Learning Piano (8 Hours)

            For part of my Collo project this semester, I had decided to take on the task of learning to play the piano. I have never played a musical instrument before except for my feet (I was a tap dancer for 16 years) and I knew it would be a large undertaking. My cousin took piano lessons when we were younger and I was always fascinated with how quickly her fingers moved over the keys and the beautiful music that she created. Though I do not have access to a grand piano, I do have a keyboard with a setting of “Piano” that matches the sounds and the keys available on a regular piano. Over the last few weeks, I have been practicing several chords and easy songs over and over and over again until I can get my fingers used to making the motions. The 2 chords I have been practicing are G chord and C chord. Those have not been too terribly difficult because they are played by pressing three keys down simultaneously that are one key apart. G chord is played by G + B + D and C chord is C + E + G.

            I also learned how to play the following songs: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, “You are my Sunshine”, and “In the Jungle”. The keys for each are listed below. Overall, learning how to play has been very fun and challenging at the same time. I love doing things that make me think and pull me out of my comfort zone. I cannot wait to see how much I learn by the end of this semester.

“Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”

CC GG AA G

FF EE DD C

GG FF EE D

GG FF EE D

CC GG AA G

FF EE DD C

“You are my Sunshine”

GCDEE   EEbECC

CDEFA   AGFE

CDEFA   AGFEC

CDEFDDEC

“In the Jungle”

CDEDEFEDC

DEDCED

The World Through a Woman's Eyes (Jessie Ackerman Exhibit at Reece Museum) (1 Hour)

            On Tuesday October 9, I visited Reece Museum at the ETSU main campus. Along with other exhibits they had displayed, I decided to check out the exhibit focusing on Jessie Ackermann and her life. She was born in 1857 in Frankfort, Il and died in 1951 in Pomona, Ca. During her 94 years, she was an educator, feminist, author, activist, missionary, and carried several other titles. The exhibit was dedicated to showcase some of her works (i.e. “The World Through a Woman’s Eyes” and “What Women Have Done with the Vote”) along with pieces recovered from her home and her travels.

            History has always been one of my favorite subjects, and learning about strong women who made a difference and had a tremendous impacts on the way that women are viewed by the world, is something that I find extremely empowering and uplifting. I also found it very interesting that she had a strong connection with ETSU before it became ETSU. She gave several lectures, and even attended a few classes here when it was still named East Tennessee State Teacher’s College. Here she became great friends with the College President of the time, Dr. Charles C. Sherrod (our beloved library’s namesake). Not just here, but at many campuses across the US, she took classes well into her 80s and stated that she always wanted to better herself and her education, and she wanted to be a role model for other young girls to do the same.

            Jessie Ackerman was also very well-traveled. She is known as a two-time world missionary. It has been claimed that she has visited all of the twentieth century countries, except for Afghanistan and Greenland. She was a missionary with the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. In 1910, she began working as an organizer for the Australian Women’s national League. She spent much time in China as well, working on different projects and acting again as a traveling missionary. After World War 1, she did restrict the majority of her travel to within the US borders, but she never let her traveling shoes grow cold.

            Not only was she a big activist for the Temperance Movement, she was also a large proponent for the fight for Women’s Suffrage. She did not only impact the US with her suffrage movement; other countries that credit her for their advances in women’s suffrage include Australia, New Zealand, Finland, and Iceland.

            Her impact on the world can still be seen in many aspects of our everyday life. Rights that we take for granted today, are things that she fought valiantly for on many different fronts. Overall, I really enjoyed this exhibit. I was able to see many of her artifacts from her travels (dresses, knick-knacks, letters of recognition, etc.) and I felt that it gave us a little window into the past regarding what it means to be independent and fight for what you believe is right. Jessie Ackermann is an inspiring woman who I feel like women today could learn from and try to mimic. Maybe if we all could learn from those who came before us, we could create a better present and future, now.

Volunteering (8 hours)

            This semester, I decided to spend some of my volunteer hours tutoring middle school students from my hometown and aiding them with everything from math homework to studying for geography quizzes. For my time spent working with them, I have not received class credit for any of my current courses and I have not been paid for my work. I have been tutoring 3 pre-teens for 1-2 hours per week for the past 4 weeks. All in all, this time adds up to 8 hours (Not all were solo tutoring sessions; sometimes they would all meet together if they were working on the same things). The most recent tutoring session was earlier this morning from 11am-12pm. One of the young men I tutor, upon returning to school from fall break on Tuesday, has an exam on the geography of Africa. I traced out a map of Africa, including the mountains, rivers, and oceans surrounding it. I then had him take it twice; once after having studied it for 10 minutes and again after taking a break to work on Language Arts. This circumstance is very similar to my typical tutoring days.

            Tutoring is something that I very much enjoy. I love being able to help kids make connections between topics they are learning and it makes me feel as though I have succeeded when I see them succeed. My plan is to continue tutoring these kids for the duration of this semester and, depending on both mine and their schedules for the Spring, I hope I get to continue working with them in the future.