Journal for eautrey

Today was quite the most fascinating day I've experienced at Willamette this year. All day long Willamette hosted Focus the Nation, which were several panel discussions focusing on the issue of climate change and how to deal with it in many different perspectives. There were eight different discussions throughout the day and I was able to attend three of them. Panelists ranged from professors, to fellow students and peers, to potential US senators and everyone of them had several great arguments and opinions on the topic of climate change and sustainability. Other than the delicious cookies and tea that was provided, the best part of the day was to see students and community members attend these discussions and to actively participate to learn more about the world we live in from the expert panelists.

But when I am not attending the panel discussions, I am fairly able to keep busy elsewhere. 5 vs. 5 intramural basketball is about to begin so most of my evenings the past week have been spent teaching the future referees the rules and getting them practice time. I never would have thought that refereeing would be sooo difficult and I am really impressed what some of these referees can do because I know I would have a horrible time dealing with such a hard task. More on basketball, I am really starting to get into it and I will be on two teams for the upcoming season which starts this Monday.

As far as this spring break trip I am planning, my co-leader and I finally starting to make progress on where we will be going to. If I haven't explained what exactly I am doing, I am planning an alternative spring break trip for fellow students where we will be going around Oregon doing service projects focused on the fish and forest aspects in the state. This is part of a larger program Willamette does every year and is one of many trips that take place during spring break. Each trip that has about 12 to 14 students along with a faculty member will be going around the state or country to help out a community instead of going home or taking road trips. But, enough for now, more to come on that later.

Okay, time to go back to the gym for more ref training. Until next time, have a good Super Bowl weekend.

Posted by Eric D Autrey at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hello again. It's been a while since my last post, but don't worry, I'll be updating more often from now on.

So...my winter vacation. You may ask what I did and the only way I can respond is to try to paint you a picture for a recap of my break. So close your eyes and picture a nice sunny day. You are indoors and a beam of sunlight is radiating onto a comfortable couch in a living room. Also on that couch is a normal house cat that is just taking a quick cat-nap. But this cat isn't in its normal sleeping position, its completely sprawled out, on its back, limbs going in every direction trying to absorb every ray of sunlight possible. What that cat was doing was exactly what I was doing... all break.

So instead of making every assumption possible about how lazy I am, I actually did do other things. I saw a couple of minor league hockey games, and rediscovered my passion for hockey that I once had as a kid. I also went skiing in order to get back into my groove for ski class this year and had a fun time doing that. Primarily though, if I was not shooting hoops in the driveway or baking cookies, I was watching old West Wing episodes and doing sudoku puzzles. New Years was fun because I spent the whole day making tamales and sport games. One weekend my family and I went to Seattle to have dinner and go shopping.

Since I have been back I have spent most of my time trying to get back on my feet. Starting school again is like stepping onto a treadmill that is already up to full speed and trying to stay on your feet. Of course I crashed and burned, but once I figure my new schedule out and get a good routine going I'll get on my feet and cruise right along. I have a good feeling about this semester and I am looking forward to the challenges that wait.

Until next time,
Eric

Posted by Eric D Autrey at 01:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)