Wednesday, November 23, 2011
I'm thankful for...
I am thankful for the opportunity to do JVC, to have the luxury of not having to work seriously yet, and for the time to develop my faith, friendships, and community. I am thankful for my family, for their love and support this year and in all the years before. I am thankful for my friends and all of the fun memories we've had together. I am thankful for Melissa and for all of our great memories together and for her patience, support, and dedication while we are half the country apart. I am thankful for my education, that it has opened up new worlds and possibilities for me to explore. I am thankful for everything good in my life, as it is a joy to have, and for everything bad, as it will only help me to grow as a person.
Turkey Day almost here
As we approach Thanksgiving, the campus ministry department put on a Homeless Awareness project for the students to participate in. For three nights, a group of faculty and students slept outside in the school courtyard with just cardboard and sleeping bags. Our guest speakers were formally homeless people who shared their story of life on the streets. The goal of the exercise was get outside the comfort zone of where we sleep and to learn to empathize with the homeless. At the evening reflections, I heard students comment on how grateful they were for all that their parents provide and how nice it is not to wake up with a soaked sleeping bag because of morning dew!
Another event was the freshman service trip to Skid Row where we volunteered at the Midnight Mission. Last time we worked at the food kitchen, the chef had us cut onions for hours, which was obviously painful...... but this time we had a better task - carving turkeys! This shelter is expecting to feed over 4500 people a Thanksgiving meal, and so we had some serious turkey to carve to help them out. Needless to say, myself and the group of freshman became experts at this skill and I'm going to volunteer to cut it on Thursday!
Sadly, this will be the first Thanksgiving I've had to miss from my family, as I will be traveling to Phoenix with the other Los Angeles JV's. I wish I could be there with my family, but this is a JV tradition for us to travel to our sister houses in Arizona (it gets lonely out there since the rest of us are in Cali!). I'll have an update on the weekend when I get home, but what I know now is that the 2nd largest city in the US has all of its citizens trying to get out of LA to see grandma right now... at it's only 3:30pm. I just CANNOT WAIT to leave at 7pm.... I'll just have to remember what my mom has always told me - patience is a virtue!
Another event was the freshman service trip to Skid Row where we volunteered at the Midnight Mission. Last time we worked at the food kitchen, the chef had us cut onions for hours, which was obviously painful...... but this time we had a better task - carving turkeys! This shelter is expecting to feed over 4500 people a Thanksgiving meal, and so we had some serious turkey to carve to help them out. Needless to say, myself and the group of freshman became experts at this skill and I'm going to volunteer to cut it on Thursday!
Sadly, this will be the first Thanksgiving I've had to miss from my family, as I will be traveling to Phoenix with the other Los Angeles JV's. I wish I could be there with my family, but this is a JV tradition for us to travel to our sister houses in Arizona (it gets lonely out there since the rest of us are in Cali!). I'll have an update on the weekend when I get home, but what I know now is that the 2nd largest city in the US has all of its citizens trying to get out of LA to see grandma right now... at it's only 3:30pm. I just CANNOT WAIT to leave at 7pm.... I'll just have to remember what my mom has always told me - patience is a virtue!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Our prayer before dinner last night
~Some words of wisdom from Mother Teresa
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
Monday, November 7, 2011
College Essays and Life's Challenges
Over the past two weeks, some of the most rewarding work I've done is help the students refine and polish their college essays. We all remember the typical prompt - "Discuss an obstacle in life that you've had to overcome and how has this shaped you as a person." For me, I wrote about moving from Salt Lake City to Chicago when I was 12. Although this was definitely a difficult experience at the time, I feel it does not even compare to what some of the boys here at Verbum Dei have had to deal with.
One of the students wrote about how his parents came to the United States after fleeing the El Salvadoran civil war back in the 80's. Those parents valued education because they had to quit school to work in the fields at age 12, although they wished they could have continued. This student wants to be the first in his family to go to college to provide for his family, but he realizes that there may not be enough money for both him and his brother to go. He closes his essay saying that if it came down to only having enough money for one brother to go to school, he would drop out to work to send his younger brother to college.
Another student, a football player, mentions how he finds his strength from his mother. She had the courage to leave an abusive husband who threatened to kill both her and the children. Years later, this student's dad, in a fit of rage, shot his girlfriend in the chest and is now in prison for life. The boy refuses to be defined by his father's legacy and has found strength in becoming his own man. He is one of the most athletic, involved, and religious students at the school and is respected by his peers. To add to his dynamic, his mother suffers from many illnesses and he wakes up throughout the night to check on her. It is during these breaks throughout the night that he finds the time to do his homework.
More insight to students' hidden struggles comes from a student survey after the freshman lock-in at the school. The question "what was your favorite part of the retreat?" was answered with "the trust blindfold activity - it felt so good to actually be able to trust someone." The question "What did you most like about sleeping over at the school for the night?" was answered simply by multiple students: "I felt safe...".
In my everyday interactions with these students, they are just typical high school boys. They laugh and talk about girls and sports. But underneath this guise of normalcy, many have baggage such as this. Domestic violence, sexual abuse, economic strains, and the destruction of gang activity all weigh heavy on their lives. The boys carry these burdons on their shoulders as they venture into the unknown of being first-generation college students, somehow with poise, grace, and most remarkably, a smile.
One of the students wrote about how his parents came to the United States after fleeing the El Salvadoran civil war back in the 80's. Those parents valued education because they had to quit school to work in the fields at age 12, although they wished they could have continued. This student wants to be the first in his family to go to college to provide for his family, but he realizes that there may not be enough money for both him and his brother to go. He closes his essay saying that if it came down to only having enough money for one brother to go to school, he would drop out to work to send his younger brother to college.
Another student, a football player, mentions how he finds his strength from his mother. She had the courage to leave an abusive husband who threatened to kill both her and the children. Years later, this student's dad, in a fit of rage, shot his girlfriend in the chest and is now in prison for life. The boy refuses to be defined by his father's legacy and has found strength in becoming his own man. He is one of the most athletic, involved, and religious students at the school and is respected by his peers. To add to his dynamic, his mother suffers from many illnesses and he wakes up throughout the night to check on her. It is during these breaks throughout the night that he finds the time to do his homework.
More insight to students' hidden struggles comes from a student survey after the freshman lock-in at the school. The question "what was your favorite part of the retreat?" was answered with "the trust blindfold activity - it felt so good to actually be able to trust someone." The question "What did you most like about sleeping over at the school for the night?" was answered simply by multiple students: "I felt safe...".
In my everyday interactions with these students, they are just typical high school boys. They laugh and talk about girls and sports. But underneath this guise of normalcy, many have baggage such as this. Domestic violence, sexual abuse, economic strains, and the destruction of gang activity all weigh heavy on their lives. The boys carry these burdons on their shoulders as they venture into the unknown of being first-generation college students, somehow with poise, grace, and most remarkably, a smile.
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