Quote of the week: “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” – H.G. Wells
It has been a minute since I had the time to write an update. But to be honest, not much has happened in the past few weeks. The burnout of the long days has started to set in. That does not mean that we stopped doing fun things though!
Last Sunday, a few of my housemates and I went to watch the sunrise at Red Rocks. This meant getting up at 5 in the morning which was a struggle, and it was not really worth it. The weather was pretty cloudy that day, so it was not the picture-perfect sunrise that everyone talks about. But it was still gorgeous and worth the early morning. But going with friends made it more fun because of the conversations, pictures, and all of the panting while we were walking up all of the steps.
Going to Red Rocks points out all of the active people that live in Denver. It is a huge thing that I wish was more consistent all over the U.S. People’s health would be so much better if we all spent more time outside and moving around. So here is your PSA to go outside and do something active today, whether that is a walk, or going to the gym, or anything that does not involve sitting on a couch or in your bed scrolling on your phone! Something that highlights the active lifestyles in Denver is the REI outlet store that is very close to downtown. There was one Saturday that we decided to go to the REI Outlet, and it was incredible! I have never been to an outdoorsy store that was that big! And on top of that there was an insanely big sale section! So, if you are looking for hiking, camping, climbing, or outdoor aimed brands – go to an REI outlet because it is way cheaper. I say this with full transparency: none of us actually bought anything, but it is still cheaper.
The thing that I heard the most from people when I would tell them I was going to Denver for a semester was ‘start making your plans to move there once you graduate, because you are not going to want to leave.’ If I am being honest, it is gorgeous here. Seeing the mountains almost every day is a reminder at how incredible our world really is. Being able to walk outside in shorts and a t-shirt in January was not something that I was planning on, but it is nice to be able to have the different types of weather even within one day. But I think the best part of it is the sun. Growing up in Michigan with the typical winters that we get I am used to almost no sun from November to around April. Whereas Denver has sun almost every day! And when I say sun, I mean zero clouds, blue skies, and blinding sunlight that makes it difficult to see even with sunglasses on. The impact that it has on a person’s mental health is clear though. There are less moments of stress, and even when there are, it is much easier to simply go outside and feel better about what is going on because of the beauty and the picture-perfect mountains that are across the skyline.
Last week was Superbowl Sunday! So of course, that meant that as a house we put together some fun stuff and watched it together. A lot of laughs and an amazing halftime show later, one person was thrilled with the outcome and the rest of us were very sad. But that was not really the point of it anyway. It was more to just have fun and watch the Superbowl game. And the halftime show was incredible! I am not entirely sure how people see it as bad, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and I am not going to try and change their minds.
Part of the Denver Urban Semester is having an internship. This semester I am interning at Denver Rescue Mission which is one of the biggest rescue missions in the country. It has over 300 employees and houses around 1,174 people per night across their 9 locations. They have 24/7 shelters for those who want to turn their lives around as long as they follow the community guidelines and can make it back by the 8pm curfew. Their goal is to ensure that people can get back up on their feet, while providing opportunities for them to participate in programs that help with that. Providing rehabilitation, case workers, 3 meals a day, a place to live, and opportunities to work to build a resume. I am interning with the public relations team, I get to help with things such as social media posts, event planning and set up/tear down, blog posts, marketing strategies by helping edit and update brand guides, and taking pictures at events. There have been a lot of things that I have learned so far that I never knew existed in the realm of non-profit work. The Mission is currently working with an outside company called The Lion Project to create a new welcome video for new employees during their orientation. With this they have to write a video script which plans out the questions that are going to be asked in hope to get certain answers, and the shots they want to go with each part. It also has a filming schedule for the day to plan out certain time periods to get things done. The day I got to shadow the content creator and marketing manager, as well as the videographer and producer from The Lion Project for this video has been my favorite day so far. The whole thing overall has been a huge learning experience and I am so grateful for the people that I get to work with and learn from.
Thanks for reading, until next time,
Aurora Franzon 2024