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Today was my first time to go to a detention center, and I felt a strong sense of freshness in my heart. When I arrived at the detention center, the place where the juvenile offenders were held was more cozy than I had imagined – the colorful walls, the basketball gymnasium and the white walls covered with graffiti were full of the humanistic atmosphere that is rare in a detention center.

I was apprehensive about meeting this group of juveniles, as I had no previous experience with them.  After introducing themselves, I asked them what their respective dreams were – some said something like being an engineer, some said they wanted to take over his dad’s business after getting their Business Diploma, and others wanted to go into music. It was clear that they were a group of teenagers with dreams and souls – but who had made a “dumb decision” that they would regret for the rest of their lives. But they all have aspirations for a new life, and they all mention that they don’t want to go back to detention center – possibly because of the grumpy buffs and the militaristic nature of the place.

After listening to my story, J told me his story – he got here because he was in a racing competition when he got into trouble with someone and hurt them on purpose. He is fluent in English and Spanish – because he is Hispanic, and the other juvenile offender we interacted with is also Hispanic, but he doesn’t speak English. I tried to talk to him, telling him that it was a blessing in disguise and encouraging him to look toward the future – he held my hand as he said goodbye, as if he had found a soul mate – something no one talks to them about at the detention center.

Reading “The Body Keeps The Score” reminded me of a lot of the things I learned when I took AP Psychology in high school. Many of the examples or experiences Kolk referenced were ones I’ve heard of before, for example, the learned helplessness experiment tested on dogs or the serotonin inhibitor experiment on mice. Since that class I’ve been interested in how the human mind works, and I was happy to find out that the selected passages from the book don’t read too much like dry, analytical lab notes and more like a humanistic account of the psychology behind trauma and mental illness. I also really appreciated the hands-on experience and insider knowledge within the psychopharmacology field that Kolk could demonstrate through writing,

HERE is the presentation

Relatability is a tool in storytelling. A lot of relatability, in my opinion, is simply having the experience of being a person in common. Another factor branching off of this is how easy it is to imagine ourselves in another scenario or situation, such as ones described in stories.

A huge factor that contributed to making virtual school feel so uncomfortable was the choice that everyone had to turn their cameras off. Given the choice between showing their face and staying hidden, most people chose the ladder due to the fear of being judged or watched by others behind a screen. In-person school forces us to be present and, as Haven said, offers a lot of socialization that a lot of people take for granted (including me). Forcing students to interact with each other is better than nobody having that interaction.

Mmachi Domoriaku explores the concept of identity through oral storytelling. More specifically, she shares the struggles she faces as a Nigerian immigrant in NY even regarding her name. Therefore, she decides to change her name to fit into American standards. However, she soon realizes that her name is a huge part of her identity highlighting her origins. Similarly, when I left my home at the of 16, I started introducing myself using my English name on my passport which sounds different but it is easier for English speakers to pronounce. However, my closest friends in Singapore started calling me by my Greek name because they insisted on doing so and that made me realize how people who respect your identity should be at least trying to call you by how you want to be called. Even in this university, many people started calling me by my Greek name after they requested to do so. I am really not used to people calling me by my Greek name except for my people so I feel almost nostalgic and much closer to home every time that I hear someone calling me by my name!

The last lesson was one of the most fun ones. I am generally involved in arts and have taken visual art courses before so it was a great opportunity to combine this passion with storytelling. Even though I have experience in different media, the different forms stories can be told really surprised me and allowed me to rethink potential ways I would like to communicate my stories. During the lesson, I created the outline of a story I would like to communicate. That was the birth of my younger brother when I was 12 years old! I thought of creating a timeline of significant periods of time in his life as a way of communicating my gratitude towards him. Overall, I loved the creative process of creating our own story and hearing ideas from my classmates.