Claudia Rojas

1,000 miles: step 29

Yesterday, though I was over an hour early to the immigration rally, by the time 3:00 came around, I was nowhere near the front of the stage. In fact, I was moving towards the front a dos pasos, cada dos horas (two steps, every two hours, as that merry man next to me would say).…

Claudia Rojas

April 11, 2013

1,000 miles

expectations, immigration reform, politics, social change

an undergraduate struggle

Rarely do I admit this, but most of my undergraduate courses don’t inspire energy. On the contrary, they rob me of energy. For 4 semesters (and one more to go), I have gone through requirement courses: general education or transfer suggestions. In general, a community college student doesn’t have freewill when it comes to courses.…

Claudia Rojas

April 7, 2013

Compositions

education, struggle, the college experience, transfer

1,000 miles: step 28

My milestone says 4 days to go until the April 10th national immigration reform marches. Today I visited CARECEN in Washington, DC and helped with further mobilization efforts. Up until today my efforts have been making phone calls to immigrants in the DC community and sharing the march flyer with my local community. This famous…

Claudia Rojas

April 6, 2013

1,000 miles

#A10, imagery, immigration reform, struggle

1,000 miles: step 27

It’s the first of April. I’ve been anxious for this month. Not only does a certain Immigration Reform march occur in 9 days, but today marks the beginning of a beautiful month. And baby, I’m talking National Poetry Month. Last year, I spent the month writing poetry nearly every day as part of an every-day…

Claudia Rojas

April 1, 2013

1,000 miles

NPM, poetry, spoken word

1,000 miles: step 26

Thirteen days and counting until national immigration reform marches. When I hear the word “immigrant,” I think about the Latino community. I wonder if this is a generational mindset. It’s likely a shared experience of these times. Wednesday, I had a student from Afghanistan at the library. During our computer session, as people often do,…

Claudia Rojas

March 28, 2013

1,000 miles

America, culture, immigrant experience, poetry, society

1,000 miles: step 25

Spring opened with snow this past Monday. How shocking, says everyone. If only people would quit dwelling on the wonder and ask about the blunder. Dear Earth.

Claudia Rojas

March 28, 2013

1,000 miles

imagery, snow

full and unbroken

In a couple of hours, I’ll be checking up on PostSecret for the weekly Sunday secrets. This has become a tradition for me. I brought the tradition into my dorm when I was at Simon’s Rock. When it became a tradition? I’ve lost count. But I can remember one of the first secrets I read.…

Claudia Rojas

March 23, 2013

1,000 miles

family, love, mothers, PostSecret

1,000 miles: step 24

One of the greatest pleasures of living is the opportunity to witness beauty. If the above glowing sun earlier this week wasn’t pointed out to me, I may have missed it. Or perhaps not. Sometimes, the sun is vain. When I think of the incredible radiance in this sky, I forget how cold it’s been…

Claudia Rojas

March 22, 2013

1,000 miles

color, imagery, thoughts

1,000 miles: step 23

Vase from the Chinese Porcelain collection at the National Gallery of Art (West Building). There’s that Claudia girl to the left. Taken yesterday in the company of a Russian mother and her adorable, beautiful and big-eyed baby.:) Up ahead: surviving midterms.

Claudia Rojas

March 16, 2013

1,000 miles

imagery

1,000 miles: step 22

This school year, I’ve taken fewer calendar breaks. It’s the holidays that have kept me going until spring break, which is this week. This break is supposed to hold me together until classes end. A point in the future which is near, but not near enough. Break so far has been filled with more food…

Claudia Rojas

March 12, 2013

1,000 miles

imagery, math, rain, the college experience