My Summer of 2018
Summer for most people involves beaches, sleeping in, chilling out, and binge-ing on worlds that aren’t their own. My summer had plenty disconnecting and wave-jumping, but the memories that come to mind are rather connecting further with the world around me whether from service work, conversation, or just adventuring from my comfort zone.
During June, some of these memories were made at Heads Up! Hartford, a not so typical summer camp. This camp was an opportunity to bring together people whether urban or suburban to do service work and bridge worlds over conversation and teamwork. Also, the home base was Hartford’s St. Thomas Seminary that allowed us to be in the hallways and dining rooms as priests and their guests. I befriended other people that shared my interests whether nerdy books, doodling, or casual activism. Some nights visitors came to teach us varied topics like issues of food insecurity as taught of Food Share’s “Hunger 101” and stories and honesty from the visually impaired who were from Oak Hill. All of this and more got me thinking and talking. Here’s one of my photos from my week--learning and doing.
A few weeks later and one summer reading book and some good sleep later, a new adventure began. Its name was the Hampshire College’s Young Feminist Collaborative. It was a two week whirlwind of conversation, laughter, learning, and even more fun. There is a list miles wide of what we did and what we learned. As I began to write this, memories flooded in from reading Femme Shark Manifestos to making our own Feminist (& Queer) Coloring Book and watching music videos that speak to intersectionality and feminism. That is much more I say so I guess I should start telling the awesomeness of what was Young Feminist Collaborative. The Young Feminist Collaborative was a two week camp to be different people with different views, ideas, and beliefs around feminism. It was a mix of speakers, events, conversations, performances, and ideas coming together to learn from each other. I learned about topics from environmental feminism, a more in depth view on ableism, reproductive rights, abortion, and more!
What a summer! So many new friends and ideas!