The New Resettling Period Begins

On the 8th of January, the day I was to go back to school I began packing my things for the next few months I would spend at UCM. I packed eight Give Yourself Goosebumps books (I just love reading those things), Demetri Martin's This is a Book; The Dharma of Dragons and Daemons (I want to write Buddhist themed screenplays and I've got to learn about them); Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Tales from the Animal Kingdom (I love the animals in that book); 101 Celtic Knotwork Designs (I like to draw these things in my spare time); my book Ends of the Earth: Togo to Turkmenistan, Iran to Cambodia, the Frontiers of Global Anarchy (geo politics is something I love); Poisonwood Bible (that book has gotten really good); my book Poetry as a Spiritual Practice (I could learn something); and Best Buddhist Writings 2011 (to read and to keep all my Best Buddhist Writing books together). I also packed my clipboard and art supply kit for making friendship bracelets, my flute, my Buddha poster to hang in my room, and a couple of other things (I'll still put enough time into my work).

Jack's parents car pulled up in to my driveway around two o'clock that evening. I said hello to Jack and his parents, Jack and I talked about our break and my mom talked with Jack's parents for a while. Then we took off to UCM.

On the way I heard my phone ringing. I checked it. It was my dad. I answered the phone and he told me that he couldn't order my textbooks over the phone and have me pick them up at the bookstore because the deadline for doing so was the 28th of December. Never-the-less, we agreed that he would order the books I needed for my classes on Amazon and he said they would get to me by either Tuesday or Wednesday. He called back a few minutes later and told me that the chart I needed for my History class wasn't available on Amazon but he said if I bought it at the bookstore he would pay me back for it. I agreed.

Jack, his parents and I got to the school and unpacked our things. I put my clothes away, shelved my books that I brought and hung up my Buddha poster. Then Jack and I went with his parents to Walgreens where I bought some shampoo and some mechanical pencils.

Once I got back to school and had everything I needed, I went to dinner where I saw a familiar face. It was Cassie. I walked up to her and greeted her and we talked about our breaks and we agreed to sit next to each other. We told each other the things we got for Christmas and she told me about how she had gotten a job at the Einstein Brothers in Library. Though she told me she wasn't volunteering this semester, she did say she would stop by the study hall every so often to keep up the friendships with me and other members of the THRIVE program.

The next day, I went to my first Learning Strategies class where Mrs. Carter led us around the building to find our classes. After that I went to the bookstore and bought the chart I needed for my History class, then found out where my classes were. 

At one, I went to my U.S. History class where I ended up volunteering to be a note-taker for one of my fellow students. We met at the end of class and we agreed we would meet every Friday after class so I could give her a copy of the notes I took. After that I went to the Office of Accessibilities and got some carbon print paper. I went to my Creative Writing class an hour after my History class got out. The class put their desks in a circle and we, the students, went around the circle and told the class our names, where we were from, the best books we've read in the last six months and what we hoped to accomplish from this class. When it was my turn, I told then my name, told them I was from Mission Hills, Kansas, said the best books I've read within the past six months were Poisonwood Bible and Still Life with Woodpecker. I learned that this class would be largely discussion groups some of which we wrote a poem or a story and shared it with the class who would then critique our work however they saw fit while we simply listened to what they had to say. This sounded nerve-racking at first but I told myself what I believed the Buddha would have said in such a situation, "Be in the present."

            After that class I deposited some money in my bank account. That night I looked up books on the school libraries database by an author I had a great deal of interest in. His name was Dr. Roy Richard Grinker, an anthropologist and an autism expert whose daughter is autistic. I once saw him speak when I was at JCCC during the JCCC Autism: Beyond the Diagnosis Seminar. One thing he said I liked (though certainly not the only thing) was when he asked people why they chose him to he speak on autism issues, they said, "Well, you're not angry." When I looked him up on the UCM library database, I found a book of his called In the Arms of Africa: the Life of Colin M. Turnbull. 

The next day I went with the first year THRIVE students and Mrs. Carter in Learning Strategies to get our textbooks which I realized, the THRIVE program will pay for. I got my Learning Strategies textbook that day and after that I headed down to the library to check out some books and greet Cassie on her first day of work to give her some moral support. On the way I ran into her friend Mckinsey and we stopped to say hi for a moment and I told her I was going down to the library to say hi to Cassie and help make her feel comfortable on her first day of work. 

When I got down however, Cassie wasn't there. Never-the-less, I checked out two books: a Goosebumps book How I got My Shrunken Head and In the Arms of Africa. I went to lunch and saw Cassie eating with Mckinsey and another one of her friends. I asked her if she worked today and she said that her paperwork didn't get sent to them in time so she will have to start next week. I started my Workplace and Community Skills class which the first year THRIVE students would go to on Tuesdays and Thursdays. After that I went swimming with Jack, Emily and Jennifer. At dinner I ate with Kimmie, Daniel, Jack, Emily and Julie another THRIVE student. I saw Cassie sitting in the Dining Hall and invited her to sit with the rest of us. She came over but I didn't eat anything as I decided to go down to the King's Chef Buffett, an Asian restaurant, instead of simply eating at the cafeteria again. When I got back to school I went down to the Rec Center and this time I ran on the elliptical as all the treadmills with TVs were being used.

That night I finished reading the assigned reading for my U.S. History class. Kriti, one of our mentors was to get back from India. We waited for a while and then she got to the the South Ground Ellis Hall and we had some cake as it was also her's and Kimmie's birthday.

The next night however, I felt sick. I could not go to class the next day so I e-mailed my teachers to let them know. I ended up feeling better the next day and finished reading How I Got My Shrunken Head. I turned it into the library and checked out another Goosebumps book called Ghost Beach.  I was able to go to my classes after that. On Friday I read the assigned reading for my History class again. I started learning how the railway industry started leading to the rise of oil companies in America. I also gave the student in my class the notes I had copied for her. 

After class I went into town get some red and green embroidery floss to make friendship bracelets (I was going to get black but they were out) and to look in Hasting's Books where I saw several Goosebumps books and bought a copy of the Buddhist quarterly magazine Buddhadharma. I started feeling sick again that night, but by the morning I was feeling better. I don't know specifically what caused my sickness, but even though I had some school related stress over the holidays, I was sure that it was nothing psychological. There has been a bug that has been going around the school.

I spent the Saturday working on the poem for my creative writing class with no abstract words and came up with a poem about my room called My Second Home. Maybe there's some things I could work on with this poem but what I found was that doing it helped me realize that if I keep my door to my room open, I can feel more connected to the outside world and that I often have so many plans that I sometimes never get around to doing a single one of them. I also read more of Ghost Beach that day. I finished it the next morning and found instructions in there on doing grave rubbing. I looked up Warrensburg cemeteries and found Memorial Garden where I thought would be a great place to go grave rubbing. I also went on Plato web and took a reading, writing and math pretest and I think I did pretty well.

That night I read more of In the Arms of Africa. Colin Turnbull apparently was quite gifted in music and languages, though through his early years he was somewhat secluded, demonstrating many signs of autism himself. His teachers tried to squelch his love of things such as music, church, conservation and the Scottish countryside, which were all deep inspirations throughout his childhood.

The next morning, I went down to the Union with Jack, Emily, Gabe, Alex, Zach and Kriti from THRIVE to volunteer on Martin Luther King Day. We got our picture taken and went in a room down the hall where we packed Easter eggs with candy, tied knots in blankets for the senior's home to stop them from fraying, and laid out piles of newspapers for the Warrensburg animal shelter. They were going to throw several magazines and newspapers out that they weren't going to use. I saw one that got my interest, The Numismatist, since I am very interested in coin-collecting, so they gave me the magazine instead of throwing it away.

When I got back to my room, I did my weekly and monthly planner for Mrs. Carter's Learning Strategies class, then I got an e-mail from Teresa, my Person-Centered planner, saying my Person-Centered planning would be on Wednesdays from 2-2:50. I went down to the Union and played Runescape. When I got back to my dorm I looked up "pawns shops warrensburg mo" and found a place called Central Pawn Shop located near Hastings Books. It looked like it might have some interesting things so I decided I would look at it tomorrow. 

That night I thought of an idea. Jack has a painting that he did in high school that he hung above his bed. It shows a lake and several trees under a pale blue sky. It was really good but it fell onto his bed, and he took it down so it wouldn't fall on him while he's asleep. Then I got an idea. I put it on our dresser, so it looks like we're looking out at a lake.

The next day, I went to the bookstore and got a journal for my UCM scrapbook. Then I went down to the Einstein Brother's in the Red Center where Cassie was now working at and saw here there. We talked for a short while and I got a toasted everything bagel with butter (my favorite) and a chai tea latte. After class I found the Central Pawn Shop and saw that it did have some neat things.

I finally started running on the treadmill that night, which I had not done for a while because I was sick. The next day I made an appointment with Dr. Mayfield about accommodations for Tuesday at 1:15. After class I went to the pawn shop and found some neat coins there. I also went to Hasting's Books (I meet Kimmie and Daniel on the way and they took me there as they were taking Pierce to Walgreens) and got a book on birds, since I decided to start birdwatching, a book on U.S. coins, and an Indian Head cent folder.

The next day, Kimmie, Daniel, Jack, another THRIVE student named Corey, and I went to see Mallory Graves in Sedalia. We drove for a half hour then made it to the barbecue restaurant Mallory works at. Over a hamburger, some curls fries and several root beers I caught up with Mallory, who is now going to a local community college. After lunch, the four of us, Kimmie, Daniel and Mallory's mother went bowling in Sedalia. 

The next day I got a text from my friend Maddie asking her how I was doing, and I decided to respond to her as soon as possible. I also finished reading The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight and returned it to the library and checked out another Goosebumps book called You Can't Scare Me. Unfortunately, I also heard from Jack while he was talking to his dad on the phone that his mother has cancer.

           On the first day of the week, I did Plato Math for a half hour in the Union computer lab as Plato wasn't working on my laptop. The next day I went to my appointment with Dr. Mayfield and requested an audio book for my History textbook. That night I also did another half hour of Plato Math. 

The next day, Mrs. Carter came to me in Learning Strategies class and asked me if she could see me after class. I went to her when class was over, and she said that she had talked to people on the office of Student Activities about how I wanted to start a support group for people with autism. She also told we the THRIVE program has a website, and the staff was wondering if I would like to help organize it since I have a blog.

"I know you're busy but if you just want to think about it," she said.

"Ok, I'll think about it," I said.

That night when Jack finished talking to his parents, he called them again so I could leave a message on their cellphone (they were in the Virgin Islands) wishing Mrs. Ditch a speedy recovery. Then on Friday I went down to Hasting's Books and bought three things: one a Lincoln pennies folder; a giant plastic Coors Light bottle for putting change into; and a book called Relax, You're Already Home: Everyday Taoist Habits for a Richer Life. That night I also called my friend Erin. The next day I went to the library and found out my book In the Arms of Africa is due on February 7th. I also did three hours of Plato Math that day.

The next day I went down to Walgreens and bought some mouthwash. Then I got back and worked on Plato math for another hour and a half, keeping up with the requirements for THRIVE of doing five hours of Plato a week. I also got done my homework for Mrs. Carter's class. The next day I returned In the Arms of Africa to the library because I had so much other work and thought I would finish it when I was less busy, especially now that I had read through about a third of it.

The 31st came and during that night Jack, Emily and I went to a presentation called Sex, Drugs, Alcohol and Everything in Between. There, a woman named Julia Garcia talked about her life of recovery from alcohol and drug addiction and the death of her best friend. On a card we all wrote the name of someone we knew who was addicted to drugs or alcohol. Then we all got in a circle around the room, dropped our cards, moved a few steps forward and picked up the card in front of us. Then we sat down and looked at the name on the card and on that card, we wrote what we had come to UCM for. I wrote things I wanted to do as a career-"film director, screenwriter, animator and voice actor." as well as "activism" and the names of some of my screenplays.

Julia showed us the word impossible on the projector. Then she showed it again this time with the letters i-m highlighted in read. She told us to read the letters in red, then the letters in black and we saw that it read "I'm possible." During her presentation I heard Julia say hobbies take her mind off doing drugs and that gave me the idea that finding hobbies would take my mind off things that stress me out because I would be so engaged in activity. I decided to look into fencing at UCM.

Julia Garcia speaks about her experiences recovering from drugs and alcohol

Good Company as the Year's Reborn

After Jack and I packed up, my mom came and picked us up and took us home. I worked from 5-9:30 on the Monday before Christmas and saw my Uncle Todd, Aunt Laura, and cousins Abby and Eric, who drove in from Fort Collins, Colorado on that Friday and we ordered pizza to celebrate Abby's birthday at my Grandparent's house. I also worked 2-6 on Christmas Eve.

I got several great things on Christmas day. At Mom's my stocking included a bell for my bike, a thing to hold tea bags when I'm making tea at school, a thing to wrap my headphones around, a magnet to clip to my shirt and wrap my headphones around when I'm running on the treadmill, a bookmark in the shape of a man running the lower half of him flat, and a journal Mom and Dave got in their recent trip to Spain. Mom and Dave got two books-The History of the World in 100 Objects and a self-published book my neighbor from across the street wrote called Nude Nuns and Other Peculiar People: Stories from the Heartland-a Lego architecture set called the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and a pouch for my bike. They also got me a map to hang in my room which shows the world without emphasizing the northern hemisphere. My aunt had gotten me a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card.

My dad came around noon and took my brothers and I to our grandparents. My Uncle Todd and Aunt Laura had gotten me two books-This is a Book by comedian Demetri Martin which was full of his comedy and drawings and Poisonwood Bible, a novel about a missionary family who goes to the Congo and finds their faith seriously challenged by the suffering they see around them. Dad got me Buddha Volume 7 and Volume 8 of the Manga comic series (I already had 1-6), Best Buddhist Writings 2011, a moleskin journal, some huge prayer flags to hang in my room, and a poster with several Buddhas on it. My grandparents had gotten me a book called Unlikely Friendships: 47 Stories from the Animal Kingdom. After we were done opening presents, we watched a family video and then we went on a walk throughout the neighborhood to the park in my grandparent's town of Lee Summit. That night we had steak and I enjoyed my grandmom's Yorkshire pudding. 

Left to right: My Granddad, myself, my brother Jamie, and my brother Cam

Left: myself.  Right: my cousin Abby

On the Wednesday before I went back to UCM I went to the Pathless Land with my Granddad for the last time for the next few months. I enjoyed the discussion group and had a good time being with everyone there. The next day I went to my art class one last time for a long time and said my goodbyes to everyone there. 

The next day I saw my longtime friend Elizabeth Boresow, a fellow autistic and advocate. She came over and we worked on a puzzle from the Harry Potter series together. I told her about how my life has been going at school so far and about the blog, which she thought sounded really great. I also heard she was working for the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network at KU where she goes to school. On Saturday I ate with my dad, his girlfriend, my grandmom and granddad, my brother Jamie, my brother Cam and his girlfriend Nora. 

There and Back Again, Again, and Again

At the beginning of the month Kriti brought me business card paper and I printed off a little over a dozen business cards. I gave one to Levi, one of the volunteers who was in study hall on Wednesday. Two days later I got back my paper for my Valuing Differences class and got seventy-five out of eighty points. I was thrilled. That day I went down to the Rec Center and did some rock climbing with some other THRIVE students. It was the highest I have ever climbed in my life. Afterwards several THRIVE students, some volunteers and myself got ready to go down to the Union to see comedian Geoff Keith perform. I gave one of the volunteers, a social work major who I just met that night, a business card for the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. Then we walked down to the Union and saw Geoff Keith. I thought he was really funny as did everyone else I went to see him with.

This first weekend I started working on a paper due next Thursday for Valuing Differences class. It is about my response to watching a video of Fred Phelps's picketing funerals. It is supposed to be two to three pages long. I almost finished the second page.

On the second Thursday of this month I heard about an event taken place called the Asia Project where a poet who survived cancer told his story through poetry which he dreamed of doing while he was working in a dead-end job. It was being held in the Union at seven o' clock. When I got to my Valuing Differences class however, I found out my roommate Jack might need some help with his response paper so I offered to miss the Asia Project to help him with his paper. Then Mr. Ciafello, the Valuing Differences teacher, said the Queers and Allies of UCM who were originally going to speak to our class that day were instead going to speak this Thursday, so the due date on our paper was next Tuesday.

I got done more of my Plato Math after Dr. Downing reset some things some I could get back on that day. I read for Mrs. Carter's Freshman Seminar class the chapter of our textbook called Maintaining a Healthy Romantic Relationship. After reading it I decided that, even though I think I might love this one girl (and I actually might) I should explore other romantic possibilities before deciding to see her exclusively. I realized this may lead me to appreciate whoever I date even more. At seven o'clock, Jack and I went to see the Asia Project where the poet read poetry while his brother played a guitar in the background. He said something to me that to me was inspiring, that there is no worse critic of you than yourself.

The next day I was walking by the Union and I bought a bracelet supporting Cancer research. I went into town with Jack and I went to Walgreen's to get some soap and shampoo. When I went down to Walgreen's I saw that they sold Barnes and Noble gift cards which would allow me to shop online. I went down to Walgreen's to get a gift card and get some embroidery floss to make friendship bracelets, a favorite past time of mine, the next day and on my way I saw Cassie in her car. She called out her window and asked if I wanted a ride and said that she was also going to Walgreen's. I went down there and got my Barnes and Noble gift card, even though I couldn't find embroidery floss, and enjoyed talking to her to and on the way back from Walgreen's. I went online when I got back to the dorm and ordered three books on barnesandnoble.com. After I ordered the books I went back into town and found an art store where I bought several lengths of embroidery floss for only sixty-nine cents each and since I was a student, I got a discount.

That Saturday I went bowling with the THRIVE program as well as several other students who are served by the Office of Accessibilities. I also got the idea to sell the bracelets I made for the THRIVE committee fundraisers. The next day I saw a notice for a THRIVE Christmas party on November 16th. It was being held on that day so that Kriti could be there since she was going to see her family in India this December. I talked to Kimmie about the friendship bracelet making that night and she thought that was a wonderful idea.

The next day I finished my Valuing Differences paper and took it down to the Student Success Center where I got some help from a writing tutor in making it flow better. I also heard that an outing is being hosted for the THRIVE program where there will be archery, tomahawk throwing and a make-your-own meals cook out. I went to see Teresa the Person Centered Planning counselor and got my session rescheduled. However it turned out I ended up e-mailing her back saying I couldn't make it when she asked me whether the mandatory Old Drum bus tour I thought I had, would interfere with going there.

I went to this outdoor campsite with the THRIVE program that is owned by UCM. I cooked my own pizza (two buttered pieces of bread with pepperoni and cheese in the middle. I can't stand sauce) and I did archery and cooked smores. An hour after that I went to the THRIVE Christmas party. There I saw the THRIVE students, Ashley, Cassie and Lindsey and another volunteer who I had not met before. We played white elephant and I ended up getting a word search book. I also met the new volunteer whose name was Emily and I heard Cassie sing when she, I and Tyler and Zach from THRIVE sat down together at the party. She had a beautiful voice.

The next day I went to see Dr. Downing, the THRIVE director, and I got my classes figured out. Next semester I will be taking an American History course and a Creative writing class. Then the THRIVE students and I went down to the TV lounge and did a scrapbook of our activities.

The next day my mom picked up Jack and I and took us home. That Sunday I worked from 12:30 to 9 at my job sacking at Corinth Hen House grocery store. The next day I went to Michael's Arts and Crafts Store and got some bobbins for my friendship bracelet making. Then the next day I worked at my job from 12:30 to 9 again and after that I saw my friends Daniel, Stephen and Riccardo who I went to high school with. It was Stephen's birthday and she had just flown in from California. Then the next day I worked at my job from 10:00 to 7:30. I had a pretty good Thanksgiving on Thursday, and then on Tuesday I went back to school. I would come back home on Friday, December 2. 

When I got back I finished the paper work to take my credit courses next semester. I finished my final paper for Valuing Differences. I got back my last paper on which I got one-hundred percent and I got back my test for Freshman Seminar on which I got a ninety-five percent. I also went down to the Union where I ended up sitting at a booth where I made a Christmas card for our veterans.

On the last day before the holidays the THRIVE students and staff went to Mazzio's pizza where awards were presented to THRIVE students. I got an award for 100 activities completed in Plato Math, for completing Plato Math Units 1, 2, 3 and 4; for all fours in accountability and participation in class; four one-hundred percent attendance in Person Centered Planning; and the Bookworm/Journalist award. After Jack and I packed up, my mom came and picked us up and took us home.

top Comedian Geoff Keith performs

middle Poet Asia reads

bottom Rock-climbing

Continuing Resettlement as the Year Dies

Happy Halloween!

I have practiced playing my recorder during my spare time. I have played songs from a book of songs I got at the Renaissance festival when I was seventeen. I played Kum Ba Yah, Ode to Joy, and Greensleeves. Gabe, a second year THRIVE student, and Kimmie and Kriti, two THRIVE mentors poked their head in my dorm and said they loved the flute-playing.

I have been running on the treadmill almost every day from Monday to Friday for about an hour to an hour and a half. During my spare time I like to play my flute which some of the THRIVE students who heard it said it was really good. I have also been reading a novel I checked out at the UCM library called Villa Incognito by Tom Robbins. The plot can be a little hard to grasp at first. It is set in early nineteenth century Japan. A tanuki (a breed of Japanese dog) comes from a world known as the realm of the animal ancestors and he courts and has a child with a human woman which is forbidden. The child and the woman now have to escape the lords of the animal ancestor realm who are after Tanuki's (also the dog's name) wife and child. 

I went to my interview which was broadcasted via radio and did pretty well. They asked me what my name was, where I was from, why I chose THRIVE, what I hoped to bring to THRIVE, the best part about college, the hardest part, how I learned about THRIVE, who my favorite instructor was, and who inspires me. They also asked me how I heard about the THRIVE program. I told them my name was Ben Edwards, and I am from Mission Hills, that I chose the THRIVE program because it would be a perfect segue from community college to a regular four-year program and that I could bring the qualities of leadership, kindness and responsibility to the THRIVE program. I told them that Suanne Carter was my favorite instructor because she really connects with her students and that the Buddha and Plato have been some of my greatest inspirations. I told them that I heard about the THRIVE program because my grandmother was instrumental in getting it going.  And that I hoped to go into writing and filmmaking. They asked me about my screenplays, and I even told them the premise of my newest screenplay. At the end I said, "I choose THRIVE because I believe in a community of people with diverse abilities. Choose THRIVE!" Karen Fahrmeier, the THRIVE coordinator was really pleased with me. 

I went to see the inauguration of UCM president Dr. Charles Ambrose because it was required for my Freshman Seminar class. I went with two other THRIVE students, Jack and Mallory and heard Ambrose speak. It sounded to me as if he really cared about working with UCM students.

During the end of the first week, I got sick and was coughing regularly. My throat felt extremely sore as well. I drank some tea, hoping to make it feel better. By Friday I felt a lot better and after that I think whatever I had was gone completely.

We went to a mandatory meeting for THRIVE students and during that meeting we sat in a circle with all twenty-one THRIVE students, the mentors, Kimmie, Kriti, Nathan, Daniel and Keke, and the CA Ashleigh. We each told the person on the left a positive thing about them. Zach and Gabe, two THRIVE students with Down syndrome sat next to each other and Zach said to Gabe, "Gabe, I've known you since we were babies and you're like a brother to me." and they hugged. It was nice to see. 

Pierce who sat on my right said, "Ben I think you're really cool and I love how you play your instrument." That felt good. When it was my turn Daniel (who was also the mentor on duty that night) was sitting next to me and I said, "Daniel, I think you are an efficient and productive mentor." Kimmie, Daniel's girlfriend said, "Ah that's sweet." and after that I joked, "So now I expect to get full points on my point sheet." Everyone laughed. I also said to Kimmie that I wanted to make business cards for a UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. She talked to Kriti who said she would help me do it.

I started reading a new novel by the same author who wrote Villa Incognito. It was called Still Life with Wood Pecker. So far it seems really interesting. The theme of the novel is how to make love stay. I also checked out a book of his called Wild Ducks Flying Everywhere: the Short Writings of Tom Robbins.

Over the next weekend of October, I found some classes I might want to take while I'm at UCM. So far, I had found seventeen. I finished my Personal Math I after taking the final test and passing with 93%. I saw a poster in the Rec Center and saw a poster for the social justice film festival. I also started Valuing Differences this month.

 

When I was in the cafeteria, I saw Cassie in the lunch line, and we stopped and said hello. I asked her if she was going to the film festival which I thought she would interested in since she was taking criminal justice.  She said she was going on Thursday and asked me if I wanted to go with her. I said I would love to.

Over the next few days I worked on a paper for Valuing Differences, an autobiographical essay about how race, culture, class, gender, religion and sexuality have all impacted my life. On Thursday I met Cassie at Hendrix Hall where I met her friends, Raymond and Matt, and we saw the film Cultures of Resistance was showing. We saw the film which talked about several things such as the plight of the Amazonian Indians defending their land against logging, Ogoni people in Southern Nigeria, Liberia in the aftermath of a civil war, Rwanda after the one hundred day genocide, the Iranians during the Shah's rule and the Iran-Iraq War, street children in Brazil and the protests of Burmese Buddhist monks against their countries dictatorship. When I got back, I called my granddad to catch up with him and he was really glad to hear from me. I also called my dad who was also glad to hear from me.

That Saturday I ordered a new recorder and a fingering instructions book on Amazon. I also went to see a movie called Fambul Tok with Jack, my roommate. The movie was about Sierra Leone, Africa in the aftermath of a civil war and how people were trying to bring together the victims and the perpetrators through reviving a tradition called fambul tok, creole for 'family talk,' where they sat around a fire in the evening and talked. I found the movie to be very interesting and important.

As the next weekend came to an end, I printed off business cards, with my name, number, e-mail, address and the name of the blog, which Kriti helped me do. During study hall I saw Cassie and asked her if she would like to volunteer as a peer mentor at the UCM Autism Spectrum Support Group. She said she would love to and thought it sounded like a great idea, so I gave her a business card. During that night's study hall, I also gave a card to a volunteer named Levi and Keke, one of the THRIVE mentors. I called my dad to tell him about the business cards and he was happy to hear about it. I called my Granddad, too, and he was glad to hear about it as well as glad to hear from me.

When I went down to the Rec Center for Adaptive PE class around the middle of the month, I did something other than my usual running on the treadmill. I did some arm and leg exercises that involved lifting weights and I jogged around a few times. I started my Personal Math III by taking the pretest and based on my performance I was exempt from most of the lessons on there. I also put a poem on the outside of my door by Zen poet Ryokan titled You Don't Need Many Things along with a paper wheel saying either 'in,' 'out,' sleeping,' 'eating,' sleeping' 'sick,' and 'class' with a line in between them and an arrow to point to which ever or wherever I am or doing at the time. I have also finished my paper, an autobiographical essay on how race, religion, gender, sexuality and class have affected your life, for my Valuing Differences class. I also helped my roommate, who was having trouble coming up with ideas for what to write in his paper. 

I read a poem in Wild Ducks Flying Everywhere: the Short Writings of Tom Robbins that truly inspired me. It went: A brown spider dangling/ from a single strand/ Up down, up down./ A Zen yo-yo. I like this poem because it inspired in my understanding that everything we see is only limited by our imagination. I also decided I might try and look into the yoga classes offered by UCM.

I went into town to buy some business cards. They didn't have them at Walgreen's but they did have them at Walmart, which Kimmie and Daniel drove me to, which they were going to get pretzels. The next day I found out how to open the business cards onto my computer, which is a MacBook and does not take publisher documents, by saving the business cards as a pdf file on my flash drive and opening it on my computer.

I went to a football game with Jack. UCM against Pittsburg State. UCM lost but it was good that I got to go with Jack. I decided in the end to print the business cards of on non-perforated paper.

I went to the Halloween pumpkin carving for people in the Ellis Building. I carved mine to look like the eyes of Buddha, similar to the design on a pendant I got in Jamaica last winter break. I put it outside my window so passersby could see. Jack got the idea to put his pumpkin up outside our window and did that as well.

I went bowling on the last Wednesday of the month. Study hall was cancelled that night and I was on a team with Kimmie, Kriti, Cassie, and Mallory from the THRIVE program. During that time, Kriti said she could get me non-perforated business card paper from the Access Services where she works at. Kimmie and Kriti left leaving just me Cassie and Mallory. We walked back with Jack and a couple of other THRIVE students to Ellis.

The next day I took my test for Freshman Seminar in the testing center and was one hundred percent certain I got most, if not all, questions right. That Saturday I finished reading Still Life with Woodpecker. I really loved the theme which was that love stays as long as the mystery of the connection stays.  We cannot attempt to define love because in doing so we limit it. I returned the book and checked out another book by Tom Robbins called Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. Meanwhile I have been taking notes for one of the students in my Freshman Seminar class and my Independent and Daily Living Skills class.

I walked into town where I walked past a bookstore called Cornerstone Books. It was closed but I decided I would walk into it on Monday when it would be open. That night I went to the Halloween party with the THRIVE students, mentors, several of Keke's friends, Cassie and her friend Raymond.

The next day I read Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas and went down to the Rec Center to run on the treadmill with Jack. The next day I thought about Tom Robbin's message about how to make love stay and came up with a chant for it as I was going to my Technology Literacy class. It went:

Love cannot be defined.

It is vast and limitless.

Everything you feel is an art of love.

Love's vastness makes it full of surprises.

Later that day I went down to Cornerstone books. I found a few interesting books, one by author Herman Hesse, author of the book Siddhartha, When Things Fall Apart by Canadian Buddhist nun Pema Chodren and a book by the Dalai Lama. There was also a book called The Four Arguments by a Mexican author Miguel Anguel Ruiz, a book on the spiritual beliefs on wisdom of the Toltec Indians for finding peace, love and happiness. Usually I am pretty skeptical of self-help books with such descriptions but I liked what the four arguments were: don't take anything personally, be impeccable to your word, don't assume anything, and always try your best. As I was walking back however, I wish I had asked if they had any Kurt Vonnegut novels. I also saw several trick-or-treaters. I must admit that I normally dislike a lot of things about Halloween. I often find it to be so tacky and commercialized. Never-the-less I am glad it gives me good opportunities to be with friends.

I went down to the Halloween Party in the Rec Center with Jack and played a game of throwing darts at balloons. I managed to hit a balloon on all three tries even though for some reason the balloons refused to pop. Never-the-less I won a prize, a small squishy basketball like a stress ball.