I don't actually get a solid week off, but I do get a few days off to not do homework and I get paid to do some extra hours at my internship. It's kind of a win-win.
Have I mentioned this semester has been crazy?
The Governor signed my bill on Wednesday. It's not really my bill, but I refer to it as such because of the large chunk of time devoted to that little guy. I'm beginning to understand why governmental processes are so freaking slow and inefficient, but that rant is for another time.
On a mildly related note I have recently found myself in the car pondering ideas about wealth, class and welfare. Sometimes my best thinking happens after I listen to a story on NPR that gets my brain really moving or if I've left a meeting that infuriates or motivates me. Sometimes I would classify them as big picture ideas or personal intellectual growth on a subject, or I'm way off in left field where no one knew what I was thinking. I don't have time to blog in the car, aside from the fact it would be fairly unsafe, I don't have the motivation to make these thoughts coherent. Every so often I will think that I am being so profound that I dictate my thoughts into the notes app on my phone to look at later. Hahah. I don't think profound thoughts.
I don't typically do this but maybe someone else will have some thoughts.
This will need to be further thought and maybe reinterpreted or clarified later, but I want to keep thinking about these things:
We enable the cycle of poverty for those in poverty by spending money on entitlement programs because we can't 'afford' to fund projects that empower them. Society finds no value in people that are in poverty. This is a major misconception within society. Every person should be valued and every person should have an opportunity to be an asset to their community and see themselves as valuable. Why aren't we going door to door to discuss micro-enterprise or loans for starting small businesses? Why aren't we encouraging every person in a low income neighborhood to grow fruits and vegetables in their back yard and providing them with the tools to do it? .....(unfinished thought)
This one is a little crazier:
Instead of a child welfare system that removes children from the home, why don't we give parents the opportunity to ask for help? The parents can recognize (most times)when they are struggling and if they know that it is okay to ask for someone to come in and help before some sort of traumatic issue ensues, then they should be able to. If you are using drugs around your kids and in a moment of clarity you realize, 'I shouldn't be doing this' you're currently not left with a lot of choices. You either a) continue doing what you are doing, b) ask a family member (if one is available) to help out or c) you report yourself to child services with drug charges likely to follow. Contrary to popular belief, drug charges don't make you want to quit using drugs, treatment does.
Yes, I do see room for misuse within that kind of policy but I need more time to sort that one out. Or maybe that is entirely the wrong way to go with that one.
For the most part I am happy. Grad school is almost over, I'm job hunting and keeping my ears open at the current placement, and I am mostly staying on top of my work. Good things. I'm surprised my brain doesn't shut off, it needs a rest and it really should.
I have a countdown on my phone of other things I am looking forward to. Also, I am going to Puerto Rico. Well we are starting in Puerto Rice, but it's more of a mini-tour of the Caribbean. We are backpacking and island hopping and I can't wait.
Yay!!
Have a wonderful week! I hope I will. Spring Breaaaaaaaaak!
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