I had to get permission from the principal to start this program. She thought it was an amazing idea, this was something that the girls needed. Following this meeting I made permission slips that would go out to the parents of the girls giving them a overview of this mentoring group. I wanted the girls to have a safe environment to talk freely and not feel judged. I had girls interested in the program & if they decided they wanted to join they could.

Each week on Wednesdays I would meet with the girls. Each week there was a new topic to be discussed, followed by a lesson plan. When the girls came I made them write in their journals with different journal prompts every week. We would sit in a circle and have group conversations about our weekly topics.

What am I going to say to him?

Don’t worry about that.

We just turn around and you leave that easily?

This is hard for me too. I didn’t want to bring him into this craziness.

You said everything would be okay but look outside. What do you see? I see an absence of color. No life. Just us. How can we survive this for any longer. You will be better off without the stress of me on your back.

Okay.

The boy peeks his head out of his room, disrupting the man and woman.  

Come. Your mother has to talk to you.

The woman looks at the man.

Do you think this is not hard for me?

Look at me baby this is a little hard for me.

What is it mommy?

This isnt mommy saying she doesnt love you. I have to go away for a while, don’t come looking for me. I am okay. You are going to spend most of your days with your father.

Why do you have to go?

You will find out later on in life.

I love you. Okay.

Okay. I love you too.

The man rolls over and looks at the boy.

Good morning papa.

Good morning.

Did you dream about Momma?

No.

I miss her.

Okay.

Do you miss her?

Yes.

Do you think she loves me?

Yes.

Okay.

Okay. Go back to sleep now.

Okay.

Development comes over time. Change never shows right away it is a process. “When trying to achieve change the process sometimes does matter and does not. When it comes to change I don’t think the process matters. However, when you are trying to become a doctor and you cheat the whole way through the process does matter because you can’t pursue in a career which you know nothing about” - Journal 52. Over the course of my sophomore year in history I have learned a lot, mostly about change and how it affects people.  We have gone through many units through the four quarters. We have talked about revolution, development, power, society, technology, religion and how all of that affects the people.

Dealing with the revolution I have learned a lot and it has opened my eyes about many things. During my working with revolutions the main thing that stuck out to me was the struggle for power. When revolutions take place there is a unbalance of power. The people who are suffering from the revolution are the native people of that land. A question that most people ask is “Are revolutions ever really over?”We watched some clips during class of the movie “The Square” during the Egyptian Revolution. Some people said “People are true power.” I made a video about revolutions and the power struggle here. You can see some quotes from the film that stood out to me and the quotes broken down here. Dealing with revolutions you will never see a positive outcome immediately. The changes expected from the revolution comes late. The first thing that comes after revolution is development. The people have shown that after revolutions you have to try to develop and make things structured around you so you can become structured.

Talking about religion and culture this year also helped me open my eyes. In culture you see the development the most over time. You can see what cultures actually stuck to what they believed in or if they wandered off or became “modernized.” Over the course of the year I wrote a journal about criticism dealing with cultures: “I don’t think it’s ever acceptable to judge someone else and how they live” - Journal #3. You can read the full journal here. Sometimes when revolutions took place there was a change in culture. When other countries would come over they would leave different effects on the people as in slang, beliefs, religion, dress, how you live and more.

Other than historical events, another thing that has changed and is still changing over time is development. Technology has developed in many different ways, positive and negative. Technology has affected historical events significantly. “Having some people be exposed to revolutions online are more difficult because instead of making a change people will just act like they care instead of really doing something”- Journal 32. In saying that there is more of a negative change because not a lot is being done. In Egypt an entire revolution started because of one post online so having technology also increased development.

In conclusion I really appreciated and learned a lot from working with Mr. Block in World History this year. I’ve learned a lot but what I will never forget is that development comes over time and change never shows right away it is a process. I can apply this to my everyday life.