14 days.

On By jackgoestostuttgartIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hi!

I’m Jack, a senior from West Chester, PA.  For my senior project, I will be interning with an engineer at Stuttgart SSB in Stuttgart, Germany.  The SSB is the company that runs the subways, trams, and buses around Stuttgart.  I have no idea what I’ll be doing exactly, but that’s part of the fun.  I will be living with a German family, whose son I met through the German exchange program at Westtown.

I initially applied for an internship at Mercedes and Porsche, though unfortunately both had all of their available spots filled.  Both companies would have given me a chance to see what working as an engineer would actually be like.  Although working with car designers would have been really interesting, working in the subway is a great way to see the way a city works.  I’ll be able to tell you more about it when I actually get there!

Can’t wait

 

Jack

 

 

An Artist Looking for the Edge

On By EmilyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hi all!

I’m Emily, a senior from Summit, NJ, counting down the days until my senior project begins! Because visual art has been an important part of my life since childhood, my goal for this spring is to learn what it’s like to be a part of a larger art community, by surrounding myself with professional painters and studio artists, and by exploring New York City and Barcelona’s renown museums.

My project was initially going to be spent living at home and commuting into New York City, where I’ll work as a studio assistant for Westtown alum and professional painter Donald Baechler, whose work can be seen at http://baechlerstudio.com . While that’s still going to happen, my list of possibilities has only grown with time! Christmas brought a surprise, 5 day vacation to Barcelona, Spain, where I can combine my love for artists like Miró and Gaudi with my interest in Spanish language, which I am taking at Westtown.

Once back home, I will rendezvous with Donald, who has offered me a chunk of his 2nd floor studio as my own studio space in exchange for working as one of his studio assistants, where I will work with Donald and other artists to build up layers of collage that Donald will later paint pop-art-esque designs over.

In addition to working with Donald, I hope to also spend time visiting some of my favorite New York museums and assisting my godfather and his partner in their floral and party design business, Ron Wendt Designs (ronwendtdesign.com) where they design high-end weddings, corporate events and private parties for esteemed clients like Burberry, Cartier, Chanel, Hermes, the New York Stock Exchange, and many others.

Meanwhile, I intend to blog and create work of my own, both in the visual journals and artists books that I create, and in paintings and prints inspired by the diversity of my surroundings.

All in all, my senior project is going to be a cacophony of creativity and inspiration, helping me explore the boundaries of what it means to be an artist and decide whether the life of an artistic professional is the life for me.

Thanks for subscribing, and I hope to have much more to say in two weeks!

-Emily

Inheriting Heritage

On By danielghanaIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hi, I’m Daniel, a Westtown senior from Media, PA. This is my fourteenth and final year at Westtown, so I am hoping to make it my best. I will be traveling to Ghana to teach at Heritage Academy, the school that T. Kwesi  and T. Melissa helped to start.

I have heard a lot about Heritage Academy over the years. When I was in sixth grade, we exchanged pen-pal letters with some of the students in Ghana. Also, my brother Francis went on this trip for his senior project, and he brought back lots of pictures and stories about his experience. I will be bringing a camera, so I might be able to send back pictures, but that depends on the internet in one of the towns near the school, and I have heard it is a little finicky.

This will not be my first time out of the country. I’ve been to Europe several times in the past (England, Italy, Norway, Greece) but never to Africa. I have a lot of preconceptions about where we will be going, so I look forward to being surprised and having those expectations shattered.

During the week, our group (we have 10 students, I believe) will teach at Heritage. I plan to teach Math. So far, the math I will be teaching involves fractions, decimals, and percentages. I will be sharing this responsibility with another student, so hopefully this brief stint as a teacher will involve more fun and less panic about standing in front of an expecting crowd of Ghanaian students. We will be teaching two or three sections a day, so I suppose that by the end of our stay, I will at least have figured out what does and does not work when teaching several sections of a class. The classes are fairly large, but I haven’t heard an exact number yet. As far as I know, it will be around 30 students in a class.

We will be staying in a guest house some distance away from the school, which sounds like it could be interesting. It will be odd going from a North American winter with 30-degree weather an snow to Ghana where it will probably be around 90 degrees every day. I anticipate a very difficult transition in the first few days of our stay in Ghana.

Now, I have to focus on packing all of my gear and deciding exactly what I will be teaching. That, and counting down the days before we leave. Good luck, Ghana 2011!

Daniel

From Asia to Asia

On By lynnieIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hello!

I am Lynn, a senior from Seoul, Korea and I will be going to Thailand for my Senior Projects with 9 other seniors.

Personally, I am very excited for this trip because I haven’t gone traveling outside of the countries, and also to travel to somewhere close to my home with my friends from half way across the world. It feels a little bit weird to think that we are going to be experiencing a new environment together. Most of the time it was me, trying to figure out new surroundings by myself.

I don’t know what to expect from the two weeks that I will be spending in Thailand. I am nervous, but very excited at the same time. I hope to go there with an open mind and experience as much of the Thai culture as I can during my time there. I will be documenting my experience through blogging and photography.

I am having  a hard time focusing on school work because there is so little time left before my friends and I leave for Thailand! Count down has started, only 19 days left!

Anticipation of a Surreal Journey

On By johnintheholylandIn Uncategorized2 Comments

2/2/11

It is strange for me to realize that in only 19 days I will be sitting on a plane, flying to Tel Aviv. This is something that I have wanted to do for over a year. I gained interest in politics and international issues during a class I took last year called “From Hiroshima to 9/11”. As a whole, the class opened my eyes to how much is going on in the world and how those things effect me and everyone around me. The whole winter term was devoted to the history and current conflict in the region of Israel/Palestine. Going into the class, I knew that I would be most interest in that topic, but once we started to learn about it, I began to grasp how important this conflict is to the rest of the world, and in particular, the United States of America.

Of course, there is only so much one can learn from a textbook. With topics as complex as the one in Palestine/Israel, there is so much more to learn than names and dates. My goal while I am there is to learn more about the people. I want to know who is actually part of this conflict, and how they feel about what is happening. I want to walk down the streets of Jerusalem, Ramallah, Givat Havina, Bethlehem, and feel the passion and pain that live there. I want to understand how such a holy land can be encompassed by such a painful conflict.

I know a few people who have visited various places throughout the region, and one of the things that I keep being told is that it will change my life. Every time someone says this to me I reply by simply saying, “I know”. But, truthfully, I don’t think I do. I am unsure what my reaction will be to my journey. I am worried that I have sensationalized this trip, and will find myself disappointed by what I find.

Over the course of my two-week trip, I will be traveling all over Palestine and Israel with a small group of Westtown students. Throughout the trip I will be updating this blog with my thoughts, feelings, and my pictures. My hope is that everyone reading will be able to follow me through my journey in Israel and Palestine.


Thailand and Elephants!

On By emilylthailandIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hi! I’m Emily, and in less than three weeks I will be on my first international flight headed for Thailand.  I am both excited and nervous for the trip.  I’m starting to think about packing, how long the flight will be, and how I will manage to not lose my new passport (with its unflattering and awkward picture). 

My Senior Project to Thailand is full of firsts for me.  It will be my first time out of the country (besides to Niagara Falls in third grade…), and this also will be my first time completing 50 hours of service in one week.  Thailand will be the longest trip (in terms of days) I have ever been on, and my longest time spent on an airplane.  I’m excited to fully immerse myself in a new culture and meet new people, try new food, and see Bangkok and Chiang Mai, along with the Elephant Nature Park.  I am even excited that I will be in Japan for a few hours between flights.

Thailand will be my first time overseas, and I am ready for the experience.  I know it will be unlike anything I have ever encountered.  Most people take their first trip out of the country to Europe or even an island in the Caribbean, so going to Thailand is definitely exciting.  I am nervous about the food because I have never tried Thai food, and should probably be doing that within the next few weeks.  The weather will  be GREAT.  Getting away from all of the snow and 30 degree weather in February will be relieving.  The elephant and service part of the trip is where most of the group’s time will be spent . I am not familiar with elephants, but I did ride one at the Philadelphia Zoo in first grade. I am excited to work with the elephants, and completing 50 hours of service will be rewarding. 

 I am really looking forward to Thailand and counting down the days. I’m going overseas for the first time, spending 2 weeks with my friends, and hanging out with elephants…what’s not to love?

Here is a link to the park where we will be working!

http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

Going north, into the red and green

On By henryandthecollapsedcityIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Hello internet and blog followers,

I am going to be heading off into Detroit to take part in the vibrant progressive and radical social change communities there. First I will be spending two weeks at the Trumbullplex. I found the Trumbullplex in Slingshot magazine’s radical contact list.  The Trumbullplex was created in 1993 when members of the collective established the nonprofit corporation Wayne Association of Collective Housing and purchased the property, two Victorian houses on either side of a single-story art space. The Trumbullplex’s mission statement says that they,  “want to create a positive environment for revolutionary change in which economic and social relationships are based on mutual aid and the absence of hierarchy.”All of the decision-making process are consensus based decision-making just like Quaker process. The collective values of the house go so deep that you can not interview one person from the house for an interview; when journalists ask the house for an interview they all must be present. The members of the collective all hold various jobs as well as operate various organisations and initiatives around Detroit. The Trumbullplex itself operates as an art gallery, infoshop, music venue, and an all around community center.

From the Trumbullplex I will be off to Brother Nature Produce. Brother Nature is an urban farm specializing in micro greens. The man who runs Brother Nature Produce was one of the co-founders of the Trumbullplex. Greg is known through the community for employing and teaching the unemployed locals of Detroit at his farm. He does lots of open pile large-scale composting on the vacant lots of the city.

I have jumped into this project without much fear of rejection and just set out to find out how I could take part in the growing movement in Detroit from the inside. I will get to see how an anarchist community functions and spend time with people who have been doing this kind of work for a very long time. I will also see how a new startup CSA growing literally in the streets of Detroit interacts with the community. I can’t wait to be in Detroit and hear all of the interesting perspectives and take part in the very crucial work that they are doing.

Peace,

Henry

Trumbullplex:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trumbullplex  

& 

Brother Nature Producehttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Brother-Nature-Produce/152167309159?v=info

Counting down the days…

On By caylinatbsmIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Hey! I’m Caylin, nice to meet you. I’m not going to lie, hearing about some of my classmate’s plans for their international, culturally stimulating senior projects gets me a little bit jealous… But in all honestly, I feel that what I’ve chosen to do is the perfect answer for the questions I’ve been asking myself lately. And I took quite a trip even getting to the point where I could hand in any of the required information to T. Cindy (things like location, or topic). Some of my rejected plans include: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, working in an orphanage in Romania, and working on a mustang ranch in Arizona. Each idea didn’t work out for one reason or another (mostly because I am stubborn, have a severe aversion to decision-making, and get silly premonitions about things).  But anyways, after all of my friends told me that they were tired of hearing my new Senior Project ideas that were “definitely it this time!”, and T. Steve sent me a few of his “get it together” emails, I sat down with my adviser to figure out what it really was I wanted in a senior project.

That’s when things started coming together. I’m incredibly lucky to have traveled to as many places as I have, and even luckier to be attending a college next year that will allow me to travel to about seven more by the time I earn my B.A. But someone said to me, during the planning process, that “this project is a chance to do something that you haven’t done before.” It feels much more organic for me to stay close to home, and I definitely want to avoid taking a senior project “vacation” at all costs. So, Philadelphia is my location.

While climbing a mountain sounds monumental, and working with mustangs sounds like fun, those things aren’t really what  I would consider myself passionate about. It’s always a little awkward for me when I’m asked about what I am passionate about, because my answer isn’t a typical hobby. It isn’t playing music, or food, or writing, or running, or a sport, or theatre. It’s people, culture, stories, and the idea of “collective consciousness” that I like talking about so much. I love the fact that I live in the same city as people who have so many thing to share that I’ve never ever dreamed about, and yet we are still alike in so many ways and have such a vast capacity to learn from each other. It is something that I don’t feel the need to travel to a different country to understand and experience. So, that, in a weird, complicated nutshell, is my topic.

I guess I should explain exactly what I am doing during my senior project. I’m lucky enough to have a connection, through a class I take with students from Westtown and three other schools, with a really cool not-for-profit organization in Philadelphia called Broad Street Ministry. An open-minded faith community, BSM sort of embodies the answer to the questions that have been swimming around my head this year. What is the role of faith in the larger community? What brings people together, or sets them apart? How do you bridge cultural gaps, be they lingual, religious, economical, racial, environmental, or any other? A part of BSM’s mission, and I’m paraphrasing here, is that “we meet you where you are at.” There is no preconceived notion that anyone walking through the ministry’s beautiful doors has any religious experience, background, or beliefs of any sort. They do, they don’t, they aren’t sure- it’s considered extraneous. It’s about providing a service to our city, a place to seek shelter, community, warmth, food, art, and conversation for people from all social classes and backgrounds. It’s about bringing people together and giving them the space to learn from each other and build bridges across these societal gaps. Also, Broad Street Ministry works to raise awareness between people through service. I personally believe that service is the most effective way to put people in a situation from which they learn from others, whether it is from stepping outside of your comfort zone or facing a problem which you hadn’t focused on before.

I asked Liam, the Arts Marshal at BSM and the teacher of the Service Learning class I take there, if I could become a part of the community for two weeks. He accepted, and ever since then I’ve been happily driving into Philadelphia as much as possible, attending whatever events I can get to and slowly getting to know what Broad Street Ministry is all about. When my project starts, I’ll be able to actually start volunteering, doing things ranging from helping with the mail service, to organizing the clothing closet, to attending and helping at Breaking Bread and a No Barriers Dinner.

I think the reason that I am so excited to start my senior project is that I’ve found an organization that I really feel is doing straight-forward, honest work, and just trying to be all that it can be. There is no falseness there, from what I’ve experienced. I am so excited to see that the passion I’ve cultivated, what I would call human interaction, service, and community building, is shared by others in such effective means. It’s going to be really awesome getting to work with Broad Street Ministry and gaining knowledge of Philadelphia from such diverse perspectives.

Brown and White Online

On By emmanuelnewsIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Emmanuel Arthur’s Senior Project:

On February 18, my senior project begins. This is what Carl Beehler, my sponsor, wrote to Steve Compton. Honestly, I am excited that I get to utilize some of the knowledge I have acquired in Computer Science class, and this will probably give me a sense of whether I want to work in the field of programming as my future career.  

Description: Implement online publishing platform for Brown and White
Sponsor: Carl Beehler/Tech Office
 
Outline:
 
Phase 1 (Dec-Jan):
  • Take self-study course “An introduction to open source” (provided by Tech Office)
  • Read additional provided materials on Apache web server
  • Do quick write-up explaining interactions between components of the LAMP platform (Linux/Apache/MySQL/PHP)
Phase 2 (Jan-March):
  • Evaluate open source web publishing platforms on site http://php.opensourcecms.com/.
  • Try out demos for 5 platforms including Joomla and Drupal with news article publishing in mind.
  • Present short paper on which platform seems best for Brown and White use.
Phase 3 (Project/Break)
  • Install and configure Content Management System on web server
  • Set up templates, etc. for Brown and White publishing
  • Create basic ‘how-to’ guide for Brown and White staff
Assistance:
 
Much of the above is self-study and/or self guided. Assistance will be provided as needed by Carl or his staff if questions arise.
 
Some of the resources required to do such a project are relatively complicated and can’t be completely learned in the time available. This will lead to a slight disconnect between the conceptual and practical parts of this project.
Resources such as the web server will be preconfigured for use in the project with an eye towards having the project approved as a production service on campus.
 

My semi-failure

On By hannahrunningIn Uncategorized1 Comment

I’ve never really considered myself a last minute kind of person, but as far as Senior Projects go I think I may need to reevaluate that particular self image I’ve always supposedly adhered to. Up until a few days ago the plan was for me to organize and implement a 5k Run’Walk for charity. To my disappointment, I found that I was much less involved than I had originally intended. For as long as I could I stubbornly argued that I would be busy, definitely, for the 5 weeks total the seniors have off to go have an amazing life experience. But I knew, deep down (or maybe not so deep down at all) that this project was not turning out as I had originally planned.

My fix? Grow up, accept my semi-failure, and find another project.

Now I’m off to Washington, D.C. in just a few weeks. I supppose the blog name hannahrunning has become moot point, but honestly I’m excited to get out of West Chester for a couple of weeks. To be entirely honest I’m not 100% sure what I’m doing in D.C., but I know there is service involved, and a trip to the White House which I unfortunately will have to miss because of how late I signed up for the trip (I have yet to write a check or even tell T. Cindy where I’m going to be for the records).

All the same, I’m excited– it’s not every day when I get to visit the heart of America (or even leave West Chester for that matter).

It’s my hope that Washington D.C. will not only be the project that saves me from my previous project, but the real, substantial, exciting (and hopefully fun) Senior Project that I always wanted to have. I’m a clean slate. I’m a blank page. I’m all those lovely corny sayings people love to say when they’re about to start a new chapter.

Also, since I forgot to say earlier, my name is Hannah Trask.