SLICE 2009

so sad :(

2011-10-23T02:34:00.000-07:00

AHHHH SOME HOW I JUST CAME ACROSS THIS!!!!

I MISS SLICE SOOOOO MUCH!!! :(

San Diego

2009-04-07T11:23:00.001-07:00

You must look within for value, but must look beyond for perspective

2009-03-13T16:03:00.002-07:00

Honestly, I forgot that we had to do a post this week. Better late then never.. maybe?

Bringing together a wide variety of different perspectives for the sake of a common goal helps keep people from separating those perspectives as being something in the way of said goal. Hearing the same information from people whose knowledge and ideals match yours doesn't result in much forward progress, but involving many types of people can expand a person's on how they view an issue.

The first example I thought of with people who seem to have nothing in common, but still work for a common goal was the ex-Klan member who works with a "a black lady [he] hated with a purple passion." They held a mutual mistrust but that gave way once their children were harassed for working with someone white/of colour, and ended up becoming close friends and bringing about change.

I don't think I put myself in situations with persons of very different idea or lives very often. More often than not, I think I end up driven into the situations rather than me being the driver so-to-speak. Though it isn't much, I've been trying to talk to people more often so that I may strike up a good relationship with those who aren't so much of a mirror of myself.

"The longer we listen to one another - with real attention - the more commonality we will find in all our lives. That is, if we are careful to exchange with one another life stories and not simply opinions.
-Barbara Deming

Ubuntu

2009-03-11T16:45:00.002-07:00

The story of the athiest woman reminded me of the Ubuntu movement throughout Africa. The word Ubuntu is a Zulu word which means all people are connected. I love that word because it is promoted heavily by Nelson Mandela of South Africa, he is part of the Xhosa tribe. South Africa is a country consisting of 11 official languages and tribes/races. South Africa has some of the bloodiest history ever known and some of the strongest racial discrimination, not only between whites and blacks but throughout tribes as well. What I love so much about Ubuntu is South Africa is despite all the differences they face, Nelson Mandela and Ubuntu are widely accepted.

Come Together.....

2009-03-11T16:30:00.005-07:00

Throughout this book it is obvious that as a society it is vital that we take the first step and stand up for what we believe in, to better our world. In Chapter 9, Loeb emphasis the importance to stand together, especially with those whose opinions differ from our own, in order to accomplish our tasks. When Loeb states, "The more we listen to those whose experiences and perspectives are unfamilir, the more we realize what draws us together," I believe he is saying that instead of viewing others opposing opinions as a threat we need to realize the similarities we share. Most people may become defensive when others opinions and perspectives differ from our own, but the reality is that we all share the passion and drive to stand up for our beliefs and take action to change. This passion is our most prized possession and if we take that and combined it with others we will create a strong force that can not be reckoned with. By combining our differences and banning together we could move mountains.

The story in the book that really inspired me of how people who generally might seem to have nothing in common worked together to make a positive change was about the Ku Klux Klan member C.P. Ellis. By joining the AFL-CIO labor organization to first voice his opinions of the blacks in the community. When he was nominated to cochair the group with a black lady, Ann Atwater, he was both mystified and filled with hatred. To his surprise the two developed commonality and became close friends as they worked together for a common goal. This is proof that even the most different of people can come together and that "we should never lose hope that a particular person can change.

I would have to say that in my own life I do not put myself in situations where I am exposed to people who may have very different ideas or lead very different lives than my own. Just like most we are attracted to those who we have commonality with, it makes it easier on us to complete tasks. But after reading this Chapter I see the importance of working with those who differ from us in order to expand our minds and experiences. I will try now to put myself into challenging and different experiences.

Obiettivo Comune

2009-03-11T16:29:00.010-07:00

Working with different groups that might not share your ideas in order to work on a social action could be difficult but not impossible. I think it is crucial to talk and listen to others so we can expose our ideas. Otherwise, these ideas or beliefs will just remain with the ones who support us and not with others that have different than ours.

An example that I really liked was of C. P. Ellis, a man who joined the Ku Klux Klan because even though he had worked hard, he was not able to go nowhere. For a long time, he organized angry groups and fought against school integration. During this time, he noticed that the city council members of the Klan called him up when they needed someone to shout down blacks but ignored him when they passed on the street. He felt he was being used by these people and something inside of him changed.

Ellis was invited to participate in the AFL-CIO labor organization and after some time, he became the co chair the group. Ellis worked along a black lady named Ann Atwater whom he “hated with a purple passion” in order to lead civil rights boycotts and protests. One day, both of their children came home crying because their parents were collaborating with the enemy. That is when Ellis understood that along with Anna they were sharing a commonality. Ever since then, they became good friends bringing young whites and blacks together against employers who had oppressed their common distrust.

Ellis changed his life and finally he worked for the benefit of those African American that were oppressed by members of the Klan. He had to work along people who did not share the same ideas as him but, at the end, he understood their point and started to work for their cause. I really do like his journey because he became the protector after being the aggressor and that is something really remarkable to recognize.

During my short life, I have seen people who lead very different lives than mine. From people who live in remote areas and in poor conditions to people who live in abundance. As a person that comes from another country, I been exposed to different lifestyles and customs. In addition, I have encountered people who have very different points of view in a certain subject than mine. I find that very interesting because once I listen to their views I am able not only to understand them better but also, I am able to compare my ideas and beliefs to theirs. This world is very diverse and if we could only be open minded we could be able to understand one another better.

Photos by: phinaphantasy and Donna *deestea*

Understanding Makes Your Point Of View BETTER!

2009-03-11T16:25:00.002-07:00

We all have our own view of the world as we grow up. When we are young we think that our parents are the smartest all knowing beings in this universe. We copy everything they say share the same thoughts and are even put into the same religion. As we grow older we start seeing that they are not perfect and that we are not always wrong and we reach the point where we think everything we do or say is right because our own little stupid rationalizations.
Then we reach the present where we start to question our own believes. I have personally chosen to be atheis for example because of my own reasons. I came to have my own reasons only because I understood where other people are coming from and used all these point of views to make what i believe to be the most educated decision. We all have to widen our horizons and in order to do this we have to see other point of views which is one of the things that makes this class and experience so special.

Embrace each other's differences

2009-03-11T16:21:00.004-07:00

Dang it. I just realized that, once again, my post did not go through. So here it is for the second time:
"The more we listen to those whose experiences ane perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together." I think that what Loeb ment by this statement was that we all need to embrace each other's differences and accept each other for who we are, and, in return, we will learn so much. This quote reminds me of the very common phrase of: "opposites attract."
Because when we meet new people, they may be the complete opposites of us, however, for some reason or another, we become closer to each other. We need to enjoy other's differences and learn from them. If all we did every day was hang out with people who were EXACTLY like us, it would be so boring and we would never learn anything new. Instead, we need to talk to those who have different perspectives than us and who have gone through different experiences and we will learn so much from them!

YOU DIFFERENT, I DIFFERENT TOO BUT WE SPEAK SAME LANGUAGE

2009-03-11T16:07:00.005-07:00

I love the way the chapter was introduced. It stated that encountering people with different point and taking on issues that we are not familiar with makes "issues once at margin of our vision become the focus of our live. it brings to perspective issues that we might not have really understood to become more clear and give us a sense of direction. This is particularly exemplified in the Hazel Wolf story and how she became involved with the environmental movement. Loeb said that "upon accepting the challenge of trying to shape a different future, we feel a sense of larger purpose". This is I think is the reason for taking on issue that are different from yours. Because you learn from them. You get to widen your horizon and gain new understanding of people and issues surrounding you. I have come to experience and understand other groups apart from the one's I am involved in by taking on their ideas and interacting with them. We are all different and like it says in the book, groups that exclude others are not communities but are cliques. That is a road block to the sense of community and so we cannot move forward if we don't pass that barrier.. I especially love the story about C.P. Ellis and how he changed from being a Ku Klux Klan Exalted Cyclops to fighting community issues with a black woman he despised at first. This was because he learnt to take the idea about others and that which we do not understand through working with them and not through separation. We all have our individualistic ideas and point of view but when we focus on just those, we get to miss the greater blessing we might experience by interacting with those different from us. Through a Global leadership retreat, i got to experience and understand the Vietnamese Culture and way of life. We all have our own different languages(views) but we can not let ourselves be restricted by it. Learning a new languages(way of life) exposes us to better opportunities in life.

Yunus

2009-03-11T15:56:00.001-07:00

"We cannot break through with new concepts if we are still stuck with old mindsets. That is why the youth have to think big, think ambitiously and think with courage,"
unknown
There are couple stories that grabbed my attention. One was being Julia Devin story, in which her joining an effort brought threat to her actions and jeopardized relationships in order to meet her vision in El Salvador. Her actions inspired people in to not losing hope in the human spirit. As well, as Klansmen C.P. Ellis, by giving him an opportunity he eventually altered his life perception. People that are interested in progressive social change need to explor different issues, ideas, solutions, organizing, methods, challenges and opportunities.

Couple months ago I read a book by Muhammad Yunus a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Bangladesh banker and economist. He is the innovator of micro credit, a program that is responsible for improving poverty of millions of individuals. He talks about overcoming others’ initial pessimism about microcredit. He challenges corporations and individuals to become agents of change for a better global economy. He describes strategies for building bridges between business success and social change. One of his accomplishments was partnering up with food processor Danone creating a healthy yogurt that helped malnutrition kids in Bangladesh. Grameen has also launched a number of joint ventures with major corporations one being with Intel in creating information technology for the poor. Lastly he has overcome huge obstacles in his efforts to alleviate poverty in his country. When banks refused to grant loans to the poor for lack of reliable security, Mr Yunus came forward and offered himself as a reliable sponsor. Very soon, he was able to change the pattern of loan grants in his country by introducing quick and easy methods to obtain loans. I believe collaboration between people is essential to the success for resolving social issues in our society. One cannot do with out the other.

Shut up!

2009-03-11T15:49:00.003-07:00

If you just listen to someone you don't particularly seem to agree with, you might find that not everything they say is just about trying to appose you. You might find some common ground if you listen. When you listen to them, they are more likely to listen to you and it'll be easier to compromise. I went to a few student government meetings at school last semester to represent the Spanish club on campus and felt a lot of tension between certain people. Someone at the table told us(the Spanish club reps) to appose everything that one of the other members had proposed just because they didn't listen to them in the past when they proposed something. The 2 members of the meeting seemed to be at each others throats just because of dislike. They didn't listen to each others concerns, just the parts they could argue about. On the flip side, our club listened and brought up concerns from both sides. Even though we just reiterated what was already said, it made them less hostile and the conflicts were resolved. Though the author seems to be anti conservative, he found that not every issue they present is against his own views. He was able to find some common ground. So, just listen every once and a while.

It's just terrible what they did to Pluto...it is still a planet to me!

2009-03-11T15:47:00.011-07:00

What a fascinating concept in this chapter! I love what Loeb said as well as the way he says it.

"The more we listen to those who's experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together."

This is just such a great idea, in my opinion. It sort of touches on the importance of stories in a previous chapter as well. What this statement says to me is that we can find common ground between us all when we take the time to learn to understand one another. It is a matter of perspective. I see it sort of like this: we are all looking at this strange sculpture at the same time, but from different angles, and in these different angles we see something that is unlike what we can see from any other point of view.

In this metaphor, I suppose the sculpture would be Life and we come to these different angles through the experiences that make us who we are. We are all unique creatures that have lived unique lives granting us our own unique view point, seeing something different in the same sculpture! I know this is a considerably abstract thought here (and Enrique, I'm just certain you've already rolled your eyes more times than I can count) but try to follow me on this. If we learn to understand each other, learn how it is that they have come to look at the sculpture from their angle, then we just might become able to see from their point of view and then we realize that they are seeing the same sculpture that we are! This similarity brings us together and bridges a bond to create a sense of togetherness. To me, this is such an important aspect of life. I feel as though Leob is saying when we learn to appreciate and understand each other's perspectives in life, we grow closer together.

In this chapter, this concept is well exemplified in the story of Ms. Hazel Wolf. I really liked her story; she just seemed so fiery and passionate and lively through the illustrations in her youth or older days! One particular portion of her story talks about how she had brought together environmental groups, church associations and Native American tribes for a conference. (She was 81 at the time, a great reminder that age does not stop us from doing something to make a difference.) After teasing one of the Native Americans a bit, he and Hazel end up becoming close friends and continue to work very well together in the years that followed. This illustrates how these two undoubtedly different people were able to come together in spite of their differences because their shared a common desire, which in this story was to block an oil port off the Washington coast. Very cool.

Having said that Loeb's above concept was so important to me personally, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I place myself in situations where I am around those of different view points on a regular basis. Whether it is in a class, on the light rail or in Hayden library, I tend to at least attempt to strike up conversations with interesting people to try and get a glimpse of the sculpture from their vantage point.

For instance, a couple of weeks ago, I began talking with a gentleman who called himself John on the light rail. He had just said good bye to two men after a conversation about decent homeless shelters that the two men could possibly get to that evening. John told me all about how he was homeless for awhile and learned the insides and outs of living on the streets, knowing where to go for food, water, shelter, drugs and booze as well as other forms of...entertainment. He went on and on until finally I said the most obvious thing I could think of, commenting on how he now looked anything but homeless, let alone a user or a drunk. He then told me about a brief, maybe 5 minute talk with some stranger that smiled in a kind way at him one day, regardless of John's physical state of being that hot summer afternoon; John said he looked "about as nasty as a cracked out, starving swine that was baking under the Phoenix sun, but this fool still shot me a smile. And he meant it." It was incredible hearing about the emotions John felt in the instant that the stranger looked John's way; he told me he felt embarrassed, depressed, selfish, suprised but most of all, he felt angry that any man could be so joyful in life while John, who was going day after day pretending he was happy with his life style that was being lived "in servitude to the almighty powders that be." John told me that he asked the guy how he could be so full of happiness and the man spoke with him, genuinely and straight foward without any fear or lying in him about his life and the decisions he had made. John said that from that day on, his life was changed, because that man had opened John's eyes and taught him how to see life from his perspective. I really cannot describe what an incredible event that conversation with John was to me. I met this kind, well dressed, $200 watch wearing man on the light rail who had lived such a different live than I have lived so far, yet still I found a common grounds, a beginning of camaraderie between myself and John within our twenty minute conversation. It is amazing to me how learning to see the sculpture from other's angles and learning why they see it from that angle really does bring us together.

Oh, and about the title. Totally random, I know. Couldn't really come up with something that encompassed all that I said here. And the following sentence is for those who didn't read my blog, since you'll never know I am talking about you: "How long is it going to take in our society to see a person with an eye patch and not assume that they are a pirate? I just saw a guy with a suit and a breif case, but he had an eye patch so all I saw was 'YARRR!' "

Tyler :]

Put aside your differences!!

2009-03-11T15:45:00.002-07:00

One example I read from the book where people who have nothing in common still work together for the greater good, was with atheist, Hazel Wolf, who spoke about being atheist. She also worked to get people of different backgrounds, wether it be religion, race, genger, or sexual orientation, she managed to get them to work together. One example of when I've had this experience was while I was in Mexico with my school building houses for the poor. Not all of us liked each other, some of the girls and guys had major drama between them, but as soon as they stepped foot onto the site to work, they put all differences aside and worked as a team to better the lives of others.
Sorry this was so short and sweet...but I'm really in a hurry....but I hope you still enjoy!!

"Our similarities bring us to a common ground; our differences allows us to be fascinated by each other." -Tom Robbins

2009-03-11T15:43:00.004-07:00

We all view the world through our own windows. Our age, background, culture, experiences, race, sex, religion, etc. make us all unique from each other. We are naturally drawn to those who share similar interests, affiliations, and experiences; while, unfortunately, naturally repelled by those who disagree. We are all bias and often fall captive to judging and stereotyping. Much of the time, we lose sight of what we're actually fighting for. Controversy is no longer over what is right or wrong; it is over who wins and who loses. We all, at one point, have had that, "I'm right, whether I'm right or wrong" or the "I'm right because I say so" mentality. We're stubborn, and sometimes we won't "pull back the curtains on our own windows" to better view the world.

Someone is always going to disagree, but at the same time there is no one that disagrees with everyone. Finding smaller commonalities may ease more popular differences.
If nothing else, we must agree that:

We're not always right.
There may not be one "right" solution to every problem.
In general, we think/act the way we do because we hope it will help someone (whether it be selfish or not).

C.P. Ellis and Ann Artwater proved the strength of even the slightest of unities. Even one of the greatest and most controversial differences between the two could not break the hidden bond they shared as parents. It took their children being persecuted on the same basis, for Ellis and Artwater to finally look past their backgrounds and work together. Unbelievably, the high ranked KKK member, Ellis, learned to work harmoniously with the black woman activist, Artwater. Their friendship and Ellis's later work with poor whites and blacks displayed an encouraging example to all of society. We all share some common ground; if we can find it, we can grow on it, and the possibilities for positive change are endless.

-Morgan

there's always a spark that's redeemable

2009-03-11T15:41:00.000-07:00

I particularly found the story of Julia Devin very interesting and inspiring. The story talks about Julia’s struggle alongside a physician and an activist to obtain medical neutrality in El Salvador during the turmoil years of civil war. She and her comrades decided to talk with the US military commanders whose actions were endangering the innocent lives. They had the courage to speak with such intimidating authorities about the complex issue. Her efforts helped to reach a medical neutrality agreement which was a step towards peace. I agree with Julia when she says that, “everyone has a spark inside them that’s redeemable, even if they’ve never done a single decent act in their lives.” This belief helped her overcome the challenging task of dealing and reaching an agreement with the “enemy.” This means that even if a person might seem unchangeable, there’s still a chance for change inside them.
I think life is full of situations where one meets somebody whose ideas and beliefs are the complete opposite. Situations like during physics class where you debate about what formula to use, you think you’re right, your classmate thinks they are right. Who’s wrong, who’s right? The only way is to interact with each other, learn and understand the problem and find the solution. Taking the step forward to deal with people who have a completely different ideal than you might sometimes become overwhelming. However, a simple gesture of understanding and willingness to both share and listen can be the small step taken towards reaching an agreement.

Un Voz

2009-03-11T15:39:00.000-07:00

Many meanings could be gleaned from the statement "The more we listen to those who experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together." One that jumps out at me: In the context of social activism and possible conflict between participant groups, while different parties will always hold different values and views, the connecting fiber is the desire to create positive change and the passion to pursue that end. This for me is the commonality that all social activists must remain aware of.

Another possible interpretation: Through listening to unfamiliar perspectives and experiences we find that the people sharing them are not themselves unfamiliar or strange. The common truth of the human experience exists in every story. It is this central element, this basic connection between us, which is a stand-alone benefit of confronting and evaluating the experiences of others. Loeb alluded to this same fact earlier in his book when he discussed the call of stories.

And yet one third thing that occurs to me about this quote: Again something I feel Loeb touched on earlier is the idea that the direct experience described is both the means and the end. That is to say, the very courage, open-mindedness, and common respect that is needed to listen to something aversive or unfamiliar is what draws us together. In being open and willing to listen, we are both learning and learned, accomplishing and accomplished.

A specific story from this chapter comes to mind when looking for an example of “opposites” coming together for positive change. The story was that of the UJO and El Puente activist groups who had a long history of conflict and misunderstanding. However, when a towering incinerator was to be built near their community, they were able to put aside differences and work together in opposing it. Although the book does not elucidate on this fact, I would bet that after the work the two groups had a much better relationship and a better understanding of each other. To get conspiracy-theory for a moment: It is important that those who choose to become socially active and create a positive change in this world remember who the “enemy” is. The “powers that be” would love nothing more than for socially-minded people to get bogged down in battling each other. This leaves much less energy to be directed at “them.” So, while addressing social injustice is a passionate endeavor that inspires us to raise a strong voice, we must be careful not to drown eachother in the din of ever-rising argument. This is why I talk earlier in this post about finding that commonality, of understanding that beneath incidental differences in opinion there is much more that makes us the same than that makes us different.

Being a fairly confident, open-minded person, I put special effort into approaching those who seem to hold radically different views, values, or opinions from my own. I love knowledge, and I firmly believe that for mankind as a species to move forward we must do away with misinformation, assumptions, and false judgment. The best way to do this, as Loeb argues, is by exposure! Get out there, mix it up, speak your mind, listen fully, and never ever be afraid of being wrong! One of my absolute favorite experiences these days is to find out I am really, really wrong about something! It opens up new possibilities, enriches me as a person, and helps eliminate my own misinformation.

Common Ground

2009-03-11T15:38:00.002-07:00

I liked the story of Hazel, the athiest humanitarian who was once involved in supporting communism. Her story tells us we can be from different religious and socio/polictical backgrounds, but our underlying desires and responsibilities to help each other and take care of the world are the same. As far as putting myself in unfamiliar situations with people I consider very different from myself, I've only just begun experiencing that. I think it takes a certain amount of self confidence to become curious enough to break down those barriers that keep up from experiencing something new. Our service sites in Phoenix have been experiences outside anything I've ever done. I've never worked with "at risk" kids before, but they act like any other middle school kid I've met. They were a really inspiring group of kids, though, because they were at their community center voluntarily. Not many suburban middle school kids would make a weekly or biweekly commitment to work on life skills.

A strangley isolated place

2009-03-11T15:30:00.001-07:00

"The more we listen to those who experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together" I think he means that when we listen to the stories of other's experiences we can relate them to our own stories and can realize how similar our journeys are.
For putting myself into a place where I have to participate with people with views and lives very different than my own, the most recent would be this SLICE class. I myself live a very different and somewhat nontraditional life, but I am very fortunate of my upbringing by my parents. I was raised having very independent and very open-minded views. I was also raised in very educational environment. So being who I am and what I think from what I have experienced and what I enjoy in life seems to be, by no understatement, tremendously different from anyone else in the class. I feel sort of out of place, in a way. I like the people in the class and all, but I still feel misunderstood. I always do in public crowds as so. I see reactions of people when I'm just casually talking and making a joke, but it seems like (to me) that my views and humor are a bit unique compared to most. At times I feel like people need to chill out and lighten up. I get uncomfortable when I am relaxed and other people seem tense or uneasy. I try to make others comfortable by showing them that I am relaxed and at ease, but it does not always seem to work out, but whose to expect it to work on everyone?
My father told me one of his fears is being in a room full of people he does not know; but to me I like being anonymous in a room, blending in with the crowd to observe all the others. But when it's crowds like these where there's group interaction, it's pleasing to meet new people and hear and see their views and ideas. I like to hear how others have lived and managed through their lives so far and compare that to my own story.

Educating Ourselves Is A Step Towards Change

2009-03-11T15:20:00.003-07:00

I think that change comes to the sole fact of education. Many people judge the world without truly knowing the issues that are occurring in our society. We judge people based on how the media portrays them, instead of learning about their culture first hand or by people that study different cultures. The things I have learned from the stories and experiences of interaction with different people has truly opened my eyes and allowed me to see how diverse our world truly is. Between the Global Leadership Retreat I attended and the Equiss Retreat the education that I got from everyone showed me all the positives of our diversity. We as society always talk about how boring our world would be if it was just one gray blob, so then why do we just someone because of their color and culture? We all have something too give to this world, some might be good others maybe bad, but why prejudge someone, off of this I think that there are many positives then to allowing different cultures to work together allowing the education process to occur, but not by the biased media, but by someone who lives the culture every day.. The culture in American is always changing and people continue to carry their traditions from generation to generation, so I believe if we take more positive steps to understanding each other we will be able to conquer so much more. So be a positive change and educate yourself, because that is the first step to creating a better world.

"Common Air, Common Ground"

2009-03-11T15:13:00.002-07:00

When Leob states, "The more we listen to those whos experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together," I think he means we must speak to other people who share different views in order to understand the "common ground" we share.

In the story of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, three grougs came together because they realized their families not only shared litteraly the air and the ground, but they shared other similar opinions on various issues as well. Because the members of the UJO, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans all came together, they not only were good role models to their children, but they were protecting the earth they had to share as well. From there, they were able to work together on other issues they shared, all by finding their common ground.

Personally, I love this story and wish I could do it more often. Although I do listen to people who may have different perspectives or views than I do, I sometimes find my self automatically thinking of all the negatives (in my opinion) of their side of the story. It's something I'm working on and I'm sure something many people struggle with. As I'm finding and growing my spiritual self, this struggle is slowing disappearing. Yet, reading this chapter I have found how important it is to have this spiritual self, because without it, "we're left disconnected and mistrusting" (pg. 227). Putting yourself in situations where you may not share similar ideas is often refreshing and hopefully something our society can work towards. By understanding other people, we are likely to solve many problems, but the first step is putting ourselves in an awkward situation. Working towards a goal that is all for the common good.

working together

2009-03-11T14:37:00.000-07:00

I hardly ever put myself in positions where I don’t agree with people, mainly because who likes to deal with drama and the stubbornness of others when they already deal with themselves? I do, however, see what Loeb is saying. You can get a lot out of learning your “opponents” beliefs. In Emerging Leaders I learned a lot about controversy with civility. By working with other people’s points of views you can broaden your knowledge of the topic and work together towards that one goal, “change”. I don’t necessarily think that I will become best friends with those who go against my beliefs but I do admire them for their passion and their knowledge. In the book, there are several stories of unlikely allies. One example is that of the Friends of Earth working with the National Taxpayers Union. Both don’t work hand in hand, but the Green Scissors Coalition brought them together and they ended up targeting ecologically damaging corporate welfare projects. They took two companies who would never go together and made change. I believe it is possible to do a lot more when EVERYONE works together. I know this sounds cliché but it’s true. Setting aside differences to work for a common goal would bring about change in so many ways.

REACH OUT........

2009-03-11T13:50:00.005-07:00

"The more we listen to those who experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together"? If we are unable to branch out of our own security, we may never discover the new and exciting relationships that we can develop with people who can teach us new things. Many, if not all of us tend to make a pre-judgements about others before we even have a chance to talk with them. We might take a few nervous steps back because someone looks unique or presents themselves in a different manner. If we are not able to take those steps towards getting to know new pepople then we may never have the chance to see how similar we may actually be. I believe that knowing a variety of people really does make a difference about how you looks at life and its situations. This SLICE program is the perfect opportunity to step out of your comfort and get to know those whom you may never have taken a second look at because we sometimes fear the unfamiliar. My favorite example from this chapter would have to be Hazel Wolf's story. Although someone views religion differently than I do, there is no harm is being defensive and making assumptions. Tall or short, young or old, black or white, we all have a right to be who we are, but we are all still people that deserve to be treated with kindness. I challenge you all to step outside of that comfort zone on this trip and make a new friend in California, friendships can travel across the states just as easily as we can! Game on!

Nothing risked; Nothing gained!

2009-03-11T13:50:00.004-07:00

I have never been a person who is comfortable putting myself in situations where I don't know the people around me. Especially when we don't share the same interests. The older I get the more I realize, I will not know what I have in common with people or how one person can change your life unless I take myself out of my comfort zone and talk with new people. One example of taking myself out of my comfort zone and surrounding myself with people I don't know is this class trip we will be taking during spring break. I am extremely excited and nervous at the same time. I look forward to getting to know new people and seeing the impacts this has on my life.

Falling into Things

2009-03-11T13:40:00.001-07:00

I frequently put myself out there, and exposing myself to different people. I tend to be fairly spontaneous and will decide things at the last minute. In high school, me joining drama was a moment of spontaneity for me and I practically fell into it. It was just before my junior year of high school and I was picking out my classes, most of my classes were AP and Honors classes and I had one elective credit left. I knew by looking at my schedule that signing up for another academic would have driven me insane, but there weren’t any electives that I really wanted to take that year. I had seen how completely wild the drama students were, but I remembered how much I enjoyed acting as a child, so at the last minute, I threw drama onto my preliminary schedule and turned it in. I figured it wouldn’t even fit into my schedule. I got to school on the first day, and it had some how fit into my schedule. When I get to class there are a bunch of freshman running around and one guy talking in a Scottish accent and everything else. I didn’t know anyone. For most of the semester, I was considered the shy, quiet honors student, but none of them even cared. I got to the point where as nervous as I was about performing (especially not having the proper amount of time to memorize it, due to insane amounts of other homework) I grew to enjoy the class.

My second semester schedule didn’t work out and had one opening in it, so literally while sitting in the counselor’s office discussing my schedule, I decided to sign up for Technical Theatre. I loved it! I was building set pieces, painting, playing games, working in teams, working with lighting and sound – everything that I couldn’t do in any of academic classes. It wasn’t long until I joined the stage crew for the musical – once again last minute – and the girl who was supposed to be in charge, ended up passing that job to me, so my first show I was in charge of half the stage. The experience was stressful and chaotic and absolutely amazing. My senior year I practically lived in the theatre and worked on seven shows.

I met so many people with so many backgrounds, yet we were all drawn to the same exact thing. I grew to understand people that I originally thought were strange. It’s one of those things that I will always remember.

WALK IN MY SHOES

2009-03-11T12:06:00.005-07:00

"The more we listen to those whose experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together."

This is a very strong statement. It brings me back to the saying, "before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes." Other individuals experiences and perspectives are important to hear out in order to stay true and committed to your own beliefs. They can even help us to grow stronger in what we believe in or help us to see it from a different angel that can change our thoughts completely. "Don't judge a book by it's cover," is also a good example. In my experience, people are all different and unique in their own special ways. However, if you take the time to look deep enough, you are most likely guaranteed to find something the two of you have in common. Even if it's the smallest little thing, there is something to be found.

The first sentence of chapter nine says, "Even when we build on the foundation of our existing values and knowledge, social involvement helps us enter new worlds." This is completely true because taking the time to get involved teaches us life lessons that we could never find somewhere else. We discover new ideas that are so far outside of our comfort zone just because we took the time to see what else is out there. We cannot expand our vision without taking necessary action. The book states that this only happens when we place ourselves in circumstances that require us to view our efforts and ourselves with new eyes. It is important to silence our own voice in order to find those similarities that connect us with others. We have to listen with an open mind and be willing to change. Yes, this is true. You might not always be right! Strive to understand the world outside of your own.

The story that stood out to me was not the Atheist story, but the Common Air, Common Ground story. People of all different cultures, who hadn't agreed in the past, came together for a common cause. The United Jewish Organization and the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans were all very different people. However, they found a passion and even added to their diversity, in order to take a stand for what they believe in. The health of their children was a top priority for each and every one of them. I also really enjoyed the fishermen story incorporated into it. God is good!

School is a perfect place where I am surrounded by people who hold different beliefs than I do. Even though I jump at any chance to share my faith with people (under permitting circumstances) sometimes you have to put your own opinions aside for the good of everyone. There are plenty of occasions when I spend time with people that have very different ideas, however, I have a solid foundation. Therefore, I know right from wrong. I know what I believe in and what goes against my beliefs.

Ray LaMontagne is a great singer...and Toy Story 2 is okay!

2009-03-11T11:50:00.002-07:00

I too am going to use Hazel Wolf's story as an example. "The more we listen to those who experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together". I see it because although I do not agree with Hazel's view on salvation I can really respect what she stands for. Throughout her life she fought for unemployment support and lived as a person who actively keeps her world in order. I especially liked the part where she and the Native American first met, two people who in most cases have nothing in common then turned out to fight for the common cause of stopping an oil port from being brought to Washington's coast.

Well, in my life, I usually try not to put myself in situations where everyone has different viewpoints. After I read this chapter, however, I see the importance of mixing views and beliefs to be able to reach more people on a common ground, thereby expanding your cause.

Finding Commonality in Difference

2009-03-11T11:24:00.005-07:00

They idea of bringing people together with different points of view of things is a really good idea. However, when it is applied people tend to get lost. They no longer focus on the issue but instead, they bring things from their past of they make faulty generalizations. When everyone is has a common enemy they can put their differences aside and focus on the issue at hand. For example, Hazel Wolf was Atheist and against religion however, she put her differences aside in to work for a common goal.

As I was growing up I never liked to stay in one spot. I had to constantly be on the move. I did not like just staying in one group because I was always curious about what the other group of people were doing. I would travel from one group to the next. This occurred mostly in elementary school when I had super confidence and athletic ability. At school, it seemed like everyone got along through me. I showed people their commonalities rather than their differences and people got along. I did not ignore the differences instead it was more of knowing and looking past.

I think what Paul Loeb was trying to say with his quote is that communication of experiences promotes understanding when you have an audience that is willing to listen. You kind of have to force people to be open with each other otherwise people will become distant. However, you cannot just throw people with radically different ideas together because some one could get hurt. The environment has to be controlled or in a social level that is non-threatening. The art of rhetoric is very powerful and if by telling your story you cannot effect the world in a good way. Then I suggest that you tell your story, while listening to people that are on the other side. If you do not have a full understanding on an issue than you will be quick to make generalized assumptions and not look at how your decision will effect everyone.

I like how President Lincoln and Obama both tried to surround themselves with people of different view on issues so they can make informed decisions.

Great Change

2009-03-11T11:06:00.003-07:00

Working with others to make a positive change can sometimes be difficult, but if you feel that the change that needs to be made is the only priority in your life, then you should be willing to drop all of your differences with others to create a positive impact or outcome. In the book a navy yard proposed to have a 55 story incinerator for 15 years. The purpose of the incinerator was to convert garbage to electrical energy, but the major drawback was the devastating amount of emissions it put off. This would have saturated the already damaged town of Williamsburg. There were many different groups in the community that did not like each other and were always yelling at one or the other. Some of the groups were the Hasidic, United Jewish Organization, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans. All of them fought on all levels of issues in their community, but when they all heard about the emissions put off by the incinerator, they all dropped their differences to come together to ban the incinerator for the health of their kids. No matter how different everyone is there will always be a common cause or force that brings them all together, and the health of their children is a great force that most people cannot ignore. All of these groups came together and did many protests, and in the end in 1996 they worked out an agreement with the state legislature that ended the incinerator project. All of the groups contributed to a positive change, which held a lot of impact. Not only did they shut down the incinerator, but they created bonds between their groups.

As for my own life, I am put in similar, but less important, situations everyday at college. In every class there is always someone who has a different view from my own, however, I do not let it bother me or tell them that they are wrong. Everyone has their own opinion, it is theirs not yours. You cannot force people to have the same opinion as you. All you can do is show them the multiple sides of the situation so they can become more educated about the subject, so they are not just biased. Maybe, sometime in the future their opinion might change due to yours side of the situation, and it also may not change. Everyday you will always meet or see people with different opinions and viewpoints than your own, you cannot change them, but you can open them up to all sides.

Pulled Together

2009-03-11T06:48:00.005-07:00

"The more we listen to those whose experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together." I think Loeb means exactly what he says. By listening to to others' experiences we find something about ourselves in their story. This creates a common ground between the person and ourself drawing us close to each other. Not only that but we also gain a new outlook on an topic just by listening to that person, which can helps us understand another person that we might meet in the future. =]

I think a great example from the book would be the story called "Common Air, Common Ground." A story in which two groups of people, United Jewish Organization (UJO) and the El Puente, hated each other due to past conflics, came together for the sake of their children's health.

I think I expose myself to people with very different idea and lead different lives from me all the time. Just by going to school, getting a job, and even taking this class exposes me to people of different backgrounds and ideas. I would even say just being in my family exposes me to very different people. Usually people that are related are somewhat alike, that does not seem to the the case when it comes to my family. Each of us has our own perspective in life and on the world but, we have all lived completely differently lives and shared few experiences with each other.

STOP!

2009-03-11T00:13:00.002-07:00

SERIOUSLY< I dont know if I have any leadership authority or awesome cool abilities, but only one or two more Hazel Wolf's then its to picking another story. Sorry to lay down the law, but that just burns my hide and makes me sound like a cowboy. Shoot.
I appreciate it =P
-Jeremy

A strangley isolated place

2009-03-10T22:48:00.005-07:00

Our Learning Never Stops!

2009-03-10T21:32:00.002-07:00

"The more we listen to those who experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together"

I think what Loeb is saying is that each of us come into a situation looking at it through a different perspective, but that we need to be open to learning from someone that views a situation differently. For example, we might all be coming together to fight toward ending homelessness, but the reasons that each of us are here are all different and all have to do with our own personal experiences and perspectives. That means that one person's personal experiences are unfamiliar to another person, and vice versa. However, this is a good thing because each of us brings different ideas and solutions toward this one common effort, and when we all listen to each other and pull our ideas together great things happen.

I think the example from the book that best fits this is the story about Hazel Wolf, an atheist. She holds a conference of environmental groups, church associations, and Native American tribes. When she first meets one of the Indian leaders, it would seem that they have nothing in common because both of their personal experiences with religion is different, but they instantly become friends. They worked together to block a dangerously sited oil port on the Washington coast, and continued to work together even after that issue.

One particular example I can think of when I put myself in an unfamiliar situation was just today at school. I went to listen to a speaker by the name of Azra Hussein talk about the Islamic culture. This is something that I was very unfamiliar with. She is a Muslim living in America and she was talking about her culture of Islam and her faith of being a Muslim and how they influence her American life. It was a great message, and I learned a lot. She used personal experiences to show the audience her own perspective on the topic, and she also demonstrated the similarities all Americans share by having the unique cultural experience that we do.

"MY WAY" OR "NO WAY"

2009-03-10T20:46:00.003-07:00

"The more we listen to those who experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together." This quote went right along with the story Loeb talks about with the Atheist. This 100 year old environmentalist named Hazel Wolf was able to connect with a Christian audience. The more the audience listened to her the more they feel in love with her. Despite the differences the audience and Wolf had similarities.

I believe in our culture we are tought to disinclude and shut down what we hear from those with different beliefs or different behaviors.

I know this was true in my own life. Ironically, I would always not want to hear from people that were not Christians. If I was friends with a person and found out later in my friendship that they where of a different religion then I would try to avoid that person. I would do this because I thought that it was either going to be "my way" or "no way." Then I came to a realization that God would really not be proud of me. He wants all his children to be saved and come to him with repentance so he can forgive them. He really doesn't want me to ignore people, he wants me to minister and bring the lost to him. God is good. He opened my eyes to see that I should not disclose myself but open myself up so I can recieve a chance to become closer with others.

Last post before San Diego!

2009-03-10T19:38:00.002-07:00

I think the one about the students at the university of Nebraska is a good example. The students banded together in order to address the problem of family farms. As they recruited new people, their became a rift in the group of students. Those who had more knowledge of farming issues found it hard to work with those who were not as well educated on the topic. The problem can be solved if those students who are more experienced guide those students who are not.

This story in particular reminds me of my first year in SLICE. Last year when I first signed up, I had no real experience with community service, and I had no clue of the problems in the world. This made me feel like I was far dumber and less experienced in the class, and because of it I had a hard time getting to know people. Luckily, during the trip, those who were more experienced stood by my side and helped me learn what they knew. Because of this we were able to have an amazing trip, help people in San Diego, and better ourselves.

Laugh

2009-03-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

I believe that what Loeb means is that not everyone is the same and everyone has a different story or opinion on things. If we don’t all listen to everyone else’s perspectives how will we ever know what it is that other people think. He states that an individual may know everything about one way of looking at an issue, but that there is always that new person who has no idea about it, and never would have thought about it in the first place. When we are those “new” people we listen to the different experiences and perspectives and start to base our own opinions on them. That is how everyone being drawn together begins. You start educating each other on your own personal views.
In the story I don’t necessarily want to refer to a specific story where people who didn’t have things in common worked together, but more want to state how they did. Hazel was the sweet little old lady that was known for her humor. She would create situations where she could put in her humorous statement, and could even get people from legislation to laugh. People may have been arguing on an issue, or were showing their different points of views on things but when Hazel stepped in with her jokes it caused everyone to laugh, become less tense, and started to help them work together to make that positive change. People have to go into things not just trying to be so serious where they are going to be stubborn about things, but remember that they are doing something or standing up for something that they love so it’s sometimes ok to laugh in those awkward but serious situations.

Critical Cranium Conundrum's

2009-03-10T14:26:00.001-07:00

Life is about compromise
You can give everything you have, and receive nothing in return. The implications of a “just society,” entail that there is a constant flow of give and take. What happens when people get together is the general conflict that ensues. There is almost no way on Earth that two people could share exactly the same accounts and life ideologies of one another. A major step in seeking better alternatives is through these very diverse upbringings. One thing I just commented on recently in my own life however was how alike we all are.
No matter where you grew up, how you chose to live your life, there is a simple commonality to one another. It may be hard to see them at first, but through such a complicated web of choices we, as individuals, make on a daily basis, there is a simple truth to how much alike we all are in the end. I have a friend at work that is 32 years old. He was fourteen years old when I was born, yet we still have stories of our “earlier” years we can share. He grew up in various cities back east, with a strong sense of self and heritage, yet we have little quirks that allow us to communicate effectively. I know that’s a different way to look at it, but even little things like getting along at work depend on this issue.
An example I took from the book is also a little obtuse in its representation, but I felt this excerpt really reached out and commented on this blog question.
“Restorative justice. That’s an extraordinary notion, don’t you think? Fairness plus forgiveness. Moral courage plus mercy. How can we Americans practice restorative justice, reuniting our own profoundly divided nation? Perhaps by letting go of some of our long-drawn-out resentments. By focusing less on the evils of our enemies and more on the works we would like to build—with their cooperation if possible; without it, if necessary. And by remembering that even those whom we mistrust most profoundly are capable of good- perhaps even of radical shifts of heart.”(p240)
Although this isn’t exactly what was asked, I feel it confronts the bigger issue of our close-minded attitudes. We choose to see the bad before the good in people. How can we as a populace flourish with so much malice hiding in the shadows. It is an impossible truth to face and regardless if we fight it, one that will take the willpower of billions to turn it around. No more small scale plans. What can be done to make stuff like this happen?

-Jeremy

Words Can't Compete With Actions

2009-03-10T12:06:00.006-07:00

The story of the good atheist talks about a woman named Hazel Wolf. She is an atheist and says the only reason she has the beliefs she does is because it was passed down from generation to generation just like all other religions. What she is trying to get across here is that it doesn’t matter what you believe but rather who you are and what you do. She tells how there are those who are Christians but are still bad people. Hazel still contributed many years of her life to bettering the world even though she didn’t have the religious beliefs that pulled her into it. She helped with kid’s welfare, Medicaid, and many environmental organizations throughout her life. Religion is only what people claim to be, but it’s their actions that show who they truly are. I liked this story because it is very true. I have never liked those who go to church just for the public appearance they want to uphold. Going to church and calling yourself a Christian doesn’t work if you can’t back it up by your actions.

The rest of this question nearly sums up my life. I have never once been able to consider myself part of one group. I have been friends with every type of person and have always been open to new situations. I have learned to never turn down a new experience no matter how strange or crazy it may sound. I have done things that most would never imagine doing and I have no trouble relating to any type of person. I have always loved getting involved in things that will allow me to open up and see the world in a different light. This world is too big to not expand and allow yourself to grow through these types of experiences. Don’t let diversity scare you away but rather use it to challenge yourself with a new way of living and understanding.

Differences form bonds

2009-03-10T07:36:00.002-07:00

The lesson of finding common ground among varied ideals is portrayed in the story of Hazel Wolf. She has worked multiple odd jobs throughout her life and fought for her right to lead a decent and fullfilling life in America. Whenever she found a cuase that helped her to support what she believed in, she became heavily involved. One organization that she joined, but did not completely understand, was the Audubon Society. A close friend of hers urged her to gain some insight about the group and what they worked for so she expanded her mind to embrace their cuase. Hazel had joined an environmental group. She learned by watching the wildlife the society preserved she had goals common to those of the Audubon Society.

Just recently, I have begun to partake in social groups and activities, and that is helping me to expose myself to a larger scale of diversity among peoples' views. Other than that I see every class or social interaction as a way of learning from others. In a small way, these settings help people to discuss their views, ideals, and perceptions freely. They can become as involved as they want to be or choose not to participate.

Every person that I speak to, no matter where I am, expresses their individualism; they live a certain way that fits their needs to accomodate their ideals. Thus, to answer if there are people that live differently than me or have seperate ideals than thos of my own, yes.

Difference

2009-03-09T08:26:00.003-07:00

What Loeb means when he states "The more we listen to those who experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together" is that the more perspectives you can get on a topic the more you will completely understand what it is you are so passionate about. Also unfamiliar perspectives will help you find new ways of helping your cause because you will no longer be thinking inside the box of ideas you have but outside the box. The example that I like was when a garbage incinerator was proposed to be built in a Brooklyn navy yard. This incinerator would spew toxic emissions over the city. Leaders of two very different ethnic groups in the nearby communities who were always feuding over housing and the control of local public schools joined forces to fight the building of the incinerator. With their teamwork they were able to overcome the proposal and the incinerator was never built. This shows that even people of different backgrounds and beliefs can work together to make a difference. In my own life i never really expose myself to people that have very different ideas than I do. I really do not stray from family and friends but, I probably should I like the idea Loeb uses that you will only grow if you step out of your comfort zone. I think I need to take that first step.

We must work together to create a just world

2009-03-08T19:53:00.004-07:00

From this book I have learned that we must find our passion on our lives. We must figure out who we are and what we hold as important within our lives. It is important to take that first step, but you will get much farther when you stand behind a group of people who are just as inspired as you are. In chapter nine, now Loeb is saying that we should widen our circles and allow others to work side-by-side with us even if they don't have the same views as us. For example, the old woman named Hazel Wolf grew up as an atheist. She worked with many different groups through out her life and often got asked why she was an atheist. She simply would remind people that we all must work together for the greater result. Loeb states,"The more we listen to those who experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together".

What is drawing us together is our dedication and our passion in life. Behind all controversy, we all have the same idea of helping change the world to a way that we see is correct. Even if we do not want to listen to others that have different views than us (sometimes its almost painful to sit and hear) it is important to be exposed to others views in life. To understand why you feel fully passionate for something, I feel you should know the opposing thoughts. This has been hard for me lately because I am finally concluding on my own passions in life and my own opinions (I'm still developing many of them, but some are concrete). It is hard to sometimes listen to others opposing you because I feel like I'm being rejected for my beliefs. But I have to understand that it is important to hear these thoughts of others because maybe I will change my view once more or feel more strongly about mine own. Its important to work with people who you don't agree with because we are all there for a greater result. As Loeb states" we can't create a just world unless we're willing to work at listening to each other"

Chapter 9: Widening the Circle

2009-03-05T19:58:00.002-07:00

Loeb discusses in this chapter the importance of seeking out other people whose points of view may be different from yours. He also talks about the importance of involving many different groups to work on social action issues. What does he mean when he states, "The more we listen to those who experiences and perspectives are unfamiliar, the more we realize what draws us together"? Give an example from the chapter of how people who generally might seem to have nothing in common worked together to make a positive change. Think about your own life, and ask yourself how often you put yourself in situations where you are exposed to people who may have very different ideas or lead very different lives than your own.

Volutneerism, it's contagious!

2009-03-04T23:28:00.005-07:00

In my opinion, to make a long term change requires a long term commitment. To create a society in which everyone could have a home seems very unrealistic at this point in time. This may be due to the fact that several families are losing their homes everyday. However, from a volunteer stand point, it is quite possible that someday everyone could have a roof over their head. There is great value in community service but deeper meaning in finding interest in a particular type of service. When you can commit to long term service in a specific area, that is where the most progress occurs. That is the exact reasoning behind the story of the Stanford student. It takes a consistent effort to make the most change. Convince others to partake in your service interest and to commit to long term assisting other than the seasonal "feel good" service.

Dreams For ...........?

2009-03-04T16:56:00.005-07:00

We all dream for a better Future. A future free of homelessness and poverty. That is why we volunteer. That is why we do community service. That is why we have politicians to help solve this problems although more often they don't. We dream of a world better than the one we live presently in.

I think though that the Stanford student was not talking about his grandchildren volunteering at the same homeless shelter he did. I think he was focused more on the experience he got from volunteering. He wanted his Grandchildren to share in this same experience. He understood the fact that there will always be some good left to do in the world. Even if it is opening the door for someone else. Or helping the disadvantaged. He hoped they will get to understand the reason for volunteering and get the same experience he got from it.

He knew that it will take a lot more to eradicate homelessness and poverty from the world. I think he used the term "Grandchildren" because he knew it can not overnight. He realised it will take the collective effort of the whole community to cure our society of the disease present in it. He understood that we will need people who will devote their time to helping out and those who will be the voice for those who cannot be heard. Can this be achieved by the time my grandchildren come, unfortunately no but hopefully by the time they come, we will have community will less homelessness and poverty and more crave to get involved and combat those issues.

To Hope For Change Or Make It Happen

2009-03-04T16:30:00.004-07:00

I think this Standford story is very uplifting and inspiring. I think that the gentleman had very good intentions of wanting his grandchildren to have the experience that he has had, because if there is still issues in our society when generation after us come along I would hope that they would still want to be involved.

The true question is how long are we going to wait and hope to see the change that we truly want to see. Why don't we stop the poverty and discrimination that so many want to see diminished. If every generation says I hope this changes and never really enforce it then wont the world continue to make adjustments, but never change. This kind of goes back to evaluating whether or not you as a person of the community that needs direct satisfaction or you are ok with being in a situation for the long hull. Eventually though the dream that people have announced needs to become reality and by always hoping for the change will not get us to that point. So I see where the gentleman is coming from by hoping that his grandchildren get involved,but I think it would define a generation more if they made the change that is needed permanently so that we could eliminate social issues.

Now I understand that there will always be social classes which may make it very hard to make permanent change but what if today's homeless could become the poor, living pay check to pay check but at least have a roof over their head and food on their tables. That would at least be a positive change. This Standford story defiantly has given an outlook to where our society sits always "hoping" for the best and for change, but eventually we need to make it reality!!!!

the present

2009-03-04T16:26:00.002-07:00

I think the lesson from the Stanford student’s story is that people should give a hand to those in need. The story for me is talking about how much he learned about himself and about society during his volunteer work. His story also reflects an aspect of today’s society where people want an immediate reward for their actions. People expect to get six pack abs after one week at the GYM and a paycheck after one day of work, everything needs to be fast. However, life doesn’t work like that; one has to be patient and persistent. Even though sometimes the goal seems to be centuries away, every small step gets you closer and closer to your goal.

Although I always try to be hopeful and optimistic, I don’t think there could ever be a perfect society where homelessness doesn't exist. There will always be injustice and despair. The confrontation between right and wrong, the ying and the yang, the good and the evil is inevitable. But one think I’m sure about is that there will always be people who will try to solve these endless obstacles. I’m pretty sure my grandchildren will face many of today’s obstacles, but hopefully they could go back and learned from today’s successes and mistakes. I’m not saying they’re going to travel back in time, I’m saying that they can learn from our present efforts to eradicate the many obstacles the planet faces today. This is how our present technology, medicine, culture, and life have been created. Today’s culture is not way closer to perfection, but every single act of honestly and selflessness is a step closer to a better society.

2009-03-04T16:25:00.002-07:00

I believe that the Stanford student said that he wanted his grandchildren to volunteer at the same shelter as he did, because he wanted them to have the same experience he had. He wanted them to have their eyes open to the world we live in today and the struggles people deal with that never seem to get out of it. looking at all the homeless shelters in the world today and how it still isn't enough for our population, I don't think that we will ever not have homeless people just because of the economy we live in, which is sad to think about. Just think of how many people that become homeless in the first two months of 2009, it's a pretty big number. I don't think my grandchildren will be fortunate enough to see that there aren't any homelessness in the world, but i could have them help as much as possible to try and make it happen just like I'm doing and many of other people are too.

Reading between the lines...

2009-03-04T15:47:00.007-07:00

I believe the Stanford student's statement truly meant that he wanted his grandchildren to learn the same lesson he did from volunteering in the homeless shelter, because it was so powerful to him. I don't think he is hoping to have more homeless people, or even that his grandchildren volunteer in the exact same shelter.

Unfortunately, I do not think we will be able to solve the problem of homelessness and eliminate the need for shelters any time soon. As a matter affect with the economy the way it is at this present moment the problem will probably get worse before it gets better. That is why it is so important for us to volunteer now and take an active role in this issue.

The Moral of the Story

2009-03-04T15:47:00.005-07:00

I think in the story of the Stanford student the lesson is not that he does not think solving homelessness is impossible, but that he wants his grandchildren to experience the joy of service. Not the selfish joy of "helping someone" though this is always a nice feeling, but the joy of watching a person or a situation gone wrong change! This joy and these experiences offer more to us than any lesson we can learn in a classroom. Granted, many people learn better by reading or studying, however, most people learn and grow with hands on experiences. Experiences that change us and can not be taught in a classroom. These hands on experiences offer lifelong lessons. Whether you are reading/talking to an elderly person or serving soup at a homeless shelter, a person learns from the experiences of others. Our experiences build upon one another. It is just like in the previous chapters where we discussed learning from other peoples stories.

Although the thought of everyone having a home, where no one would be forced to sleep in shelters or on the streets would be amazing, I find that it would be improbable. I'm normally a very positive person, however, to me this idea is unrealistic. Unfortunately, we will always struggle financially as well as emotionally which is how many people end up on the street. I think it is improbable that the world would be able to provide for all of these people who are struggling. The best we can do is help the organizations help them.

Yet, I too hope that my grandchildren will be able to experience what I have been blessed to take part in. I know that if they are able to experience some of the struggles and stories I have heard, they will be sure to help in social activism and will hopefully pass that on to their grandchildren and so on...
With this I still think we can change to world one step, one generation at a time.

Won't it be strange when we're all fully grown?

2009-03-04T15:36:00.004-07:00

I think that sometimes when people are doing volunteer work, it doesn't occur to them that the types of problems that are being dealt with are things that they're working to erase. Something else is that they hadn't really thought about that, and that the student just wished that others could share in the positive experiences that he experienced while at the shelter.

It would take more than our current apathetic society would be willing to do to get people off the streets and out of shelters, in my opinion. Some end up on the streets because of unpleasant living circumstances, being thrust out into the world with nothing, bad decisions, etc. Too many people's opinions are that if someone is homeless or in a shelter that it is that person's fault that they are there, that they aren't trying hard enough to lead a "proper" life, and just generally not seeing that individual as possibly being a victim.

By the time any of my potential grandchildren come along, I think that the amount of homeless will have either increased exponentially or just the the opposite, one extreme or the other. In that time lapse I don't think it would be just a slight change from now, unpleasant events seem to preferring to bite fast and hard, or good things working so quickly that everyone wonders how something so nice managed to arrive so promptly.

Though it's a different different subject, I felt this still could apply:

"Help the aged, one time they were just like you,
drinking, smoking cigs and sniffing glue. Help the aged,
don't just put them in a home,
can't have much fun in there all on their own."
~Jarvis Crocker

Hope for the future...

2009-03-04T15:12:00.004-07:00

I believed the lesson behind that particular story was that volunteering should be looked about as a opportunity to change peoples lives and create a more idealistic, utopian society . It raises the question, of why people voulunteer in their communities. Is it to create change for the future or is it to just simply say that he/she voluntered or is it maybe because that particular person needs to complete a certain amount of hours?

I think it would take everybodies effort to create a society where people didn't have to sleep in shelters. It is when the community becomes a team and works together to better the lives of themselves and those around them. Putting away the greed and hatred would help the world become less violent and more peaceful.

Being honest I don't ever see this world coming to a perfect state of being. I believe that there will still be homeless on the streets 30 years down the line. Life might be better and easier when my grandchildren are alive but I don't think the issues and problems will ever disapear.

Realistically

2009-03-04T15:06:00.005-07:00

Realistically, I do not believe that the Stanford student wants there to be homeless people in the future. However, I do believe that he wants his children to experience the same feelings of helping your fellow man. I can relate it to passing down the experiences of old to the youth in order to make better changes in the future.
Realistically, I do not believe that homelessness will be gone by the time I have grandchildren. I also believe that it is a bad to have people suffering.
The difference between advocacy and volunteerism is that like Katy Lockhart said, one just treats the symptoms while the other attempts to cure the illness. Volunteering is a good thing. No, one should say different and if they do they have never been in need.
In Hinduism, they have holidays dedicated to the feeding of the poor from the higher ups. They offer some to the gods and the rest is given away. I feel that if the U.S. made a holiday or holidays to help the poor then things might not be so bad. We'll call it national homeless awareness day or something like that.
The Dhali Lama always considered himself a realist. He called himself an extreme realist. He always said that he is only a human. If one person can do it than any one can. I suggest reading the book The Open Road, Journey of the Fourteenth Dhali Lama by Iyer Pico. People tend to think that these people like Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., the Dhali Lama, President Lincoln, Buddha, and many other people. They think that these people were not only human. They just made a cause and stuck with it. Realistically, we all can be the change we want to see. It starts with self and moves from there.

Like on Star Trek!

2009-03-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

I feel quite passionately that technological advancement is the only thing that can save mankind, period. Most social problems that one could pose can be drawn to a technological answer. For example, with abundant, free energy, efficient and sustainable farming techniques, and greater industrial automation, every person on this earth could be provided for. The challenge is overcoming scarcity, as it is scarcity (be it real or created) that creates most conflicts. In a world of abundant free energy and highly innovated material technologies, all can be supplied with whatever they need. In this system, the idea of greed or predation becomes a red herring because, unlike our current “free” market system, one does not have to lose for another to gain. ALL can benefit. NO ONE need be left behind, or left out, or subjugated, or oppressed, or taken advantage of. Those with some innate need for “more more more” can have it thanks to this tech advancement, and it doesn’t affect the lives of others in the least. In addition, there is no more need for profit or externalized costs because the inherent competition and fight for survival is removed.

My proposition, radical as it may be, is that the free nations of the world collectively invest whatever it takes to realize the sort of technological breakthroughs that we need to create a utopian society. This should be done with absolutely no concern for “debt” incurred and should be the top priority above all else. Money has no real value anyway, and after the transition to a technological utopia the “owed” will have no use for it as the idea of “wealth” will become a non-sequitur.

This will free humanity from the economic slavery that we now live in. The artist is free to produce and share with all without having to worry about their next meal. The teacher is free to utilize any resource their imagination can come up with without concern for the year’s budget. The materialization of our society that is so integral to the health of a consumer system is no longer relevant because there is no more need to struggle for the things you might need or want. In this way, we are freed from the huge amount of waste-life we currently experience.

My proposal is all-or-none. Although I can’t predict when the necessary tech advancements would come, it would be nothing compared to the time wasted on conflict and competition. Were governments and corporations to undertake such a task, I imagine the transition time would be surprisingly short. So, if this were to start in my lifetime, it would definitely be realized by the time of my grandchildren, except that I won’t have any.

1-2-3 kick the bucket

2009-03-04T15:01:00.003-07:00

Apparently, just volunteering and helping local communities is like trying to soak up the water from the Mississippi river with a towel.. or something to that affect. In order to drain that river we've got to get some really powerful equipment, block more water from coming in and some severely influential people have to get a hold of some gigantic super pumps and throw them in? I think that is the goal. I suppose this part of the book is saying that it is sort of like wasting time helping individuals when you could be doing something to change the cause of the problem. even if it saves a few lives, we are capable of preventing the people from doom to begin with.
That seems like one tough demand. I know that it would be the ideal thing to happen but people don't seem to band together very well in this society. Honestly has the world EVER not had problems and homeless. I can think of a time... The time of the dinosaurs? Well anyhow, I truly believe that things could get worse, even with all the patch work. It seems to me like only few people really grasp things taught or even care or even care to care. Society is a mess with backwards priorities. It's pretty sad when people choose TV or drugs or addictions over other people. Somehow, if the country is different in 50 years and people begin to appreciate each other, then maybe we won't have as many problems. May seem a little harsh but I suppose I'll find out when I'm old eh? Til then, I suppose we can all just keep helping and teaching and influencing others maybe we can be like a plague for the good ;) .

Britney Spears did what?!? Oh wait...I don't care. And neither should you!!

2009-03-04T14:41:00.004-07:00

Upon reading this chapter, along with everyone else's blogs, I pretty much learned the same lesson from the Stanford student, where he wants his grandchildren's eyes opened to the real problems in the world rather than just the problems in their own homes. Going off that, I think people today are too worried about their own lives than the lives of others. I'm not condemming it, cause God knows that I have made my life a priority over others over the last few years, simply because of my obsession with money. It's sad, I agree, but that's how I was raised. My parents always taught me, "if you're not making enough money to support yourself and your family, then you basically shouldn't be doing anything at all." Now don't attack me, I don't think like that anymore, although I do on occasion I'll admit. When I first started high school, at a Catholic shool of course, every student in every class had to meet a certain amount of community service hours every year, and the amount of hours varied by class. For instance, the freshman had to fulfill 10 hours, sophomores 20 hours, and so on. But, there was a catch, they had to be done at certain places. Freshman year at school, sophomore year at a seperate place with a friend, junior year by yourself where ever you want, and senior year with a church. I loved doing this every year, even though there were sometimes when I wanted to quit and just fudge my hours and lie (because everyone else was doing it and getting away with it). But I didn't, my sophomore year I got involved with a place called 1st Way Crisis Pregnancy Center, and that place helped me not only exceed the amount of hours I needed, but it helped me lose my ridiculous obsession with always having money. This place lived off of donations from others, they never kept money for themselves. When they did, they would give it to other non-profit organizations like Maggie's Place or Martha's Vineyard, or other places that helped poor, needy single mothers suppor their babies. Whenever I was given the privelege to give mothers whatever they needed, such as baby clothes, maternity clothes, baby formula, stuffed animals, etc., the look on their faces changed my life. Many mothers broke down in tears and started thanking me profusely. From that day on, I just started living with whatever I have, or lack of what I have. Right now, I'm dirt broke, living from paycheck to paycheck (which never exceeds more than $300 every 2 weeks), and I'm as happy as a beach bum that found the perfect wave (I know, cheesy analogy...).
I think if more people stopped worrying about how much money comes in their paycheck, and stops trying to be like celebrities these days, living the high life with 30 cars, there could be a change. But do I think this will ever happen? No. As of now, especially with the state of the economy, I do not see people thinking like this anytime soon.
I pray everyday that my grandchildren can see a world that is not obsessed with money, what music Miley Cyrus has out now, and Britney Spears' love life. But that'll probably never happen. My friends, we live in a greedy, greedy world. In some cases, this is okay, we have to be greedy to get what we want, but to an extent. For example, I work at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at Desert Ridge, and we just hired this new girl. Some one apparently told her she can take whatever she wants. So she got greedy, and took about $200 worth of chocolate home to her sick mother. She was fired the next day. That's what I mean by to an extent, if we push the limit too far...bad things will happen. I do not want my grandchildren growing up in a world where the headline news is how some celebrity spend 2 million dollars on a new car. I want them to know that there is more in this world than just gossip, scandal, money, and so on. I want them to help with the world, in anyway they want, great or small.
Every small act can affect the lives of others somehow, even if it's only your next-door neighbor.

Spread the good news!

2009-03-04T14:32:00.008-07:00

"My grandchildren will get to have the same experience working in the same homeless shelter that I did."

The Stanford student obviously had a life changing experience at the shelter. It was something that he wants others to have the opportunity to experience, especially those closest to him. Maybe he wants his grandchildren to be involved and partake in this specific service that is so dear to his heart so it is something they could share together. It could have the same affect and change their lives, just like it did his. He wants them to experience it first hand rather than just living through the stories he has to tell. Or on the other hand, it could be any service in general. Giving back to the community has to have an affect on the person no matter how greedy they are. Through my experience, reading stories rather than be directly involved in 100% different. Stories are inspiring and can give us the courage and confidence to make a difference. However, performing the act is a completely different ordeal. It is even hard to put into words. The tugging on your heart and the emotional aspect is something you will never forget. Most of my experience has been with children. When you wake up in the morning, you push through the fatigue because once you see their faces, nothing else matters besides making them happy. The Stanford student wants to spread the good news! He wants his grandchildren to give back to the community to experience those breath taking moments that give your life reason.

It is devastating to see the effects of poverty when you are driving down the streets. It is all around us and yet, some people still choose to ignore it. As many others have mentioned, we live in a world full of greed. American's number one concern is themselves. Luckily, we do have people that have noticed this problem in society and are taking the measures to fix it. However, there never seems to be enough. The problems greatly outweigh the number of people that are willing to help. So it seems, until people are affected directly, our numbers are not enough. On a good note, this economic crisis could be a real eye opener for many. Even if we are not loosing our house, many of us probably know someone who is or has. People are starting to take notice of the changes that have to be made in order to steer clear of this ever growing problem. Maybe that will encourage them to think past the needs of themselves.

Unfortunately, homelessness seems inevitable. Even if people band together to stop it, there is no saying that homeless individuals are willing to put in the effort to get off the streets. As I have learned in my "Stand Up For Kids" training, it is a long and very hard process. It is definitely not something that happens over night. I would love to drive the streets and never see someone on the side of the road begging for money. But then again, I see this happening in the perfect world. That perfect world is not a place we live in. I am not trying to be negative but I like to think realistically. However, even though I do not see this in the future for my grandchildren, there is much to be done. We should remain positive in thinking that we can contribute to helping our country fight poverty. Every little thing makes a difference and will leave footprints in the sand for the future generations to come. ::For any of you that love the footprints poem as much as I do :)

2009-03-04T14:09:00.003-07:00

Whether it be cynical or realistic, I believe the issues of poverty, homelessness, discrimination, crime, injustice, etc. are unfortunately "never-ending battles". This does not mean that because they exist, they should be overlooked. It just means we must have more determination towards and genuine care for others and the tasks that have been rendered impossible. We shouldn't be discouraged by the fact that we may not be able to solve every problem, but rather encouraged by the lives we can change.

Not only does social involvement and community service tend to those in need, but also changes the lives of those helping. I believe this is what the Stanford student meant. Realistically, when his grandchildren or my grandchildren are alive homelessness will still exist. Our job in the present is to determine whether issues such as homelessness will worsen or better in the future. It is to share our stories and involve others in the rewarding tasks of community service. The only way to bring a stop to issues such as homelessness is to get everyone involved. In order to get everyone involved, we must bring awareness. As some have stated in their blogs, awareness does not always work when taught in a classroom, it must be experienced. In order to experience an issue, it must exist (i.e. homelessness). Therefore, stating that social issues exist and always will, is not looking at the glass half-empty, but rather half-full. It is realizing the endless possibilities for personal growth of both parties by experiencing the love and gratefulness from those who may have otherwise been "invisible" to each other.

The Invisible People

Ideal society?

2009-03-04T13:22:00.015-07:00

The lesson that I got from the story of the Stanford student is that many people like his friends believe that just because they live in a country that is wealthy like the USA, they are not going to see homeless people in the future. I find the idea to be erroneous. Just because a person lives well, it doesn’t make him/her immune to future problems like the ones we are facing now (economic problems).

An ideal society will have no people sleeping in shelter or in the streets but, is it possible to create one? I personally do not think so. I don’t think we will ever have an ideal society with no problems, not homeless, no violence, no injustices etc. Even though we might like to not see people living on the streets or under bridges, we cannot eliminate factors that will lead people to become homeless. However, I think that the only thing that we can do is offer our help to those in need by becoming involved and volunteering in our communities such as the Stanford student did.

We can volunteer in places that offer special help to those in order to decrease the number of people living in those conditions. I would like to think that the student from Stanford might have thought of this when working in the homeless shelter and therefore hoped that one day his grandchildren can experience what he had from volunteering in the same shelter. Times will pass but problems such as homelessness will still be part of our society and probably the Stanford student knew that.

I hope that by the time my grandchildren come to live in this world, things will get better thanks to the different involvement of today’s society. Things can get better only if we stop being indifferent and start becoming involved.

Alexa

Homelessness

2009-03-04T12:54:00.002-07:00

Homelessness is an unfortunate part of todays society, we all have seen the homeless man standing on the corner begging for money, or the homeless women sleeping at a bus stop with a shopping cart full or rubbish, but how many thousands of people pass them and never think to themselves of what they can do to help those who are less fortunate.

Our society has very much a win all-take all mentality, and it is much less common for people to give back to the community. The story of the Stanford kid is a great example of someone, whom was a student of a prestigious school, to take sometime out of his life to give back, but he didn't only stop there. He continued to tell his story and his experiences about what he did and as he said he hopes his grandchildren get to experience that same thing. Thus by telling his story he may have inspired others to give back as well.

In concluding, I hope we can all go out and tell our stories of what we have done, not to brag or be boastful, but inspire those around us to take part in their community as well. Many great leaders of social responsibility didn't start out with any recognition at all, some of them didn't become iconic until they were assassinated such as Mahatma Ghandi and MLK, but their stories inspired others to join their cause.

Ubuntu,

-Damon

Insert Witty Title Here

2009-03-04T12:45:00.001-07:00

Not to be the bearer of bad news, but I think that unless we become a communistic world, there will always be homelessness. It would force everyone into a world where everyone is the same, different jobs but same everything else. Heck, even then we'd more than likely still have homelessness, because some people want to be homeless.

I read a book last year in my Contemporary Novels and Cinema class, called The Glass Castle, which is a memoir written by Jeanette Walls. It describes her life with her siblings growing up, and how they always had to fend for themselves. Their mother hated responsibility and considered painting more valuable than being the typical mother, and their father had grand dreams, but his drinking usually dashed them. They traveled from run-down place to run-down place trying to escape debt and get an adrenaline rush. Their mother even referred to herself as an "excitement addict." Many years later, after their father has passed on, Walls invites her mother to a Thanksgiving dinner. Her mother has been living homeless for years, and would not have it any other way.

That's the short version of the book, and it's been awhile since I read it, so some of the details might not be exact, but it gives you the idea. In the end Jeanette knew that she could not change her mother's ways and her choice of living.

I think that there are more people in the world like this. Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if there was some mental disability involved, but a person has to want the help before they can accept it. Many homeless people have a disability. The other thing that would have to happen is that more people would need to be willing to take care of the homeless and the handicapped - and have the patience to help them. My junior year of high school, I worked with handicapped students with multiple disabilities at my school, teaching them basic skills, like addition and subtraction, and how to type up their names and addresses on a computer to help them remember their personal information. There were days where it was frustrating - lots of re-teaching over and over - but in the end it was rewarding for both of us. By the end of the semester the girl I worked with the most could type up her information from memory in 10-15 minutes, compared to the 3 hours it took her when she was given the information to copy from in the beginning.

Several of them graduated the same year I did, and I think I was more happy to watch them walk across that stage than I was to walk across it myself. Before the ceremony a couple of them recognized me from across the gym and raced to hug me and congratulate me. They had only seen me a handful of times during my senior year, but they still remembered me teaching them the year before.

It took a ton of patience, but I enjoyed it.

I guess my point is that many times the people need a lot more help than getting out of debt and such. Today's society encourages independence, and often people are too busy to remember that others still do need help.

I will leave you with an excerpt from my favorite play, The Boys Next Door by Tom Griffin. It's about four handicapped men who live in a group home and their caretaker. Lucien has to stand before the State Senate in this scene, because someone claimed he was capable of taking care of himself. Not understanding the situation, he eventually breaks down into sobs. The scene freezes, and Lucien rises, for one moment not handicapped.

"I stand before you a middle-aged man in an uncomfortable suit, a man whose capacity for rational thought is somewhere between a five-year-old and an oyster. I am retarded. I am damaged. I am sick inside from so many years of confusion, utter and profound confusion. I am mystified by faucets and radios and elevators and newspapers and popular songs. I cannot always remember the names of my parents. But I will not go away. And I will not wither because the cage is too small. I am here to remind the species.. of.. the species. I am Lucien Percival Smith. And without me, without my shattered crippled brain, you will never again be frightened by what you might have become. Or indeed, by what your future might make you." -Lucien Percival Smith

Why should the homeless and the handicapped live such poor lives when their only fault is a mix of bad luck and poor choices? Do I think that homelessness will ever be completely eradicated? No. Do I think it can be helped?

Most definitely.

anxious

2009-03-04T12:31:00.005-07:00

I generally agree with every one's views the story of the Stanford student. But I'm going to be honest. I get the feeling when reading some of these blogs that everyone was inspired by this short story and I hate to admit I wasn't very inspired. These stories all share such closely-related morals and all have a similar purpose, which seems to be to persuade the ready to become active. Which, don't get me wrong, is a completely worth-while and wonderful purpose for a book. Although, for me it is becoming repetitive. At first I found myself getting inspired and motivated for community activism and this SLICE trip. Now, getting to the later chapters in the book, I find myself anxious. Not anxious like worried but anxious like ardently excited.

These stories have enticed me to really look around at what is really happening in the world and not just in my life. I find myself searching for a greater purpose and meaning in life. Which, for me, unfortunately seems like like an internal conflict of sorts. I've always lived my life in a manner by a quote I recently read;" A fool looks for happiness in the distance, a wise man grows it under his feet,"(Schlink 1). I find myself longing for this huge, amazing task to conquer, when in reality, I haven't completely "conquered" my own life. I feel like I should master my everyday life before I go searching for huge achievements to fulfill. Like the book says, one small step at a time. For now, I'm going to be a great college student. Tomorrow, I save the world :)

Castles made of sand

2009-03-04T12:07:00.002-07:00

"What is the lesson in the story where the Stanford student says he hopes his grandchildren will get to volunteer in the same homeless shelter as he has? What would it take to create a society where people didn't have to sleep in shelters or in the streets? Do you think we could make this happen by the time your grandchildren come along?"

I still stand by when I said that you'll never truly understand until you have experienced it first hand. This one-on-one volunteerism is a great way for individuals to experience these matters first hand. Having one volunteer for every person in a shelter, I believe, would greatly help people understand what it is like to be living on the streets and why people do or are forced to. I know that not all people are forced to live on the streets, but chose to live on the streets for numerous reasons, being their view on society or even mental health. I do not believe that it will ever be possible to create a world that has no one living on the streets. I know that there will always be shelters where the unfortunate can house themselves. It may seem a bit pessimistic, but then I can just hope that I will be proven wrong one day where everyone can join together and take part to make sure communities strive. I know personally that I will make sure my children and y grandchildren will understand this life, this world and that they will be the change they want to see in this world, as I have done and my parents have before me. I only hope to pass this on.
As I said in my comment to Jeremy's blog, "I've been saying this for a long time now, that something awful would have to happen on a grand scale to the people before any major change will occur. As to being morbid, I've always said that the only thing that will shock the inhabitants to drastically change there ways would be mass death, talking hundreds of thousands to millions...so you're not the only one. If you've ever read Fight Club, that's kind of what Tyler Durden was going for, except he didn't want to kill people be he wanted to cause that mass shock from his planned catastrophes."

Experience Is The Best Teacher

2009-03-04T12:03:00.003-07:00

I think the lesson of this story is that, to really learn something you must experience it. It takes more that n just a twenty minute video, a rambling professor, or reading a 400 page book for some to really understand something. That is why the Stanford student wanted his grandchildren to volunteer at the same homeless shelter as he did, because the experience there was a huge eye opener for him.

A society in which people do not have to sleep in shelter or be homeless would require people to lose their selfish ways. People would have to stop being so greedy for money. Also it would require people to spend a few of their off days supporting this cause, maybe by help building a house. Home owners that rent their houses out could lower the rent.

To be honest I don't think that we can have a world in which no one is homeless. People are just too selfish and caught up in their own lives to ever make something like that happen. Also people might just think that the homeless are just lazy people, so that might deter them from even considering helping the homeless.

Can, Need, Want, Need, Need.

2009-03-04T12:01:00.005-07:00

I believe the young man from Stanford university simply meant that he wanted the future to feel what it was like to serve, selflessness is essential in life. I want my children to care for those less fortunate, but although it would be great to have an end to poverty, homelessness, and crime, these will forever be prevalent in human society. Although humans are generally good willed, among other things we are beings of ambition. Those who succeed through ambition widen the gap between themselves and those who are drowned by failure. People cannot all succeed, it simply cannot be balanced. Everyone cannot be rich, everyone cannot be poor. The Stanford student's children will be fortunate enough to have the same experience of working in the homeless shelter that their grandfather did.

I truly don't believe that in a nation this wealthy that there will ever be an end to homelessness. In the last 18 months how many people have been thrown onto the streets? I saw four different cars go by during the car wash on Sunday that had someone and all their belongings stuffed in their car as their makeshift home. And as these people get poorer, the wealthier get wealthier. What it would take to solve this is a Utopian style of life...since that won't happen, people would need to change, not because of laws, but because of choice. The people who can change this, need to want to change this, they need to need to change this. Maybe then my grandchildren will suffer the loss of experiencing the dampness of a homeless shelter, but thrive on the experience of a better world.

Utopia

2009-03-04T11:57:00.004-07:00

In the story with the Stanford student saying that he hopes his grandchildren get to volunteer in the same homeless shelter, I don't think that he meant that he wants their to still be the problmem of homelessness in our society. Instead I see him as being realistic. I believe that thinking of our world as a place of utopia is an impractical way of thinking. The Stanford student was focusing more on the life lessons that were learned from his volunteering as a whole, not just the effort to stop homelessness. He wants the lessons such as being completely selfless to those less fortunate, seeing the joy it brings to yourself and others, and being able to use this wisdom throughout your life and pass them on to future generations.

The student had a realistic view on life. Knowing that although his volunteer work could not alone change the course of homelessness, he persued anyway. Knowing that a long way down the road it may be possible for homelessness would disappear but that there will ALWAYS be another cause and reason to stand up for. This is why the student wanted his grandchildren to volunteer. In order to better appreciate the world that we have, the luxuries that were given to us and to understand that real meaning and purpose we need to give back to our community we need to empathize with those less fortunate. I do not mean to sound pessimistic, I just dont see our society reaching utopia. All we can do is help in anyway we can now, having faith that somewhere down the road it will lead to a better place.

Choosing to Evolve

2009-03-04T11:53:00.002-07:00

Schools today do not really address volunteerism and advocacy. I think the Stanford student wants his grandchildren to volunteer in the same homeless shelter to expand their views of the community and of the world as a whole. Schools sometimes just address the immediate community, but a homeless shelter addresses needs that expand across states and countries. The grandchildren would learn more about volunteerism, advocacy, and world issues while volunteering in the same homeless shelter than they might in school.

Creating a society without people sleeping in shelters or the streets is a very hard thing to accomplish. It is possible, but it would take a considerable amount of time. Communities would have to give the homeless reasons to create a better life, they have to work and be willing to make their lives better. Next, there would have to be mass fundraising to give the homeless a starting off point financially. Then the homeless should be granted a good chance at obtaining a job to sustain their new living arrangements. Then there would have to be an encouragement group that checks up on these people and make sure everything is going okay, and to fix the problems that are arising again. However, I honestly think that it will take longer than say my grandchildren's lifetime. This is something that will take a very long time. The society needs to evolve, everyone needs to care, and all of the countries in the world would have to come to an agreement. It is a big task that will take a very long time, but it is attainable if the world chooses.

A time for change

2009-03-04T11:44:00.005-07:00

I agree with a lot with what this story had to say. First off I believe that it is mandatory for us to step out of our comfort zones in our life to discover what we are passionate about. Everything I did for honors last semester and hurting my shoulder gave me an entirely new perception on life. I started branching out and doing everything I could and in doing so I started realizing more and more on how I want to live my life. I had always thought of myself as one day being a doctor but after everything that happened I realized that I wouldn’t truly enjoy that job for many reasons. Success is something people define for themselves. We need to discover what would make us feel successful and then take the steps towards that.

I also strongly believe that there is so much more to growing up than getting an education. Some of the most successful people I know have never gone to college for a day in their life. This is another reason to step out of the ordinary day-to-day life and doing things your not used to. Doing this we not only experience new things but we also meet new people. I firmly believe that it’s more about who you know than what you know. I know that when you help out with community organizations you discover what life is like outside of these comfort zones and you learn new things from the people you’re around.

This student most likely had the same experience. He realized how amazing the feeling of helping others is. I believe that having people realize what this feeling is like is what it would tae to bring about a dramatic change. It reminds me of a time in youth group when we were talking about donations. The group leader said, “I know your young, and right now it’s not about how much money you give, it’s about learning what it is like to make sacrifices for the world around you. It’s about getting used to giving in a world that is filled with greed.” This finally made sense to me. It’s about realizing that giving money to someone else can truly bring a better feeling than spending money on yourself. Then when we give our time we not only help others but we also gain a lot from the experience. It’s a win win situation and until one realizes this feeling, they are going to have no desire to give rather than to receive.

As for my grandchildren I believe it would take a lot of work to bring about this change but I think we have the resources to make this happen. I don’t necessarily think homelessness could be cured but I do believe hunger can be eliminated if done correctly. Think about this lyric from a song called boom, “4,000 hungry children leave us per hour from starvation while billions are spent on bombs creating death showers.” And then if anyone has seen the movie The Kingdom I believe the last few sentences in the whole movie make it worth watching. If you have seen it you know what I’m talking about. It’s where leaders from both sides of the war attempt to calm their families and soldiers by saying, “We will kill them all.” If they are dead than what is there to to be afraid of? The world finds death much easier to control than living. We spend the time and money discovering ways to create new weapons and spend billions on wars. In today’s world death is the answer. I hope that tomorrows will bring new solutions. Half of all the food produced in the world is thrown away. We have the resources to feed the world we just need to want to do it.

Passing it on

2009-03-04T11:08:00.003-07:00

What I took from the story of the Stanford kid was that he was truly changed by his experiences and that all he wanted was for his grandchildren to feel the same. No they didn't have to give themselves to the same cause but what the grandfather should have done is show them a bunch of different options so that they would be able to make their own decision on what they were passionate about. The problem of homelesness is huge and has alot to do to the economic pressures that we suffer. The spread of wealth is greatly disproportionate in this country and what we need to do as people who have been priviliged enough to have parents who helped us get here we should help people who have not had that chance. The thing about that is that many of our peers are not willing to give up their spare time or hard earned money to help these people because they are so wrapped up in themselves and not aware of the issue.That being said even if all of us introduce our grandchildren to serving their communities I do not think that he problem of homelesness will be solved even in their lifetime. But if they pass it on to their children and grandchildren it will create a generational chain and tradition that might eventually make the amount of people who get involved big enough to take care of this problem.

Blog 3..

2009-03-04T09:09:00.004-07:00

The Standford student didn't necessarily mean that his grandchildren had to volunteer at the exact homeless shelter that he did. What he meant is that hopefully his grandchildren get to experience change and service learning rather than reading it from a text book or learning about it from a story. How will any one know what its like to volunteer unless they actually did volunteer. Too many times people get wrapped up in their small world filled up of problems that seem so important at the time, when really there are issues going on outside of their bubble that need to be addressed. I unfortunately do not think that we can solve the problem of homelessness in my time. I do believe however that if our community would step out into the world and realize that what is happening right now can and will affect their grandchildren. It almost seems as if some enormous catastrophe has to occur for our country to become united. We all get gung-ho and then time passes and bills not being paid or so n so didn't make it to church yesterday becomes more important than the minor recession and the fact that people are losing their homes left and right. The problems we are dealing with right now are our own problems that we brought upon ourselves, we alone are responsible for changing it. We can not do it individually, but we can do it together.

Creating social change is not easy

2009-03-04T02:23:00.000-07:00

The Stanford student understands that there are experiences that teach us lessons. He believes that there are moments in life that alter the course of time. Volunteering is one of those experiences powerful enough to change one's perspective forever. Studies indicate that students forget half of what they learn passively, but they remember 90% when they do the “real thing.” Much of volunteering is hands-on learning by actually “doing something” and takes you out of the traditional classroom setting and into the community. Volunteering helps one believe in oneself and helps you realize that your voice is a powerful tool for real life social change!

Unfortunately, and I hate to do this but I would have to sadly agree with Thomas Hobbs that men are inherently evil and that by our very nature were constantly in a struggle for power and wealth. Hobbs believes that all human beings are ever concerned with is the maximizing of their own powers. This is all they should be concerned with and that all human beings, by nature, desire power after power. That’s why I believe that eradicating homelessness is something that is unseen in our life time and even our children children’s lifetime. The U.S. is the richest nation in the world, yet is doing nothing to help its homeless citizens. WHY?! What this nation needs is a strong national agenda against domestic violence, and drug and prostitution policies based on rehabilitation rather than criminalization. Putting tax money back into the pockets of the rich can surely wait. For politicians, ignoring the homeless is easy. That’s why activism is important of bringing about social change. Being active for social change will help find ways to keep working towards injustice and creating strong communities which encourage economic, social and psychological health.

Another Exciting Blog Post by Enrique!

2009-03-03T22:09:00.000-07:00

I think there are several morals to this story. The first moral is about how hands on service is hands down a more effective teaching method than in class instruction. I think this is 100% true. You can learn about something in a classroom in a million different ways. While some may think that this prepares them for things in the real world, there is only one thing that truly does prepare you, hands on practice. We are learning about so many different things in SLICE, but it will not really hit us until we go on out trip. Once we go on our trip we will learn so much more than any speech, and group presentation, or any class discussion could have taught us. The second moral that I took from this was that hopefully our service will make an impact. While what we do in San Diego may not be remembered in 100 years, it does not mean that it is not important. But hopefully by helping out we can make the future a somewhat better place, and our children will want to better the world too.

As far as having a society where people do not have to live in shelters…I don’t know if that is in our future. While its nice to dream of that ideal world where everyone has a place, and no one is on the streets, its rather unrealistic. If we want this dream to be a reality, then we will have to be united, and truly focus on making this true. But honestly, I think that people are too busy doing their own things in order to focus on such a tall order.

What it is and what it could be

2009-03-03T18:17:00.003-07:00

In "A Shelter for My Grandchildlren" , the Stanford student's remark brings to light the issues of our society and how it has changed; however, not necessarily for the good. His simple dream of wanting to have a place where his grandchilren can one day earn the same sense of comradery or self-fullfillment he achieved is a noble one. It also brings in to question why so far in the future should there be a need for such instituons as shelters or soup kitchens? With all of the resources we have as a society, a country, a world even there should not be people without homes or children without parents to nurture them. As we progress, it almost seems human nature to avoid and disregard the needs of others.

The saddest thing about the progression of the world is that the vast majority of people are out for their own gains and personal glory when they should be concerned about the development of the human race as a whole. In previous times, people dedicated their time on a larger scale than they do now. This is becuase their intentions and motivations do not involve or have time to embrace the problems that others face.

Every person goes through a time when they are consumed by their trials and struggles, but they can not get stuck and caught up in themselves. If the world could come together, face our problems, and work on a way to fix them we might not have any of the issues we have now. Anything could happen with the greatest of efforts from every person in the world.

What about now?

2009-03-03T15:09:00.003-07:00

It states in the book that the Standford student learned more volunteering then he did in school, so I think that the he only wanted his grandchildren to get the same experience that he did. This doesn't necessarily mean it has to be in a homeless shelter. He wants them to be able to learn valuable things from volunteering, as he did.

In my Culteral Diversity class the other day, we were discussing segregation in schools and what kind of impact the Civil Rights Movement had in changing that. We then discussed how it was hard to change the minds of people who had been living a certain way for so many years. That idea can also fit in with shelters, and many other causes. As long as I can remember we have had shelters that people can go to if they do not have a home. We have lived in this way for so long that it would take everyone coming together to ensure that people no longer had to live in shelters or on the streets. It would take a shift in the entire society to end it completely, and I do not think this will happen by the time my grandchildren come along. This does not mean, however, that we should get discouraged and stop trying to help the homeless, or other causes. I think it relates back to previous chapters in the book where it said that change happens"one step at a time". Each little acheivement made is a step in the right direction to changing it completely.

For now, I think we need to ask the question, "What about now?" We should focus more on the present and what we need to do today as volunteers. We need to keep helping and fighting for a better society, and not give up hope. We can look at the Civil Rights Movement and take comfort in the fact that the world is always changing and time does go on, so one day things will be different even though we might not see the change happen within our lifetimes.

The song What About Now? by Daughtry fits in perfectly with this topic, and the music video is very moving. The link it attached, so go check it out! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ylgchWR-Ig

Determining the Future

2009-03-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

In the story with the student from Stanford, I don’t necessarily believe he was trying to say that he wants his grandchild to work in that same homeless shelter that he did. I believe that he meant it to be viewed as he hopes that his grandchildren can get that same experience that he did while working there. He was taught more while volunteering there, than he actually was in school. The lesson can be that by volunteering you are not only helping out, but learning life lessons along the way. In order to create a society where his grandchildren wouldn’t actually have to work in a shelter would take a lot. Sure everyone wants to see change happen, and wishes that things like homelessness and world hunger could all be “fixed.” But how many of those people are actually trying to make the difference happen. It would take people having to stop worrying about their personal lives so much, like Loeb says, and start to take time out of their hectic lives to do those couple hours of community service so that they could take that step towards making a difference in order to get t hose people so they don’t have to sleep on the streets or in shelters. Honestly, by the time my grandchildren come along, I really don’t believe that this will be able to happen. It would be great if it could, but everyone in our society is so wrapped up in themselves, that they will just say they want things to happen, but will never put forth enough effort to where we can all come together to make this change occur. We are the ones that determine the outcome of what is going to be in the future. I think that if enough people can come together, then sure there can be an indent in how many people there actually are on the streets, and how many shelters there are, or how well maintained they are, but unfortunately I don’t believe that this issue can be completely eliminated by then.

Treatment vs. Cure

2009-03-02T18:49:00.004-07:00

I guess I've never really looked at volunteerism and activism as separate entities. Now that I really think about it, volunteerism is usually seen as something positive, noble, and worthy of praise, but activism is often perceived as hostile, pushy, and troublemaking. I agree with Loeb when he writes that volunteering provides relief to a problem, while activism provides a solution. It makes alot of sense to me that volunteering is so highly praised. The powers that be love to use it as a long term distraction to real change, and people can feel good about themselves without taking risks. Activism, on the other hand, is what really leads to change. It threatens people who horde power and resources, so of course they want to put a negative stigma on it. I know my biggest fear in getting involved is losing more than I can handle, and especially the fear of being left standing alone. For these reasons, I have tended to volunteer because it is safe. I feel deeply affected by the suffering of others, and want help ease that pain. I really have to ask myself, though, if it is enough to just ease the suffering, or if it is time to step out of my comfort zone and act to stop it altogether.

In the story of the Stanford student, I would give him benefit of the doubt, in that he probably didn't mean he wants homelessness to continue, but found the experience of volunteering personally inspiring. It is an eyeopener, however, to really think about what volunteering is. Its like giving oxygen treatments to a smoker. No matter how hard we work to relieve the symptoms, the greater problem and threat of collapse is still there. Volunteering is a necessary treatment, but activism is the cure.

Make this Promise too

2009-03-02T14:36:00.004-07:00

Americans take for granted what they are privileged to do. As Americans, we can say whatever we want to say, we can join whatever group we desire, and we can tell the government what we don't like about them. If we don't like that the number of homeless people is increasing, then we need to do something about it! But Americans are so self centered that actually standing up for what they believe is right, is way too "inconvenient". The Stanford student was trying to get across that volunteering is a wonderful thing. It is a way to help make a difference in our future. He did not mean he wants his grandchildren working in the same shelter and for homelessness to still be in the same dilemma they are in currently. I feel it was rather a metaphor stating that by serving your country as a good citizen, America can improve. If more citizens volunteered at a shelter or an organization, taught Sunday school, joined a club, helped with a community project, worked with the elderly,or even took out the trash for a neighbor, America would improve and selflessness would become more exposed to the public eye.

It seems that in America selfishness has become a way of life. No one cares about their neighbors the way they did fifty years ago. I'm even guilty of this, I don't even know the names of my own neighbors that live three houses down. America has become more selfish every year. Everyone is about money and power.

But then why are college students encouraged to engage in social involvement? I feel that it is up to our generation to change this way of life in America! If we, as college students, can make a single foot print in displaying selflessness, then I feel that younger generation will do the same. And hopefully one day, we will not be fighting homelessness, abusive relationships, pollution of the earth, or even rudeness to an elder.

I sadly do not think that homelessness will be gone by the time my grandchildren are my age. But I am very optimistic that lives will improve and the percentage of homelessness will decrease. I have made a promise to myself since reading this book, I promise to show my children the importance of service and how you can grow from the simplest experience of making some one's day better. I hope in return that they will show their children and so on. To combat homelessness will take time, a lot of time. But we must start the footprint! We must lead my example and encourage children to follow in our foot steps.

And by this, serious issues will gradually dissolve.

Money Rules

2009-03-02T09:17:00.003-07:00

The lesson in the story is that the Stnaford student learned so much and grew up from the experience that he wants his own grandchildren to be almost awakened by the act of serving the community the way he was. Even though he is working to rid the world of homelessness he noticed the great opportunity he had and he wanted to share it. I think it would take people to care about others as much as they care about themselves. Everyday we hear on the news of people dying or losing their homes but can anyone seriously say they have lost a minute of sleep over it. This is the way our society is built you can step on anyone to get to the top and not feel one ounce of guilt over it. Also everyone is out for money, money rules everything in America. If your wealthy and well known you can buy whatever you want. Whenever people hear that someone wealthy breaking the law it's swept under the rug, they are forgiven and most of the time never serve any type of jail sentence. I think that once America cares about more than just money and themselves this country will be able to take a step in the right direction. I do not think that homelessness will be totally eliminated by the time of my grandchildren, but I do think that with the right people it can certainly be minimized.

~Equilibrium Equality~ Not Just a Myth but a Principle!

2009-02-28T08:53:00.004-07:00

The Stanford student is hoping his grandchildren can come out with the same, or something close to, experience he had when servicing. In a broader aspect, this goal is respectable. He wishes most people would be allowed that same mentality, however, I see this as a set back towards trying to eliminate the problem. The “”efforts at a long-term change,” seem to be centered around eliminating problems 50+ years down the road. What I think society has a misconception to begin with is the bureaucracy of the situation; standing up now, encouraging others too also, will lead to quicker results, if not immediate.
This ideal principle that people have the option to do service, have the drive to participate and help, now everyone knows of it, let alone cares enough to even try it out, yet we plan for this big change to happen down the road that can miraculously quash all these problems. No one thinks of the implications of the little things, these small ripples we create, and how, if just a bit more effort was spent, dramatic alterations to our future, or the path we are walking now, would change.
If we could give, and I mean to set up a democratic situation where volunteering, aiding your community, or even just spending time with your family was a necessary and easily obtainable option, I think the means to justify ourselves to help one another would be so close it would hit us in the face. The problem with this thinking is people don’t want to give up their hard-earned work schedules to make less money to struggle and worry about bills getting paid, put food on the table, or the simple commodities like taking a vacation every now and then so they can help others. I know the mentality is kind of harsh, but human beings are greedy. We are a race so infatuated with our own mental capacity that we profit off the ideas and advancements of one another. In my opinion, not too much will change in the near future because of these “needs” and wants of people in all levels of society. We have already doomed ourselves for failure.
Hypothetically, and this has to be “out-of-the-box” thoughts, making greed a primary factor which caused this to happen, my theory is nothing can change with the rise and decline of a lower, middle, and upper class of people. This statement basically says that the ideologies of the poor, the middle, or upper classes we have, ourselves, brought into being, are the crucial linchpin of our demise. Our benevolence is meaningless in the end when a majority of the world is fighting to survive. If change were ever to happen, and it can, the implications and applications would have to me monumental. Our very existence would have to rely on a form of replenishable resource, or sociological advancement that could be a turning point in human evolution. What I am saying is we would eliminate the middle man for marketing foods, energy, or housing, and focus on the knowledge of the world, pushing past anything we currently have and propelling ourselves into the fountain of growth as a species who has surpassed all others.
Broad I know, but you see where I am going with this that the world would need to experience a calamity at catastrophic levels to create the equilibrium point of human compatibility. This is a very high hope, but at the rate we progress, thinking economically, population growth, and the general “well-being” of others, our time of relative cleanliness is going to plummet into a toxic wasteland of our own doing. We are killing our fuel, our home, our principles as human beings and in-turn, will end up dropping off the very chain of existence before this change can happen that will turn us into a newer aspect of life.
Spiritual Involvement to our fellow man is what we need to fight for. And repeat after me!... "OOOOOhhhMMMMMMMMM"

-Sorry I am morbid in my thoughts, I just “calls it like I sees it” lol.
--Jeremy

Chapter 8: Village Politics

2009-02-26T19:22:00.004-07:00

This chapter deals explicitly with tension between volunteerism and advocacy, which weaves throughout the book. Our culture encourages students to be volunteers. The harder challenge is for them to address the roots of issues that come up while they're volunteering for those kinds of excellent groups.

The chapter also addresses the relationship between one-on-one volunteer work and efforts at long-term change. What is the lesson in the story where the Stanford student says he hopes his grandchildren will get to volunteer in the same homeless shelter as he has? What would it take to create a society where people didn't have to sleep in shelters or in the streets? Do you think we could make this happen by the time your grandchildren come along?

Stories

2009-02-26T09:27:00.002-07:00

I think that stories that are shared to you by others that have experienced what they speak of are very inspirational. I know that whenever my family would talk about stories they always had my attention. Each story had its own lesson, it had what each individual overcame and how the conquered their fear. The one person i could sit and listen share stories forever is my Grandpa's. Their stories give me so much information about back then and the struggles and now the ways to live life. If i ever have any questions they have an answer, and to me i cherish that gift, the gift that both of my Grandpa's have been through so much that they could share life lessons with their grandson.
To be honest, most of the stories i share are from the stories I've heard before. But it's not rumors or anything like that, but actual stories. If i could share any story it would be about the first time i volunteered and helped out my community. I didn't know how helping could make you feel when you actually performed the service. I believe that when i started volunteering my time for my community, that i began to mature to my highest potential, which works for me!!!!!

Listening Gives Us The Truth

2009-02-26T01:08:00.004-07:00

I think that being able to listen to others stories is very important. Many times we go through life talking and thinking about what it is we are going to say next. If we could only step back and see how many fascinating stories others could tell i think our world would have a better understanding of each other.

I totally agree with the authors statement about how we can learn more about the world if we would listen to other peoples stories. I think that we listen to much to what the media has to say and portray about different cultures, that we do not listen to the people who are actually living the story. We tend to not listen to these people when they are the most important. They live with the issue everyday and know their culture the best so what if they were the ones that spoke to their own issues and not politicians who do not live the real story.

As far as a book that describes me I'd honestly have to say that I have no story that I can say relates to me or has given me the path that I have followed. I have listened to other peoples stories. Through being an athlete and my involvement with other things I have been able to listen to so many inspiring stories that have brought me the point where I am today. There are so many different people in this world who can give you a real outlook on life. So listening to others can be a big benefit for people to become not only inspired but educated from the people around them.

my thoughts...

2009-02-26T00:28:00.002-07:00

I believe that he is trying to say, we personally can only experience just so much and go through only a small number of events. So, by listening to others stories, we can learn even more. We all need to listen to our peers and relive some of their experiences with them. Us, by ourselves, we cannot learn all there is to know, but we can learn more from others!

I believe my biggest experience that changed my views on community involvement occurred only about a year ago. I have always been somewhat involved in my community and I always did a little community service here and there. However, about a year ago I was asked to take a tour of a small school that was for underprivileged children. Of course, me being the kid lover that I am, I was extremely excited for the tour. But, when I walked through the gates of the school, I immediately fell in love! All of the kids came over and said hi with the biggest smile on their faces and I could see how much they enjoyed people visiting and coming to see them. Needless to say, I was back the next day as a school volunteer and I am still currently volunteering there and love every minute of it.

a good story never dies

2009-02-25T16:52:00.001-07:00

There is so much a story can tell you. It can create a world of magic and fantasy. It can also open one’s eyes to things never thought possible. The author really makes a great job at presenting a vast amount of inspirational stories made by every day people. It’s very important to notice that any story told is only successful if it’s listened. Our world’s history is made up of stories that have been recorded since the early days for anyone to view. But in order for these stories to be successful, they have to be heard, seen, or read. One must listen to any story that is presented us. Any story can ignite one’s interest and understanding. Even if the story doesn’t impact us directly, it might impact a person close to us. That’s why every story must be heard and understood. By doing this, one can learn the answers to so many questions. I believe that every life is a story. This story is made up of thousands of other stories that describe a person’s life. I don’t think I have a story that would sum up my own life because my story is still on the making and I still have lots of stories to listen and experience. Hopefully my story and the stories of those around me have a great ending because a good story never dies.

I thought I had it all figured out...

2009-02-25T16:47:00.003-07:00

A wise person can learn from other peoples stories, however most of us choose to create our own. As a child my father always used to tell me I was rushing my life. I disagreed and thought I knew it all from the young age of fifteen. At that time I believed I had it all figured out and could determine my own fate. The truth is the older I get the more I realize I didn't really know anything. I have always had to try things for myself, often times I would fail. Sometimes I wish I would have listened to other peoples mistakes instead of repeating them. I am now aware of the importance of listening to others stories and learning lessons through them.

My life has been amazing. Full of ups and downs. I have experienced more things than the average person twice my age. I joke and say my life this far would have made a great soap opera. I look forward to listening to others stories and telling my own.

The Worth of Another's Tale

2009-02-25T16:43:00.002-07:00

Stories have a value that is outside of any means of measuring that we know. The effect that one's tale can impose on others is beyond limitations. In just a matter of emotions and words, we can effectively accomplish great feats of previously assumed impossibilities, motivating others on the common grounds that we are all human and therefore linked. Some stories can be about great accomplishments, filled with happiness and joy that are used to lift spirits and offer encouragement. Other stories are those of extreme pressures that move to break our spirits and strip us of whom we are. Such stories often affect the listeners in stronger ways than many other forms of testimony as somewhere inside all humans is a part of us that wishes for a good life for all of us. I believe that this innate desire for a justice lies in all of us, regardless of how deeply it may or may not be hidden. Loeb touches on this when he writes about "the recognition that our fates are fundamentally linked to other people...our choices do change the world." For some, they may never even realize that they harbored such strong, passionate feelings for others they've never thought a second about until they come to here the stories of these strangers, of those in sufferings. But when that is awoken inside of any individual, that God given love for humanity, then that individual's life is undeniably changed, and I believe that that change is for the better. So share your stories! They do you well to tell them and who knows what effects they might have on the listeners!

Two Lives

2009-02-25T16:38:00.001-07:00

“Other people’s stories can expand our view of the world.” The only stories that you truly know are the ones that you have lived through. These are things that just happen in your world, the things that you are used to. But when listening to others it shows you that that person may have a completely different world than you are used to. When listening to those different stories you can see the different experiences that an individual might have had. It’s important to listen to them because without other peoples stories, how would you know about anything else besides what goes on in your own life.

When it comes to my life stories, there aren’t too many since I’m still young. But the one that I think could probably sum up my life is that since the beginning of high school I basically have had 2 different lives. I decided at the beginning of freshman year that I wanted to move back to Iowa to live with my dad. It was a great experience and I wouldn’t change it for the world. But after a year I moved back to Arizona. This was the start to me having one set of small town country friends and family, who are in my home town, to a completely different set of city born and raised here in Arizona. It doesn’t sound like that big of a thing, but to me it has actually taught me a lot in a way and has set me to be who I am today.

Week 3 Blog Post

2009-02-25T15:41:00.004-07:00

We have been told stories and parables throughout our lives that teach of experiences of other people's failures and successes to help guide us onto a straighter path. Loeb writes "other people's stories can expand our view of the world" to help broaden our experiences by hearing how the other people have conducted their lives.

I feel Loeb is wanting us to do our research, sorta like my fellow environmentalist Steph's blog title, but also celebrate in the successes through social involvement and the outcomes it brings. Hearing someone's story about how they acted in a similar situation can help to improve your chance of success, Ghandi used nonviolence to bring the people of South Africa their civil rights, and fifty years later MLK armed his movement with the same principles that he learned from Ghandi to achieve civil rights to all Americans. Beyond the hearing of methods people used for success, I agree with Feven when she wrote "stories change lives and motivate people to get involved." People can use the inspiration that comes with a success story to get involved in their own community. Like Loeb's story of Virginia Ramirez who led her community in getting her community's repair funds back after her elderly neighbor died from the cold.

In my own life, I don't tell stories about my experiences, I am 19 and the hardships of life haven't really hit me yet. I have experienced more than most 19 year oldsand have had a better view of involvement than a lot of other people my age, but as for a story that would motivate and inspire people to get socially invovled, I don't have one, just haven't lived long enough yet. Stories that shape my view of social/political involvement are from my dad, or other people I know. Mostly standing firm and asking hard questions, not neccesarily to others, but making sure that you have a firm grasp on why you believe what you believe. I am taking this SLICE calss for exactly that purpose.

Knowledge is Power

2009-02-25T15:31:00.002-07:00

"Words are also actions, and actions are a kind of words." Ralph Waldo Emerson

In order to change it is crucial to hear the stories of others. On a global level, all races, religions, and cultures have been pursecuted by the powers of that era. Hearing each other's stories is the first step to acknowledging a problem and is the beginning of creating ways to change. The world is more connected now than ever before and we hear each other's stories of struggle and suffering faster than any other time in history. Knowing what is going on allows people to act, and once suffering is heard of the time for relief soon follows.

One frustration I think many of us have when we hear another's story of struggle or suffering is that relief and healing doesn't seem to happen fast enough. There are often political or legal setbacks that prevent us from providing immediate relief to suffering. Or sometimes changing someone's life takes years because it took years to get to where they are in the first place. I think as people who want to reach out and help others, we have to understand that often times helping others takes time. It is a long process that Loeb repeats in his stories over and over again.

I firmly believe that there is true power in just acknowledging another person's struggle. Injustice thrives on secrecy and ignorance. When we ignore abuse we allow it to happen more and more frequently until we accept it as normal. By listening to each other's stories we have the power to remind each other of our humanity. We get to remind each other that we all deserve to live with dignity, compassion, and equality, and when that is treatened we need to act.

I can be YouTube cool too..

2009-02-25T15:19:00.008-07:00

Other people can open our eyes and make us realize our previous ignorance. Even if we're fine, the world is still suffering and you can be part of the solution. We can be one more good thing to counteract all of the evil and suffering that we know exists. Sometimes we feel content with the world around us but as we involve ourselves more in this society we live in, we realize there is more than the little bubble we float through life in. Sometimes it's quite shocking to hear something you wouldn't expect to hear out of peoples mouths. Things we couldn't imagine happening to us or sometimes, even the people who were affected. I've seen hope come out of other peoples success stories. Like AA and self help groups, people gain hope when they've heard from someone else who once wore the same shoes. Even if "nothing bad" had ever happened to us, people's stories still make us realize that it's happening to somebody and that we could be the one that pulls them through their trial.

I can't quite grasp how one story in my life could summarize me as a person.. It just doesn't make sense. Someone referenced to Shrek in a previous blog and how he was talking to Donkey about onion layers and relating them to Ogres. Well, that's how life is; one piece at a time. Thousands and thousands of everyday events, occurrences, people and encounters shape me. I didn't just go to a swap meet one day and buy a soul... Though, I have certainly been influenced by my upbringing. I have made conscious decisions in my life of the kind of person I would be and the kind of person I couldn't. It seems a little disheartening to say that someone I care about in my life would also be an example to me of someone I wouldn't want to be, but that's part of my life. I still care about some of these "bad examples" in my life but I don't let them influence me. I've already decided. I grew up, I would consider, in a community within a community. I've grown up knowing that somebody would always be there to help for anything. Throughout my life I can recall many occurrences where I would go with my mom and babysit when parents had to work or just needed time to themselves. Someone from church was always there to help. When my mother was sick for a while and had to be hospitalized, I was still surprised but sort of relieved when every night for at least a week there was dinner delivered to us. We didn't even ask. They just knew we would appreciate it. These things have strengthened my faith on helping those who need it. Through my church, I've always been pushed towards being more involved. I've been to many park/ street cleanups without realizing anything out of the ordinary, like that normal people didn't go clean parks just because. I think my mindset has been sort of molded like that. If someone asks me to do something, I'll try and do it even if I really don't want to because I try not to seem too selfish. Often I don't even realize that I have a choice in the matter, I'm just go "okay...". Sometimes it scares me to death but it really helps when I have guidance. (I'm going to stop now. I feel like I'm just blogging blogging and not focusing)

being open to learning

2009-02-25T15:09:00.004-07:00

"If we attempt to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening own self-understanding, our own freedom, integrity, and capacity to love, we will no have anything to give others. We will communicate nothing but our own obsessions, our aggressiveness, our ego-centered ambitions."

This quote really means a lot to me. I think it really sums up a lot of the principles this book wants to teach. It warns that if we go into this selfless journey with selfish ambitions, we would be disabling ourselves from fulfilling the true purpose of our mission, to help others. We should all go into this with an open heart and mind to learning and growing. One of my friends said something a while ago that really ties into this; "Don't say you have everything figured out, or you will have no fun in your life." In my own experience, I can say this is so true. One of my best friends through high school thought he had everything figured out. We spent a lot of time together and got to know each other on a deep level. Throughout all the adventures and challenges we faced through high school, I got to see how he handled a broad multitude of situations. Something that got on my nerves about him was that basically any unknown situation we would be going into or all of a sudden find ourselves in, he had this mindset that he was an expert in the field. For a while I perceived his mindset as confidence, which I was drawn to be around at the time. As we experienced more together, I came to understand that this was his downfall. He virtually closed himself to the very things that would benefit him the most such as deepening his understanding of himself, broadening his capacity to love, and sharpening his integrity. He embodied the very essence of the first quote. When he felt uncomfortable in a situation he would shut himself off by acting like an expert in the area, therefore disabling himself from growing and of course he could help others. It seemed like the more I grew, the more he felt lost and empty.

I wish he could have read this book before high school, it probably would have changed his life.

I urge you all to take this quote to heart as we embark on this adventure.

Escuchar

2009-02-25T14:45:00.002-07:00

Reading the book, "Soul of a Citizen", we are all reading other people's stories. We are broadening our knowledge of how other people accomplished their goals and brought about new changes. I believe that if we do listen to other people and we learn from people's mistakes and their progress, we are able to advance farther in our own goals and aspirations. I believe it also gives us courage to start our own journeys. Living in a world of individualism, we think that everything is put onto our own shoulders, it can at times be stressful and intimidating. However, when we learn of other people's adventures and listen to how they overcame their obstacles, we can tell ourselves that we CAN do it.

Lyndsey (escuchar=to listen)

Story Time!

2009-02-25T14:31:00.003-07:00

Stories ignite inspiration in my life. When I watch a movie, read a book, or hear first-hand the stories of exceptional people that have made great differences in our world, it gives me the hope and drive to do the same.

I love adventure and experience. I have so many things that I want to do with my life, but I know that realistically one can only do so much in a lifetime. This is where other's experiences step in. We can learn and grow not only by what we do personally, but also by what others have accomplished.

We have sympathy and sometimes even empathy for those who share stories of personal struggles. Without these stories, we may remain blind to certain injustices that do not affect us directly. Most do not look to fix the wrong in the world until the wrong hurts us or the ones we love. Unfortunately, its either our own experience or the hurt we feel from other's experiences/stories that light a fire in our hearts to get up and do something about it!

As far as my own stories, I have plenty, all of which have shaped who I am today. I find it interesting that although we all love hearing stories and know the impact they can bring; we find it difficult to share our own experiences. We do not want people to hurt for us, although the hurt may be beneficial.

In the past few years, I have seen the impact of community involvement and am grateful for the love and care family, friends, and even strangers have shown in times of need. In January 2008, my grandpa was fixing a roof for a friend, fell off a ladder and landed on a pile of wood. He was rushed to the hospital, but told that nothing was seriously injured and was sent home the same night. He woke up that night in excruciating pain unable to move his legs. My grandpa had fractured three vertebrae in his spine and because the hospital failed to treat it right away, he is now paralyzed.
Neither of my grandparents finished high school, and have therefore worked very hard for little money there entire lives. Their main source of income came from my grandpa working on odd jobs around their small town. With my grandpa no longer being able to work and the outrageous amounts of bills from hospitals, specialists, etc. my grandparents were falling deeper and deeper into debt. To add to the mess, my grandparent's home was not handicap accessible and needed great amounts of remodeling; and they also had no vehicle that could transport my grandpa in a wheelchair. With the help of mine and my uncle's family, the people of small town Sweet Home, Oregon put together a fund for my grandparents, had an electric wheelchair donated for my grandpa, and remodeling my grandparents house so Papa Al could live there. A lawyer from their town even donated her services to file a lawsuit against the hospital, and a man in town offered to share his van to transport my grandpa back and forth from doctor's appointments. Without community involvement, mine and my uncle's family could not have supported my grandparents alone. This experience made a great impact in not only my grandparent's lives but also made me realize the effect we can have in our community. We need each other.

The only failure is quitting

2009-02-25T14:11:00.002-07:00

"We never know how the impact of our actions may ripple out. We never know who may be touched. That's one more reason why, although the fruits of our labors can't always be seen, they matter immensely."

This quote reminded me a lot about our class last Friday, I know Enrique has said many times that serving your community could be something as simple as holding open a door for a little old lady. Now although to us, holding open the door is something that may not seem to be a big deal, maybe a common courtesy at best, but it can make all the difference in the world to that little old lady or to someone who witnessed a youth taking a moment out of their day to hold open a door. I mean that act should practiced so common that it would be considered standard but time after time when I find myself holding doors open for people I would say that roughly about 20-40% of the people I hold the door open for do not even acknowledge my existence and just casually walk through without even making eye contact or thanks or anything!!!

Stories my __________ told me!

2009-02-25T13:58:00.004-07:00

Dr. Gordy Klatt was a Tacoma colorectal surgeon in Tacoma Washington. On May 1985, to raise money as part of his support to the American Cancer Society, he decided to walk the track at Baker Stadium at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma for 24 hours. In the 24hour walk, he circled the track for 84 miles and managed to raise $27,000. Today, relay for life is held across the United States and in some parts of the world. this we do today as we hear the stories of cancer patients and Dr. Klatt.

Listening to other peoples stories bring to perspective what is going on around us in the world. We usually tend to focus on things around us as we go on in life and even if we hear about it on the radio or television, it never gets home until we get to talk someone who has actually experienced it and talk to us about it and then it hits home. Listening to other peoples stories has gone on to encourage us to do great things. Jenny did not start relaying until she had her friends story about her fight with cancer, then she decided to start relaying. Hearing other peoples stories bring things and perspectives and gives us the urge to act on whatever it is that we can do. The story of Nelson Mandela encouraged many across the world to stand up for what they believed. the story of Christopher Reeves encouraged many to believe that they could overcome whatever problem they face.
By partaking and talking about your stories you could spur numerous people into action.

Aesop’s Fables

2009-02-25T13:22:00.021-07:00

I believe stories have a special power within themselves because these can teach us valuable lessons that we might never learn from our own limited personal experiences. These stories can be from different places and these can make us think, reflect and understand others. Stories can take us to different times, and situations and therefore, I think in order to take something positive from these, one must not only listen but also, one must learn from it.

Stories can also explain concepts that could be hard to comprehend. For example, a concept that seems very abstract to me because I have never personally seen or experienced something similar to that magnitude is segregation. Reading different stories of people that lived through it and also listening songs about it not only made me understand in profundity their daily lives but also, it made me become more appreciative of all the hard work of leaders that fought against this injustice. (A song that really helped me understand the life of people during that time is Mountains O’ things of Tracy Chapman)

I remember that when I was child, my classmates and I used to get reading assignments of the great Aesop’s Fables. This fables or stories did teach us different moral and ethical values and I’m glad that I was able to learn from them when little because now as I grow up, I can start using what I have learned in my daily life. If only more people could learn since little to really listen stories, probably we could promote more compassion and solidarity in our society.

A story that I have already shared on my last blog is an example of one of the stories of my own life helped me become aware of the necessity of people to become involved in society. If more people could only listen clearly the message of the different stories not only we could become more sensible about the lives of others but also, we could help change the way things are in order to have a better world.

Alexa

expanding

2009-02-25T13:11:00.002-07:00

When listening to stories from other people, the way the tell the story and paint the picture shows what the person is like. I have always been a person who loves stories, and critiquing them afterwords is also as fun :). Now when it comes to expanding our mind from there stories, you have to look at the story as you being there your self. When some one tells me a story i bring myself their and try and imagine what i would be experiencing. That helps expand myself and my understanding more. Though it will not make up for actual life experiences and getting outside to do it yourself, it is a way of staying out of the dark.

Responsibilty is something we must earn, not a right we are born with.

2009-02-25T12:32:00.002-07:00

When we listen, and I mean truly listen, we get a sense of the feeling, the emotion, or even just the moral of their stories. I know that I personally love to hear people’s stories. I think it is a wonderful thing to experience someone else’s take on a situation. What may have happened to you could have been something monumental to someone else. I think that in a small way, we as a people have the general life events that set us apart from one another. How someone grew up in a small town, versus someone in a city, or a child with one parent, versus having both, make the difference in our individual character. We only see the small part of the world from our backyards, yet some people are content with that being enough. I think it’s impossible to believe that just because you live in the era of the internet, we still aren’t as connected as we should be. It doesn’t take much to listen when someone has something to say, yet we close off our views of the world just as easily as we begin to grow.
I have many, many stories in my repertoire that could sum up my life, or tell why I am who I am. For instance, I was in lifeguard training three years ago if I am not mistaken, I have never explained to people why I never joined a pool as a lifeguard once I got my certificate. My Mom would get so pissed that I had spent the money and the time to get the training, let alone the gas to get to Tempe from Queen Creek and I wouldn’t go get a job at the pool. I never told her, or anyone for that matter, that I had already had an experience with my training.
I used to swim competitively for my school and for a program outside of school in the off season. I got my training, I think it was junior year about this time, and was finished after three weeks. I helped my school team swim coach, who was also the coach of the off-season program, teach/coach the younger kids in their swim lessons. One day, not during a practice, it was just a few of us at the pool. Quite literally 3-4. There was a small kid there with us too, I cant remember his name, but since it was the off-season, and we were renting the pool, there were no lifeguards and we had free reign. The coach wasn’t there and we all jumped in the pool. We get a call later saying she is late, something came up, practice is canceled. Everyone else leaves, except I stay with this kid in the pool messing around because he says his Mom won’t be there till practice was supposed to end. Its scary to think that the impossible happened, but he was in the pool when I was doing laps, and started choking I guess. By the time I noticed it, we was face down in the water, not moving. I though it was a joke. I was wrong.
The lifeguard that worked there, and basically just opened the pool, sat in an office, and wasn’t watching us obviously. I did everything by the books. I swam to him, probably faster than I think I ever went before, and did the proper rescue in-case he hurt himself. I got him on the pool deck, performed the CPR and got him to breathe again, luckily it was him just barely into drowning. I don’t think I was ever any more scared or relieved in my life. The kid literally almost died while I was there. It was my fault, I shouldn’t have done my swimming with him in the pool. I know in the end it was my problem, and I then had to explain to his mom what happened. The kid was fine, she was more relieved that I was able to know how to save him. He wasn’t hurt, and didn’t have to go to the hospital and only for the reason that I did each and every procedure perfect (I know this because the other lifeguard was an EMT and checked him out for me, not guesswork lol). He could have died. That thought has always stuck with me. That is also why I didn’t want to become a lifeguard. Just watching one kid in a pool was hard enough, but being responsible for kids who didn’t know how to swim, or adults who couldn’t either, no thank you. I am not proud of what I did, nor have I let it go as just an accident, but I realized that if I am going to do something life-changing, to be proactive in our society, I wanted to be more responsible. I wanted to know, without a doubt that I could be the one people could rely on, or be the one people could trust before I tried again. I know I am gaining more responsibility daily, slowly becoming more and more bogged down with life events, but they are making me better. With full certainty, I can handle anything that comes at me now, but knowing just a little more today, will help me tomorrow, for that I am glad I can now call myself “responsible.”
-Jeremy

A dose of reality

2009-02-25T12:18:00.002-07:00

As Loeb discusses how people are affected by the stories that they hear, he addresses the point that those experiences cause the people they were told to to reevaluate their lives and the world surrounding them. The stories people relay touch every person in a different way, but the result is always the same. Whether the story can be related to on a personal level or just through empathy, it brings out the aspect of vulnerability that all people have. Maybe because we are so accustomed to not sharing our personal trials with anyone it is that we know not how vulnerable we truly are.

Hearing and sharing in other peoples struggles or triumphs helps us to grow and seek involvement within society to better ourselves and the lives of others. One quote I appreciated the most was "As our religious traditions point out , our very pain, vulnerability, and suffering can actually bring us closer to God by opening us up to compassion." The stories that people share allow them to show that they are vulnerable and that gives us the opportunity to display our compassion.

Importance

2009-02-25T11:39:00.002-07:00

Loeb's quote speaks only truth. How would anyone gain any knowledge without being told a story. Humanity learns through stories, but sometimes they are not so obvious. Everyday we go to class we are being told a story. It may be a traditional story told in history class, or it could be a story in a science, just told in more technical terms. Other important stories come from a moral standing outside the classroom. Moral stories teach us from right and wrong, which is the most important story of all. It teaches us to care, to love, to reach out and help others. Without these stories we would have no compassion for the people and the world we live in.

There are an infinite amount of stories that I could tell others about my life that would also show how my views about society were shaped. My papa was the one who told me many stories that molded my views of society. He worked through some of the toughest times that any one person could do, yet he was still so loving and caring to his family. He built his own house, with his own hands and I also helped(however I only got to hammer nails because I was young). Seeing him build his own house showed me that you can't wait for things to just happen, you have to go out in the world and actually make it happen yourself and with others that want to help. Even though my papa has passed away from cancer, his stories still live on through me, and I still learn from them everyday. Stories surround us and teach us about life, and they will always be passed on through each and everyone of us.

"We are all made up of our past experiences, but we all share the same future"

2009-02-25T11:38:00.003-07:00

I'm not really sure wrote this quote or that it is even exactly what they said, but it makes sense to me. What the author is trying to say and what this quote is saying are very similar. What the quote is trying to explain is that even though we affect our own lifes so do the actions of others. By listening to peoples experiences we can learn the things that they have and maybe even want to experience them ourselves. Also the service that we do as miniscule as it might be will help towards changing someones life. In turn these experiences give us a different perspective on life and changes our lifes as well. The quote also mentions our future. What it means by we share the same future is that our actions as individuals help shape society as a whole. This can make society worse or better depending on how many people are willing to help out and how many people are willing to stay on the sidelines and just complain. It is OUR experiences as a whole that make our communites, cities, and country.

It's the THOUGHT that matters

2009-02-25T11:36:00.003-07:00

Let’s face it, we are not on this Earth for a very long time. We only have one life to live and in order to live this life to the greatest extent possible we need to open up as much as we can to realize more about ourselves and our world. This world has so much to offer and many of these things we wouldn’t know without hearing it from someone who has experienced this already. Not only do we gain a better understanding of the world but we can also find something new that we would enjoy or learn of a better way to live our life. As in every movie we watch where we are supposed to learn a lesson, the stories are the same way; if we take the time to think through many of the accounts we hear then we can gain much more than just information.

One problem some people can have is not thinking after hearing something new. We hear a story and react instead of thinking through everything that is involved. So this act of listening can always be beneficial if we comprehend everything that is said to us instead of hearing what others do and mistakenly see it as a way we should act. Such as the story of the African American boy stealing a pair of pants and the owner instantly wanting to press charges which would be the normal reaction. Instead she thought through the situation and understood what the boy was going through and how sending him over to the police would only further harm him and potentially his family.

…After everyone complaining about long blogs I’m trying to keep this short...
My life has been filled with pretty much everything. I’m one of those people who has done everything and tried everything. I grew up with separated parents and I don’t know how they thought they would survive marriage in the first place because they are complete opposites. So growing up I lived with my dad who was an outdoors type of person, who doesn’t believe in school, and is a huge entrepreneur. Then there is my mom who is one who says school comes first and that is the only way to be successful in life, and who has a family driven by sports. And on top of this my mom tries to be strict while my dad would encourage me to be even more outgoing than I already am. There is no easy way to sum up my life or even explain why I do what I do. It would take a lot more than you want to read for me to explain my reasons for community involvement and even though you agree with that you probably wouldn’t agree with some of the views I have on the world today. I may over think life too much but for me it’s the only way to truly understand why I do what I do.