I am a fiercely original eccentric that loudly enjoys life. I am of the ironic disposition of being simultaneously altruistic and constantly in need of help. Which brings me here. I plan to travel to Latin America next fall after I am done with summer school classes and graduate from UC Davis with a Bachelors in International Relations. I am applying for the Peace Corps and it can be up to a year long process: expensive, invasive, and time intensive.
Here is where the blog comes in. As much as I plan to entertain you, I am asking for help. Don't think of it so much as a donation, but more as an investment in YOUR future. I have devoted my life to service, and even after the Peace Corps, am going back to school for probably social work, community development or something of the sort. So, a small amount of money now, to help me through this phase, will keep me working on a better world for us all.
If you doubt my dedication, or think this is a pipe dream, which I doubt any of you do, I'd like to take you down memory lane with me, as I further introduce myself, the A.D.D. activist.
I have been abroad before. I went to Costa Rica for three months to study science. I paid for it myself, working two full time jobs, one at a group home, one at McDonald's (against all moral objections), while going to school full time. I am hoping to work smarter, not harder this time.
I began as any tree-hugger would, by planting trees. This was a part of Tree Fresno's efforts to move the city toward Carbon neutrality.
I even began to find my legs as a protester. I got to go to the capitol for the first time protesting community college fee increases. It was half to protest, half for free lunch, a tee shirt, and a trip to Sacramento.
In the aftermath of the passage of Prop 8, I also found myself involved in the fight for equality. I attended the
Meet in the Middle Rally which marked the beginning gay communitie's new strategy against intolerance: meeting people where they are and moving them with our stories.
When I transferred to Davis, I was met again with fee increases, and did my best to occupy things in protest.
I became involved with a student group on campus that works for progressive ideals. This was a spring break trip we took doing beach clean ups, press conferences, petition collecting, and we even ended up lobbying for a Styrofoam and plastic bag ban.
We took on Styrofoam and plastic because of Garbage Island. Nasty stuff really. Hawaii gets trapped in the middle
and has one of the world's dirtiest beaches. And,
Our Throw Away Society is to blame.
My campaign within CalPIRG, forests, planted an edible orchard on campus, and here we volunteered at Muir Woods building a fence in front of a tributary that lead from a pond to the ocean where the endangered Coho Salmon run. That year they had one of the biggest salmon runs in decades.
Building a salmon fence.
We also lobbied on several different issues. This time was to retain funding for Cal Grants, a crucial grant program for underprivileged students (like myself). It was a tough sell as California was having an enormously hard time balancing the budget and everything was on the chopping block.
As election season rolled around, a challenge to our Clean Air Act, Ab32, arose calling itself, "California Jobs Initiative". It argued that keeping pollutants out of our air harmed our economy, when really it was f
funded by two Texas oil companies in order to profit from trashing our planet. It was defeated, thanks to a great effort of our young voters across the state. (In Davis alone, we turned out 4,000!)
I also worked for awhile with Equality California, going door to door changing hearts and minds, phone banking to get out volunteers, and collecting money at events like this one after the first judges overturning of Prop 8 as unconstitutional.
EQCA also teamed up with fellow equality seekers to oppose Andy Pugno, the author of Prop 8, who was running for 5th district assembly in California. He lost. Equality won with Richard Pan, a fabulous man who works for the same better world I imagine.
Where am I off to next then? All of these fabulous efforts have given me the confidence that I can make a difference if I put my heart behind my intentions. So, on wings of faith, or palm fronds of faith, whatever- they're symbolic- I fly into the campaign for a better world.
