I'm not really fond of long drives...

So yesterday was a little long....
okay maybe it it was a lot of long but thats alright :)

All 46 of us were packed on to that illini bus in hopes of making it to pennsylvania in a safe and timely manner. Well lets just say we got there safetly...

I realized that there was a lot about my peers that i did not know before the past two days of this trip. We communicated so much more while traveling (who wouldn't over the period of 15 hours?). Ideas were given and conversation was more than fluid. I can say that I am happy to be apart of this trip with these individuals.

We often engaged in debate and spoke on brief conflict. One of the participants, Femi, experienced an interesting interaction with a curious male in Ohio. This guy asked Femi what basketball team we where with. Femi then replied that he was just apart of this group going to the inarguation. The male then said oh okay, and went about his business. Then later on, a group leader Ashley Davis over heard a maneger of a souvenir store to watch out for "five finger discounts" as we entered their establishment in Pennsylvania.

Many of us questioned why someone would assume Femi was a basketball player and others wondered why it was assumed that we would steal from their store.
It amazing how til this day we still struggle through stereotypes. The only difference is that most of the time people are less verbally blunt about it.

Then some of us argued that we can't always assume that people are prejudice and make racial assumptions. The counterpointed that us making those assumptions about others making assumptions solves nothing in the end.

We must be mindful of what we say and our surroundings. In situations like these I feel as though keeping composure is essential. If we loose our minds and misuse our words we can fall right in to the stereotypes we try to diminish.