I also got the feeling that a whole new door of career options has opened up for us this year. I used to feel upset when people asked me, "So what are you going to do with a Justice Studies degree?" I was mainly upset because besides law school, I had no clear idea what else I could do. I must say that now law school is not my only option, but it is still my first choice. I gotta to thank Vera for opening my eyes to life. Overall I though the mentor's coffee was a success because the students demonstrated how much they had grown due to their experiences in their agencies and through our great discussions in the classroom. I must say I agree with Danielle when she said, "I will be so jealous of me next year." I want to know how everyone felt about the mentor's coffee, and would also like to know how the Vera Fellowship has altered everyones outlook on life?
Friday, October 30, 2009
I must admit that I was a little anxious about the mentor's coffee all week. I was sitting in my room trying to think of what I was going to say, and thinking of ways not to embarrass myself. I felt it was important to let everyone how this internship had change my outlook on life. I feel I am more able to spot injustices in my community through the testimonies of my clients, and I feel more entwine with their suffering and share their need for justice. I feel I have become more human. I can no longer say this is wrong and walk away from an issue. I now understand how all people are interconnected and it is almost impossible to stop thinking about how to make things better. I have experience this compelling need for action after reading Kant or Marx, but it is different when you have a person in front of you telling you their whole lives and still not noticing how they are victims of their societal structure. I simply feel awful when the people blame themselves for being the victims, and not understand how outside forces shape their unhappy circumstances. After listening to all the student's testimonies I got the sense that everyone was in the same boat. I felt Neethu's discontent with our educational system after dealing with teenagers in her agency. I agree that it is not entirely the students fault to be in High School and not be able to read. Why are this students able to move up the grade ladder without mastering this basic skill? Why is it okay to leave this population ignorant?
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The mentor coffee was an astonishing experience. It was wonderful to not only hear from our classmates about their expectations of the fellowship but also to have the opportunity to learn what the mentor’s expectations were as a unit. To hear both parties out while they discuss how they felt about the fellowship, what it is they like about the experience and what it is they would like to see more off was truly enlightening. I too like Ana spent most of the week wondering about the experience …what will it be like, what will I say?? What will they say?? These among many others were my thoughts. It was nice to see that the mentors were really down to earth and easy to communicate with, this unquestionably helped made the experience a lot more enjoyable.
As for how the Vera Fellowship has altered my outlook on life, Vera has simply reinforced my current outlook on life. Life is what you make of it, everything is a positive learning experience whether at the moment you feel it is not, in time you will realize it is. “Be the change you hope to be in the world” and simply never give up on your hopes and dreams. Change may be difficult but never impossible, what we must never forget is that we should always seek the greater good. Dr. King once said “an individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity”. And this is what we all must do and continue to do throughout life in our search for right.
I was driving home from the Jay today and listening to interviews with some young entrepreneurs who are the subject of a new book. They both started companies in their twenties and the companies are distinguished by being both profitable and community-minded (for ex., the baby food company donates food to hungry children). It was apparent that this generation (more or less your generation) is marked both by the networking enabled by the internet (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and by an ability to work collaboratively (those things might be related). The author of the book said that your generation has been doing group work since pre-school, whether that was being on sports teams or doing group presentations. You think and work much more collectively than say someone my age (or older).
Professor Waterston and I have often remarked to one another that we wish this kind of social entrepreneurship of the Vera Institute had been something we'd known about when making our life choices. I was struck at the coffee with how committed all of you seemed to these collaborative justice-seeking enterprises. Do you think your generation is more collective-minded? more able to work collaboratively toward projects and solutions? If so, why do you think that is?
I also thought the mentor coffee was a wonderful experience. I now believe that I am not only moving forward in my internship/class but in my life as well. Being a Vera fellow has taught me how to manage my time, articulate my thoughts, and think critically about the world around me. I would dislike speaking in classes because I would get nervous and trip over my words, but now I feel like I have gained the courage to voice my thoughts. It does feel like becoming more human, like finally coming into your skin and gaining a new sight of yourself and the world.
It is terrible seeing that many are left in a state of ignorance because the school system has failed them. I have seen so many with the potential to learn, but then they drop out or become lazy because they have never felt the encouraging words of a teacher or parent. So many children in the inner cities fall through the cracks of society and become deviant because they simply have nothing encouraging them.
Their struggle reminds me of what I went through in high school. I would have this inferiority complex which made me think that I was too stupid to do anything with myself besides art. I started to feel like some of the students in public schools when they see their life and school work crumble around them, and it was like no one cared. My counselors would not encourage me; they would barely look at me and just stare at my report card. I was also too ashamed to tell my parents since they were paying a lot of money for me to go to private school. It wasn’t until my last year of high school that I met a teacher that changed my perspective on life. He told me to prove everyone who thought I couldn’t succeed wrong. I felt a lot like the Katy Perry song, Fingerprints. I was this rebel that everyone thought would fail, but my teacher told me that I am “worth more than the toe-tag generation full of regrets.”
When I arrived at John Jay I had to take out loans to pay for school, since I did not qualify for financial and I couldn’t get any scholarships. I chose Justice Studies because literature and history were my strongest subjects; philosophy was probably my worst (besides math and science.) I got higher grades and fought my way onto the Deans List, and at that point I thought well I guess I will just try to get into law school. I thought it was not only the ultimate way to prove everyone wrong, but I could also help people. I just recently started to realize that law is definitely not for me, but I still love reading and writing about justice. My mentor Tim Cantrell, realized my passion and is trying his best to incorporate communications in my work. Although I was always interested in journalism, I never considered it an option. Since it is extremely competitive and you have to go to a college like Purchase to compete. Vera has been my bridge between social policies and journalism. I hope Vera continues to go global, and perhaps one day they might need a person to write their newsletters. Vera has given me the confidence pursue a career in journalism, and become the female version of Nicolas Kristof. Thank you Vera, without this program I think I would be lost.
Here is a link to a song that reminded me of what I felt like in high school and trying to break the mold.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJNN_FhtKLM
I'm invigorated by these comments, and feel an enormous sense of hopefulness.
I truly believe that what is wrong in the world can be changed. I also understand that the challenge is to get some really big obstacles out of the way, or at least find a way to move around them, so we can do good for others and ourselves too. I believe people want to do good, to share, and to see a world marked by peace with justice, not poverty, violence and war. I believe people don't need "things" to make them feel good, though we're led to think (and act) otherwise, and though we've now been transformed into consumers--not just people, not just citizens, not just human beings as we should be, as we're meant to be.
When I hear our John Jay students (in this seminar and in my other classes) talk about their experiences in the school system, it's rarely a positive story. I believe that when some young people are made to think they aren't worthy, or they're not good enough, or that they won't amount to much, that something bigger, more systemic is involved, and how it affects people is tragic. I see it as a class thing. And a race thing. And a gender thing. And how those things intersect. It's about how social positionality--people's relationships to power and their access to resources--can shape what happens to them, how others look at them, and how they feel about themselves.
But there's more to the story too (obviously). There's that good person who you meet who has faith in you, who makes you feel you can do it, even if you're not sure yourself--like the teacher Amanda met in her senior year in high school. And those encounters can get the momentum going and make such an enormous difference. It's putting yourself out there--broadening your horizons, having new experiences, taking chances--making a bigger life for yourself, that makes it more likely you will encounter people like those you've met at Vera and opportunities, like those at Vera. It's really, really exciting!!
On another note, I find it hard to answer Professor Reitz's question about differences between generations. I wonder what others think about her questions. The age cohort (a generation) does have some shared experiences (with the internet, etc) but the generation is also situated very differently socioculturally, politically and economically, so am not sure how we can assess the impact of one factor over others. I wonder--is the generation more informed about what's going on in the world than previous generations because of new digital technology, or are they just as mis-informed because there's so much out there that's just junk!?
P.S.: I thought you guys were great at the mentor coffee. You were so thoughtful and professional and enthusiastic. Congratulations!!
I was also nervous about what to say during the mentor coffee all week. I remember during our writing exercise two weeks prior we were asked to write down our experiences and what we would say and I didn’t know what do write because I had nothing to say. I was lucky enough to be placed on –site a week prior and my experience has been amazing (even on my first day) ever since. It’s only been the second week on-site and I see so many opportunities for me to grow at my internship.
I must say that the mentor coffee was such a refreshing experience. To hear our professors speak about our goals and to also to hear each mentor speak about their mission was such an inspiration. I think my fellow classmates did an excellent job at the mentor coffee. I believe that we are given a chance to really learn and absorb everything that we are experience at each agency.
This past week at my HSI I finally had to deal with my emotions in a client situation. I sat in on a meeting between a tenant, our social worker and the director. The client admitted to relapsing and began to break down in tears. I have never been in that situation before and it really made me sad that it nearly brought tears to my eyes, although I fought them off. After the meeting I was asked about what I thought of the experience and I admitted that I was very sad and felt the need to save the man by all means possible. It was comforting to hear that our social worker often times feels the same way but knows that it is not the solution to the problem. It really taught me a lot.
As for Professor Reitz’ question on whether our generation is more collective-minded and I must say that we probably are. I think it may have to do with the fact that most of us may be the first generation here. For example, my parents remind me everyday of how lucky I am to be given a chance to education and a better life here. I went to go vote earlier this evening with my mother and on our way back to my apartment she said to me, “People that don’t vote are fools, but if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t even go to vote” Because of the fact that I rushed to the voting booth right after I turned 18, my mother quickly saw the importance of voting.
I was bored yesterday so I flipped on the TV and I watched “The Black List” for an hour. I’m pretty sure 6 months ago this wouldn’t have been my entertainment of choice. Why now? Vera makes me hungry for perspective - and I love this blog’s “generational perspective” discussion.
Over the summer I had a conversation with my uncle’s girlfriend who was describing how rude her doctor’s assistants were. They’re young girls, about 21-25, and she made a ton of generalizations, using the same old phrases our generation is sick of hearing “kids these days don’t know how to interact with older people”… “it’s a selfish/lazy generation”… GIVE ME A BREAK. I wanted to retaliate - not so nicely - particularly because my doctors assistants are her age and rude. Either way, the “same old phrases our generation is sick of hearing” made me think for a very long time that it’s very possible my parents’ generation is right. Maybe we are lazy compared to them. Just accept that your peers are unmotivated, maybe buy into it and become lazy yourself. In a sense I think what we really have here is a generation of kids who want to prove these adults wrong and show them our influence. Obama noticed this when, during elections, he directed a number of his campaign speeches toward college age kids.
In their own words, Professor Reitz and Professor Waterston have solidified the fallacy in my aunt’s statements, and the fellows of this program have been acting it out all along. Professor Waterston, it’s true there’s a lot of junk out there, but we’re aware of the fact that there’s next to zero oversight on the information on the web, and that its up to us to gather information critically. The junk is useful for entertainment. The convenience of the web is so critical during this time in our lives when we’re starting careers. At CEO, I’m working on a project involving the state of California’s prison system – without the internet, how would I be aware of these issues? If they mention a bill that was passed, I can go on and search that. Last Friday, Sam and I decided the work I’ve done for him should be formally written up and used as a writing sample when applying to jobs next year. Maybe some adults think we’re lazy because we have all this information at the click of a button instead of searching through books, making phone calls, etc.? This change has made the learning process more efficient. The internet gives you confidence and builds self-efficacy, because you can update your knowledge bank fairly quickly, get different perspectives, etc. You can take it as far as you want to go. On the first few sessions of the blog, I read with some nervous anticipation of what I could pick out to comment on. Now, when something piques my interest, I invest a little time and learn about it, then I feel I have something to bring to the table on an issue that was foreign to me days before. It encourages you, through its ease of use, to expand your mind so we have more time to find traction in what we love.
Since I began reading "A Kind of Genius" Vera started changing my life, I started seeing New York City in a different perspective and realizing how it all developed over time due to the interest and hard work of many people. Vera and the work it does, put simply, just opens ones eyes to the realities of the world while somehow, swelling up inspiration within the students to do something about it. Unfortunately unlike you, I still don’t know what can be done... I feel that Vera definitely helps in identifying the problem, but I’m still not sure how to go about making the change, and part of it is probably because I missed the visit to Vera where you all heard of manifestations turning into agencies.... Like Danielle, I am so jealous.
It truly amazes me how so we all completely agree when it is said that Vera has changed us into better people, I feel it too. Not only are we more aware, more conscience, but also and more apt to provide change for those who need it.
Is our generation more group bounded? I feel we are forced to do so. This world is so global and interconnected that if anyone desired to achieve anything, you have to network. Sometimes it is not what you know but who you know. We have all become so dependent on each other that there is no option to do things separate and alone. Last month, John Jay held a gala affair where tickets were extremely expensive but which benefited the school to fight back the expenses left over by the bed bug incident. President Jeremy Travis, as well as Herb Sturz and many other influential people had dinner and a show where they mingled and strengthen their empires. While I was pressing a button to go up and down the fourth floor, important people were shaking hands and exchanging business cards in the elevator, asking ( if it were necessarily) “so what business are you into?” Let’s help each other. I do also agree that we do have technology and therefore information more easily available, which makes many of us lazier but it also feeds our efficiency.
So many interesting thoughts, and I am hearing them at just the perfect moment. I have just left an ISP curriculum meeting where we are trying to decide what our mission within the larger college might be, and the way that we can live up to our billing as presenting alternative pedagogy. As we shared for the umpteenth time our frustrations in trying to get students to read more closely, listen more attentively, evaluate information more critically, and write more reflectively, I found myself thinking about us all, and how we are negotiating the Vera project. I realized that while we (faculty) were brainstorming rote ways to teach (write a topic sentence, support your argument with evidence, blah, blah, blah) we were moving away from what has always energized the students and faculty most: speaking passionately about what interests them and-as we were saying last week-writing not to tell what they know but to find out what they know. When students speak, they rarely speak ungrammatically or stumble over their words. Only when we superimpose over their thoughts the idea that they better say something brilliant of which we will approve do they falter. As you have proven to me again and again in this fellowship, CURIOUSITY is the thing I want to cultivate in my students. That is what was palpable at the Mentors Coffee: hearing your sense of discovery, and sometimes even awe at finding yourself somewhere you’d not expected to be. We’re not in Kansas, anymore, Dorothy.
Is this a 'girls only' blog??
I was just thinking the same thing Danielle, lol :)
Danielle, What you wrote is so powerful and so perceptive about how access to information via a non-restricted web has engendered so much inquiry, info gathering, connection-making, and more. This is so amazing and leaves me very inspired!
Apropos of the generation discussion, this Friday evening I'm going with Matthew, my son, to a (sold out) Columbia University event titled, "From the 'Me' Generation to the 'We' Generation: The Future of Service." Included among the panelists is Deogratias--the the man featured in Tracy Kidder's new, powerful, incredible book titled "Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness," which I plan to finish this evening as soon as I get this blog done. I am blown away by this book, what Deogratias has gone through in his life (he escaped the massacres in Burundi and Rwanda in the early-mid 1990s--he had been a medical student, arrived in NYC with NO English at all and $200--you just need to read this book), and where he's gotten to. Anyway, he's a speaker on the panel on "service," and the "we generation" because he got here with absolutely nothing, ultimately finished his medical studies in the US (and learned English), and opened a hospital/clinic in Burundi. And listen to this (on the power of books): he read Paul Farmer's "Infections and Inequalities" (published before "Pathologies of Power") and it changed his life. I won't give away any more of the story. BUT it's an incredible book, and I will report back what happens at the Friday evening event.
Girl Power, Yea! The mentor’s coffee was a success not because we the fellows lived up to our GPA’s or wonderful accolades but because of the educational dynamic that was present all around that table. There was so much information being thrown back and forth that instead of the event being “our day of reckoning” (as I originally thought) it transformed into an all out learning experience for all who were present. But that’s what this fellowship is built on! From our seminar to our respective internships day in and day out we are involved in a barter system with our mentor’s, professors and the employees at the various spin off agencies. It is so much easier to be a problem solver when you are unaware of the different realms that can be affected .At the end of the day we as fellow’s are all exposed to so many different perspectives that it is harder for us to become problem solvers but so much easier for us to become analytical thinkers. And for Vera fellowship is deceptive in its name. From the outside looking in you see a program giving a wonderful opportunity to young college students however, once involved you come to the realization that (I’m sorry Tony) it impacts every one who is involved in a profound way.
I think that young people's achievements and projects are more visible due to the incredibly interconnected society we live thanks to the internet and social networking. Communication has become so effortless that just putting an idea out there on a tweet or a facebook status reaches hundreds or thousands of people instantly. This exchange of information can easily become a collaborative effort.
I think the ease of access to so much information has made all of us so much more aware to what is happening in the world around us. We now have to purposely turn a blind eye to ignore the evils of neoliberalism, corporate greed, our awful healthcare system, and inequalities in our society. This information overload, as it's often derided, has the potential to exponentially increases the chances that a young industrious individual will gain awareness to certain social issues and through blogging and message boards can meet someone who shares the same sensibilities. Connections such as these can lead up to entrepreneurial collaborations. Technology has made networking incredibly easy, often unintentional, and even informal (especially between young people). I don't think this generation is necessarily inherently different but through this combination of young people's curiousity with such powerful and omniprescent forms of communication (which is primarily utilized for target marketing and capitalist/consumerist ends), our society is (unintentionally) creating the very individuals who will change it. the question is: If "the powers that be" realized how great a means for change this is, how would the media change?
The mentor coffee event was great. I appreciate having the opportunity to learn more about Vera, meet new people, and gaining a better understanding of the "big picture". It also great hearing a little more about my fellow "Verons" (doesn't that sound so sci-fi? like an alien race sort of?) and the great work that we're all doing. I think we could learn a lot from one another since many of our organizations overlap demographics and missions.
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