June 2011 - Getting used to my job and remember the employee "perk" of up to 6 credit hours of class for free for employees. I look through the UNCG course bulletin.
August 2011 - I decide to enroll in Global Human Rights, an online graduate level course. Feeling good about my decision and excited to create time and space to look into this more fully.
September 2011 - I get an email from some list serve and decide to read it. A concert invitation and someone is taking donations for Water Hope, a nonprofit that raises money to provide more people with access to clean drinking water.
October 8, 2011 - My friend MaryHil and I travel to Carborro to hear Boyce Avenue play at Cat's Cradle. The opening act is a stellar band called Green River Ordinance (GRO). I hear a song they wrote for Water Hope and tear up a little. I speak with the lead singer afterwards and find out he simply met one of their people at a benefit and decided to collaborate in this artistic and awesome way.
October 17, 2011 - My online course begins and the professor doesn't assign reading. He just suggests using our graduate level brains to filter through 2 textbooks, numerous online resources, articles and PDFs of many pages, videos and government documents. I feel overwhelmed because, per usual, I also have something planned socially every night.
October 31, 2011 - I made it through the first 2 assignments and this week is all about human trafficking and the sex trade in Thailand. I have watched numerous videos and am starting to put some ideas together. I tear up at least once during each video.
November 2, 2011 - I sort through my old CDs to remember I purchased a "Freedom" CD to benefit International Justice Mission and it included a DVD documentary narrated by Danny Glover. I watch it for the first time. The end concludes with a song by GRO! I cry at the sadness of slavery, the realness of it...but also the hope for an end and a sense of responsibility. This is heavy stuff.
Take Aways:
I'll be sharing more about what I'm learning in this class. I've told friends, even before it started, "this class might change my life"
