Pt 1:Identity and Empowerment: Microaggression & Pt 2: Taking Chances

After the STARS event I was able to think about how my identity has affected my life, especially in recent years. I came to realize that I was fortunate enough to be from a high school with great people that accepted me and once they got to know me, did not label me based on my identity. I almost never felt suppressed or different against my 95% white classmates. I can recall feeling uncomfortable in certain situations because of my race only because I was so "white" it was hard to believe that I was actually Mexican. In those instances I definitely felt microaggression. Sometimes I felt offended, like why are you telling me that I do not represent my heritage and my family? Other times I did not really care about it because I could see where people got that impression and I simply was not offended by it.
Other times the microaggression actually came within my own race. I will admit that I realize I have left my Mexican culture a bit and am more Americanized as time passes. It is a bit insulting for people to tell me Im stuck up or that I try and be white because I do not like spicy food and do not like certain Mexican music. What I think those people fail to notice is that I am American. I am a Mexican American living in America. The culture of the American people is my culture too. Mexican culture is also my culture but I am most probably going to stick to the culture which most applies to me which at this point is the American culture.
Microaggression has been present at those instances in my life because I do not think it has really affected me in a negative way.

I think that the instances of Microggression that I can remember were actually hurtful happened last year and know that I look back at them, I realize that they served to make me stronger and build my determination. Those hurtful instances occurred at my job as a waitress last year. As I talked customers in a friendly manner, they may times ask personal questions and many times the talk of college came up and when I would say that I would be attending Loyola University Chicago in the fall I can remember customers responding "YOU?" and I realized that it was surprising to them that I was going to college because I'm Mexican. It was not because I was a girl or because I was working a low salary job at a restaurant: it was because I am Mexican. Those people made me angry at first but then they actually fueled my determination to go to college and to prove to the world that I could do anything I wanted.
Microaggression can be painful but if you can realize that many times those people have no idea what they're talking about, it will only serve to make you stronger.

 

 

TAKING CHANCES AND LIVING A FULL LIFE

Trusting your intuition and trusting that it will lead you to happiness and success is a hard thing to do. I often think about my life and things that a little voice in my head tells me. I am scared to listen to that voice because I feel it doesn't always tell me what I want to hear. This is most apparent in my major. Sometimes I think "what if" I majored in something else. It is scary for me to think about deciding to change my major and it is scary for me to think about realizing my junior or senior year that I hate what I'm doing and regretting the choices I made. My intuition tells me one thing one day and something different the next. I think I am going to minor in something different or at least take a couple classes because I will definitley regret not taking the chance to explore other careers later in my life.

 I find that it is hard for me to believe in my abilities becuase of the fear for failure that I have. I am scared that I would have come to college and then decided to major in something simply because of the security that it provides as opposed to me liking it. I am scared that if I major in something that is not really secure or that makes money, I will also be labeled as a failure. I am not sure what I want to do with my life but I have alot of thinking to do about it and alot of battles to fight against my own fear and my disbeleif in my abilites.

 The blog states that "life is now" and it is an intimidating thing to think about. I think about the fact that I am currently the youngest I will ever be and that I need to be making meaningful memories at this time. It is intimidating because I feel that I am stuck doing my homework and studying for endless tests while I would rather be exploring and living life. The blog later says that we should not focus on the things that we are missing out on because we will alwyas miss out on something but that we should instead make sure to live where we are at the moment becuase we have everything we need to live a full life in ourselves regardless of where we are. I think that this is very true and I feel those moments most when I am having fun with my friends and spending time with my boyfriend. At those moments I realize that I am truly living life to the fullest and I do not need to be on the beach or exploring europe to be having the time of my life.

 Being weird in your own way. – We are all weird. Life is weird. And when we find weirdness in the world that makes us want to work hard, we call it passion. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we call it love. And if we zoom the lens way out, so we can see all the weird people of the world doing their thing, we realize being weird isn’t that weird after all. It’s human nature.

 

 

This is one of the most impacting parts of the entire page for me becuase I think it is extremely beautiful. Everyone is weird in their own way and that is what makes everyone extremely beautiful and unique and when you find something weird that makes you want to work hard that is your passion. I think that I have not founf that weird thing but this is a very accurate definition of a person's passion and when I find the thing that makes me want to work hard I know that I have found my passion. Second, when you find someone whose weirdness is compatible with you, we call it love. I think that this is beautiful and romantic becuase when you can be yourself with someone else it is most definitley a calling card of love. And when we truly realize that we are all weirdos we realize that that is part of who we are as humans.



 

 

Putting yourself out there and truly LIVING. – To laugh often and love genuinely. To respect others and judge less. To win the affection and sincere smiles of children. To earn the regard of honest peers and endure the betrayal of fake friends. To appreciate the beauty surrounding you wherever you are, whenever you are. To find the good in people and situations. To give what you can and leave the world a little better than you found it. To have explored ideas and passions and sung at the top of your lungs in delight. To know that at least one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is what LIVING is all about.

When I read this I looked at it as a list almost like a bucket list of things that I need to do. I think that when I realize that I am doing one of these things I will know that I am living life. I really want to do all these things and one day reflect on my life and be able to say that I took chances, gave all of myself to someone by opening up to love, that I loved genuinely, that I helped others, that I screamed at the top of my lungs in delight, that I changed the lives of others, that I explored and went on adventures, that I was weird in my own way, that I laughed often, that I left the world a little better than I found it, that I will die with no regrets, that I LIVED. 

Privilege

My initial thoughts as I first looked at the title of the article was that it was going to deal with the unequal privileged or advantage that certain people have because of their race, social statues, or economic condition. I was expecting to read an article about the need for equal opportunities and how the privileged will always be privileged because because that the way they have always been, like the royal family which continues to be royal because that is what is has been at a prior date.

A term that was new to me was the term Allyship. I guess I had never thought about the people who are part of the majority who are privileged but side with those that need help and are less fortunate. It honestly reminded me of the movie Les Miserables where a young rich man is part of the head of the revolution that is trying to help the poor people of France who are starving while the rich ignore them. Although this was a movie, it deals with what actually happened in the French Revolution. The people who were not royalty but still had elevated status started the French Revolution in the name of the poor people of France who were starving.

I also always new what the definition of Privilege was but I had never thought about the fact that the people who are privileged do not realize and and also do not deserve it or have done nothing to obtain it. This new definition of privileged left me thinking about the pure luck that is also a part of being privileged. This directly affected me because before I came to college I did not realize that I was a privileged person in many ways. Back home I had always felt lie I was the least privileged of my friend group as I struggled financially , especially when it came time to go to college. At first when I came to college I felt the same way, but slowly I realized that in reality there are few people that go to college relative to the amount of people in the country and ever more so in the world. What are the chances that I was born in the United States, one of the richest countries in the world? It was basically luck. I could have been born in Africa where chances of education are limited or in a country where women are not allowed to go to school. It amazes me that I was able to be born in this land of opportunities and I did not realize that completely until this year. I am extremely privileged to live hear, to always have food on my plate and to be going to college.

Furthermore I think about my family situation. Recently I have heard many stories about other people's family and hardships. I have gone through many hardships, but in reality I have been privileged to have the amazing family that God gave me. They love me and they are always there for me although sometimes I feel that I am on my own. Hearing the stories of others and their hardships has allowed me to realize that I am privileged in this way that I did not realize before. Its crazy to realize that I do not deserve the amazing things about my life, that they are simply given to me in the amazing mercy and love of God and that I have done and will never be able to do anything to deserve them.

Allyship is a quality that could help my leadership skills because being aware of the the people and problems that do not apply to you but you can help with is an amazing quality for a leader. That leader will be able to understand and help many more people, not just the people like him or her.

Create Meaning by Helping Others

I identified with the article Create Meaning by Helping Others, because the author went through what I have and am going through as well. I also had an extremely rough time learning how to say no to people because I simply wanted them to like me and I wanted to be accepted. I have recently come out of that state, because I feel that as I have matured and become more independent, I have realized that I do not need to please others anymore because I do not need to impress anyone that I want to be friends with and saying yes all the time made me really unhappy. I have realized that my true friends are the ones that I can tell the truth to. I can tell them "yes, that shirt does make you look fat" and they can tell me "no, you should not cut your hair, because you will look horrible if you do so." All jokes aside, that sort of trust and honestly is important when dealing with serious issues and at that time what I really need is someone who can give me real advice.
The concept of knowing myself is one that I struggle with because logically you should know yourself more that anyone else because you know what you think and feel, but as time passes I realize that I do not really know myself, why I do things, and what I believe. I know myself a lot more know than I did only 6 months ago and yet I realize that I am still a mystery to myself. When asked deep questions, I do not always know what to say because I truly do not know what I believe. I am being influenced by so many outside sources that it is hard to take those thoughts away and be left with only the thoughts that I truly believe.
I understand that I must know myself so that I can truly be present for the people who I am trying to serve. Once I truly know myself, I will be able to truly get to know others in my life, my relationships, and my service. When I am able to serve others with my entire self, I will be able to provide more joy, support, and hope to those I serve and myself.

 

Pain vs Suffering: I often find that I sink into the things that hurt me, I think about them over and over again even when they are simply small things. I think about them so much that they become big things and cause me to suffer. After reading this article, I realize that the suffering I put myself through is optional and I have willingly engaged in it. We can choose to remain in our suffering or we can get past the inevitable pain and move on. When we move on we are able to live in every beautiful moment that God gives us.

One of the most amazing ways we can serve others is to show them how beautiful they truly are. "We come into this world with infinite potential and then become conditioned to live to society’s expectations." We have the potential to be and do anything that our hearts can desire but we become conditioned by society to believe that we are limited and confined by our race, gender, economic status, and supposed intelligence. We are advised to pursue careers that provide economic stability although are passion may be somewhere else. We are also suppressed by what we have conditioned ourselves to believe are our limits. We must first realize ourselves that those limits are nonexistent, and then we will be able to convince those we are serving of the same, because we all have the ability to do the impossible.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Servant Leadership

Proverbs 31:8-9 says, “Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.” This quote relates to my leadership because it is the underlying base of the actions that I take as a leader. As a leader, according to God, I should speak up for those that are oppressed, afflicted and needy. According to my faith, I should seek to help others as best I can rather than look for my own personal improvement as is stated in this verse. Jesus was the greatest Servant Leader of all time and I strive to become even a fraction of the Servant Leader he was.

I thought that the Servant Leadership workshop was very enlightening because it I learned about the way I had come to define Leadership as simply the characteristics that I define as pertaining to leaders. I had never thought about the true definition of leadership and I had failed to see the importance and necessity of servant leaders.

Some characteristics I have in regards to Servant Leadership include empathy and the development of community. Empathy allows me to feel the pain, anguish, or worry that someone else is feeling in order for me to try to understand their pain so that I may better help them. It is an important characteristic so that I may be able to help people with all different problems that I have not necessarily experience. My ability to develop community among a group of people is very important in Servant Leadership because it allows people to come together and work together to achieve common goals.

A characteristics of Servant Leadership that I plan to obtain is the ability to know myself. It is important for me to be able to know myself before I can help others. Knowing ones self is the thing that leaders often take for granted because they feel that they must only know those whom they lead, but not themselves. I think that if I truly knew myself, I would be able to help others better because my getting to the root of myself, I would be able to better get to the root of others and their worries as well. 

At this point in my life, I do not have an idea of what my dream job is, but my dream job should incorporate Servant-Leadership in some way because I think that I would not be content with my life if my workplace was not giving others the ability to be more or dream more. I hope that I can be a leader for others and influence others to dream more and be more.

School-to-Prison Pipeline

The School-to-Prison Pipeline is that inner-city kids (predominately) are more likely to drop out of school and end up in prison. The atmosphere of inner city schools is one of "no tolerance" so the students are basically treated like adults. The students attending school feel oppressed by the authority in their school. This atmosphere resembles that of a prison. These students are more  prone to drop out of school, and with the lack of education and skills they have, they are led to a path that is more likely to lead them to prison.

 

I thought this article was very thought provoking. It gets you thinking about how the current school system of the country is so unequal. It is unfair that one school provides its students with an education that adequately prepared them for college, while another can barely get them to read at their current grade level. It is unfair how the students of these schools are not receiving the education that should be standard of all schools in the country.
The article also got me thinking about how amazingly blessed I am to had the opportunity to go to a school that offered me the opportunity to advance my skills as a student in every way possible. My school was truly amazing and had I gone to a different school I would definitely not have the skills and academic work ethic that I do now.

 

​As a STARS Leader, I can address the inequalities that take place in the school system of Chicago by helping the students that I can, reach the level that they should academically be achieving. Every student can make a difference and if I do my best to help a small number of students, they will be able to influence a high level of academic achievement among their peers.
Our service project at Family Matters will allow me to develop my leadership because being a leader doesn't mean leading a group of people, but it means inspiring people to achieve more, be more, and dream more. If I can inspire my mentee to dream above what he had ever dreamed before and achieve more than he had though possible, then I will have successfully developed my leadership skills.

 

 

Meeting my Mentee!

My First Visit at Family Matters
Our first site visit to Family Matters was definitely an adventure. I was excited to meet my mentee and when I first met him he seemed shy and he did not really know what to do. I started asking him questions about himself and I would try to guess what his answer would be. He seemed to enjoy it and was having a nice time. I think that throughout the hour or so that we spent together, we got to know each other and developed a friendly relationship. He is very active but when it comes down to it, he is willing to focus and get his work done. He is extremely smart and funny, I enjoyed the time we spent together. I am excited to see my mentee next week, I hope that we will be able to develop our relationship further and that he can come to trust me. I think that the only thing I might see him struggling with in relation to his school work, is reading assignments that involve critical thinking or pulling out a theme. I perceive that he has some problems taking meaning out of the things he reads.

My Mentoring Style
At first my approach was one of Active Listening. I asked him follow up questions with his answers and tried to engage in a conversation with him. As he gave me a tour of Family Matters, I asked him about the things that he likes to do and how he spends his time. This is an effective style because he can actively feel that I am interested in what he has to say and in his life. When other kids began to play he became impatient and didn't want to study but I joked around with him and ultimately convinced him that if he finished his homework we could do whatever we wanted afterwards. My approach is to try to be his friend and equal, to joke around with him and get him to feel comfortable in my presence. I would be able to contribute to larger group settings because I can listen what each individual wants as well as the goals of the group. I would be able to know what every person wants and feels by listening to them and engaging in their troubles.

LUROP and Article

LUROP Presentation:       
The LUROP presentation was very interesting because it got me thinking about the fact that I need to start working on my career and my future goals as of now. I realized that there are many research opportunities at Loyola and I would be very wise to take advantage of them during my undergraduate career. As a business student I think it would definitely give me an edge because there aren't many business students who go through research as undergraduates. I am also a Theology minor and I was very interested in helping a grad student who is doing their dissertation in theology. I think it would be a great experience to know what they are going through, what their experience was at Loyola, what they have learned, and furthermore what I can learn from them. I think that this research experience would set me aside from the dozens of other business graduates in the field that I am entering.

Article:
My initial thoughts included some of embarrassment to be considered in the same generation or approximate education level as the student from UIC because it reflects badly on all of us although I do not attend school there. I was astonished that people would resort to sexism and racism to show their frustration. I would think that college level students would know better and would shoe their education not just on their exams but on their way of living. I think that certain people have not matured to the level of college students and those people are the people that embarrassed all the students and faculty of the University. I think that the use of social media to insult the chancellor was anything but necessary. I think that those people do not realize that everyone on the planet will be able to see their posts and that the offensive things they say have an impact on them personally and on the community oft her school. The individuals gave the university an image that no student should ever want to give anyone. It looks as though they would rather sleep in their beds away from the cold than get an education. We are not in high school anymore and we need to start acting like it. Other schools like Loyola did have class and although there was a lot of unhappy sentiment I am proud that we did not resort to this horrible kind of behavior.