Day 1 of "Be the Change"

So, for those of you (most of you) who have no idea what I'm doing:

"Be the Change is a social responsibility conference initiated at Babson College in collaboration with the Association of American Colleges and Universities to enrich the quality of student social programs. The upcoming forum embodies the main philosophy of the project; transforming socially responsible ideas into action."

"Core Commitments: Educating Students for Personal and Social Responsibility

An Essential Learning Outcome

Core Commitments asserts that ethical, civic, and moral development should not be addressed separately from students’ basic responsibilities as learners.

Core Commitments identifies five key dimensions of personal and social responsibility that describe developmentally appropriate goals for students in college:

Five Dimensions

1. Striving for excellence: developing a strong work ethic and consciously doing one’s very best in all aspects of college;

2. Cultivating personal and academic integrity: recognizing and acting on a sense of honor, ranging from honesty in relationships to principled engagement with a formal academic honors code;

3. Contributing to a larger community: recognizing and acting on one’s responsibility to the educational community and the wider society, locally, nationally, and globally;

4. Taking seriously the perspectives of others: recognizing and acting on the obligation to inform one’s own judgment; engaging diverse and competing perspectives as a resource for learning, citizenship, and work;

5. Developing competence in ethical and moral reasoning and action: developing ethical and moral reasoning in ways that incorporate the other four responsibilities; using such reasoning in learning and in life.

While these five dimensions do not encompass all aspects of conscience and citizenship, they offer a compelling claim as the initial focus for a widespread reengagement with campus values and ethics."

www.btcforum.com

Anyways, Day 1 of Forum has passed. They're having an ice cream social and playing games. I'm doing a bit of work and going to bed.
Tonight focused on brainstorming ideas. Our groups are formed. They were done with essentially no monitoring. We sat in groups for the brainstorming session and learned how to generate ideas. Got some great information and ideas about idea generation and improvement techniques. And then, suddenly, she announced "these are your groups for the presentation." The presentation groups that are competing for money. One of the other students from MSU is in my group. Which isn't really supposed to happen, but we didn't think we were in final groups. I also feel like we're now stuck just knowing these folks - I thought they were going to (and it would have to been helpful to) filter us through each other a bit more. But perhaps I am simply complaining because my group didn't mesh perfectly and we don't currently have any ideas that are "the one." But we're meeting tomorrow morning over breakfast. Perhaps it shall come.
Dinner was not so hot. I am beginning to understand why people complain about dorm food. All I could eat was the pasta, and even that was dubious. It looked good; I was fairly excited. The first round wasn't so good. I had brought rolls from MSU with me just in case, so I had one of those. Another pan of pasta was hot and it sounded good, so I had a bit more. And that was better. So I had a bit more. I ate more than I have been for dinner (though not any more than I ate in Nicaragua, I don't think). It's weird to not go to bed really hungry. But given the airport travel and the fact that I have only one day left of food, I'm going to forgive myself.