31 flavors

Well, it turns out that I think I have a lot to look forward in my non-profit classes after all. My program development class is taught by the sort of gutsy neighborhood activist I love running into in Baltimore, who talks about protecting her scruffy corner of town with eloquent, straight-shooting, mama bear intensity. My brain was spinning the entire class. I could barely keep my nerdy, hand-raising 8th grader alter ego inside and had to be reminded by my friend and classmate Emily that she would break all my pencils if I ever asked a question one minute before the end of class again.
The non-profit studies survey course I'm also taking was a happy surprise. The professor is a very engaging economist. My smile really grew though as I discovered the variety of people I was taking class with:
A Pakistani accounntant and development officer
A former head of an after-school program in New York City
A Nigerian human rights activist
A Peruvian policy analyst
A woman who did citizenship training in the Ukraine
A former ecologist who studied snakes in Arizona.
A mother 30 years out of college who ditched commercial realty for working in a non-profit.
A Hopkins undergrad researching children's literature in India and thinking about working at an Indian non-profit.
I felt like a big scoop of plain vanilla.
It's really good to feel my brain working again.