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Ah, what an eventful start to our ASB trip! Well, for me it started even earlier since I was out of bed at 8 am and had to catch my bus from Baltimore to New York. This was my first time travelling to New York on my own and as nerve wrecking of a task as that seems, I was excited.

Our group met up at the Main Concourse of the Penn Station as planned. After that long journey I just wanted to come to the hotel and unwind; little did i know that this was only half the travelling for today. It took us quite a while to first find the subway station and then the right platform. Going up and down flights of stairs with luggage made up for all the exercise I missed during the winter break.

However, even during these hard times the team stuck together and didn’t panic. Everyone was tired from the journey but all of us had come with a positive attitude that would not be shattered so easily. I feel like these dire moments actually made us more united, so not a bad way to start an ASB trip with the team!

After finally reaching the hotel, we decided to eat out for dinner since no one had the energy to prepare a meal. Dinner table conversations were uplifting and made us forget about the hardships we faced earlier. I’m excited for the rest of the trip and am confident that our unity will stand the challenges of the Big Apple!

-Taha

I compiled a short list of important events and movements, but hopefully we can talk more about the defining factors of the 1970s in class.

Fighting for Women’s Rights
During the 1970s, there were more feminist organizations such as consciousness-raising groups, rape crisis centers, and abortion clinics. In 1971, the Supreme Court case Reed v. Reed declared sex discrimination a violation of the 14th amendment. In 1973, Roe vs Wade legalized Abortion in the U.S. with a 7-2 decision.

The Antiwar Movement
When the United States invaded Cambodia in 1970, however, hundreds of thousands of protestors clogged city streets and shut down college campuses. On May 4, National Guardsmen shot four student demonstrators at an antiwar rally at Kent State University in Ohio. Ten days later, police officers killed two black student protestors at Mississippi’s Jackson State University.

The Watergate Scandal
In June 1972, police found five burglars from Nixon’s own Committee to Re-Elect the President in the office of the Democratic National Committee, located in the Watergate office building. Soon, they found that Nixon himself was involved in the crime: He had demanded that the Federal Bureau of Investigation stop investigating the break-in and told his aides to cover up the scandal.
In April 1974, a Congressional committee approved three articles of impeachment: obstruction of justice, misuse of federal agencies and defying the authority of Congress. Before Congress could impeach him, however, President Nixon announced that he would resign.
Counterculture
Counterculture youth rejected the cultural standards of their parents, especially with respect to racial segregation and widespread support for the Vietnam War. Young people turned instead to pop culture; they listened to Donna Summer and Marvin Gaye; and smoked even more pot than they had in the 1960s.In general, by the end of the decade, many young people simply did as they pleased: to wear what they wanted, to grow their hair long, to have sex, to do drugs.

http://www.history.com/topics/1970s

Waddup ASBers,
Day 2 of Team FITting In’s trip was a blast! We started the day with a tasty breakfast (complete with cinnamon buns) at the Lodge. Groceries were next, and we were super efficient getting everything we need for this week’s lunches. Everyone was very excited to get the shopping done with (shout out to our amazing PB&J team aka Marissa and myself) so that the team could go play a few quick rounds of flash. We learned a lot about each other and team bonded during flash, and it was a great new icebreaker. We then made our way to the Duke Gardens where Kaitlin and Bo promptly killed the hide and go seek game. Also, 75 and sunny is a nice change of pace relative to the snow in Easton right now. After the Gardens, we made our way back to the Lodge for reflection, dinner, and a movie. Reflection was an hour well spent, and we were very open for the first day on the trip. The Internship was a solid movie choice, and everyone (hopefully) enjoyed it. Overall, it was a fun day and I am looking forward to the week to come!

On this fine Sunday, Team Fitting In traveled to the Duke University Gardens! It was a magnificent experience. Not only because the gardens were beautiful, but because we got to play hide and seek in them. It was a great bonding experience for our group. After coming back to our camp site, some of our group went on a jog around the camp grounds. Personally, my right ankle felt like it was about to snap off. I kept going though, because I’m not a quitter and neither is my group. I was informed that I should switch to Asics running shoes, rather than Nike.

An important part of our day was the reflection period. Each group member had the opportunity to share why they are personally connected to this trip. I appreciated this time because I truly felt connected with every person in some way from what was shared. I love them all <3

Day 1 of ASB: Team Fitting In was rather interesting. It would be safe to summarize this day as our team’s bonding day. We traveled from Lafayette College in Easton, PA to Durham, North Carolina in two SUV’s. This trip took a little under 10.5 hours. Our team sang, introduced each other to new music, and played intense, sometimes stressful games of 20 questions (I don’t know why we chose to disrespect the last question that would’ve made it 21 questions). Also, we were fed well along the way to North Carolina – shout out to our group leader(s).

Upon arrival to our site, we ate dinner and got ourselves situated in our cabin. The team bonded further through games of Ninja, WA, and Mafia. Mafia is not for the weak-hearted, let me tell you. However, it was a great experience all around. There was some betrayal that took place in these games, and I was bitter about it. But in the end, we were all able to laugh about the ridiculousness of it all.

Today was the first day of our service here in Boston with our community partner, Community Servings. The organization works to feed individuals with life altering illnesses and their families in many parts of Massachusetts. We were welcomed the second we entered the Community Servings building, as our group is volunteering at a time during the year in which the organization is low on volunteers. After a short volunteer orientation explaining the rules of the kitchen and a little more about the organization, we were eager to get on our gloves, aprons, and hair nets to start our service in the kitchen.

Our team was split up into all sorts of tasks from cutting vegetables, to packaging salads, and assembling full meals to be deliver to people in Boston and neighboring areas. I feel that even in just one day, we were able to see the process of assembling ingredients into delicious meals to be sent out to thousands of clients in need. All of the work put into making these meals was very careful and I could definitely see that the workers truly enjoyed and cared about the final product. We were also able to have amazing conversations with various people who worked and volunteered at Community Servings. Each of the grouup members heard life stories about why they worked here or about their families. It was an amazing feeling having what were strangers at the beginning of the day open up to us so much. Our day wasn’t filled with constant seriousness and reflection, as we had many laughs with fellow volunteers and workers as if we had known each other for years.

I am very eager and excited to be waking up bright and early tomorrow morning to have another long, but fun day at Community Servings. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week unfolds.