LET’S TALK ABOUT…

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Tyler Merkel!

Sophomore. English Major. Friend.

Tyler is interning at St. Anthony’s Foundation. This is a non-profit organization that works to help with the basic needs of the low income people and families of San Francisco, specifically, the Tenderloin District. Her specific title is a communications and digital media intern. This means that she will take photos of every facet of the organization. She also writes articles on current events or stories of the guests that St. Anthony’s helps. Tyler will then take those stories and post them on their social media sites. She will also walk different volunteers to their perspective sights and give them an overview of the tasks that they will be completing. I asked Tyler how this relates to her major and she said, “With all the writing practice that I’m doing, I get to hear people’s stories and then tell them to everyone else. So it’s my job to make sure that I am portraying the story correctly.”

Tyler’s favorite spot in the city is a random but also specific part of Golden Gate Park. She thought she was the first to discover it, because she likes to climb this specific tree there, but it turns out that everyone knows about it. At least everyone that she has told about that spot to. She still likes it, even though it wasn’t her discovery.

Something that Tyler has learned this semester is how to show people that she cares for them even without having to specifically give them something. I think she gets a lot of this learning from working at her internship, but she says she has found the deeper need inside of people. Tyler says, “just by looking someone in the eye or shaking their hand or calling them by their name, it is showing that I am caring for them, even with the simple things because those make all the difference.”

Some of the Lyons participated in the Color Run yesterday. We all had an amazing time running the 5k with chalk being thrown at us, no matter how much we accidentally swallowed. 

LET’S TALK ABOUT…

Heidi Nicholls!

Sophomore. Social Science Major. Friend.

Heidi is interning at the Institute of International Education. It is a non-profit organization for the state department. One of the major responsibilities that Heidi attends to is arranging professional meetings between international visitors and the businesses that they want to meet from the Bay area. She will meet the visitors and take them to their meetings. She even gets to sit in on some of them, which she says is one of the best parts about the job. She likes how she gets to meet people from all over the world. “Sometimes there are many people from different countries coming in, or just one person. They are coming for business, activism, and law related topics.” This forces Heidi to know and understand the cultural history of San Francisco, and a lot of responsibility is put on her shoulders, but she handles herself well. When I asked her what she liked about that part of the job, she said, ” I get to know the city on a different level. I get to know what San Francisco stands for and what it is all about.”

One of Heidi’s favorite spots in the city is running throughout Golden Gate Park. We are lucky enough to live in a house that is literally located right in the park, so it’s nice to have that beauty right at our fingertips. Heidi also likes running through the Haight and Buena Vista Park up to Twin Peaks. Once you are at the top, you can get a great view of the entire city. “It’s a great vantage point!”

Something Heidi has learned so far on this semester abroad is that we are always learning, especially from the strangers we encounter with everyday. She says,” it teaches you something about humanity and people are always teaching you things about yourself.” Heidi has noticed that she has automatically created a backstory about the strangers she meets, but by being in the city, she gets to see how her assumptions have been both correct or incorrect. She likes learning what people value, and generally, what the city values. 

LET’S TALK ABOUT…

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Marshall Pingle!

Sophomore. English Major. Friend.

Marshall is the only one in the Clunie House to do a split internship. What this means is that he spends his Mondays and Wednesdays at the California Pacific Medical Center and his Fridays at Made In A Free World (formerly known as Slavery Footprint) a non-profit organization. One internship fits his major while he writes on different social media sites, researches, and learns about copy editing whereas the other internship follows one of his interests. At the medical center, Marshall works in the opthalmology lab, the nuclear medicine lab, the cardiac center lab, the emergency department, and the ambulatory unit. I asked him if he had a favorite internship between the two and he said, “no, it’s really great to have both. They are both really different.”

One of Marshall’s favorite spots in San Francisco is the Bison paddock in Golden Gate Park. If you haven’t seen it before, they might come as a surprise to see these giant and graceful animals. It almost seems out of place, but anything goes in San Francisco. Marshall also said that he loves riding the different bus lines. He said, “different bus lines have different personalities.” Taking the bus is a great way to interact with the people of San Francisco and it makes traveling around the city fun. The 71 bus is his favorite. It runs from Market Street through The Haight. Marshall described the vibrant personalities and scents. He says it’s very stimulating both socially and aromatically. 

Something that Marshall has learned so far this semester abroad is how to understand the build environment around us. We read a book called The Space Between by Eric Jacobsen which describes what it means to live in different places and the benefits of new urbanism. Marshall said after reading this book, he now knows how important it is to have access to your neighborhood and to invest time in them. 

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