June 14th, 2013

Paula Dallacqua, Summer Women in Community Intern 2013:


Paula on a Visit to Barcelona

I grew up in a suburb of Detroit -about forty minutes outside of the city. I think most people picture the Midwest as a hub of cornfields and obesity. I can attest that in comparison to the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest runs at a different pace...

I'm still experiencing culture shock even a couple weeks into my internship. But, that doesn't mean an overlap of understanding can't be achieved between the two regions, and for me, a big part of my internship is about gaining exposure to a completely different type of lifestyle.

I also find that whenever I travel out of Michigan, I foster a fierce type of state sovereignty (...can you tell?) so I'll be applying and relating a lot of what I learn during my time at Windward back to "The Mitten." (AKA Michigan)

I’m entering into my senior year at Kalamazoo College, where I'm double majoring in English and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

When I tell people what I'm studying, the first response is usually, "...So...what are you going to do with that?" Well, as of now, I'm still not quite sure...maybe I'll volunteer, maybe I'll become an apprentice at an obscure bakery in Europe, or maybe (gasp) I'll get a "real" job. I really have no idea. But hey, as Rilke said,

"Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."


I'm a Women in Community Intern so I'm all about the ladies. I can already tell that the other women of Windward (Lindsay, Opalyn, Faun, and Arianna) are pretty amazing, and I'm super excited to soak up some of their superwomen powers.

In terms of what I have to offer to the table, I've got loads of theory just bursting at the seams of my brain and a sincere eagerness to learn whatever I can. There's something innately empowering about wearing a pair of work boots and breathing in the fresh air, so I know I’ll be growing from what Nature has to teach me as well. But don't get me wrong, I've got love for the men of Windward too, and I am just as excited to learn from them!

Here's to a summer of possibility! Wahoo!