age of 23) and currently lives in Washington D.C. pursuing her Masters. Anyway, she started a non-profit organization called Women Empowering Nations (WEN) where she works with young girls in Gambia, West Africa and the government of Gambia in hopes of improving the education system for girls, through empowerment.

She also hosts workshops in D.C., OKC, Tulsa and wherever she is requested to speak... anyway I found out about the organization because we are friends on Facebook and decided that I wanted to join her team (of only a few women right now). The organization is fairly new, but I came to her with so many ideas on how to promote this organization, since I truly believe in it and somehow want to tie this to my major or career, after graduation.

On Jan. 18, 2010 we met at Panera Bread in Tulsa and discussed the organization and ideas that I had to contribute to promoting WEN and within an hour of that meeting, she decided to make me the public relations/communication intern :) where I will be responsible for soliciting schools, churches and community organization to bring a Women Empowering Nations Workshop to their girls/women. I will also contact media outlets to cover stories on Women Empowering Nations and promote the organization via social networking.

IT GETS EVEN BETTER ---> The 2nd annual Women Empowering Nations Literacy and Empowerment Program takes place May 29th through June 11th (this year) in Gambia, and I got invited TO GO! Which means all my travel expenses got waived and really the only thing I have to do is get a passport and pack my luggage! Wow, ladies --> this is big, yet I don't know how I feel about being in the air for almost 24 hours. :/ But while I am there, I will help assist with teaching the classes for the girls. So for now, I guess my life will revolve around women & gender studies and young girls, for this semester.

I will STILL use my journalism skills, even though I am not taking any J classes this semester. We shall see how things turn out. Until then, I will keep you posted on my internship and "online classes."

OH and I will officially be moving to Norman mid February, until then I will commute from Tulsa to Norman on the days that I have tests or special projects on campus.

Check out the site of my new team (www.WENations.org) (there is a video link of Carlisha's first trip to Gambia that inspired her to create WEN).

ERICA: Commuting from Tulsa to Norman

So, the drive back and forth from Tulsa to Norman is not sooo bad. In fact, I actually enjoy the drive --> it allows my mind to wander. I do tend to speed though. Typically I drive between 85-90 mph in a 75 mph zone... sooo no ticket yet (praying that I never get one). I found that driving at that rate of speed gets me to Oklahoma City in exactly 1 hour and once I hit city limits, it's smooth sailing. The only thing is, once I enter the city, I'm on the road for yet another 20-25 minutes.

I still feel far away from home every time I arrive in Norman. What strikes me the most is it seems as though the sun shines much brighter on this side of town. I still feel as though I made a really good choice to finish my last 2 years at OU. After all, this is the school I always desired to attend since 10th grade. I'm not so happy about commuting, but I have learned to adjust. It seems as though I am in and out all the time.

For this reason, I decided to drop all of my classes on campus and instead enroll in online classes. Boring, yes I know... but very convenient. I enrolled in all Women & Gender courses for the semester. Since this is my minor, I thought why not start with something different. That way, I can give myself a break from writing (can you believe that!) and find passion in learning the history of powerful women.

LAST WEEK - January 19, 2010
The Spring semester finally started at OU. So I logged into all 3 of my classes on the learn.ou.edu site and found welcome emails from both of my female professors :) I have 2 professors, one who teaches 2 of my classes and the other who teaches 1. Now girls, I know that this doesn't sound like the traditional FUN college experience, but wait until I tell you what else is on my plate for this year.

See next blog :)

DANA: Surviving OSU

My first week of classes, in a nutshell:

Monday: Wake up at 7 a.m. First class starts at 9:30 a.m., leave my dorm room at 9 a.m. Wonder around campus for 30+ minutes trying to find the journalism building. Finally ask someone if I am heading in the right direction. He points me toward the journalism building. Walk another 10 minutes and finally arrive, late, to my first class. Professor gives giant lecture about how much he hates lateness, glaring at me entire time.

Tuesday: Wake up at 7 a.m. for statistics class at 9 a.m. Leave dorm at 8 a.m. to avoid a repeat of yesterday morning and end up arriving to class 30 minutes early. Sit quietly waiting for class to start, trying not to fall asleep. Class begins and sleep wins the battle. Fade in and out of consciousness for the next hour and a half thinking all the while I gotta drop this class as soon as humanly possible. Next class at 10:30 a.m., Video Production Lab. Professor (the one who hates lateness) makes me be first student on camera. Confident, doing well, reading from the teleprompter... til whoever is operating the teleprompter has a seizure or something and I start making up my own lines and making wild hand gestures in an attempt to cover my confusion. Humiliation supreme. Go to Student Union to buy lunch, find every food place to be closed (WHY?). Get lost in Student Union and wonder around for 10 minutes before finally finding an exit. Trudge back to dorm room, sign onto my school account, and drop statistics.

Wednesday: Wake up at 7:30 a.m. and decide to take on-campus bus to journalism building to avoid lateness lecture. Wait patiently at bus stop. Bus pulls up and doors fling open, man with wild, greasy hair stares down from driver seat as "Dr. Feelgood" by Motley Crue blares over bus speakers. Tentatively climb onto bus to find it exploding with students and no where to stand. Shove my way toward back of the bus to grab onto a pole. Before finding a pole to grab, bus takes off with tires squeeling and I'm thrown into giant, smelly guy who stares down at me as if I'm a cockroach. Cling to pole for dear life as bus hurtles into traffic, trying to ignore defeaning rock music beating my eardrums. Classes end, decide to take bus back to dorm room, must be masochistic. Get on bus and ride for 10 minutes before realizing I have no idea where bus is going. Panic and pull stop cord, get off bus. Realize, as bus putters away, this was terrible idea. Walk half mile back to dorm room, collapse on bed and sleep.

Thursday: Wake up 8:30 a.m., bravely stand at bus stop once more. Bus pulls up, doors fly open, climb on and find a seat. It's a miracle. Class goes well. Take bus back to dorm room and manage to get off on right stop. Pack suitcase, throw it in truck, and begin drive back to Tulsa with the knowledge that I somehow survived my first week.

DANA: Dana Smith-Cleland and the Closet of Doom

I started packing tonight and I am yet to fully recover from the trauma! As you can see from the photo, my closet is a bit of a... disaster. And keep in mind that this photo only shows one side of my closet; the other side is much worse. I tried to start organizing it, gave up, and started drinking margaritas and watching season 2 of Chuck on blueray instead. How is it possible to have SO many clothes and hate them all?

Nick is helping me move all my things to Stillwater this Saturday and then the new semester starts on Monday. That is, IF I ever finish packing! As of now, I have one box of perfume and nail polish packed. I'm pretty sure I'm going to need more than that! I'm still apprehensive about living in a new town and attending a new school, but I'm beginning to have a more positive outlook on the whole situation.

On a completely different note, it looks like I could *possibly* have a new job. Hopefully, if all goes well, I will be writing about that soon! <3