Desert Island Survival 101, Tuesday Fourth Period

[wasthecuteone]

Petra was counting herself lucky she'd gotten through the weekend with only an inexplicable coffee shop job, which was why she opened this week's class with, "If anyone wants to talk about how weird being suddenly famous was this weekend, I know a little bit about that and I'm available after class, or in my dorm room any time. Moving right along, this week's topic is food. Now, you can survive way longer without food than without water, it's true, but food equals fuel, and without fuel you can't really do much of anything. And it's super hard to do anything useful when you keep thinking about how hungry you are, too.

( Oh my goodness, I am going to be so skinny! )

Around the World in Seven Weeks [Tuesday, July 30, 2013, 2nd period]

[sith_happened]

Anakin and Ben were in Portalocity waiting for the class with enough iced capps for everyone to enjoy while listening to the briefing. Ben was working his way through a box of Timbits, but those were just for him. Sorry.

"Today we're heading to Calgary, Alberta, Canada," Anakin said, pointing out the location on the map. "In the summer: I know this might be a concern to those of you who think Canada is constantly covered in snow."

Like Ben had been until they'd started doing research. Cough. "Calgary hosted the winter Olympics several decades ago," he said, "which is this totally astral sporting event that comes around every four years. Calgary's also home to several First Nations tribes in the area, including the Siksika, Stoney and Tsuu T'ina." Ben kind of destroyed the pronunciation of that last tribe.

"Explore Calgary, have fun with the activities and we'll meet you at the check-in point," Anakin concluded.

Coping With Loss, Tuesday, Third Period

[not_a_whiner]

"So I know a lot of you would rather not talk to me about what's going on in your lives that got you here," Kaidan said. "Which is fine. However, it's really useful to sit down and actually write out how you're feeling - especially if you're not the kind of person who wants to go spilling their guts to strangers... or close friends."

He reached behind him, grabbing a stack of paper and a stack of tiny brown books. "What I want you to do this class is write a letter," he said, holding up the paper. "Write it to someone you lost. Put everything in there you wish you could say to them. You don't have to turn it in. Take it with you or destroy it or share it. It's your letter, it's your choice. Then, when you're done with that, if you want, write down what you think they'd say in reply."

He walked past each desk, putting down a few pieces of paper and one of the books. Students would find the pages of the book were empty.

"Second of all, for outside of class, you get a journal," he said. "If you experience feelings of grief or loss, write them down. Keep track of dates that make you feel worse. And make note of the days you feel better, too. It helps. Trust me. I've had to do it-- and I thought it was a load of crap myself at first."

He stopped once he reached his own desk, then turned back to face the class. "Next week, we'll talk about some more theories on the topic of loss, like the seven stages," he said. "But this class isn't really about academics. It's about helping you cope. So... give this a shot."