This week was the start of Eureka camp. We meet twice a day to learn about STEM and life skills. There are also optional electives every Tuesday and Thursday. I went to the optional paint and sip elective where we did a guided watercolor tutorial on YouTube. The picture was of some bees and lavender. I’ve attached the one I did to this post. I really enjoyed the guided painting aspect and have been doing some more on my own. I was surprised that some of the girls at the camp had never painted before. Before I came to college, I had an art class every single year I had been in school. I am glad some of the girls got to experience something new and something that I consider very fun and relaxing.
The best part of attending Eureka sess
ions is hearing the girls perspectives and their enthusiasm. They are much smarter and open minded than I was at their age and it is a delight to witness. Furthermore, I learn new things from the Eureka sessions in life skills and STEM. We learned about cryptography, cookies, how to spot phishing emails, and menstrual cycles. I thought I knew a lot about those subjects but I was proven wrong. When trying to spot phishing emails, I had no clue and would have been scammed if the quiz we were doing didn’t explain the answers to us. In regards to menstrual cycles, I learned more about the cycles before and after the part we think of as the period or the bleeding part. I also was informed that not all the people who have periods are women. I think I knew this unconsciously but had never really thought about it before. We talked about using gender neutral terms to describe people who have periods. The girls even tossed out some funny possibilities like blood buddies. The girls were very inclusive and seemed even more informed than I am at some points. Their open minded nature gives me more hope for our future and I look forward to learning more from them.