Race

Again this week in class we discussed the issue of race. Our teacher had us do an interesting activity to show how we subconsciously are racist. He lined up a bunch of different balls of all sizes and colors and we were asked to put them into categories. After we did this he added more making it that much more difficult to place them in categories we had already established. This is much like our society today and how we place people in different racial categories based on the color of their skin. Realistically though there are many different skin colors and it is not possible or practical to place people into generalized categories based on the color of ones skin. This lesson really helped me open my eyes and realize that I should no longer put people into categories of "black" or "white"  and instead treat each person as an individual.

Service #2

On Sunday December 4 I again had the opportunity to help out my church St. Norbert's. I did this again through the same group as before however this time I was working with kids. Our church hosts an annual arts and crafts show every year and while the parents shop we give the kids a space to go so they don't have to shop too. This year just as in years past we had the kids painting Christmas ornaments. While I am definitely not the most artistically talented person I enjoy working with little kids so I thought this would be a good way to help out. From 8-2 we helped the kids paint their ornaments. I had a great time but at times when the sale was going slow there wasn't many kids which made it boring. At the end of the day though I felt great helping out because you could tell the kids were having a great time painting their ornaments and we got to help them through the process which was a satisfying feeling. Out of the two service projects I have done so far this was by far the most enjoyable of the two and I would gladly do this again.

Service #1

On Thursday December 1 I had the opportunity to help out my church St. Norberts and my youth ministry leader Maggie Bruce. Every year our church puts together a present drive where we collect presents to give to members of our community that may not be able to afford gifts for Christmas. So on Thursday from 7-830 we organized gifts that people had already brought in. While there wasn't many gifts yet I enjoyed the opportunity to help out our church while at the same time realizing that I was helping members of our community in need. I was glad I could try and do my best to help out those people have an enjoyable Christmas that we have all grown to love and at times take for granted.

Monopoly

This week in class we played Monopoly. However, it wasn't your traditional game, we had new rules to resemble the American system. Each player was divided into classes ranging from the top of the class structure to the very bottom. I was stuck in the second to last position which we called the lower middle class. While this is not as bad as the working class it was still hard to do anything with the limited amount of money I was given. I would land on certain properties with the hopes of buying only to realize I didn't have the capital to do so. But I realized I was much better off than the working class who in our group wasn't able to buy a single property and was thrown in jail and never was able to get out. While it was fun to play in class its a sad realization that people actually live like this only instead of monopoly money they are using the real thing and they are living their life in a constant struggle trying to pay off their debts and trying to stay on top of their finances. It wasn't until playing this game that I truly understood the struggles that the everyday blue collar worker goes through in today's America. I thought this was an extremely valuable lesson and should be used in future classes.