VCU Qatar student compares campuses after visit to Richmond

After seeing VCU’s Monroe Park Campus, VCU Qatar student Marianne Bermejo noted that there are vast differences between VCU’s Richmond campuses and her home campus at VCU Qatar.

VCU Qatar is made up of around 250 students, she said. This is a far cry from the Richmond campuses that enroll over 31,000 students. Bermejo explained that all majors are housed in a single building at the VCU Qatar campus, which is located in an area known as Education City in the country’s capital of Doha. Education City houses satellite campuses from a number of American universities, including Georgetown, Texas A&M and Carnegie Mellon.

Food Day is Coming

Kids at Richmond Public Schools will have a chance to see if they like kale chips as part of the community’s second annual celebration of Food Day on Wednesday (Oct. 24).

     “Richmond Public Schools have put together a menu of options that different schools can select from, says Stacy Luks, a member of Slow Food RVa’s leadership board and the coordinator of Richmond Food Day 2012. “They are going to be doing kale-chip tasting on Food Day, if not the whole week.”

The Second Presidential Debate

Last week I was given the opportunity to attend an Obama watch party and tweet for NBC 12's Decision Va. blog. Check out the reactions from the crowd via my tweets:
http://blogs.nbc12.com/decisionvirginia/2012/10/nbc12-liveblog-give-us-your-reaction-to-the-2nd-presidential-debate.html

A Red Flag on Dating Violence

New bus system causes delays at VCU

Richmond Action Dialogues: conflict within the group

     Last week’s dialogue left nearly everyone with a heavy heart, wondering what could be done to mend some of the rifts within the group. At the previous Richmond Action Dialogue the students were asked to anonymously write their inner conflicts as well any group conflicts. When the conflicts within the group were revealed, the tension in the room was palpable. Some were feeling hurt because they felt judged by people they just met, while others felt there was a lack of concern for other people within the group.


IYLEP visited Peter Paul Development Center
and taught the Children about Iraqi Culture



Just the Beginning

By: Alix Hines

“Don’t look at people with one eye,” is a common phrase in Iraq that reminds us all to not judge someone on a mere first impression, but rather to look much deeper to see what’s on their hearts.
     It’s amazing to see how a group of 24 Iraqi students and five American mentors bonded and have already formed friendships in less than a week. Before our group had even spent 24 hours together we were dancing to salsa music on the boardwalk in Virginia Beach, bonding over pizza and even singing some long lost Eminem songs.