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jenniferheinerpisano · 1 year ago

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It Still Feels like Summer . . . But Winter Running is Coming.

A marketing graduate of Lehigh University, Jennifer Heiner formerly served as the marketing director of a running company in New Jersey. When she is not collaborating with the company founders on upcoming projects, Jennifer Heiner is an active runner herself. Currently working for one of the New York City Metro area’s biggest and best running companies, Jennifer Heiner shares below some of the important buzz words and things to keep in mind when training for your next half or full marathon.

Since joining a New Jersey running company as retail director in 2019, Jennifer Heiner has assisted with aspects of business development and overseen daily operations at the company’s four stores. Jennifer Heiner balances her professional responsibilities with membership in the New York Road Runners (NYRR) recreational running club. As part of its mission to support New Yorkers in cultivating healthy habits, NYRR offers Virtual Group Training to provide community-based motivation and guidance. Suitable for beginners and experienced runners alike, the program is guided by a professional coach and offers access to an online community of supportive runners. Each week, participants receive access to two structured workouts that are varied in their difficulty and terrain. After completing the workout, runners upload their workouts to gain precise, personalized feedback from coaches. In addition to running workouts, participants receive resources aimed at maintaining physical and mental health. An online forum invites runners to connect with coaches and fellow runners, ask questions, and share their experiences.

New York Road Runners recently posted in their team forum on Strava some to help runners get ready for the changing seasons and how to better acclimate and get used to running the cold. It might still feel like summer here on the East Coast, but winter weather will be here before you know it.

10 Tips for Running in Cold Weather

The weather is starting to get colder here in New York City, so it’s good to get prepared for cold-weather training. Here are some tips on how to handle cold, ice, and snow on the run: https://www.nyrr.org/run/photos-and-stories/2021/new-runner-resource-winter-running-hazards. 1) Dress as if it’s 10 degrees warmer than the actual temperature. One of the challenges of dressing for winter running is once you’re 10 minutes into your run and your body starts to heat up, you may find that you are overdressed. This can lead to excessive sweating or needing to shed layers. 2) Remember to layer with accessories such as gloves, earmuffs, a scarf, etc. 3) Layer with performance fabrics that wick away your sweat and don’t leave you feeling damp. 4) Track what works for you. Everyone’s cold tolerance is different, so add notes in your training log about what worked for which temperatures or weather conditions. You’ll thank yourself the next time you second-guess what to wear! 5) Add a mobility routine before your run to get your muscles warmed up. You only need 5-10 minutes of dynamic (not static) stretching to help prevent your early steps from feeling rigid. 6) For hard workout days, give yourself extra time to warm up. Extend your jog and consider adding some extra strides to help your body gradually adjust to faster speeds in the cold. 7) If you feel the conditions are too cold, snowy, or icy, consider running on a treadmill if you have access to one at a local gym. 8) When in doubt, safety first. Take the day off or do some cross-training at home. 9) Don’t be surprised if your pace slows down when running in cold and windy conditions. Practice focusing on your rate of perceived exertion vs your watch’s splits. 10) Once you're done, get out of your damp clothes quickly to prevent your body temperature dropping. How is your TCS Virtual Marathon training going?

#running #marathon #run #boston marathon #training

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forresterconstruction · 2 years ago

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Internships in Commercial Construction

Internships in commercial construction are vital to the future of the construction industry. The United States is currently experiencing a shortage of construction workers, and this lack of experienced professionals in the industry is expected to get worse. Construction companies must provide well-rounded, thoughtful internships to inspire and confirm young students’ interest in construction, provide them with real-world experience and training, and provide useful help to construction teams in the field.

The Need for Young Talent in the Construction Industry

There are not enough construction professionals to go around. The lack of access to adequate training programs during the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the

industry to lose talent. In addition, the pandemic-related safety concerns that led to the suspension or alteration of training programs have also made it harder to attract and retain workers. Construction companies will need to increase the pace of hiring exponentially in 2022 if they are expected to keep up with construction demands.

The construction industry is also expected to face increased challenges with labor shortages. It is, therefore, important that companies take immediate action to address this issue. One of the most effective ways to improve the industry’s talent pool is by reaching out to a younger demographic, implementing construction internships, and engaging with high schools and universities to attract students to the construction industry and properly prepare the next generation of great builders.

Construction Talent

Many construction companies, like Forrester Construction, are thinking toward the future to address the need for talent in the construction industry. Partnering with educational institutions is one of the ways that commercial construction companies can adopt a long-term, educational approach to solving the talent issue. This can help students decide what kind of construction company they want to work for, develop skills in real-world construction settings, and gain experience that will jump-start their careers when they enter the construction industry after graduation.

When encouraging students to consider construction as a career, focusing on increasing the number of women in construction is vital. In 2019, only 9 out of every 100 people who worked in construction were women. That means there is a huge potential for many more talented, educated construction professionals if more women seek construction as a valid, attainable career path.

In addition to the many benefits that students gain from developing a relationship with construction companies before graduation, construction companies benefit from university engagement by developing a strong and diverse talent pool, gaining strong relationships with clients who may have projects at colleges or high schools, and developing early connections with future industry contacts.

Though not all companies within the commercial construction industry have internships. Another avenue to support the need for talent in the construction industry is by developing apprenticeship programs. Apprenticeships that provide opportunities for learning, career development, and professional growth help attract and retain talent in the construction company and increase the overall number of workers in the industry by providing young talent for many subcontractors. This skills-based approach is an effective way to build talent and worker capabilities through experience and training.

What is a Construction Internship?

Construction internships are the best way for students to get a taste of the industry, receive training, and develop real-world experience without making long-term professional commitments. Construction internships generally take place in the summer and allow students to work for companies in the construction industry to help identify their ideal company’s size, type of work, culture, and values before they graduate and decide on their career direction.

Although an internship doesn’t provide a formal industry qualification, it can still set students apart from other candidates, prepare them for an entry-level position, and allow individuals to explore and learn about various construction paths. An added benefit to getting a construction internship is that they can usually help secure a higher starting wage since you are coming to a company with real-world experience.

How to Get a Construction Internship

Most commercial construction companies, like Forrester Construction, start hiring their summer interns in the fall. The company website generally has a location where students can apply online or contact the organization for more information about the internship program. Construction companies attend many college and university career fairs, especially at schools that have larger or more established construction or engineering programs. Some of the construction industry career fairs Forrester generally visits include the University of Maryland Chi Epsilon Civil and Construction Management Career Fair, the Architectural Engineering Career Fair at Penn State, Virginia Tech’s Myers Lawson School of Construction Career Fair, and more! Visit our website to see a full list of career fairs we are visiting this fall!

Typical Construction Internship Programs

Many construction internships for general contractors take place in the summer while college students are on summer break, though some construction internships can take place in the summer or occur part-time during the school year. Many general contractors that provide internships allow to be on a real construction project for the summer, working with the team, and performing real tasks that are integral to the construction project’s progress and completion. Construction internships will train students on the various tasks they will complete over the summer, as well as provide networking opportunities, educational resources, and a well-rounded learning experience. Construction internships also allow college students to see what it’s like to work in construction and allow them to grow professionally. Construction internships should aim to be innovative, provide hands-on training, and engage students in the decision-making process.

Other Ways to Engage with Students

Sparking students’ interest in construction at a young age can inspire and encourage individuals, who may have never considered construction as a profession, to pursue it as a career.

Engaging with Students

If you are a general contractor, architect, or subcontractor working in the private or public education market, like Forrester Construction, there are many ways that you can impact students and help encourage more interest in the construction industry. Attending career days at high schools you have built or are building near and giving tours or informational sessions at schools you are building, can provide a new perspective on all the benefits of working in the construction industry.

Engaging with colleges and universities outside of career fairs by inviting groups for construction site tours, hosting or attending learning sessions or panels, or encouraging your team members to become peer mentors are all ways that your construction company can support the next generation of commercial construction workers. During the pandemic, Forrester found ways to connect with college students by offering virtual site tours and Q&As with engineering classes.

Conclusion

The construction industry is expected to play a vital role in the country’s economic recovery. It is, therefore, important that the industry’s various stakeholders come together to address the talent issues that are hindering its growth. To succeed, the construction industry must adopt multiple strategies and approaches to help it create better jobs and improve efficiency, including building great internship programs to encourage and prepare current students, and our future in the construction industry.

#Forrester Construction #construction #commercial construction #internships

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bestsummerinternship-blog · 5 years ago

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tbbasket-blog · 6 years ago

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trainingbasketblog-blog · 5 years ago

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ccnatrainingcoursenoida-blog · 6 years ago

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cancerbiophd · 4 years ago

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How I landed an industry job straight out of my life sciences PhD, without doing a post-doc

In less than 7 weeks I’ll be defending my dissertation as a final step in my PhD in Cancer Biology, and yesterday I accepted a Scientist position at a local biotechnology company. And best part: I didn’t have to do the dreaded post-doc first! Which is pretty rare for our field (but I hope it’ll be more and more common for PhD’s going into industry).

I promised I would talk about the process here, and I hope that anyone who’s aiming for the same path can walk away with some tips or at least with a familiarity of the process.

The main points I want to get across:

Network network network. You can probably just stop reading here, because this job came about all through networking. I was basically head-hunted--someone in my network (a program alumnus) contacted me on LinkedIn to ask if I wanted to apply for a position on the team she directs. So set up your LinkedIn account, keep it up to date, and use it to actively network. At the very least you should connect with the alumni in your program as you all have something in common already, and since they’re out and about in the field they would be great resources for informational interviews and job referrals.

My expertise and career goals matched the position. No brainer, of course. Even if I wasn’t contacted by the company, I would only be applying to companies I qualified for (so companies dealing with cancer since I’m my PhD is in Cancer Bio). My lab mate, for example, was finishing up his PhD in Nutritional Sciences but was applying to cancer companies with no result, because it just wasn’t the candidate those companies were looking for. My expertise was also probably what got that director’s attention in the first place and the reason she reached out. She was basically willing to wait 7 months for me (from job posting to my final start-date) because I was her ideal candidate, and not just based off my expertise alone, but our personalities matched too. She told me “we communicate well” aka our work personalities match. I know you can’t change who you are obviously, but getting along with your manager goes a long way.

That being said, employers/PIs are flexible with start dates for PhD candidates. I applied to this position 6 months before I had my defense date set and when I only knew a ballpark of “sometime in the summer”. And then during my interview process I had to keep pushing that potential start-date back and back and back. But the company understood this. So as a PhD candidate you could start applying 6 months before your expected end-date (even if it’s still a moving target), or even months earlier for post-docs (which are much more flexible than industry positions). In general, you should start looking 1 year before your finish date to see what’s out there.

It was also good luck/timing. If I had graduated earlier than the job posting, then I never would’ve had this opportunity. I also only added her to my LinkedIn network because I went to a lunch seminar where she gave a talk about working in industry. So small things that ultimately made a huge difference. Some you can’t control, but some (like going to that lunch) are definitely opportunities to seize.

I was low “flight risk”. Companies are always afraid their employees will leave the company/city for greener pastures, and that’s more common in “less popular” places to live, like the southwest desert where I’m located. But I’m from here, my grad school is here, my family’s here--so the company is making the assumption I’m not going to just up and go any time soon. You obviously can’t control where your family chooses to settle down, but you may be able to strategically choose your grad school based off of its proximity to potential companies.

And lastly, in my experience, PhD’s with no post-doc in biotech industry should expect an annual salary somewhere between $75-95k (depending on the company and cost of living), with benefits.

Ok, my full story under cut if you’d like to know more about the process I went through:

It all started when a program alumnus (or alumna, if you’re picky about your latin) named RF talked at a lunch seminar to students in my program in Feb 2019. I was really interested in her company and knew she would be a great network to have, so I emailed her later to thank her, and then added her on LinkedIn.

Fast forward to January of this year (2020) when RF messaged me on LinkedIn out of the blue asking me how close I was to graduating and if I would be interested in a position at her company. I think she wanted someone asap (so not me, I thought), but we talked more about my project, and she said she’d keep in touch. In February, she messaged me again saying a position opened up on her team and she wanted to see if I would like to apply. I said heck yes (or the more formal version), and sent in my application, with the expectation that I would be defending sometime in the summer. I also put her as my job referral and messaged her afterwards to let her know my application went through (with the hopes that maybe she could fast-track it through HR, which I think she did).

In the meantime, I messaged (also on LinkedIn) another program alumnus I knew (our time overlapped a few years) who currently works with RF and we chatted on the phone about what he does at work, how he likes it there, etc. Basically an informational interview (and also to catch up as colleagues). I was also hoping he’d put in a good word for me with RF and can attest I’m a decent human being and all that.

2 weeks later, I had a phone interview with RF, and I was super nervous going into it. I even practiced pages and pages of answers of common interview questions for a week straight. But to my surprise she opened the call with “I already know a lot about you from your CV, LinkedIn profile, and also your PhD training because we’re from the same program, so this is your chance to ask me questions!” And I was like, uhhhh awesome! The only thing she wanted to know about me was when I could start, and at that moment in time I was gunning for a July/Aug defense date.

(I also emailed her and HR afterwards to ask them whether they could match my salary expectation, which I had researched well beforehand for what was common in the field for my position and experience, and they said they could.)

We then set up the next round of interviews for April with a colleague of RF’s who used to be in the same team but now directs her own, and RF’s boss (these would have normally been on-site, but I did them over the phone bc Covid). I again messaged my friend at the company asking if he had any tips.

And then disaster struck! The company’s HR called me a week before those scheduled interviews to tell me the company had ordered a hiring freeze due to Covid and the effect it was having on the economy. Absolute bummer :( :( :(

So I then applied for a few more positions here and there, including some post-docs (which I really didn’t want to do). I got 2 rounds of interviews for a Scientist position at another local company, and as of today I still haven’t heard anything from them. oh well.

Then in June I finally heard back from RF’s company saying the hiring freeze has been lifted and whether I’m still interested? Uh, heck yes! So we continued with those 2 phone interviews I had originally scheduled back in April. They both went really well. But I still continued to apply to other positions in the meantime because I wanted to have as many options as I could.

Then 2 weeks ago (July 7) I got THE call: they wanted to offer me the position! :D

Only problem was, we needed to settle on a start-date. They of course wanted me to start like, yesterday, but my PI wanted to push back my original defense date of Aug 28 one more week to Sept 4, and also wanted me to focus on any dissertation edits for 2 weeks after that. So my earliest start-date would be Sept 21. If you remember, my defense date shifted from “sometime in the summer” to “July/August” to now September, so I was really worried the company wouldn’t accept this. I nervously waited 2 weeks for someone to call me back, and in my head I kept thinking, “I blew it I blew it”. I even sent in a job application to another company in that time.

But RF finally called me and said hey, no problem, we can do that! She told me she was willing to wait because I really was her perfect candidate (I had all the experience she wanted, and she said we communicated well aka our work-personalities matched). She had also just recently hired another graduate from our program, who is also a friend of mine, so she knew we would all mesh together very nicely.

And that’s the story folks! I’ll be starting the position remotely until it’s safe to return to the building again. They’re also working with my husband to see if he’s a good candidate for some of their other open positions (we’re both in the biotech field). We’re both super excited about this new chapter in our lives.

All this because I attended the lunch seminar RF talked at all last year and then added her on LinkedIn. When people talk about opportunities lurking behind every corner, they really did mean that.

#job advice #gradblr #sciblr #m

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csnews · 4 years ago

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Innovative New Whale Detection System Aims to Prevent Ships From Striking Animals

Alex Fox, September 17, 2020

Southern California is home to the busiest port complex in the U.S. Nearly 500 ships passed through the 24-mile-wide Santa Barbara Channel en route to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in August alone. The same strip of water also hosts droves of giant whales. In summer, over the course of a single day, whale watching outfits routinely spot as many as 15 blue whales, many nearly 100 feet long, feeding in the channel alongside humpback whales and thousands of dolphins. This overlap creates an environment where ships sometimes strike and kill endangered blue, humpback and fin whales. The last two years have set successive records for the most whales killed by ship strikes off the California coast, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with 21 whales dying by the hulls of ships in 2018 and 2019 combined.

And researchers say that’s likely to be just a fraction of the true death toll. A 2017 paper published in the journal PLOS One estimated that more than 80 endangered whales are killed by ships each year along the U.S. West Coast. The same paper suggests NOAA and whale researchers may only find between 5 and 17 percent of the whales whose bodies have been broken by the bow of a ship, because their corpses tend to sink to the bottom rather than washing ashore. The fatal collisions scientists do record are often grisly. Many times a vessel will coast into port unaware of the pulverized whale draped across its bow. The ships are so large, many are 15 stories tall and more than 1,000 feet long, that they typically have no idea what’s happened until they reach port.

“I’ve seen the damage that a ship strike can do and it’s massive and traumatic,” says Nick Pyenson, the Curator of Fossil Marine Mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and author of the book Spying on Whales. “I’ve seen fractures that run clear across a 20-foot skull, jaw bones that have been snapped and cracked. If it’s not immediate death it’s horrific suffering that typically ends in death.”

Now, a team of researchers is launching an innovative new whale detection system called Whale Safe in Southern California waters to help mariners avoid collisions with the marine mammals and to grade shipping companies on their whale safety. The system produces daily alerts informing subscribers how likely ships are to encounter whales in the Santa Barbara Channel as well as a web-based interactive map showing the locations of individual whale detections. The team has shared the tool with key shipping companies, and officials at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach who are expected to share news of the launch.

The goal of Whale Safe is to provide mariners with the best, most up-to-date information available and to create more awareness, says Doug McCauley, a marine scientist at the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) and director of its Benioff Ocean Initiative, which is launching and funding the project in collaboration with other research institutions. “These are 100-year-old animals that are ecosystem engineers carrying around thousands of trees worth of carbon and they’re being run over out there,” he says. “We want to help incentivize the people and companies who want to do the right thing to actually do it and be recognized for it.”

Whale Safe creates a near real-time map of where whales are swimming and how likely ships are to encounter them using data from three cutting-edge sources. First, a buoy equipped with an underwater microphone listens for whale songs in the Santa Barbara Channel and uses an algorithm to automatically identify the calls of humpback, fin and blue whales before beaming the detection to a satellite. Second, trained observers and citizen scientists use a smartphone app to report whale sightings from boats. Third, a newly developed mathematical model uses information gleaned from years of blue whale tagging studies and the latest oceanographic data (such as sea surface temperature and ocean currents) to predict where blue whales are most likely to be.

These three streams of data are all integrated in a single streamlined platform accessible via the web. “The combination of methods is ideal,” says Jaime Jahncke, a marine scientist at Point Blue Conservation Science who was not involved in the Whale Safe project. “Acoustic detection alone is not perfect and modelling alone is not perfect but the combination makes it much more robust. The multiple layers of data help give mariners the clearest picture of where whales are and could make Whale Safe very effective if mariners use it.”

In their preliminary conversations with shipping companies, McCauley says the Whale Safe team has gotten a lot of interest, but no commitments to use the platform right out of the box. Most companies want to take a look at the website and the alerts and see how the whole thing works before taking it on board.

“Nobody wants to hit a whale so whatever we can do to mitigate that we’re excited to pursue,” says John Berge, a vice president with the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. “More and better data is always an improvement. Having a better idea of where whales are and their concentrations at certain times of year will allow ships to make more dynamic speed and routing decisions.”

Following its launch today, Whale Safe could see a wide range of user groups, says Morgan Visalli, a marine scientist at UCSB who led the Whale Safe project. Curious scientists or members of the public might peruse the locations of whales off their coast, while port officials or the U.S. Coast Guard may decide to push out alerts to ships in their area based on whale detections made by the system. In the case of the shipping industry, Visalli says some companies have indicated it would work best for them if an operations manager on shore signs up to receive the data, and then disseminates it amongst their fleet. Visalli adds that the Whale Safe team is anxious for feedback once more mariners are able to interact with the system.

Some parts of the Whale Safe are already in use in other parts of the world. Acoustic whale detection systems are in use on the East Coast of the U.S. and an app called Whale Alert has been mapping the locations of sightings by humans on the West Coast since 2014. But Whale Safe is the first platform to bring all the best available, near real-time data on whales under one digital roof. Sean Hastings, the resource protection coordinator for NOAA’s Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, says Whale Safe combines layers of data in a matter of hours that might have once taken his team up to a month to merge.

In the Santa Barbara Channel, where Whale Safe’s efforts are concentrated, shipping lanes have been shifted to avoid whales and what’s known as a voluntary speed reduction zone was put into effect in 2007 in response to the deaths of five blue whales killed by ship strikes in just a few months. These voluntary speed limits currently request that ships slow down to 10 knots during whale season, which usually runs from May to November. But even after a more than a decade on the books and various incentive programs only 44 percent of ships slowed down on their way into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in 2019. Near San Francisco Bay, cooperation is only slightly better at around 50 percent.

Berge says the ships that don’t slow down may be more concerned with adhering to a strict schedule, may be unfamiliar with local regulations or may in fact be slowing down, just not all the way to 10 knots. “I like to think that continual outreach on this topic will continue to boost the compliance,” he says.

Scientists say slowing down makes the impacts that do occur less deadly and may give the whales and the ships a better opportunity to avoid the collision in the first place. “I think of whales as being like giant kids,” says McCauley. “If they’re wrapped up in feeding and socializing, they’re not focused on looking out for ships. We ask cars to slow down around schools to keep kids safe, and these speed restrictions for whales are the same idea.”

Research suggests mandatory slow down zones aimed at protecting the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale have had some positive results. A forthcoming paper by researchers with Point Blue estimates that if 95 percent of ships slowed down in the voluntary speed reduction zones off San Francisco it could decrease humpback and blue whale deaths by as much as 30 percent.

Many whale species have made historic recoveries after being nearly exterminated by human hunting, but those recoveries aren’t bulletproof. When it comes to endangered blue whales in the eastern Pacific, even one whale is significant. “NOAA’s most recent assessment for blue whales says that if we lose more than one animal each year, which we do, then we’re not meeting our population growth targets,” says Hastings.

Whale Safe will be issuing report cards for shipping companies based on their vessels’ cooperation with the voluntary speed reduction zone that NOAA seasonally activates in the Santa Barbara Channel in hopes of reducing fatal ship strikes. Whale Safe uses public location data transmitted by special transponders on ships to calculate their speeds and judge whether they slow down when they’re steaming through the whales’ dining room.

Though the results are only now available to the public, Whale Safe has already produced some assessments for shipping companies’ adherence to the slow-down zones in 2020. The world’s second largest shipping company, Mediterranean Shipping Company, gets an “A.” Its vessels slowed down to the requested ten knots in the voluntary speed reduction zones 94 percent of the time. Meanwhile, Ocean Network Express, the sixth largest shipping company in the world, gets a “D” for only backing off on the throttle for whales 35 percent of the time.

McCauley points out that if the system helps motivate more vessels to slow down for whales, humans will reap benefits too. When ships slow down they burn less fuel, which cuts down on their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions and the release of pollutants like nitrogen and sulphur oxides.

Hastings says Whale Safe could also help inform other interventions like amending the paths of the shipping lanes themselves or extending the envelope of speed reduction zones. If Whale Safe proves effective during its first year of deployment, the Bay Area could be its next stop. But the biggest question surrounding the project’s ability to make an initial impact is whether it results in more ships reducing their speed when whales are present.

“I’m hopeful that the added confidence that Whale Safe will bring to say ‘Hey there really are whales here today’ will encourage more shipping companies to slow down,” says Hastings. “But it also provides resource managers like myself with amazing data to assess whether these speed reductions should become mandatory. Because while we’re grateful for the cooperation we’ve gotten with the voluntary speed reduction program so far, it’s not good enough.”

#news #wild #cetacean #research #whale #dolphin

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swanlake1998 · 4 years ago

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Article: The New Company Ballet22 Spotlights Men on Pointe

Date: April 14, 2021

By: Claudia Bauer

The conversation around gender, both in the ballet world and in the larger culture, is slowly evolving toward greater inclusion. Roberto Vega Ortiz and Theresa Knudson are giving it a big push with Ballet22, their new company that showcases men on pointe—dancing not in drag or as comedic caricatures, but as themselves, each in their own authentic gender expression.

Founded last fall in Oakland, California, during the pandemic, the young company has already held two online performances and will hold a virtual spring gala April 16–18 and 23–25. It's also tapped into a growing community of male and nonbinary dancers who love pointework and are hungry for authentic artistic self-expression. "The mission of Ballet22 is pushing the boundaries of what could be possible, and making the pointe shoe ungendered," says artistic director Vega Ortiz.

From Isolation to Innovation

As a longtime devotee of pointework and an Instagram influencer, Vega Ortiz is keenly aware of the enthusiasm for pointework among male ballet dancers, via hashtags like #MenOnPointe, and of the lack of high-quality training and performance opportunities. So as a pandemic project, he and close friend Carlos Hopuy, a former Ballet San Antonio principal who has danced with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo since 2012, started teaching pointe classes on Zoom under the name MaleBallerinas.

The response was overwhelming. "We had dancers from Germany, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, the U.S.," says Vega Ortiz. Knudson adds: "These are people who have to train in privacy or secrecy because there is not a place for them. Seeing male and nonbinary bodies doing this work is so inspiring—there's so much joy and power." Knudson, who is Vega Ortiz's roommate and now serves as Ballet22's executive director and ballet mistress, was tuned in to the venture's significance and growing audience—and its possibility for growth.

The popularity of MaleBallerinas inspired Vega Ortiz and Knudson to expand from classes to a company. "It was always a thought to make it a company, but we didn't realize how soon it would happen," says Vega Ortiz, who has danced with Nashville Ballet and the Trocks. They were able to ramp up quickly, thanks to the combination of Vega Ortiz' artistic vision and huge following, and Knudson's business savvy gained from founding her own company, Halcyon Dance Project, in 2019, plus her degree in business administration.

Crucially, Knudson secured fiscal sponsorship through the San Francisco indie nonprofit Intersection for the Arts. "Fiscal sponsorship means we get to use their nonprofit status," she explains. "With that, we were able to ask for tax-deductible donations and we could tell people we were a legit organization. For our first show (last December), our friends bought tickets for their friends, and we had people donate afterward. When people see our work, they're excited and they want to support it."

Expanding the Possibilities of Ballet

Dancers are excited to perform the work, too: Along with Vega Ortiz, the company roster features Hopuy and fellow Trock Duane Gosa, New York City Ballet corps member Gilbert Bolden III and San Francisco Ballet soloist Diego Cruz.

"With Trockadero, I'm switching my wigs, I'm changing my shoes—I'm a male dancer, now I'm a female dancer," says Gosa, who danced Swan Lake's Odette variation in Ballet22's December 2020 performance. "It was really cool to feel these things that I could only dream of before. Performing genderless, as myself, without the mask of the makeup and wigs, was the biggest takeaway for me. It left me more confident personally."

Bolden, who taught himself to dance on pointe with Kathryn Morgan's YouTube videos, in addition to help from friends and co-workers, agrees. "I didn't want to do drag. I really wanted to be myself on pointe, which is why this is so exciting for me." Mastering pointework has also influenced his dancing at NYCB. "It's made me more thoughtful in how I use my feet, legs and body, because I had to learn how to do the delicate finesse. And when I'm partnering, I know how a girl wants to feel and how she wants to be on her shoe."

Ballet22 has also expanded the artistic palette for choreographers like Ben Needham-Wood, whose dance film "Pointe A2B" premieres in the gala. The five-minute, single-take film features Vega Ortiz and Hopuy in a kaleidoscope of partnering as they move through an art gallery. "I would have both men bourréeing, and then one would be a secure base for the other and then transition back onto pointe, creating this shifting structure. That interplay was really fun." On a bigger scale, he says, "Ballet22 is a great starting point for a conversation that needs to happen: What is the role of gender in dance? What is the role that we have in our communities for raising awareness for important causes?"

Leaping Into the Future

While their initial focus is on male and nonbinary dancers on pointe, Knudson and Vega Ortiz plan to make the company fully inclusive as it expands out of its current project-based format. As companies eventually return to full-time work, the roster will likely change as well. "Women want to be part of it, which is so amazing," says Vega Ortiz. "And it's important to have a safe space for trans men and trans women. Ballet22 is a safe place for everyone."

Their post-gala plans include online classes for all ages, a summer intensive and to eventually grow their school, The School at BlackBox Studios, into a full-time program where, in addition to classical training, men will learn pointe. "If we can offer a place where it's safe for everyone to feel that they can be themselves and have great experiences," he says, "that's what we want. The work will speak for itself."

#article #ballet #pointe magazine

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sciencespies · 4 years ago

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Space Force to establish a new command to oversee technology development and acquisition

https://sciencespies.com/space/space-force-to-establish-a-new-command-to-oversee-technology-development-and-acquisition/

Space Force to establish a new command to oversee technology development and acquisition

The Space Force plans to stand up a Space Systems Command this summer, pending the nomination and Senate confirmation of a three-star commander.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force on April 8 unveiled new details of its plan to establish a Space Systems Command in Los Angeles to oversee the development of next-generation technologies, and the procurement of satellites and launch services.

The Space Systems Command, or SSC, will take over responsibilities currently performed by the Space and Missile Systems Center and by the Space Force launch wings in Florida and California that currently are not part of SMC. Altogether SSC will oversee a workforce of about 10,000 people.

The Space Force will re-designate the Space and Missile Systems Center as SSC headquarters. SMC, based at Los Angeles Air Force Base, in El Segundo, California, has a $9 billion annual budget and a workforce of about 6,300 military, civilian personnel and contractors.

About 4,000 people who work for the space launch units at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida; and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California will be reassigned to SSC. Both space launch wings currently report to the Space Force’s Space Operations Command.

Officials said the new command is more than just a rebranding of the Space and Missile Systems Center. SSC will have broader responsibilities to coordinate space programs across the U.S. military.

The proposal to stand up SSC is the result of a “deliberate year-long process to plan the Space Systems Command and specifically the organizational design,” the commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center Lt. Gen. John Thompson, told SpaceNews.

SSC will be one of three Space Force field commands the service announced in June. The Space Operations Command was established in October and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A Space Training and Readiness Command is projected to open later this year.

All three field commands are led by three-star generals who answer to Gen. John Raymond, the chief of space operations. The commands operate under the authority of the secretary of the Air Force, the civilian leader of the Space Force.

Thompson said the Space Force is confident SSC can be stood up this summer but the exact timeline depends on when a three-star commander is nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate.

The acquisition arm of the Space Force is a high priority of Raymond, who has called for the service to speed up the procurement of cutting-edge technology to stay ahead of adversaries like China and Russia. He also has argued that the Space Force has to be more agile in order to tap into the innovation coming out of the private sector.

“Space Systems Command’s organizational structure was purpose-built to anticipate and be responsive to the challenges presented by a contested space domain,” Raymond told reporters April 8.

Raymond said having a field command for acquisition will bring “unity of effort” in the development and acquisition of space capabilities for warfighters and “get people rolling in the right direction.”

It’s not just a name change

Thompson said the new command is not simply a re-labeling of existing activities done by SMC. As the organization in charge of space acquisitions, SSC will build on changes that SMC started two years ago in an effort known as SMC 2.0., he said. For example, SMC realigned program offices that operated in vertical organizations into a horizontal enterprise so there is more coordination and sharing of resources.

“We really built a lot of momentum here on SMC 2.0 and we felt it was absolutely essential to be able to leverage that work going into the stand up of the Space Systems Command,” Thompson said.

SMC has a three-star commander and a one-star deputy commander. The SSC also will have a three-star chief but a two-star deputy instead, who will have broader responsibilities for space launch activities.

Thompson said the reorganization will not require adding more people as units are just being realigned. “This will be resource neutral,” he said.

Two space procurement organizations that are not part of SMC — the Space Rapid Capabilities Office at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico; and the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency — will not be part of the SSC but will work closely with the new command, Thompson said.

Under the plan, the commander of Space Systems Command has “limited administrative control” of Space RCO and SDA, he said.

“What this means is that we will have a memorandum of understanding between the Space Systems Command commander and the leaders of those organizations for what support the Space Systems Command can provide to those organizations,” Thompson explained.

“The commander of SSC is not going to get into the day-to-day nuts and bolts of what’s going on in the Space Development Agency or Space RCO portfolios,” said Thompson. The new command is “not going to “slow them down or inhibit their contractual awards in any way shape or form. We value the unique acquisition authorities and unique acquisition constructs of all of those organizations.”

Thompson said he has already started discussion with the Space RCO on what administrative support it might need from SSC. The Space Development Agency by law has to move from the Defense Department to the Space Force by October 2022. How SSC would support SDA has not yet been defined, said Thompson.

The Space Development Agency, only in existence since 2019, has disrupted the military space business with plans to deploy a network of low-orbiting satellites by 2022 using commercial products from nontraditional suppliers. Thompson said what the agency has accomplished in “commercially enabled disruption is really remarkable. We like having them as teammates in this space acquisition ecosystem.”

The SSC will have a “space systems architect” office overseeing next-generation designs and concepts, and also focus on outreach to the private sector.

A new organization called SpaceWERX — formed recently under the Air Force technology accelerator AFWERX to work with space entrepreneurs and venture investors — will be under the SSC space systems architect .

“They will continue to expand their mission, making our pitch day events, making our technology accelerators and our outreach to startups even more aggressive than we have in the past,” Thompson said.

The SSC also will look at opportunities to buy “space as a service,” a catchphrase for the procurement of data or broadband connectivity from commercial providers.

“I think you can envision a future where commercial services for space is expanded beyond the satellite communications enterprise and into things like weather or space domain awareness or even tactical ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance],” Thompson said.

As part of the proposed establishment of Space Systems Command, several units will be renamed or realigned:

The 61st Air Base Group at Los Angeles Air Force Base — which provides installation support — will become the Los Angeles Garrison.

The 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, will be re-designated as Space Launch Delta 30.

The 45th Space Wing at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, will be re-designated as Space Launch Delta 45.

Air Force Research Laboratory units that perform space science and technology functions will be under the administrative control of SSC but will remain aligned to AFRL. These units include Space Vehicles Directorate, Space Electro-Optics Division, Rocket Propulsion Division, and the Space Systems Technology Division.

The Strategic Warning and Surveillance Systems Division that manages ground-based radars and missile warning systems will transfer from the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center to SSC.

The Space Force Commercial Satellite Communications Office is currently under SMC and will remain in the SSC.

#Space

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virtchandmoir · 5 years ago

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Tessa Virtue steps off the ice and into kinky boots, among other worthwhile endeavours

November 16, 2019

There’s Tessa Virtue. And whoa, gobsmacking, there’s Vicky Vice.

The alter ego will come as a shock to many who have watched Canada’s ice dancing sweetheart transform over the years. From the demure Tessa of Gibson Girl days — her debut silver medal at the 2008 worlds in Gothenburg with Scott Moir, a feathery rendition of “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” that knocked judges for a loop — to the dynamically athletic Tessa of Vancouver Olympics gold (The Goose lift), to the mature and sensuous Tessa of “Roxanne” and “Carmen” and finally “Moulin Rouge’’ — Games gold times two in Pyeongchang.

But wet-look black latex pencil skirt, cleavage-squeezing bustier, leather gloves and ankle boots, with drag queen makeup, pulling on a rope, suggestive of a dominatrix — that’s breaking kinky new ground.

With a simple “Hold on tight’’ caption, the spread sprang from the imagination of Toronto-based photographer Nikki Ormerod.

The new and emboldened Tessa‚ unshackled as her skating career winds to a close on Rock the Rink, a 27-city cross-Canadian tour with Moir — was game.

“I was thinking about the opposite of virtue,” Virtue explains down the phone line. “Sometimes when we were performing, I’d channel her. You know, how Beyoncé has Sasha Fierce?”

While there is poignancy to this stage in Virtue’s career — she and Moir have announced that’s it, not even any more shows after the tour concludes in St. John’s on Nov. 23 (“though never say never”) — she’s also excited about whatever comes next. The possibilities are endless.

Since the couple retired from competition, Virtue has been everywhere: magazine covers, talk shows, TV commercials promoting this product and that. Which is as it should be, translating on-ice success — three Olympic medals, four world championship golds (one junior), eight senior Canadian titles, 55 international medals — to off-ice fortune.

At 30 years old, she’s earned it. Although, it’s unsettling that Virtue will now be forever partitioned from Moir. Twenty-two years together, most decorated Olympics figure skaters in history.

We all pined for the romance they invoked on the ice to be real. Lord knows they faked it good, that deep, intimate connection, if always making it clear that no, they weren’t a couple away from the rink. Moir, in fact, is engaged to marry next summer. But what will they be to each other now and in the future unfolding?

“The more important factor that will shift for us is just the fact that we won’t be skating together,” Virtue explains. “We’ve been through everything together, partners included. But it’s a really neat time for us. After this long, sharing such a singular focus and common goal, it’s fun to support one another as we launch ourselves forward and into other projects that are closely aligned with our values and close to our hearts, respectively.

“I can’t wait to watch him flourish in whatever he takes on next. We’ll always be there for each other. We’ll always be a part of each other’s lives. I think it will just be a natural evolution of a beautiful friendship. Taking the skating element out of it will allow some freedom for us to relish the beautiful friendship we’ve created. Now we get to reap those benefits of really just being in one another’s corner, supporting each other from the sidelines every step of the way.’’

Virtue is picking her projects carefully. This past week, it was announced that she and Benoit Huot have signed on to a joint partnership between the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic and Classroom Champions. Teach Canada Champion Chats, in the 2019-20 school year, is a nationwide program designed to empower students, with a focus on mentoring, achieving goals, embracing challenges — in or out of sports — mental wellness, diversity and inclusion, via virtual live chats.

“What’s so beautiful about this is, it’s taking the lessons we’ve learned in sport as athletes and really creating a personal connection with students who wouldn’t otherwise get to learn about those experiences, and help them apply it to their lives,’’ says Virtue. “It’s so cool … We’ve been able to learn so many unique things that are so applicable to every facet of life, especially when it comes to kids who just don’t have access to those kinds of resources, physical activity and sport.”

So many hours to fill that used to be spent at the rink, training daily or rehabbing from injury, which has been a theme for Virtue more than Moir, including surgery to her shins and calves.

And she’s still coming to terms with the absence of competition, the thrill and stress of performing for judges.

“We’re competitors by nature,’’ says Virtue, of herself and Moir. “We inherently miss that fire that comes with striving to be the best. The biggest challenge has been taking off that perfectionist hat and putting on an entertainer hat. Realizing that entertainment, in a broad view, is so different than what we’d been striving for, for 22 years, which was perfection in four minutes. Which doesn’t exist anyway.’’

The tour has been a farewell and a mutual thank you for all the skates, all the medals, all the adoring audiences. “Letting that percolate, digesting it, that this is the end of something really beautiful and we’re able to savour it every single night. I just feel so fortunate. Every night, I’m very cognizant of the fact that we’re able to walk away exactly on our own terms. The programs that we want to do in the way that we’ve dreamed of doing, and in a way that really feels like it does justice to the career and the partnership that we’ve had.”

Without the fussy rules that have historically stifled ice dancing. Though Moir and Virtue, with their signature athleticism and artistry, always found a way to punch through boundaries.

Without Moir and Virtue, without Patrick Chan, without Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, without Kaetlyn Osmond — all formally retired from the sport since Pyeongchang — the figure skating landscape looks rather bleak in Canada. They dominated for so long.

“It will be tough to follow this generation,” Virtue reluctantly admits. “But if we’ve done our jobs, then it won’t be too long until there are some shining superstars in Canada. But yeah, it’s a tough changing of the guard.”

Unlike Moir, Virtue has no interest in coaching, at least not yet. With a psychology degree under his belt, she plans to pursue an MBA at Queen’s University starting next fall. She’s also keenly drawn to an entrepreneurial career. Virtue is already quite the businesswoman, working with sponsors since the Vancouver Games. “I’ve always had a passion for business. I’ve been fortunate to have been exposed to so many facets of the business world. And I’m used to being my own boss as an athlete.

“We were sort of CEOs of our career.”

—The Star

#tessa #off ice #tour #rtr 2019 #interview: the star #one #never say never #smartest answer imo #two #at least not yet #what tessa said versus what the journalist interpreted #kind of important here #(but we'll never know)

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wellesleyunderground · 4 years ago

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The Double Standard in the Wellesley CS Department: An open essay from former students of the Department

The following was submitted to us by former students in Wellesley’s Computer Science Department:

The Wellesley Computer Science (CS) Department prides itself on preparing its students to take on both the technical and social challenges they will face in their professional futures. Questions of gender discrimination in the greater CS community are frequently discussed* with the Department’s active support evident, for example, in its funding for students’ attendance at the Grace Hopper Celebration, the conference known for being the “world’s largest gathering of women technologists”. However, the treatment of the Department’s junior faculty and lab instructors (non-tenure track positions) confers a contradictory message.

This disparity is highlighted by the recent reappointment denial to Prof. Ada Lerner; the decision has surprised the student community given Ada’s status as a beloved professor, known for both their focus on teaching and inclusivity in the department, and their contributions to the field of computing more broadly. We, a group of former students of the Department, question the rationale behind Ada’s dismissal and what it indicates about the treatment of junior, or pre-tenure, professors in the department.

(*We later discuss the fact that other forms of discrimination are not consistently discussed by the department, but we do note that gender discrimination in particular is frequently mentioned, owing in particular to Wellesley's status as a historically women's college.)

A champion of all students

Prof. Ada Lerner joined the Wellesley CS faculty in 2017, immediately upon their graduation from the UW Allen School of Computer Science doctoral program, after receiving numerous tenure-track offers. Ada quickly became a favorite of students for their remarkable teaching skills, instructing students at a variety of levels, including Introduction to Computing, Data Structures, and an advanced seminar on Security & Privacy–their research area. Students frequently commend their flexible late policy, which carefully balances student mental and physical wellbeing with course content and academic achievement. A variation of Ada’s policy was implemented near universally by the Department at large.

Ada’s belief in and support for their students is further exemplified by their content delivery and expectations of students. One former student summed up their seminar course as “by far the most challenging elective I took as a computer science major, and while in any other context that might’ve been an incredibly stressful experience, Ada worked with me to make sure I could finish all the work. She by no means went easy on me, but she did give me the support I needed to finish the work.”

“She definitely doesn’t let you off easy,” adds another student, “but she gives you the support so when it gets hard, you know you can ask questions without judgment. The material would go over my head in class and then Ada would explain it fifteen different ways until I felt comfortable.”

Ada’s research area reflects the same care and concern for the experience of marginalized populations. Their research was featured in Wellesley Magazine in Summer 2019, with the article “Online Safety for All” highlighting their focus on inclusive security and privacy, describing the field as “a subfield of security that focuses on specific populations, including marginalized or vulnerable groups like refugees or LGBTQ people, as well as groups with key roles in society, such as lawyers or journalists.” Their work recently garnered a prestigious $175,000 grant for “Understanding and Addressing the Security and Privacy Needs of At-Risk Populations” from the National Science Foundation and has been published in highly selective computing conferences, including the 2020 ACM CHI conference (24.3% acceptance rate). As former students, we note that her lab is impressively staffed with students from various grade levels who often serve as co-authors on lab publications and are actively involved in a variety of projects. A student who has worked with Ada as a research assistant jokes that they feel “almost spoiled” for having had the chance to work with a research mentor who is so considerate of student experience and learning.

Outside the classroom, Ada is an outspoken advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the Department. “Ada shows up,” one alum states. “They not only consistently attend events where students voice their concerns and celebrate their identities, they intentionally look for ways to uplift and empower marginalized student voices, asking all the right questions and putting in whatever work is necessary to aim for equity in all aspects of college life.” Ada helped lead a self-study that publicly disclosed the experiences of different student populations in the Department, with a particular focus on the roles of race, ethnicity, LGBTQIA+ identity and class, as well as the experiences of students with learning accommodations. While the results were conclusive that the CS Department, like many others on campus, had a lot of work to do, DEI efforts seemed to stall at the study’s conclusion.

Students were confused that the Department failed to implement student-facing changes the study suggested; some students noted the repeated absences of some professors and observed that some senior faculty members didn’t seem to buy in to the topic. We cannot help but wonder if some professors hostile to the DEI push led by Ada did not support her reappointment as a result of their feelings about the self-study.

All of the above leaves us puzzled by the College’s decision to terminate Ada’s tenure-track contract, making this their last year at Wellesley. The Committee on Faculty Appointments (CFA), which decides matters of faculty appointment, promotion, and reappointments on behalf of the College, handed down the decision leaving us both surprised and concerned about the integrity of the reappointment process and the potential factors affecting the decision. We note that the CFA states they make decisions based both on the recommendation of the candidate’s home department, as well as their own evaluation of a candidate’s quality of teaching, research, and service to the College. Given the information we’ve shared, we question why the College chose not to reappoint an assistant professor who is clearly beloved by students for her teaching, mentorship, support, and inclusivity.

To that end, we remind students that are bothered by the decision made regarding Ada's reappointment they can voice their concerns to the Committee on Faculty Appointments, who are ultimately responsible for reconsidering the decision. Information on that process:

You can send emails concerning your impressions of Professor Lerner to the address: [email protected]. If you want to send physical letters, they should be addressed to:

___________________________________________________________

Provost/Dean of the College

Chair of the Committee on Faculty Appointments

106 Central St

Wellesley, MA 02481

___________________________________________________________

According to college policy, your letter will be shared with Professor Lerner and the chair of the Computer Science department (Professor Takis Metaxas), as well as all members of the Committee for Faculty Appointments. You may indicate in your email whether you would like for your letter to be shared anonymously with identifying wording removed, or with your name attached. Letters may be submitted electronically as an email, or as an email attachment.

If you have any further questions about this process, you can contact Jennifer Ellis, Clerk of the Committee on Faculty Appointments ([email protected]).

Reflecting on departmental culture

We reflect on this decision in the context of the Department’s junior faculty at large; specifically, we are concerned by trends that we have witnessed as students in the Department interacting directly with junior faculty. We are frustrated with the way some of the more senior members of the department have handled the hiring and retention of faculty in general.

Junior faculty are held to extremely high standards that we believe the people imposing those standards wouldn’t necessarily have met at the same point in thei careers. Junior faculty are also much more likely to be approached by students, both because they teach many of the introductory classes that students will have taken by the time they must choose an advisor, and because their demographics are often more similar to those of the student population. While the formal advisor process has been restructured to take some of the load off the junior faculty, many are still approached for informal advice and guidance in a way their senior peers are not; it is also unclear if current tenure-track professors will have their research expectations reduced as a result of the excessive amount of advising they were previously providing. We also note that a particular source of emotional support for students – lab instructors – are mostly women and untenured, meaning that they do not have the job security that their peers do, and are not necessarily compensated for their mentorship in the same way.

We call on the senior faculty to make themselves more approachable to students, so that the load does not fall on junior faculty, who are also facing the pressures of research and teaching evaluations. There are existing models for this, including many adopted by Wellesley's own Math department, who host informal teas to build community and encourage interaction between senior faculty and students in various ways. We also note that along with Ada, Prof. Sohie Lee is a champion of D&I initiatives and has worked to implement new tutor training, yet she is one of the few faculty members of color and is technically a lab instructor, despite holding a PhD, This again reflects an onus of emotional and cultural labor on already overburdened pre-tenure and non-tenure track faculty.

It is unclear to us why the Department is both unable to hire many faculty of color, and unable to retain the faculty of color that they do hire. We question whether the environment of the Department is perceived as hostile, and, if so, what can be done to change that. We theorize that, in part, the Department's hiring practices may be exclusionary, as the majority of candidates come from a small pool of highly selective CS programs, which are already known to have a host of systemic problems that make them unwelcoming environments to both people of color and those who are not cisgender men.

Moving forward

This letter has two main goals. First, we hope to make the Wellesley community aware of the double standard in the CS department, and especially encourage the upper levels of administration to investigate the treatment of junior faculty in the department. Second, we hope to encourage members of the department to reflect critically on the treatment of their peers and engage in self-reflection with regards to departmental culture. Ultimately, we believe that it is in large part these systemic problems in the department that contributed to Ada's reappointment denial, rather than official, concrete factors such as teaching, research, and service to the CS department and College at large.

We call on those involved to truly reflect on the concerns raised here and via other fora, and to commit to measurable improvement; in short, to do better, both for current students and faculty and for those to come.

#Wellesley Underground #Open Essay #Computer Science Department

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bestsummerinternship-blog · 5 years ago

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memorylang · 4 years ago

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Language Learning, Mom’s Birthday | #43 | August 2020

Since Mom had held language-learning close-to-heart, I dedicate my August update to a language theme!

With August 9, 2020, my late mom turned 55. I’ve often felt since 2017 a bittersweet fondness for the summer months between Mother’s Day and her birthday. That year had been my first summer in China getting to know Mom’s family after her death.

For this August’s story, I’ve reflected a great deal on my experiences with language learning. Of which I’d written before, I’ve basically chosen five languages as the ones I want to be functional using (my native English included). So beyond the usual reflections from this COVID-19 summer in the States, I also take us back through my young life learning.

And, I’m pleased to announce that I've begun to work on a new writing project! More on that soon.

From Multilingual Mom to Me

I start us from spring 2020, around evacuation back to the U.S. from Peace Corps Mongolia.

By April 10-16, I’d been in my sixth week in Vegas again. Yet, less than a couple months before, I was in Mongolia packing to evacuate. As part of my coping while packing, I’d listened to hours of music. Much included Chinese Disney themes I’d found on Spotify.

Well, having returned to Vegas, you might recall that the sisters’ songs in “Frozen II” resonated deeply with me. Whether while waking or working the yard, I’d listen to “Frozen II”' tracks in Chinese, sometimes in English. Finding songs in other langauges fit my 2020 exploration resolution. I humorously suspected that my Spotify Wrapped 2020 will surely list the same tracks in different languages... if only Spotify had Mongolian versions. Well, a month later, by week 10 (May 8-14), I’d exchanged the songs’ English versions for Spanish!

That week also featured May 13, 2020—the third anniversary of Mom’s funeral. This year, something special happened.

I’d received a fateful book—A Primer of Ecclesiastical Latin. My college pastor had ordered this for me just days after I’d asked him what I should consider studying while discerning during quarantine a doctorate in religious studies. After my pastor noted my interest in world Christianity, especially its past and present in Asia, he highly recommended I study Church Latin.

My pastor’s suggestion pleased me in a curious way. It reminded me of my Duolingo dabbling back in Mongolia, how at that time I’d favored Latin over Greek. Still, Liturgical Latin, studied seriously, seemed like quite an undertaking. Nonetheless my pastor commended my talents and felt confident I could succeed along paths God may open for me. I felt grateful for the aid!

Embarking on my quest to learn Latin, I’ve found the language remarkable.

It’s felt at times the culmination of my years learning languages. In fact, Mom had actually wanted my siblings and me to learn languages since we were little—She’d taught us to read English then tried to have us learn Chinese. Most summers, she’d have us in the mornings copy down Chinese characters before she’d let us play games or do activities that weren’t “educational.”

While cleaning my family’s garage this COVID-19 this summer, I’d unearthed old notebooks in which my siblings and I would write Mom’s required phrases. I noticed how even back then I’d seem to try harder than most of my siblings, given how many characters I copied. Still, I hadn’t much inclination to know the language words beyond, then, clearing Mom’s barrier to letting me play games.

Still, even if the notebooks had implied some aptitude I’d had for languages, Mom’s requirements left me if anything more averse to language acquisition than eager.

Suffering Through Spanish

Many today may feel surprised to know that for years I’d called Spanish my second language.

Given my childhood disdain for studying languages beyond English, I’d found my task to study Spanish in high school assiduous. I formally began in the language fall 2011 as a freshman. Spanish was our Vegas school’s only foreign language option, and all honors students needed two years of language. Yet again, my language studies drew from a requirement—little more.

Many of my classmates and I rapidly found our classes exhausting, for our instructor had a thick French accent. Furthermore, verb conjugation, unfamiliar tenses and gendered vocabulary felt alien. I didn’t get why a language would be so complicated.

Yet, despite my struggles to understand our teacher, she’d commended me because I “made the effort.” Well, I sometimes felt like I’d make the effort to a fault. When peers cheated on exams, my darn integrity had me abstain.

By my second year, when I was succeeding in college-level AP world history, my fleetingly flawless GPA took from Spanish a beating. That hurt. By my senior year, at least Mom let me take Spanish online instead. I’d learned that I’d known more than I thought, but I still sucked.

Redemption Through Mandarin

By fall 2015, I’d had graduated high school and enrolled as an honors undergrad facing another foreign language requirement.

Licking my wounds from Spanish, I ruled out that language. I saw the University offered Chinese, though. Studying world history had interested me in Mom’s cultural background and native tongue. Considered she’d made my siblings stare at the language since childhood, I hoped it wouldn’t be too hard. So, I chose Mandarin Chinese.

And by my first days learning Chinese, I could already feel the benefits of having taken Spanish.

Chinese felt astoundingly straightforward. Spanish had taught me to recognize that English letters (better known as the Latin alphabet) sound differently in different languages. For example, I felt pleased to notice that the ‘a’ /ah/ letter in Spanish sounds similar to its Chinese pronunciation. Thus, Spanish’s “mamá” and Chinese’s “māmā” relate, despite appearing in separate languages.

Thanks to my Spanish experience, I picked up Chinese’s general pronunciation system far faster. Furthermore, I felt relieved to find that Chinese grammar lacked the conjugation and gender nightmares I’d faced in Spanish. I’d even loved how Chinese characters’ little images could often help me guess word meanings intuitively!

My interest and success with the Chinese language led me to study abroad in 2017, planned with my mother before she was killed. I returned to China a year later, in 2018 on an intensive program. Both times, I spoke my mother’s native tongue, meeting relatives and making friends. I even received awards for my skills.

Yet, despite my progress in Chinese, I’d often considered it only my third language. After all, much of my success in Chinese came having struggled through Spanish.

Finding Peace with Spanish

In my college senior year, January 2019, I’d attended a religious pilgrimage in Panamá—a Spanish-speaking nation.

By that time, I’d grown acquainted with language immersions. In fact, I readily used my Mandarin skills when I met World Youth Day pilgrims from Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan. They often felt shocked to meet someone outside their communities who knew their language!

Of course, Panamá left me at times surrounded too by folks who only spoke Spanish, including my host family.

I listened carefully. A luminous spark, I’d felt. Buried memories of my broken Spanish resurfaced. Near my last day in Panamá, I felt awed to have had a conversation with a cab driver completely in Spanish.

My peace with Spanish became a renewed interest.

After our pilgrimage, I’d continued with my host family and new Latin American friends to speak and write almost exclusively in Spanish. Online, we benefited over WhatsApp with Google Translate, too. Panamá in 2019 had taken a language that was for me dead and breathed in it new life.

Peace Corps Language Level-ups

Later that year (last year), I began to learn what would be my fourth language and one entirely unfamiliar—Mongolian.

I should note that before reaching Mongolia June 1, 2019, I couldn’t even read its Cyrillic alphabet. I’d basically started at zero.

Peace Corps’ language briefings had at least taught me that Mongolian is an Altaic language, distinct from Indo-European language like English and from character-based languages like Mandarin. Over the course of summer in villages of Mongolia, Peace Corps put us through mornings of immersive language training followed by returns home to our host families.

Still, many Peace Corps Trainees felt unmotivated to learn Mongolian. After all, with statistically few Mongolian speakers worldwide, many felt that we wouldn’t have much utility for Mongolian outside Mongolia. Nevertheless, I felt motivated by desires to understand and feel understood. I powered through.

Initially, Mongolian baffled me.

Its Cyrillic alphabet (and its script one, too) includes consonant and vowel sounds unknown to English, Spanish and Chinese. Furthermore, Mongolian uses a case-based grammar of suffixes, a reversed subject-object-verb order and postpositions instead of prepositions. Mongolian even reintroduced me to my nemeses gendered vocabulary and tense-based verb endings!

I felt grateful for the sparse Chinese loanwords I wouldn’t have to relearn! Yet, my kryptonite was often pronunciation. Challenging consonants and tricky long vowels left me so inauthentic. Regardless, I was an ardent study who savored most every chance to receive Mongols’ clarifications and corrections.

Finding Latin in Asia

Curiously, Catholic Churches became great places for my language learning.

This was the case for me both with learning Chinese in China and Mongolian in Mongolia. Parishioners would often take me under their wings to support me. Curiously in Mongolia, an English-speaking French parishioner pointed out once that Mongolian grammar is quite like Latin. I didn’t know Latin, though.

I had encountered Latin, though. For, Asian vocabularies for Church topics often derived more directly from Latin than even English translations! These pleased me, since learning the vocabulary to speak about religion felt less foreign.

Then came the sleepless nights during Mongolia’s COVID-19 preemptive quarantining, January and February. I’d had taken up Duolingo and opted for Greek or Latin in hopes that they’d bore me to sleep. I’d also hoped they might supplement how I teach English and read Scripture. And while Greek felt hopelessly confounding, Latin vocabulary felt surprisingly... natural. Despite my lack of formal training, I did alright just guessing.

My Roads Led to Latin

From late May through mid-June 2020, I’d read the first four chapters of the Church Latin book. Meanwhile, mid-summer, I felt pleased to reach Duolingo’s Diamond League! Realizing that to become Champion would take far more effort than I cared to give, though I focused just on keeping my streak.

Still, my Latin especially progress slowed after Dad’s remarriage and my relocation to Reno, Nev. My mostly-free summer rapidly grew hectic. But even in those first four Latin weeks, I’d discovered true gems in pursuing the historic language.

At face value, Latin’s vocabulary reminded me of Spanish and English. Sometimes, Church words I’d learned first in Mandarin and Mongolian too related! Vocabulary felt profound.

Furthermore, Latin grammar felt reminiscent of not only Spanish conjugations but indeed Mongolian cases! I felt relieved that Panamá had freed me from my conjugation aversion. Likewise, my Mongolian skills felt far from obsolete!

To supplement my Latin studies, I try to translate between Chinese and Spanish, the way how in Mongolia I’d translate between Mongolian and Chinese. By juggling languages, I seek to codeswitch in more contexts with a more unified vocabulary.

Wherever I wind up academically and professionally, I hope to work between languages. Through daily discipline, textbooks, apps, videos, notes and conversations, I trust I’ll go far. Feel free to connect if you want to practice with me! The more corrections, the better.

From Ecclesiastical to Classical Latin

On August 23 (of my stateside week 25), I’d reunited in Vegas with a high school friend who’d studied classics in undergrad. From that meeting on, I’d not only ramped up my Latin studies but also transitioned from Ecclesiastical Latin to classical.

For, Church Latin is but an evolving Latin. To understand the orgins of many words—beyond simply their uses within the Roman Catholic Church—I would need the eternal Latin that changes no more. Well, my friend offered to tutor me, so I offered to try!

Classical Latin is harder, by the way.

And in the midst of my suffering throughout September, my friend had even offered to tutor me Greek. While mostly joking (but also not), I’ve offered that I might learn Greek from him if for no other reason than to thank him for teaching me Latin!

Nearly a month since beginning the tutorial system with him, we’ve since cleared over a fourth of a textbook meant sometimes to take a year’s worth of study. I hope by the year’s end to have finished the book.

At least a third of my waking hours at times seem to go into Latin. But, it’s nice to keep learning! That same week, my siblings had all resumed their undergraduate studies. At least I’m still learning something!

Embarking on a Book Memoir

Besides working on my other languages, I’ve even placed time in my English.

Lastly, I want to share about my writing quest! Although the project isn’t always across the top of my agenda, I keep at it. We return again to mid-summer.

Peace Corps friends and I have often checked in on each other since evacuation to the States. Some also write. During a webinar for evacuated Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, I’d met many looking to tell their stories.

Most weeks since July, I’d also have a few video calls. I’d take these no matter what I was up to. I’d still been doing that ‘groundskeeping’ in Reno, Nev. of which I’d written before. Whether I was getting the mail, trimming the hedges, pruning the flowers, watering the lawn, raking debris, sweeping the floor, taking out the trash, tugging the garbage bins, adjusting the windows or washing the dishes, I’d often had some task that Dad requested I’d tend to. Calls with friends broke the monotony.

After encouragement from mentors and friends, I’d decided to write a creative nonfiction book memoir for publication someday!

The first step, of course, is having a manuscript. So, since week 17 (June 26–July 2), I’d been typing away at the first chapters to what seems will be a story spanning my three years of studies and service overseas after Mother’s death, leading up to my acceptance and peace. I'm excited to tell stories about finding purpose and identity, despite grief and loss. I hope it helps readers to find their own peace amid confusion. All things are so fundamentally interconnected.

By three weeks in, I’d felt so grateful for the outpouring of support I’d received. Frankly, I wouldn’t be writing so much if people hadn’t been saying this has potential. Thankfully, readers offer marvelous insights. They treat the story as one deserving of quality. I love their attention to details.

Still, among the most grueling lessons I’ve learned learned has been that a book about grief has needed me to relive the hurt of my mother's death for repeated days. I trust nonetheless that once I’ve written and rewritten well, the remaining may rest behind me.

If you’re looking to read what’s coming, you’re in the right place. Merely starting on the book has helped me to improve my blog writing. You may have noticed in my recent summer 2019 throwback stories, for example, I’ve used more narrative than before. I hope you’ve enjoyed!

The language studies and the book continue, though I’ve taken more breaks lately with the book. From mid-August I’d embarked on advocacy projects with the National Peace Corps Association. I’ll share more on that soon. Having doubled-down on my Latin studies from mid-September, it can be a quite a black hole for my time! For everything there is a season (Ecc. 3:1).

Seeking to Stay Holy

A couple friends admired my dedication and called upon me to help them meet their spiritual goals. What a kind expereince! In helping them keep accountable, they’ve likewise helped me.

With a homebound Knight of Columbus, we’d continued July’s rosaries throughout August, as many as three times a day leading up to the Catholic Feast of the Assumption. Afterward, we’d reduced our count back to two times daily through early September. I’d never prayed so many rosaries before!

Through August, I’d also read a chapter of Proverbs daily with a friend. I’d reconnected with her during my outreach for the book. I enjoy our weekly Scripture chats, and she shows more Protestant perspectives on our faith!

I find God a great companion along the journey of life. Regardless of how you view religious and spiritual topics, I trust that you have companions, too. They’re so important!

On a positive note, I’d gotten to revisit my undergrad parish. I felt so amazed to hear that students I’d never met thought I was a cool person! I try not to think too highly of myself, but I feel touched when people notice me. I hope I inspire folks.

Coming up Next

Thanks for reading my meta-stories about languages and stories!

If you’ve been following my tales for a while now, you may recall I’d mentioned feeling surprised to learn that my mother had been studying Spanish around the same years I’d been studying it. I felt awed to realize that even when I’d tried to learn one of my earliest new languages, Mom was trying to learn what was for her one of a few. I’m glad to have perhaps inherited Mother’s interest in languages.

Up next, I have a very special piece dated for September 2020 [and ultimately released in October]. I’m focusing on perspectives—mine and others’. I’m particularly excited to share adventures with teams including those within the American Psychological Association and the Honors College at the University of Nevada, Reno. They’ve given me plenty of fun roles amid the pandemic!

I’m also writing about national and state parks! God, I love nature.

Stay healthy, friend.

COVID-19 and America Months 11 through 15 | April, May, June, July, August

Easter Epilogue in America | #35 | April 2020

Remembering Mom—Third Year After | #36 | May 2020

Fathers’ Day, Faith and Familiarity | #38 | June 2020

23rd Birthday~ Roses and Rosaries | #39 | July 2020

Language Learning, Mom’s Birthday | #43 | August 2020

You can read more from me here at DanielLang.me :)

#memorial #WithMe #StayHome #languages #Nevada #Peace Corps #Mongolia #memoir #story #Catholic #God #memoryLang #Disney #Chinese #Mongolian #fall #Latin #evacuation #Coronavirus #COVID-19

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