Ivey Shorts
Ivey Shorts spent six weeks traveling Northern India to explore Indian traditional medicine and healthcare practices. She was given tours of ayurvedic and naturopathic facilities and exposed to several traditional treatment procedures. Ayurvedic medicine is the world's oldest form of holistic medicine that uses a system of diet, exercise, and spa-like treatments to promote overall health of the mind, body and spirit. Naturopathic medicine uses similar treatments as ayurveda, but has a more clinical approach such as laboratory diagnostic testing. During an eleven day stay in Naini Tal, Ivey volunteered in a NGO facility to support the villagers of Satoli. She spent several days learning about medicinal plants and herbs and helped package them at The Aarohi Livelihood Center. She spent one morning volunteering in a classroom for fourth graders. Ivey quickly felt immersed in the Indian culture. She was fascinated by the Hindi language and spent several hours outside of the classroom to learn more and practice what she knew. She gladly consumed the culture's traditional foods and helped her home-stay mother with the cooking when she was available to. Ivey was also able to experience several Hindu celebrations including a naming ceremony of her home-stay brother's eleven day old son. She was excited to spend her birthday immersed by new friends and experience how Indian culture celebrates. She attended sixteen yoga classes between her stays in Rishikesh and Palampur and attended a five day yoga theory course. Yoga is something Ivey is quite passionate about and these experiences were at the top of the list of her favorite moments. During her free time, Ivey explored different markets to practice bargaining, went on excursions to appreciate Indian architecture and learn more about the history, and taught several children how to paint.
CEE Title: You Are a Badass, So Ask for It!
On November 18th, 2015 Katherine Allgeier and Ivey Shorts held a leadership workshop titled You Are A Badass, So Ask For It! The workshop was based off of the two books You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero and Ask For It by Linda Babcock. The night began with Ivey Shorts guiding the attendees through The Circle of Life. This activity helps one to assess one's satisfaction with different components of one's own life. Once completed, Ivey gave an interactive lecture on different chapters from You Are A Badass. This half of the workshop was dedicated to addressing the mental emotional components of empowerment and how to get out of one's own way. Ivey was able to draw from her experiences in India and give a personal testimony on how the information in this book has changed her own life. The second part of the workshop was presented by Katherine. She talked about how to put one's goals into action and truly take charge of the life one wants. Katherine provided the audience with a self assessment to take home in order to evaluate one's negotiation skills. She was very passionate about giving the audience the confidence they needed in order to succeed in the real world. This workshop was truly a success that Katherine and Ivey enjoyed holding for Thiel's community.