The Notre Dame de Namur hallmarks are a set of values that I feel
everyone should look up to as standards for one’s character. They develop a
person all around personality to be members of social justice and they help
people accept diversity. Hallmark 5 says that “We embrace the gift of diversity”
and that something I have come to accept and love because I grew up in a non-diverse
school. After coming to NDNU, I have met so many people of races I have never
really been acquainted to. Diversity is something our school encourages and I
am glad it does because I have met many close friends of different races at
this school. We love to share our experiences of being our respective races and
to make fun of any common stereotypes in good fun. Social justice is something
that can be improved as long as there is diversity. When there are multiple races
in a community there is less chance for acts of social injustice because
everyone would be respectful of each other’s ethnic backgrounds. The main cause
of social injustice is when there is so much of one race such that there is
nothing a minority can do to protect themselves. In today’s society, social injustice
is rampant and together we must do something to protect one another.
Implementing the hallmarks into our life would help everyone treat diversity as
a gift from God and hence lead to less social injustices.
Friday, December 9, 2016
Second Non Athletic Event
Second
Non-Athletic Event
The second non-athletic event I attended was the talk by Rose
Jacobs-Gibson and I am glad I attended because it really inspired me. Rose talked
about the youth violence in San Mateo and her part in trying to help the
situation. What she has done in the San Mateo county really shocked me because
she made a huge realization and changes to the San Mateo county. I am from a
part of the Bay Area where youth violence is not much of a problem but I whenever
I visit schools in other areas, I can see the need for help. Although I have
never seen the San Mateo schools before, I admire the mere fact that she
decided to do something to change the violence among the youth. It must have
taken a lot of courage and determination to be able to get her ideas through
and make a difference in a society that does not give too much importance to
youth violence. As I was listening, I realized that her actions go in accordance
with Hallmarks 3 and 6 of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. I say that
because she acts behalf of justice and peace as well as creating a community
with those with whom she works with. Because of her, children the age of my
brother can feel safer while going to school. Overall, I am glad I went to her
talk because now I know there are people who I do not know that made a
difference in the world. This is important to me because it makes me feel like I
can make a difference in the world without being well known.
Rose Jacobs Gibson Reflection
After attending Rose Jacobs-Gibson’s talk on youth violence
in the San Mateo and her take on the issue, I have realized that her approach
to leadership is one I aspire to follow. Her approach to leadership reflects almost
all of the hallmark values and that is something that surprises me and makes me
want to follow it even more because it’s so thought-through. The second
hallmark states that “We honor the dignity and sacredness of each person” as a
way of saying that we should dedicate some of our time in support of another
person’s life. Rose has served nearly 20 years for the San Mateo Country Board
and East Palo Alto council and was a key part into making the high crime city
into a much safer city. Her actions perfectly match hallmarks 3 and 6 which
both reinforce the importance of acting on behalf of justice and peace as well
as creating a community with those with whom we work with. Her actions have
made a huge impact on the San Mateo crime scene and has helped people find a
good sense of direction in their lives as well. Her article on the economic and
social costs of youth violence gives me a very clear picture of what the school
system is like in San Mateo and the Bay Area because even though I was raising
in the Bay Area, I went to schools in districts that were extremely safe and
had almost no crime going on. The article explains a lot about how not just the
kids are being affected by the criminal offense but also the government because
it is expensive to pay for crime investigations and juvenile centers. I thought
her solution to the problem was also a good one because I remember attending
programs in elementary schools that warned us about the effects of drugs. I
felt these programs were informative and effective but there were no programs
on gangs and violence which is why kids went towards it. If the students were
more informed about things, then they would have enough knowledge to know
whether it is good or bad for them. Her initiative to start programs that work
with kids who have been around firearm violence is one I really admire because
as useful as it is, it is also compassionate because she’s treating the kids
like human beings and not like “different” kids affected by violence. This
matches hallmark 5 which states that “We embrace the gift of diversity” and
shows how she respected and treated everyone fairly and well. I personally also
aspire for this quality because when I was growing up, I grew up with almost no
diversity in my school. This led me and my peers to make misinformed assumption
about what other races were like and we made racist jokes. I wished that if we
had more diversity in our school, we would be more informed and more equipped
with hallmark 5. Although I will never be able to commit myself completely to
community service, after reading about her and all the things she has changed
in the area I live in, I am inspired to do something that impacts the community
for the better when I have a job. I’m thinking maybe once a week I could go do
volunteer work and see what’re some problems in the community and try my best
to work on them. Being able to serve the community has always been on my mind
and even during the tough college semester, every Saturday I go the local
church and participate in feeding the homeless. The sense of happiness and joy
that I get from helping people in need is not one that can be replaced. The
sense of gratefulness that homeless people have makes me want to do even more
for them. In conclusion, the talk that Rose Jacobs Gibson had was really
enlightening and inspiring because it made me think that community service
really does change people and the society for the better.
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