Successful Women in History- Final week in Atlanta
The week has come to an end and so has the intership. This whole 5 weeks in Washington DC and Atlanta, Georgia has been quite a unique experience. It’s very dear and special to me. I can say I have been beyond blessed to meet all of the wonderful people and kids I have worked with during this past weeks. I’m glad my summer was like no other summer I lived. This one was very informative as well as educational.
This week was all about immigrants across the world to the United States. The kids and I learned that immigrants do not only come from Latin countries but also from the Middle East, Europe, Asia, etc. We read about many success stories of immigrant and undocumented families. For the kids to get a better understanding about immigration Mr. Andrew, the teacher, related it with the kids favorite foods! Such as hot dogs, pizza, french fries, donuts, tacos. These food had originated from Great Britain, Mexico, France, and United States. The kids were very amazed to learn these facts.
Perhaps, yesterday and today were all about women! I absolutely loved it! Women can do as much as guys. Women are also part of history. Women are not only housewives. Girls took big risks in history but they all succeeded, just as well a man would or even better. To name a few, we talked about Harriet Tubman. Tubman was born into slavery but as an adult she managed to escape and gain her freedom. Tubman never forgot about her family and friends back in captivity. She took nineteen missions to lead her loved ones to freedom. She successfully helped over three hundred slaves gain their freedom in Pennsylvania.
Another successful story was the life of Helen Keller. Which for me, I’m very active within the Deaf and Mute community back in Ohio. Therefore, I found this such an exciting topic for the kids to learn about since not many people are award of her. Helen Keller was deaf, mute, and blind due to a high fever when she was a baby. As a child, she grew up without any verbal or sign commutication whatsoever. Her own parents did not know what she wanted and she would get very very mad until she got it. Her parents decided to get her a better education and teach her a way to communicate. They hired Anne Sullivan as her teacher. It was a very strong process. Sullivan was very patient with Keller. Little by little Helen started to understand she was helping her communicate. Helen learned understand by “the feel of it”. She learn to speak by plcing her hand of her teacher throat and imitating the vibrations, learned Sing Language by feeling the form of fingers and orientation of the palm. Her story was very successful because dispite her disability, she wrote many books, she was an activist, and she is the first deaf and blind woman to obtain a college degree. Her story really inspired all of us.
On Wednesday I worked at a different camp at the Margaret Mitchell House in Downtown Atlanta. This was a writing camp. We took the kids to the High Museum which is all about significant art. The kids were taught to write down any emotions, ideas, thoughts, anything that came in mind when they studied an art piece. I liked that everyone had their own take and meaning on the same picture. All the thoughts were different but it all made sense too. We later on went to see the original Winnie The Pooh exhibit where we got to see the original art, books, and characters. We even wrote him a letter! So much fun, we had a blast!
I’ll now travel some more, visit a few southern states before I get back to my normal life in Ohio. But I leave here knowing that I touched many hearts in just a short month. Life’s amazing! I’ve kept in contact with a few of my YAP family members, and I’ll definitely keep in contact with all the people I have met in the course of a month in a state I never knew before. Thank you Smithsonian for making this all possible for me and my fellow YAP members. It has truly been a wonderful experience. My summer couldn’t had gone better. Thank you.
This week was all about immigrants across the world to the United States. The kids and I learned that immigrants do not only come from Latin countries but also from the Middle East, Europe, Asia, etc. We read about many success stories of immigrant and undocumented families. For the kids to get a better understanding about immigration Mr. Andrew, the teacher, related it with the kids favorite foods! Such as hot dogs, pizza, french fries, donuts, tacos. These food had originated from Great Britain, Mexico, France, and United States. The kids were very amazed to learn these facts.
Perhaps, yesterday and today were all about women! I absolutely loved it! Women can do as much as guys. Women are also part of history. Women are not only housewives. Girls took big risks in history but they all succeeded, just as well a man would or even better. To name a few, we talked about Harriet Tubman. Tubman was born into slavery but as an adult she managed to escape and gain her freedom. Tubman never forgot about her family and friends back in captivity. She took nineteen missions to lead her loved ones to freedom. She successfully helped over three hundred slaves gain their freedom in Pennsylvania.
Another successful story was the life of Helen Keller. Which for me, I’m very active within the Deaf and Mute community back in Ohio. Therefore, I found this such an exciting topic for the kids to learn about since not many people are award of her. Helen Keller was deaf, mute, and blind due to a high fever when she was a baby. As a child, she grew up without any verbal or sign commutication whatsoever. Her own parents did not know what she wanted and she would get very very mad until she got it. Her parents decided to get her a better education and teach her a way to communicate. They hired Anne Sullivan as her teacher. It was a very strong process. Sullivan was very patient with Keller. Little by little Helen started to understand she was helping her communicate. Helen learned understand by “the feel of it”. She learn to speak by plcing her hand of her teacher throat and imitating the vibrations, learned Sing Language by feeling the form of fingers and orientation of the palm. Her story was very successful because dispite her disability, she wrote many books, she was an activist, and she is the first deaf and blind woman to obtain a college degree. Her story really inspired all of us.
On Wednesday I worked at a different camp at the Margaret Mitchell House in Downtown Atlanta. This was a writing camp. We took the kids to the High Museum which is all about significant art. The kids were taught to write down any emotions, ideas, thoughts, anything that came in mind when they studied an art piece. I liked that everyone had their own take and meaning on the same picture. All the thoughts were different but it all made sense too. We later on went to see the original Winnie The Pooh exhibit where we got to see the original art, books, and characters. We even wrote him a letter! So much fun, we had a blast!
I’ll now travel some more, visit a few southern states before I get back to my normal life in Ohio. But I leave here knowing that I touched many hearts in just a short month. Life’s amazing! I’ve kept in contact with a few of my YAP family members, and I’ll definitely keep in contact with all the people I have met in the course of a month in a state I never knew before. Thank you Smithsonian for making this all possible for me and my fellow YAP members. It has truly been a wonderful experience. My summer couldn’t had gone better. Thank you.
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