Author: jcrowe01

Posted on

Lessons from a History Forever Lost

by David, Tufts 1+4 Participant

Sunday, September 2, 2018. For me, the date will always be remembered as a happy one: the start to an exciting eight month bridge-year odyssey. Yet, in the meantime, to the hundreds of millions of Brazilians around the world, September 2 will forever be a day marked by unfathomable tragedy.

This tragedy’s true impact transcends far beyond its country of origin. What happened that day marks an event when the whole of humanity forever lost a part of its story. Although the horrific events occured in a city that I have yet to visit within a country I have only just begun to understand, my heart goes out to all that are suffering.

In the evening of that fateful day, an immense fire broke out in the National Museum of Brazil (Museu Nacional), located in Rio de Janeiro. The ferocious blaze spread to all three levels of the museum, consuming nearly everything in its path. Although firefighters arrived quickly to the scene, the two closest fire hydrants were dry, forcing them to fetch water from a lake. By the time they controlled the inferno, it was already too late. The museum was the home to over 20 million artifacts of incalculable historical and scientific value. Now, almost all are destroyed.

NATIONAL MUSEUM FIRE

Housing one of the most important collections in the Western hemisphere, this museum was a testament of over two centuries of Brazilian heritage and exploration. Its collection included the country’s largest dinosaur fossil, a 12,000 year old prehistoric human skeleton, as well one of the greatest compilations of Pre-Columbian artifacts. Its historic specialty extended far across the world, featuring priceless relics from the Ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations. These were the things that were razed. Eradicated. Lost.

MAXAKALISAURUS TOPAI, LARGEST DINOSAUR FOSSIL FOUND IN BRAZIL

At first glance, being a foreigner who arrived here a week ago, the event seemed like nothing “out-of-the-ordinary”. At first, to me, this museum fire represented only just another depressing story, swirling in the cloud of calamities of our grim world (as news media would have us believe). Yet, my view quickly changed once we all took a moment of silence for it at a morning orientation meetings. It was then that I dove a little deeper and realized the event’s true magnitude.

For the non-Brazilians out there, think about it like this. Imagine if we lost Smithsonian Museums or National Archives overnight. Or for those in the United Kingdom, the British Museum destroyed without notice. For the French, the Louvre gone in mere hours. So on. Then think about the priceless items held within their walls: artifacts that educate us of our past, in all of its triumphs and failures. The destruction that took place on that day in Rio is all that for Brazilians.

MUSEU NACIONAL, PRE-FIRE

Despite being an institution of national importance, museum officials struggled to meet the minimum R$520,000 (~$126,000) annual budget, which took a toll on the crumbling building (evidenced by the “peeling wall material and exposed electrical wiring”). The struggle was due in part because of the dwindling sense of responsibility and care for museums in general, with most Brazilians either taking them for granted or treating them with apathy. For example, what was supposed to be a major 200th anniversary celebration for the National Museum (which took place this past June), resulted in a poor, near-empty turnout. These factors, in combination with irresponsible government spending and corruption, sealed the fate of Brazil’s oldest and arguably most prominent museum.

Museums, from the distinguished to the local, are the guardians of our history. They remind us of our roots, helping us hold onto the heritage that bonds us together, as well as providing us guidance in improving our future. As citizens, we all have a renewed responsibility in defending their survival. No matter what your beliefs, political ideology, and interests are, as humans, we all have an obligation to protect the truth of our story. We must safeguard it from those who maliciously attempt to compromise its integrity, especially in our current climate, for selfish political or monetary gain. This is the obligation we are tasked. This is why we have to care about our museums: to preserve ourselves.

So, take whatever empowers you, whether it be your voice, volunteer hours, or vote, to perform this obligation as a proud citizen of your country, and a human in the world. We can all take a lesson from Brazil.

Sources:

Phillips, Dom. “Brazil Museum Fire: ‘Incalculable’ Loss as 200-Year-Old Rio Institution Gutted.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 3 Sept. 2018, www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/03/fire-engulfs-brazil-national-museum-rio.

Andreoni, Manuela, et al. “Brazil Museum Fire Leaves Ashes, Recrimination and Little Else.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 Sept. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/09/03/world/americas/brazil-museum-fire.html.

Museu Nacional Teve Proposta De US$ 80 Milhões Do Banco Mundial.” O Globo, O Globo, 4 Sept. 2018, oglobo.globo.com/rio/museu-nacional-teve-proposta-de-us-80-milhoes-do-banco-mundial-23036407.

“Brazil’s National Museum Hit by Huge Fire – BBC News.” BBC, BBC, 3 Sept. 2018, www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-45392668.

Photo Credit:

Fire Image: “’Incalculable Loss’ as Fire Destroys Brazil’s National Museum.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, www.nbcnews.com/news/latin-america/firefighters-battle-massive-blaze-esteemed-rio-museum-n905901.

Fossil Image: “Museu Nacional (Rio De Janeiro) – 2018 O Que Saber Antes De Ir – Sobre o Que as Pessoas Estão Falando.” TripAdvisor, www.tripadvisor.com.br/Attraction_Review-g303506-d311267-Reviews-National_Museum-Rio_de_Janeiro_State_of_Rio_de_Janeiro.html#photos;aggregationId=&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=51851372.

Museu Nacional Image: Bessa, Simone. “Museu Nacional – UFRJ (National Museum – UFRJ ).” MUSEUS DO RIO.COM.BR, www.museusdorio.com.br/joomla/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=99%3Amuseu-nacional-ufrj-national-museum-ufrj.

Posted on

Step Up, Step Back, Lean In

by Becca, Tufts 1+4 Participant

I used to think senioritis was a joke. I used to think that my burning yearning curiosity, my insatiable hunger for knowledge, and passion for understanding would never fade, could never fade. And then I hit senior year. Years of school work–standardized tests, SATs, ACTs, APs, and GPAs, every acronym that sought to reduce intellectual vitality down to a number–finally caught up to me and I came down with a textbook case of senioritis. More and more, I found that I was distancing myself from my academic interests, stopped recreationally reading and engaging in big questions, and fell safely into a comfortable routine of Netflix, friends, and sleep. After years of hard work, pushing myself to do better and be better, I think I was sufficiently justified in claiming my spot in the comfort zone. However, that which is justifiable is often not that which is best.

When I arrived on campus for the Tufts portion of orientation, one of our first activities was to establish our ground rules, a sort of rules of engagement to keep appropriate decorum in the group, even–and especially–in the face of the heavy subject matter that we’d inevitably grapple with. I participated willingly, but not enthusiastically, for most of the activity until one fellow raised her hand. “I think we should add ‘Lean Into Discomfort’ to our list,” Jaime said, “hard conversations can be uncomfortable, but I think that’s the beauty of the thing. If we can embrace our discomfort, we’ll be able to grow more, and get deeper into the questions at hand.” Her words struck me like a bolt of lightning. Regardless of what else was going on, I always prided myself in one thing, how comfortable I was with being uncomfortable. It’s what empowered me to go to India and Southern Africa, get my black belt, attend an online school, and on the whole, live a life that subverted the norms of ‘the traditional path’ in pursuit of options that catered to my interests and circumstances. Yet, through my not so well fought battle with senioritis, I’d slipped; comfort and ease became the norm, and discomfort was something to be avoided like the plague. Though it’s been a week, Jaime’s words have not left the forefront of my conscious for a moment.

Over the last 7 days, I’ve opened up and meaningfully connected with people in ways I never knew possible. Within 72 hours I shared parts of myself that took years for me to share with folks back home. I’ve laughed so hard my stomach hurt, stopped just long enough to catch my breath, and picked up where I left off, listened powerfully, and thought deeply about questions that matter, sharing opinions and challenging my own beliefs in the process. This has been one of, if not the, best week of my life, and I am beyond excited to spend four years with this team at this university.

Coming into this program, I had a lot of worries about going to Brazil. What if I don’t like my work assignment? What if I don’t like my host family? What if my host family doesn’t like me? What if I don’t learn enough Portuguese to talk to them? What if I do but get scared, don’t talk, and make no connections? What if I write ‘Brazil’ instead of ‘Brasil’ say ‘pau’ instead of ‘pão’ or give the wrong number of beijos and come across as either cold or flirtatious? What if I do all of those and fall into any other of the million linguistic and cultural pitfalls that I don’t even know to be wary of? It’s a rapid downward spiral, which throws rationality to the wind and replaces it with fear. Before I left, I just wasn’t excited about the experience, despite the objectively amazing opportunity it is. I recognize in retrospect that I wasn’t excited because I knew it would essentially be impossible to avoid discomfort. I’m bursting with excitement now, precisely because I understand that it will be uncomfortable. So long as I lean into the discomfort, I will challenge my notions of myself and my surroundings, grow in my capacities, and find a new home in a new country…even if I still can’t spell it.

Posted on

Channeling my Inner Sponge

by Ashley, Tufts 1+4 Participant

I find myself repeating the phrase of an optimistic yellow sponge from my youth. Well, “youth” may be a bit of a stretch since the silly show can still be found playing on my screens. Nevertheless, “I’m Ready” has been the statement on my mind since mid-May.

The more I mentally and physically say this phrase the more I began to truly admire and reflect on the character behind the phrase. The show consists of the daily shenanigans of Spongebob and how he is able to experience his life with little to no unhappiness, even when life got a little rocky. In no way, shape, or form was he ready for anything! Yet, he continued to proclaim his readiness and took life head on. I realize that as a child I didn’t give this show enough credit and now, as this bridge year is about to begin, I find myself hoping that I can amount to this yellow sponge.

Weird. I know.
I am as ready as I think I am and the rest is up to me. In the face of a challenge or a change in ‘schedule,” I want to be able to say that I continued with the Spongebob mantra. I do not want to let expectations cloud or potentially change the outcome of my journey. It is so easy to sit back and think that the sky is falling instead of taking a good, hard look at the situation; sometimes the only thing truly stacked against us is our perceptions of the situation at hand. If we try to muster our pride and channel our inner Spongebob nothing could get in our way.
Now that I know that I have been repeating this idea for a couple months now I want to say what I am ready for:
I am ready to…
  • Be uncomfortable but find comfort within that.
  • Get lost and call it “exploration” instead.
  • Try at Hindi and potentially sound really silly.
  • Try again at Hindi despite the silly soundingness of my attempt.
  • Try new things.
  • Miss my family although I tell myself I won’t miss them that much.
  • Have moments where my expectations get the best of me because these things take time.
  • Be as ready as I can be.
This year is going to go by and I can’t know how I will emerge or what will come out of this time in my life. There are going to be moments where I witness something completely different from the society we live in and cannot say how I will react. At the same time, there are going to be extremely beautiful and rewarding moments that I also can not say how I will react. How do I know this? I don’t but nevertheless, I’m ready.
Posted on

Finding Community

by Brenna, Tufts 1+4 Participant
“I have largely underestimated the brevity and depth of this experience… what if this isn’t worth it?”
This was the first line of my bridge year journal, written by a version of myself who was scared, uncertain and had no idea what this bridge year would bring. And I was right, I had underestimated what this incredible and challenging experience would bring. However, I can say with certainty that it was worth it. I would do it again even with every hardship and bout of homesickness. I would not trade this experience for any other. Nicaragua will forever hold a special place in my heart and I am grateful for everything it has given me.
Here, I have found a community of friends within the other 1+4 fellows who are more like family than friends. They have seen me through my lowest moments and some of the most incredible experiences of my life.
I have found friendship in my internship boss, Chepe, who is quiet yet kind.  We could talk for hours about his interests in biology and conservation. He showed such passion for the work we got to do together.
I found understanding in my Spanish teacher. Zoleyda was patient and understanding of all my questions and mispronunciations. I loved hearing stories about her life, gossiping and gaining confidence in my own Spanish. She is one of the best teachers I have ever had and one of the kindest friends I have made.
I gained an appreciation for my host mom in her patience with me, and willingness to open up her family to me. When I was homesick and crying, Rosa was there for me to listen. She made me my favorite foods and reassured me that I can do this. I admire how she runs her family with such strength, raising both a strong daughter and granddaughter.
Finally, In this family, I gained the little sister I never had. Maykeling is seven and loves to be the center of attention. She taught me how to dance and be a kid again, and how to be a big sister.
That sentence I wrote in my journal all those months ago was right, I underestimated the importance of this bridge year experience. Making the decision to come to Nicaragua was not a mistake. This year I found a completely new community and a home away from home.
Posted on

Familia

by Chastidy, Tufts 1+4 Participant

During the holidays, I longed to be back home in Los Angeles. I missed my friends and family, and the thought of flying home filled me with a surge of excitement. I still feel that excitement, but the sentiment is now mixed with feelings of sadness, too. Ecuador has become a second home to me. 
 
I now realize how much I will miss my host family and my whole experience abroad. My host family has been incredibly welcoming, accepting, and supportive of me since the time I arrived last September. Martha, my host mom, could easily read how I was feeling from day one. During the evenings, when other extended family members would come over and conversation would go far into the night, she could sense when I felt uneasy. So, she actively tried to engage me in conversations, retelling stories and giving context when I couldn’t understand. And at times, when I felt too timid to dismiss myself, she let me know it was okay to go up to my room. During my first week of Spanish classes, she took the bus with me every day to help me learn my route. She pointed out different places along the way so that I could become familiar with Cuenca. Then, she would quiz me to see if I remembered. On days where she could see I was sad, she would come into my room to talk, cry, and hug it out, reminding me that I was strong and brave. In the evenings, I played card games with Martha and her daughter Sammy, laughing over our favorite game that consisted of shouting animal noises and snatching away each other’s cards. We took trips to Alausi, Giron, and Ingapirca—places all outside of Cuenca—because they expressed that they truly wanted me to get the most out of my experience and to get to know more of Ecuador. Having an amazing host family I could lean on has meant a great deal to me.
 
It’s been a challenge being away from home and everything I was so familiar with. But luckily, I’ve had a wonderful host family I could go home to after stressful days. During my time here, I’ve also been able to find a community in the everyday small talk with strangers on the bus, in the vendors selling the best tasting fruit, and in the salsa class I coaxed myself into joining. The kindness and empathy I’ve been shown since the beginning has allowed me to find my footing and gather the strength I needed to be open-minded and courageous during my time abroad. I grew the confidence I needed to explore new places and discover new interests, creating new memories that I will forever carry with me. For that I am extremely grateful.  
Posted on

Why I quit social media


by Rujen, Tufts 1+4 Participant

A year ago, I was a social media addict. I loved using Facebook, Instagram and, Snapchat. I enjoyed sharing updates through my photo and video posts. I was often busy with my cell phone messaging friends and being updated about the lives of hundreds of followers. However, as I took a bridge year after high school, my perception about social media changed in the midst of that year. Slowly, I started realizing how much time and opportunity I had been missing while I was trapped in the world of social media. (The credit goes to some of the inspiring articles and videos on the internet whose links can be found at the bottom of this article.)
 
It is difficult to quit social media once you have become an addict, especially when most of your friends use it and when you feel the welcoming encouragement. It is often challenging to avoid the appeal. Similarly, it is tough to argue against those who support social media as social media does possess some useful benefits. Nevertheless, I quit social media and this article discusses some of the influential reasons why I quit.
 
Social media has obviously changed the way people live. It has almost become a daily dose of food, especially for the younger generation. On one hand, it has become a strong medium of communication to connect to the lives of friends and family all around the world while on the other hand, it has risen to become an addiction for some and has been dragging them towards unsociability.
 
During this year, I started noticing members of the same family busy with their phones during dinner. I noticed people messaging rather than knocking on the door. I saw couples on a date busy with their mobile phones. These are simple instances of how social media has been making us unsocial and I was astonished because I did the same sometimes. Other complications of social media that I noticed was the lack of communication with people. Many of us assume that parents, relatives, and friends use social media to see what activities we have been doing. Thus, rather than conversing with them directly, we tend to focus on our Instagram and Snapchat stories. This has significantly decreased the amount of communication we have with our close members. As a result, we lose the opportunities to express ourselves. Moreover, my involvement in the community had significantly decreased due to my over-indulgence in social media.
 
I was surprised by one of the articles that presented the drawback of this problem. It stated that the excessive use of abbreviations like lol and omg has forced the young generation to use these shortcuts in their conversations, consequently leading them to lose creativity in the vocabulary that they know. Likewise, a recent study done by journals.org claims that social media is making us lonely and depressed. Even if someone is not enjoying an event, he would post a happy picture on social media. Regardless of the reality, we try to fake our emotions on social media. 
 
With many solid explanations against social media and my inability to meaningfully progress in my host-community, I was convinced of the idea of quitting social media. Yes, social media is useful but we have to understand the consequences of the addictive use of it. We should have a limit and control the use of it. We cannot spend all of our time using it. Rather than scrolling through the news feed, we should ask people what is going on in their lives and start focusing on real-life conversations. Social media users might have thousands of followers and likes on social media, but they might be lagging behind in real life. Sometimes, giving up on something that you like is one of the best decisions. Thus, let’s start being social in a real way; let’s end unnecessary scrolling.
 
 
TEDx:
 
Articles:
 
Photo credit:
Gizmodo