Social Experiment

Walking in Manhattan on the outside of Central Park, my boyfriend and I came up with an idea. Have rich families adopt homeless persons. At first it was a laughable concept, but really thinking about it, it would be a great program, and an interesting experiment. Mental illnesses are rampant in the homeless population. In some circumstances the illness results in homelessness in others, the conditions of homelessness cause a mental illness. While mental health can be treated/stabilized and maintained through medications and therapy, it is difficult to make any progress if someone's life is unstable. Not to mention the vicious cycle of "you can't get a job without an address, and you can't get an address without a job." The "adoption" would provide this stability and additional resources.

Sure, the interactions may be appallingly comical, and if this idea ever came to fruition in our society it would most likely be in the form of a reality T.V. show, but it would be an interesting social experiment. Just a thought...

Babies in the Water

A man is walking alongside a river. He glances down to find babies in the water floating downstream. Instantly he jumps in the river and starts pulling babies out of the water. They continue to come, and he is frantically trying to save them all. A woman sitting nearby starts running upstream. "Where are you going?!" he exclaims "Get in here and help me save these babies!" She responds explaining "I am going upstream to see where these babies are coming from and who keeps on putting them in the water."

Upstream vs. Downstream thinking. We need both to function as a society. Which one are you?

For Dummies...

While sitting in a comfy chair, studying in the bookstore, I glanced up. There was a guy standing awkwardly looking for a place to sit and read. The book he was holding: "Dating For Dummies." Adorable. Now that's the type of guy girls should want to date.

Penn students take to the streets

A video of the excitement around Penn's campus and Philadelphia. Beautiful.

Hope

I remained skeptical as the results were still coming in. Calling a state with only 20% of precincts reporting just made me uncomfortable. A friend and I left our house on the way to a bar to finish watching the incoming results, when apparently the election was called. Obama had exceeded the 270 electoral votes needed. We ran into a large group of Penn students on campus with posters and balloons shouting and screaming, and walking with a seeming mission. Inspired, we ran to catch up and joined this spontaneous parade around West Philadelphia. People came out onto their porches and leaned out their windows in the neighborhood cheering along with us. Such a diverse population with people from so many different cliques came together to celebrate. The parade ended on Locust walk as we gathered into a cluster jumping up and down and cheering. The guy next to me got up on his friends shoulders and announced "McCain just conceded!" The crowd went wild. We dispersed to watch Obama's speech.

I was close to tears. The part about how our "generation plagued with being called apathetic, turned out in huge numbers to make their voices heard" especially made me so proud. After the speech a friend and I lead a group down to City Hall to celebrate. We were not alone. We were met by honking passing cars, cheered with and high-fived random people. A group was gathered outside of City Hall in the streets celebrating.

It was such a great moment in history that I will tell my children about. It was just so beautiful to see so many strangers brought together. I can't remember an election in my time where people were so celebratory about the results. Not to mention an election without controversy and recounts. I know some of you are skeptical, but you have to trust and hope. There is nothing wrong with that. That is what as brought our nation as far as it has come. As my sister in Switzerland said " You know what's great? I am no longer embarrassed to admit that I'm an American." This result resonates with the rest of the world, and for that reason alone, America has such a chance to regain the respect we once had.

Free Falling

Approximately 15,000 feet above the ground I squatted in the open doorway of a tiny plane. I crossed my arms, leaned my head back, and arched my back as instructed by the person strapped on my back. "1,2,3" and we were off. Leaving the plane in style with a back flip!

The whole experience was surreal. The extremity of what I was doing barely registered. Even as my tandem pro handed me the parachute straps, I mechanically did as told to make us spin. A nice smooth landing on our feet completed the smoothness of the entire jump.

Afterwards, my jumping friends and I could not wipe the huge smiles off our faces. It was a once in a lifetime experience...that I would most definitely do again.