Reschool Yourself

Author Archive: mjdicker

Remember This? #33 College Dining Hall

The Benson Memorial Center dining commons, the place where I had ever so many a meal. This woman was there when I was in school and actually remembered me. I ate my favorite SCU breakfast, scrambled eggs and tater tots (pictured above), two days in a row. I doused them with ketchup, and their greasy goodness tasted wonderful….and then sat heavily in my stomach all day. It was worth it. Since I rarely eat fried foods, I simply had to eat all of those tater tots when given the chance.

To see the pictures below as a slideshow, click on one to enlarge it and then hover with your mouse on the right edge until the arrow appears.

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When ordering, I noticed a common type of exchange between one of the cafeteria workers and a student. The worker was a Latina woman with a heavy accent who asked the girl, who was Caucasian, what she would like to order. The girl asked for “Just eggs.” The woman began piling tater tots on the plate, and the girl repeated, “No, just eggs.” The worker nodded and started adding eggs to the plate, and the girl said loudly, “No tater tots, just eggs.” Her tone wasn’t disrespectful, but she was becoming understandably frustrated at not being understood. Observing this reminded me of this type of uncomfortable tension between private school students and the older immigrants who serve them. I remember that when I was a student, noticing my relative privilege made me feel both grateful and guilty. I’m still not quite sure what to make of it.

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December 11, 2008 College, Remember This?, School Memories 3 Read more >

Reschooling this Spring, at Home and Abroad

I know I’m putting off something when I look desperately for just one more email to answer, and when I serve myself a bowl of chocolate sorbet and then go back to the freezer for two extra servings. Now I’m chewing my fingernails down to nubs. All this restlessness comes from a resistance to writing about the spring phase of Reschool Yourself.

I’ve been resistant to writing about my spring plans because they’ve changed somewhat since I envisioned the project almost a year ago. At the time, I was working 50-60 hours per week, and nothing sounded better than taking a learning adventure around the world. Thailand, China, New Zealand, Argentina, Egypt….I couldn’t wait to visit them all.

Since the summer, however, my wanderlust has turned into a craving for stability and structure. I’ve been nomadic and scattered, moving from San Francisco to Sonoma and traveling to all corners of North America for conferences and visits with friends, family, and my partner, Darren. I’ve felt unsettled by having most of my worldly goods stacked in my parents’ garage, and by living out of a suitcase for weeks at a time. My most grounded moments have been at Darren’s apartment in Mississippi, when we’ve stayed close to home and developed a healthy daily routine. I still have the desire to travel far and wide, and I may still do it this year, but first I need to ground myself.

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December 10, 2008 About the Project, 7 Read more >

Newsflash: Fall Budget Fully Funded!

This morning an anonymous donor surprised me by fully funding the rest of the fall budget. I am speechless at this generosity. THANK YOU! I am incredibly grateful.

I’m now able to turn my attention to documenting the fall phase and planning the spring phase. Spring plans will involve reschooling at home and through travels and leveraging the project to make change in the education system. Details this week, pinkie swear. If you’d like to contribute, visit the updated sponsor page. (I’ve also updated the FAQ page.)

A huge thank-you once again to all who made this possible: sponsors, readers, and especially my partner Darren for designing and helping to maintain the site (and lending his unwavering support). There are many exciting developments to come!

December 8, 2008 About the Project 6 Read more >

Reschool Yourself Supporters Rock

I was just updating the sponsor page with this week’s donations to Reschool Yourself, and I realized that people have contributed a total of $6,065 since the journey began in August. This includes family, friends, friends of friends, and people who discovered the project and were inspired to contribute. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you’ve supported my dream to do this work. I hope that when you look at the developing site, you know that you co-created it. Your personalized thank-you notes with a photo will be on their merry way this week.

If you’re shopping with Amazon, please remember to go through this link (then navigate as usual) so a percentage of anything you buy will be donated to Reschool Yourself. Thanks to those who have already done this.

$935 to go before December 31! If you’d like to contribute in any amount, click here.

Thank you to the newest donors:

Education:
Joanna Hall
Fern Markgraf
Grant & Heather Shellen
Alice & Patrick Watanabe

Technology:
Winsome Villiers

General Expenses (while writing the blog and book, developing the site, and spreading the word):
Anonymous
Chris Balme & Gianna Driver
Paul Schmitz
Brian Tomasini

A huge thanks also to those who launched the project:

Education:
Alex Marsh
Alicia Ross
Dr. Sally Stewart

Technology:
Anonymous
Lynn Chikasuye

Project Launch & General Expenses:
Anonymous
John & Sylvia Balinbin
Jayne Carlin
Gillian Dicker
Laverne & Kelly Dicker
Julian Evans-White
Jorge Fernandes
Katie, Matthew, & Olivia Griffin
Katherine McGuire
Yasuko Nishida
Jim O’Connor
Margaret Pinard
Dale & Jean Schwindaman
Christine Wei
Michael Yeany

A special thanks to Dr. Sally Stewart and two anonymous donors, without whom this project would not be possible.

December 7, 2008 About the Project 0 Read more >

Trying to Process When There’s No Process

I’ve just spent the last five and a half hours walking around my alma mater, visiting every place I can remember that holds some significance for me. I visited places like my freshman year dorm, the study lounges, and the music building where I took piano and voice lessons. I took over a hundred pictures, wrote down memories, and then lay on the couch and stared at the ceiling because I was so exhausted.

How do I make sense of all this stuff, and what do I do with it? Those questions have been plaguing me for the nearly four months I’ve been doing this project. I have stories and handouts from nearly every grade that I haven’t yet been able to share, because once I complete one grade, I start the next. If there happens to be time in between, I always have new material to write about instead of going back and documenting the old.

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December 6, 2008 About the Project, College 1 Read more >

A Typical School Night in the Dorms

Because the Santa Clara University web sentinels won’t let me on the wireless network, this is the first time I’ve been able to post since my stay on campus. I wrote this last night, my second night in the dorms. I had a full day of classes today and have talked with around nine of my former professors. Lots to write about tomorrow and more photos of the dorms and campus to come.

I just had an authentic experience of dorm life that made me miss it. I arrived back at my room at around 9:30 pm, and my floor was filled with the white noise of the dorms: voices echoing down the hallways, canned laughter from TVs, doors opening and closing. I heard a group of students chatting about me, the mysterious visitor, so I decided to emerge from my executive suite and join them.

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December 5, 2008 College 7 Read more >

College Bound

I’m heading back to the Bay Area after 2.5 weeks in the south, and true to form, I’m tightly scheduled as soon as I arrive. I’m going straight to Santa Clara Unversity, the Jesuit liberal arts school from which I graduated in 2002. I’ve been back only a couple times since, and I was surprised to see that new buildings had sprung up all over campus, and others had been completely renovated. I have to squeeze college into four days, because fall classes end Friday and finals start next week. I’m glad that if I need more time, I can come back the first week of January.

My plans on campus include:

  • A three-night stay in a suite with a private bathroom in my sophomore year dorm. I won’t have to wear a robe and rubber sandals to the shower or carry one of those caddies and am not sure whether to be relieved or disappointed.
  • Classes in Psychology, Philosophy, and Classics with five of my former professors. Coffee with a Religious Studies professor.
  • Visits to my old haunts on and off campus, including the campus dining room, the Mission church, the music practice rooms, the gym, and Mission City Coffee.

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December 4, 2008 About the Project, College 3 Read more >