Laundry Day
Education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for the future. John Dewy
On Sunday May 11th I spent the afternoon doing something I rarely take time for or even think about doing. I learned a lesson but had no official teacher; I experienced a feeling that is foreign but did not leave the town of Goshen. On this rainy Sunday afternoon I was different, I stood out, I was the minority. To learn what it is like, the experience the feelings of my students who are in the minority in their lives everyday I spent the afternoon at a Laundromat filled with people of different cultures and social backgrounds than myself.
place. What a strange feeling to go from totally comfortable to completely uneasy! It took oneWalking in the door, I immediately felt out of glance down at my trendy Vera Bradley bag I use for my book bag to realize how out of place I actually look, that I and I actually had no laundry to do. I rode along with Bryan and Ryan while they did their laundry, just to experience this uncomfortable situation. The Laundromat was about two-thirds Hispanics. The other third, although white, were obviously of low class, many looking below the poverty line. There were many mothers with you children there. The kids although happy were running around, some of the young ones kept running for the door which scared me, but the moms were all busy with the laundry or other kids, luckily none escaped.
I took a seat on the counter and started reading a book. I tried to act like I fit in but it was obvious that a well-dressed college student doesn’t make many appearances there. It may have been the gray, rainy afternoon but everyone seemed to be serious and busy. I was distracted from my book by a man talking on the payphone. I realized how everyone I am around has a cell phone and I haven’t seen someone talk on a payphone in a long time.
I understand that this brief time spent at a Laundromat does not do justice to the way a child may feel being the only one of his race for the whole school year, yet I understand that feeling uncomfortable and out of place is not enjoyable. This was a great experience to start with in learning about social justice.
Tuesday 6th, 2008
Personal Experience
“The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.” Tom Bodett quotes
Even though I have been living in Goshen now for almost eight months, I never took the time to go to the Goshen Public library. With the College library so close and the weather during the winter months, the thought to leave campus for books never crossed my mind. With a little encouragement from this project and the urge to get off campus, the Goshen Public Library actually crossed my mind as a place to go.
Tuesday May 6th I went to the library to get a library card and check out books related to my education course. I walked in, looked up education books on the computer and went to the shelf to brows. After about 5 minuets I had found a few interesting books and was ready to head to the counter. I felt like I should do something more to observed the people and cultures at the library. I was contemplating how to do this, when the girl next to me asked me if I was a Goshen College student. I told her I was and she started talking and didn’t stop for about twenty minuets.
It turns out she was a 2006 graduate from Northridge High School. While she had applied to different colleges she had been turned down by all of them because of some disabilities she had. She never really told me exactly what her disabilities were but I did see she had some books in her had about bi-polar disorder. I never caught her name but she told me of her struggles in high school as well as some family issues concerning school.
It was obvious that she may have some mental problems because she kept jumping from subject to subject telling me slightly personal information that you normally would tell a stranger you had just meet. From about a twenty-minuet conversation I picked up that she was married and working. She also had health problems such as seizures that she told me scared both her and her husband because it was unpredictable when they would occur. She also told me about her niece possibly having ADHD as a first graders and how hard that was for her and the family to deal with.
I finally politely told her I had to get going and wished her and her family well. This conversation has stayed in my mind for many days later. I have been studying and look at learning disabilities from a teacher’s point of view. I have been trying to find how to inform and teach a student with special needs but rarely did I step back and think about how they feel and how much it affects families.
While I went to the library to look to the different diversity and families who were there, I left with a new insight on issues I am greatly interested in. I feel like this is a great reminder that some of the best ways to learn is personal experience with peers.
Monday May 19th, 2008
Eating At a Mexican Restaurant
"We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color." Maya Angelou 
On Monday May 19th, after a busy day I got to relax and enjoy eating a great meal with some exciting people. What made this unique from other meals is that it was in a completely new restaurant with people I have never eaten with before. The restaurant was a small Mexican restaurant in Goshen. The great people I got to eat with were to of the students in my education class that are from very different cultures than myself.
Over a very delicious meal of fajitas with chips and salsa I learned about what it was like to grow up in an inner city school in Cleveland, Ohio as well as growing up in a Mexican family in Goshen. Not only was the restaurant and food something new and interesting the conversation was very educational. I got to ask questions and learn about their lives in a casual environment. This was one of my favorite activities for the blog project so far because I got to
enjoy great company while learning what can not be found in a text book.Learning From A Different Generation
October 6th, 2009
Earlier this fall I had the chance to volunteer to be an aid and visitor to a women form my church that had spent some time in the hospital. I was asked to help her and keep her company a few times in the weeks following her hospital stay. She is in her early seventies and had symptoms related to some heart surgery she had previously had. She is someone I know through the church I attend and was happy for the chance to help her and interact with someone from a different generation than me.
Donna is the mother of five girls who are all married. She has 16 grandchildren. Her husband and her live out in the country and enjoy gardening and being active in their church community. She wanted to attend college but didn’t have the money, so she worked as a secretary out of high school. On an off she took different secretary jobs as time allowed and later ended up as a youth pastor/director at her church. She has a strong faith, great laugh, and a really good apple dumpling recipe.
During my time with her I helped with jobs like dishes, gardening, laundry, cleaning, and helping to cook meals for her and husband. I also drove her to visit some of her friends one day and we also dropped off a meal to an elderly couple’s house. I basically followed her around and helped her with small tasks or performed larger ones as she instructed me. After we accomplished what jobs she wished to complete for that day, I made sure I took time to sit with her and have a conversation about life and issues that came up. She is evidence that wisdom comes with age. I could not believe how comfortable I felt after a few visits and long talks. Many of her topics ending up coming back to age and being to the end of her life. I think being in the hospital may have prompted this but also a few of her friends had past in the last couple of years. It is interesting how you view of life changes as you grow older and experience different events.
Some of my favorite conversations were about her life when she was my age. While she did not attend college, a few of her friends attended Goshen and she would come visit them on campus. It was interesting to hear her memories of a campus I now attend. I also found it very educational to compare how a young adult's life now to that of fifty years ago. I found myself asking questions about events and experience that had never been of interest to me before. We started finding experiences that were highly similar or extremely different and discussing them and how they affected us. One subject that we kept coming back to was marriage and family. I am engaged and getting married next July, while Donna is celebrating her 50th anniversary this fall. It was interested to hear what she had to say on the topic of growing up and having a family of your own. We also discussed teaching and how this gives one the chance to be a positive influence on so many individuals. It was a great few visits and I enjoyed thinking and discussing life with someone who had a very different view on life due to experience and age. This experience has led me to visit a few other elderly couples when possible.
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