Culture blog catch up "The Riverboat Cruise"

I've got some catching up to do. I've been so busy with finals that I haven't felt that I had the time to get anything down in this blog. Part of the problem is that I am a perfectionist. I feel like everything that I do has to be polished, rather than just getting down my thoughts and experiences, like I suppose you are supposed to do when writing a blog. So... I am going to try and remedy that. I am going to try and write about my life and my experiences, for good or ill, without making a big production about it.

I have recently been on a couple of school trips, sponsored by the Trio Program. The Trio Program is something that I would highly recommend anyone coming from prison and transferring to, or starting out at a college campus. Coming from prison, you would automatically qualify, due to your history of low income. The Trio Program helps you with mentoring, tutoring, early registration, and many other services. There job is to keep you in school and assist you in any way they can.

These trips were sponsored by the school in order to enrich our cultural awareness. I suppose that some of that occurred, here and there... but, most of all, we just had fun. The first trip I went on was a riverboat cruise. It was one of those old school paddle boats.

The captain spoke about the history of the Columbia and snake river as we paddled down it. Honestly, the thing that I got the most out of, was learning to communicate with other students. Getting to know other people, from other walks of life, can be a big challenge to someone who has spent their whole life on the streets, or locked up. Feeling comfortable and confident enough to approach and make friends with "normal people" is a skill that takes some work and getting used to. I strongly believe that it is an integral part of learning to become a citizen and productive member of society. I would encourage anyone coming from a similar background as mine to involve yourself in school groups. Even if you feel uncomfortable at first, force yourself into social situations that will improve your people skills and allow you to make new friends. I believe that you have to learn to hang out with the kinds of people that you want to become like. For me, this means stepping way out of my comfort zone. All in all, it was a great trip. Great food, cool scenery, a little increase in cultural awareness, and a good honing of the social skills. In my next blog, I will tell you about the Seattle trip we took. for now, it's back to studying for finals.