This Zoom meeting took place on 4/5/2021 and was hosted by Samantha Zimmerman. I attended the event later on through the recorded Zoom because my professors decided that April was to be “International Work Hayden To Death Month”. From the death of Ghanaian dolphins to the arrest of the Honduran President’s brother, Samatha did a wonderful job of summarizing and sharing the events of the week. One thing that made me chuckle was the Kahoot question, “Is Stonehenge being dismantled?” For my archaeology class this semester, I had to take like 4 pages of noted exclusively on Stonehenge and there is no way that the archaeologists, local politicians, and New Age druids would ever allow anything to happen to the site. I acknowledge that the site is incredibly important to the Neolithic prehistory of the British Isles and even Europe, but there isn’t a lot to do in the entirety of Wiltshire, England. I think the entire county would go into the red if Stonehenge magically disappeared one day. Another question that I found interesting was “whether or not the COVID-19 pandemic could have been prevented?” Like Madison said, I don’t think the pandemic could have been prevented entirely, I just don’t think we can control natural forces to that extent yet, but there could’ve been a lot more done by global leaders to lessen the effects of the pandemic.

This event occurred on Monday, November 2nd and was hosted by Alex Lane. I chose this event because I am still interested in study abroad after my Dresden Summer Program trip was canceled because of that big jerk of a disease known as Covid-19. I did not attend this event at the time but revisited the Zoom video later on. Turns out, this presentation had nothing to do with study abroad and this is what happens when you randomly jump into things after only reading the name. Turns out, GoinGlobal actually has to do with finding jobs and internships abroad. This is not exactly what I’m going for while at OSU but you bet I’m gonna get the heck outta the US and experience the greater world as soon as I can. I’m not sure GoinGlobal is the best fit for me but it is a good resource to keep in the utility belt for later on. These days, I’m heavily considering going to Germany for graduate school and trying to get into the workforce from there but we’ll see. If I’ve learned anything from 2020 it’s that plans are not always gonna stick. Sometimes you just have to play the hand you’re dealt.

This event was mostly composed of a Kahoot quiz and follow up informational presentation, both hosted by the Samantha Zimmerman. The energy was a chill and jovial Sunday night Zoom call where IA members could get up to date on current events. For myself personally, I did decent on the Kahoot but there were some world events that I was unaware of. More absurd things like the president of Turkmenistan building a giant gold statue of his dog in the center of a roundabout was in my radar but I wasn’t up to date about how the protests in Sudan have been developing. If I have to attribute my lack of information to anything it would be just the trip and a half that this semester has been. I definitely over extended myself and the fact that I have asynchronous lectures that turn an hour and 20 mins of lecture into a three hour power point doesn’t help me stay up to date with world events. One of my goals for winter break is to get back into the habit of being better informed about current events since I will have more free time. Hopefully, the current events could get a little brighter after a dark year.

This event occurred on Friday, October 23rd and was hosted by OSU’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The event was moderated by Maria Ortero any featured several speakers who spoke about the state of immigration policy under the Trump Administration. For the sake of transparency, I also viewed this event after it occurred. The speakers spoke about topics such as the status of DACA, relief, Jewish refugees in WW2, and much much more. All the speakers did a great job presenting the state of American immigration policy and were clearly very passionate about the issue. After viewing the video, I did some texting rounds to some friends making sure they are registered to vote. The treatment of human being that are trying to immigrate the the US by the Trump administration is downright evil. Plain and simple. Political opinions aside, people just flat out should not treat other people like that no matter what. These days when I think of immigration, I think of sitting in on the immigration court hearing during the IA trip to D.C. my freshman year. Before that day I was still very open in terms of immigration, but to see the despair on those people’s faces haunts me. People who have anti-immigrant and xenophobic tendencies to watch those hearing because you have to be a monster to not feel something about it.

This event occurred on October 12th and was hosted by Steven, Samantha Zimmerman, and Sam Stelnicki. I chose this event because with anthropology I will probably need a PhD if I want to make a larger amount of money and eventually teach anthropology at the college level. On of the best ways to get a good amount of money with Anthropology is to publish books and a big old “Dr.” in front of my rather unimposing name would add ethos and drive sales. This is a very money focused little side tangent I just went on but we all know no one goes into anthro for the money… Anyways, in all transparency I watched this as a recorded Zoom video after the fact because my workload has it out for me right now. Sam is currently pursuing a PhD in Econ and does clarify that depending on what you’re researching, the requirements vary greatly. That being said, she emphasized how important engaging in undergraduate research is. What surprised me was how much wiggle room she has about deciding what to do in her program. I thought it would be more “you should have it figured out by now”. That being said, my heart did sink when she spoke about her workload

This event occurred on September 27th and was hosted by Samantha Zimmerman. The event included a Kahoot about current events and was followed with a presentation that gave more detailed information about the event. In all honesty, I spent most of the meeting mentally stuck on the topic of paid maternity/paternity leave because of the first question.  I don’t think this a hot take if you actually have a soul but because I’m taking Developmental Psychology right now I just can’t believe how short leaves are and how some fathers don’t even get paternity leave. That first year of a baby’s life is so freaking important to their development of emotional, social, verbal, and attachment skills that I believe paid maternity/paternity leave should be hazily expanded. We as humans (especially in the US) do an awful job at setting up success for the future generations and one way that could easily improve the psychological and social wellbeing of future generations would be to actually give them the freaking time to interact with their parents. Not to mention, I would not want a mother to do a single thing for months after giving birth because, as my own mother reminds me, that is a borderline hellish experience. Oh yeah IA, there were also questions about a bunch of other topics like economic things in Australia and a coup in Mali.

This event was occurred on August 27th and was hosted by Steven and Jeremy Holon. I’ve been wanting to do CRIS since I first heard about it last year during the IA community meeting. At the time, I was apprehensive about becoming a mentor because I wanted to give myself some time to adjust to Columbus and being in college. Being a mentor also sounded kinda scary and I was worried about having that much of an affect on another person’s life. After this meeting, I know I definitely want to work with CRIS but I’m not sure in what capacity. Interning Sous a kinda interesting but I feel like I would be doing more good work by being a mentor. This also leads to the why I want to work with CRIS, I wanna do good work. I feel, sorta in the center of my chest, the drive to help and do the work that is necessary. I feel almost physically compelled to work with CRIS and other service organization in college and the only reason I can really explain why is I feel the need to. Hopefully, I figure out what capacity I will work with CRIS soon and can begin doing the good work.

I chose to watch the recording of this event because I was set to study abroad in Dresden this summer but that went out the window so I thought why not learn about more programs that go to Germany. This one is an internship too so my bank account will be less disappointed in me spending money to go over seas if I decide to apply in the future. That being said, it is a STEM program but with a recession coming up Anthropology might just not cut it so I’m keeping my options open. Allison did a great job sharing information about the program and I giggled at imagining an American trying to speak German with a Swedish accent. I sorta like the appeal of it not being a study abroad program per se and having the freedom of just being an intern in Germany. The program looks challenging to get into but the rewards seem great and it seems like a fantastic experience. If I’m being honest, one of my favorite things about watching this recording was watching Steven stare intensely at his phone and occasionally letting his mouth fall ever so slightly open as Allison eloquently explained the program.

With the over-abundance of good news coming from all directions in the world right now (read this with intense yet defeated sarcasm), I have been limiting my access to online news outlets for my own sanity. That is why I decided to pick this event, to help me catch up on current events in a way that felt better than reading the soul crushing articles I normally would have. Unfortunately I could not be at the Zoom but I did watch the recording, my reason for absence being my brain and motivation have turned to mush. From Dutch flowers to Central Asia (I actually do know a bit about the region because I had nothing better to do than early high school then to suck up obscure geographical knowledge) it was much more refreshing to hear people talk about news than to stare into Don Lemon’s tired eyes as I sit in depressing silence watching CNN with my mom. Sam did a great job relaying information about current events in a way that I enjoyed. It was also good to hear from you (I’m assuming Steven is reading this), Mitch, and Zaida. One downside though is that after watching the recording I somehow miss OSU more than I already did.

On January 23rd, several members of Ia and myself headed down to the Smith basement to engage in some light-hearted lantern making. This wasn’t a particularly traditional or culturally oriented take on lantern making but it was a fun night of simple arts and crafts. I wasn’t on a mission to make an artistic statement here so I just chatted while following instructions and I had a chill time. My favorites colors are orange and purple in that order  so yes, I made a heinous orange and purple lantern but I love it. It definitely looks like a 6 year old made it. I believe this event plays more into the community aspect of IA where a bunch of us got to meet up and create something. I’m of the opinion that college students tend to take themselves too seriously and therefore try to make many things into serious issues that really aren’t. This event wasn’t serious but there is something to be learned being able to make connections while doing something just for fun. It doesn’t take an enlightening experience, a great act of service, or a deep conversation to find a similar wavelength you can ride with other people. Sometimes all it takes is some construction paper, Elmer’s glue, scissors, strings, and a good mood.