Roundtable Social Justice

Yesterday I attended a roundtable discussion introducing the students that went to a vigil in Georgia.  It reminded me of the research I did into migrant workers labor rights and the injustice against them. I felt strongly about the research I did because I believed there needs to be change (yay for no censuring #chineseselfcensoring – it’s a true thing), but for some reason what the vigil the students went to stood for didn’t quite sit well with me.  There was a man who committed a crime and sent to jail, and he wasn’t able to provide for his family because he was in jail so he needed to fight the system so he could provide for his family. I couldn’t quite grasp the concept of this social injustice. Do the crime, pay the time. I wasn’t well versed on the topic at hand so I didn’t comprehend exactly what was going on in Georgia. They should have had background information about the discussion prior to starting the discussion.  School of America (SOA) was brought up a lot, and I couldn’t tell whether it was good or bad.  Also the election of El Salvador was brought up and how President Obama was supporting the man who didn’t want free public information. This discussion was all over the place. One guy brought up that the protest (or whatever it was) was unorganized and ineffective, but it brought awareness. While things might lack in one place, make up for it in another and I was glad people are able to see that. It reminded me how another guy thought cleaning up the attic at the local boys and girls club was useless; he was blind to the indirect help he was providing. Usually these roundtables are informative, but this one was confusing.

An Alternative Lifestyle: Building Relationships, Finding One's self, and Taking a Break

The excitement began to build. Our professor kept a tight lip about the farm, and the mystery of not knowing what the farm had planned for us students allowed my imagination to run wild. I didn't know what to expect when I arrived at the Catholic Worker farm. When my class arrived at the site, Tom Spiritbringer was there to greet us. Tom Spiritbringer. Spiritbringer. The nuts and bolts in my head began to turn, trying to wrap around the idea of changing one's identity. I admired Tom for changing his last name (I know, a not-so-typical last name) to signal that working at this farm was a new chapter in his life. This was strange to me, because it was new to me. Tom introduced us to the land in which we resided for three days. It was big: 80 acres. Looking around the farm, I noticed it needed some work, and I was glad that our class was able to help till the land (even though we worked about an hour). Marcus Pegasus+five-other-names and Chelsea arrived later. I could deal with a name like Spiritbringer, Pegasus was a different story. I began to question the excitement I felt earlier about coming to this place. Ye of little faith I was. After getting to know all three of these interesting Catholic workers, nothing seemed strange to me, and soon I began to admire them.

Tom, Marcus, and Chelsea have committed themselves to an alternative lifestyle. They try to live completely off the land. Their electricity is solar powered. The farm doubles as a retreat for those infected with HIV.  There is no judgment, only encouragement. The farm stands for more than growing food; it is a place that provides comfort and support. What these three people (and those before them) do at this farm is extraordinary.

Songs. Tom's beautiful singing voice filled the air and the land. He was in touch with his inner nature. I wore blinders in the beginning while being at the farm. I viewed the songs Tom sang as strange and kooky. But after singing before meals, singing after reading excerpts, singing just sing, it became natural and my earlier view disintegrated. The singing brought our class closer to one another. Being at this farm allowed us classmates a chance to grow and learn new things about one another. There was so much laughter and happiness inside the house we stayed in, how can one ever forget such fun? The city could not offer what the farm offered. The night time was filled with stars galore and a rising moon that could be spotted behind the trees. It was very surreal.

Coming to this farm has opened my eyes to different way of living. While I might not pursue such an intense lifestyle, I am aware of it, and I understand what it represents.

A Concert of Musically Talented Students

Her body flowed in a seamless motion; her fingers danced with the piano. She had been practicing all semester for this one night. The students of Notre Dame de Namur University’s camerata class performed their winter concert in the chapel today. All week my friend had been stressing to me how important being at this concert was to her, and being her “soul sister” I shouldn’t miss it. I knew of my friend’s musical abilities, so there was no doubt that she would play wonderfully (I might be a little bias because she also doubles as my mentor for music ministry). She had invited me to sit in on one of the camerata classes, trying to hook me into joining the class next year. It was then that I realized how marvelous each performing artist in the class was. Each performer didn’t miss a beat. Attending the concert only proved my realization. One girl had composed a piece called “Mafia Theme,” and another (my friend) had arranged a piece from a movie; any audience member could hear the effort and time the students put into composing and arranging. Not only was the concert great, but it was also educational. Before playing each music piece, a speaker would give background information on the song and composer. I learned some interesting facts about various composers that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. There was character in each piece performed; each student had his own style when playing his instrument. The concert was enjoying to watch and listen to.

Nostalgia: A Trip Back Home and More

                  Hiking with my classmates reminded me of a time when I was younger. Every summer my dad would drive me up to Yosemite, and we would hike and explore the various scenery the park offered. My father is a very knowledgeable man; during our hikes he would often stop to tell me all the names of the plants. Jim McGarry reminded me of my dad when he began telling us about the the trees, and the moss and fungus on the rocks. All those memories came flooding back.
                 Hiking as a group brought me back two years ago: junior year in high school. It was by far the best year of my life. In China, my school planned hiking trips for every place we visited. All 50 students climbed up a mountain to get to the Great Wall, then continued to trek along it.  We stood at the boarder where Beijing meets Inner Mongolia. The view was amazing. All 50 students walked the plateau of Gansu (a  Tibetan area) to a monastery. Standing on the top of the hill gave view to the horizon ahead. All 50 students hiked a mountain in Yunnan (on the boarder of Laos and Myanmar) and on our way up, only rice patty fields filled our vision.
                 The hike up to all those places were exhausting, but the view of the landscapes were well worth every second of pain that ran through my legs. While this hike our Freshman Seminar class went on was nothing extraordinary, it was nostalgic. It was a nice get away from the city. It was relaxing to be surrounded by nature again. I wish I hiked more often.

Enrichment #1

             Confucius said, "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life."  After working in my aunt’s law office over the summer, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. It seemed like the most practical choice of field to study; the pay is great, my aunt could help me establish a network and gain connection, but there was something missing. It wasn’t until after I attended a group event for History/Political Science majors that I realized what I was lacking: passion. The speaker that came to our meeting was a lawyer, a very passionate lawyer. He talked about the type of law he pursued, cases he defended, and the different clientele. There was a particular case he felt strongly about, a woman being tried for welfare fraud. She was illiterate, and it wasn’t her fault; he won the case. The way he spoke about his feelings for the case and for his client showed that he truly loved what he was doing. I knew I couldn’t follow a degree in law; it would be a chore. That event helped me re-establish my reason for majoring in history

Enrichment #2

            I’m not one to voice my opinions (but that doesn’t mean I don’t have any). I rather listen to what others have to say. I chose to attend the Syrian dinner the Spirituality center was holding, because I was interested in what the guest speaker, a Syrian man, had to say about the civil war happening in Syria. He told us a scary story about the government. There was a lady talking on the phone to her friend saying "Syria should have an uprising like Eygpt". A guard overheard this and she was later arrested, along with her friend she had been speaking with, and also relatives of the lady. It was scary to know that the government would have the power to jail not only the person who said those words, but people who were not involved with the conversation. Attending this dinner gave me a new insight into the life of Syrians.

DONE