Funnery Camp

I've always enjoyed acting, but never explored it as much as I did this summer. Since the age of 6 I've regularly been apart of The Greenbelt Art Center's musical productions, through Creative Kids Camp, Camp Encore, or the Winter Youth Musical, which I'll be posting about in the future I do enjoy musical theater, but my passion is definitely acting. During august of summer 2012 I traveled to Vermont to stay with one of my best friends, Barbara, and do Shakespeare camp. Get Thee to the Funnery was an amazing camp and although it sounds cliche, really changed my life. The camp is unique in many ways, like helping the campers with voice and face warmups as well as things like yoga and meditation. We were a tight knit community, and I'm still in tough with many of the campers and counselors.

It's really strange to be able to say I have over 40 people that I love and care about in Vermont, but it's true. I've also made connections to people in England and Ireland Through camp. My family who are traveling to Ireland for 2 weeks in June, will be visiting my friend from camp there, which just goes to show how small this world is.

Since I've returned home I've been pursuing acting even more(not to successfully yet), and practicing both yoga and meditation on my own. The play I acted in, Much Ado About Nothing, actually helps me recognize references to Shakespeare in modern literature, which has been very interesting. During our production, which was the farthest thing from traditional, we divided up the script into scenes. I got to act as Benedick, Friar Francis, Balthazar, and a messenger. The camp was a great experience and worth going to again.

Little Friends For Peace

I've been involved with the organization Little Friends For Peace(LFFP), since I was 3 years old. I've learned so much about different issues in the world from this camp,which have resided with me, even from that young age. I was taught about peace makers such as Wangari Maathai who planted trees of peace, Sadako Sasaki and her thousand paper cranes, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and many more.

For the past 4 summers I've been a junior counselor at camp. Being a counselor gives me the opportunity to help kids learn the values of a peaceful lifestyle, and problem solving-which will stay with many of these kids throughout their lives. This camp is amazing for so many reasons. The founders of LFFP MJ and Jerry Park have been prominent role models in my life. They are always there for me and my family, and more importantly- have touched the lives of thousands of kids and adults. Being apart of this camp with my brother  and some of my best friends, is my favorite part of the summer. 

I hope to stay with this organization throughout my teen and adult years. Something as rare and valuable as this camp is worth sustaining and expanding. 

http://www.lffp.org/

My passion, Half The Sky

For our journalism class we were told to write about something that appeals to us personally. Something we're truly passionate about. From the moment this was assigned, I thought of the Half The Sky Movement.


I watched the 4 hour documentary last Tuesday and Wednesday, and was truly inspired. It started out as just another PBS documentary my mom wanted me to watch (not that they're not good). But Half The Sky is about issues that effect women everywhere. The documentary, based off a 2009 novel by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, depicts the terrible oppression women are under world wide. It focuses on issues such as: gender discrimination,  prostitution, sex trafficking, women's education, violence and genital mutilation. The purpose is not solely to draw attention to these issues, it's to show support and recognize thee amazing ways many of these women have turned their oppression into opportunity.


What I admire so much about this documentary, is the call to action. The examples of abused women really appeal to the viewers ethics. The documentary also shows how people have already risen up to the occasion to help. Celebrities such as America Ferrera, Eva Mendez, and several others volunteered to help draw attention to these women, who have turned their oppression into opportunity.

I work for a peace organization during the summer, which i'll probably blog about in the future. My experiences with this organization, Little Friends For Peace, my church, my girl scout troop, and other service projects i've been involved in, have helped me to learn empathy and compassion. It is a dream mof mine to work in impoverished areas and countries in order to teach newer generations the values of peace, and gain hope for a more loving, and accepting future. Half the sky has contributed to this dream of mine, and has allowed me to become more interested and informed.

For those reading this who haven't read the book, which i'm currently reading, or watched the documentary Half The Sky, I strongly recommend it. Highly ignored topics such as women's oppression deserve more attention and change.



http://www.halftheskymovement.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_the_Sky:_Turning_Oppression_into_Opportunity_for_Women_Worldwide

Exploring the web

Through stumbleupon.com, I found an interesting website which gives direct links to Behind the scenes  websites.
These websites are interesting, and could potentially be helpful to my dystopian trailer project or future assignments. There is a movie script archive, which could be useful for finding good ideas, but still having a lot of creativity.

Here's the website: Behind the Scenes