Week 1, Pt.2: Making Friends

To sum up the rest of my first week, it was a lot of meeting people and seeing new things. We got to tour the University of Nebraska- Omaha campus and meet with multicultural services and financial aid. Each time that I meet new partners in our field, I become more reassured about what I'm doing here. Most ask challenging questions about our program but we are able to answer them thoroughly and become more confident about what I'm doing and who I'm serving. There is another program in Omaha called Avenue Scholars that serves youth in a similar capacity to us, but works with students who might not be able to make it into a 4 year college. Whereas we recruit youth who have the potential to gain admission to college, but may just be missing people to help them with applications, the FAFSA and scholarships.

It was my roommate's, Kelly, birthday last week so we went out on Friday night to celebrate! We went to Upstream Brewing Co. as a team and enjoyed trying out a new restaurant here. We also met up with a few new friends at The House of Loom and danced to a new dj set that is based off of The Faint, a local Omaha band. Here they refer to it as a 'hipster bar' but it's still no comparison to hipster bars in Mpls.

We continued our search for free/cheap furniture into the weekend. I actually managed to get a $5 desk off of Craigslist. So far, I've spent under $50 on furnishing my room. Impressive, right? Kelly and I went out to Elkhorn (far west part of Omaha) to pickup my craft and desk stuff from my friend Emily's house. I am still in disbelief at how far spread out the city of Omaha is and their method of annexing in small local cities to increase Omaha's tax base. Anyway, Kelly and I went garage sale-ing on Saturday and found pretty much nothing. We were originally looking for some plates, bowls and other household items but any kitchenware we found was way too overpriced. It's a garage sale, people!


On Sunday, to commemorate 9/11, we attended a Civil Liberties lecture put on by a bunch of local organizations. It was intriguing to hear someone who actually worked at the Department of Homeland Security's take on how our lives have changed since that tragic day. I listened to NPR and tried to watch CNN on that day to try and be a part of what is happening in NYC with the newly opened site. I am still in disbelief that it's been over 10 years. I remember sitting in my first period math class in 7th grade when my teacher got a phone call and immediately turned on the television. I can't remember exactly, but I think we actually saw when the second plane hit the tower. I do remember having only seen one plane because our class was speculating if it was an accident, and how someone could make a mistake like that. Just to think that  on that day we lost the population of a small town in America. It gives me the shivers. After attending the lecture I went to a free concert put on in a park by my house. The Omaha symphony performed and it was great. They performed the overture from West Side Story, so I was hooked. We actually saw the Mayor of Omaha at both events that day! He doesn't know who we are, but we will be in his office next Monday so hopefully we can meet him then.

Overall, week 1 was a success! I've been taking advantage of any opportunity I can to meet new people or see new things in Omaha. I've had even more experiences this week, so watch for a new post soon. I love getting mail here, so if you want my address please send me an email at brokawkd@gmail.com.