Don't Pump the Brakes

This past April was one hell of a month. After surviving my first official graduate school residency at Seton Hall during the first weekend, I was looking forward to going to Boston with the East Side High School Student Council on the 11 th and 12 th . This was my third overnight trip with the group, and, having had  incredibly moving experiences the first two times around, I was extremely excited about this one. With the East Side High School Student Council at Harvard University In two days, we were able to visit four schools: Harvard , Boston College , Northeastern and Boston University . As was the case with previous trips, it was such an empowering weekend. Although I had a lot of great dialogue with the students during our two day venture throughout Boston, three specific conversations stick out: The first was at BC, when we were eating lunch. I was sitting across from a senior who recently moved to the United States from Ecuador seven months ago. We ...

     I just got back from Washington D.C. with the East Side High School Student Council. After being surrounded by 9 th graders for the first seven weeks of school, it was very different being with the brightest 11 th and 12 th graders East Side has to offer. When I was first asked to chaperone the overnight trip to our nation’s capitol, I was so excited, as I really enjoy the D.C. area and  I have been involved with student government for as long as I can remember . I expected to have a great time touring Georgetown and American University and all of the historical artifacts in D.C. What I did not expect, however, was just how powerful these two days were going to be. Students waiting outside the 4D movie at the Newseum      I first want to mention how appreciative the entire group was from when we first boarded the bus until we got home. From going to the 4D movie at the Newseum to the many rounds of candy given out on the bu...