In September’s meeting, we played an icebreaker game called “most deprived.” Everyone took about a dozen beads, and would start by stating something they had never done before, such as “I’ve never had a cavity.” Everyone who has had a cavity pays you a bead; you pay everyone who has not had a cavity. At the end of the game, the goal is to see who has the  most beads and is “most deprived.” This game showed the importance of individuality, and how every person in the room has had many different experiences from the person sitting next to them, including a different perspective on life.

Our first topic of discussion was based on the story of Kylie Simmons’ detainment in the Atlanta airport (early 2016). We read a follow-up article written by Kylie almost 2 years after the event had happened, with a letter from the Atlanta airport trying to rectify the situation. We discussed our thoughts and views about the Customs and Border Patrol’s response to Kylie, how we thought Kylie must have felt, and what we would have done in her situation. Everyone had a lot to say about this topic.

Article link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/heres-what-resulted-after-i-was-detained-at-the-airport_us_59c12891e4b0c3e70e7427dd

Original Article link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kylie-simmons-/i-was-detained-at-an-airport-because-of-my-stutter_b_9092996.html

Our second topic of discussion was brought on by thematic word building. Groups of 2 or 3 were given a baggy that had letter tiles related to the meeting’s theme. Groups worked together to come up with words they thought represented the meeting’s discussion topics. Each group explained what words they formed and why they chose them. Possible themes of the night were deprivation, and missing out. Some word examples included: anger, fear, accept, upbeat, loss, toil, change, gain, shame, chasm.

We watched a funny video of Drew Lynch on Conan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtDKSuoWvl4